The pub is a minute down the lane, the back garden runs into open farmland, and the hot tub sits where the lawn meets the field with open country running to the skyline. Longridge is a four-bedroom house in the village of Peldon, renovated in 2023, sized for eight, and set up so that two families can share a week without running out of room.
Inside, the renovation shows. The ground-floor living room opens through bi-fold doors onto the patio, and the kitchen-diner next to it seats all eight around a single table with its own doors onto the decking. Two of the four bedrooms are downstairs, both king-size doubles, with a family bathroom between them that has a bath and a separate shower cubicle. The two twin bedrooms upstairs share their own shower room with a walk-in shower. It is a layout that works naturally when the adults take the ground floor and the children have the run of the first floor.
The garden is enclosed and lawned, with a patio, a barbecue, and enough flat grass for ball games or a dog exploring off the lead. The hot tub sits at the far edge, private, sized for six, and facing out over open fields. On a still evening, with the working farm next door settled, the view from the water runs unbroken to the horizon. It shuts down at ten, which is about when Peldon goes quiet anyway.
The owner is hands-on without being in the way. A welcome pack sits on the kitchen counter on arrival, and anything that needs sorting during a stay gets dealt with quickly. It is a house set up by someone who expects families to settle in properly rather than treat the place as a base for day trips.
Peldon is a small village on the south side of Colchester, close enough to the coast to feel the pull of Mersea Island but far enough inland to stay quiet. The island is six minutes by car, a tidal causeway crossing that gets cut off for about an hour on the highest monthly tides, which adds to the charm rather than the inconvenience. Colchester itself is twenty minutes north, Clacton is half an hour east, and Walton-on-the-Naze a bit further up the coast.
Mersea Island deserves its own day. West Mersea has oyster sheds, pastel beach huts, seafood restaurants, and a vineyard-and-brewery combination that sells beer, wine, and Mersea Island gin. The beach is dog-friendly, and the coastal walks along the shore are worth doing at any time of year. Back on the mainland, Colchester has the castle and museum, Castle Park for younger children, and Colchester Zoo, a bit further out of town. Dedham Vale and Constable country are thirty-five minutes north for anyone after a proper walk through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Between the pub at the end of the lane and the hot tub at the edge of the garden, most evenings sort themselves out.
