Your stay
From coastal walks to cracking fish and chips, the area surrounding Big Sky offers everything you could desire for a brilliant break. And who better to tell you about it than one half of your hosting team?
Gary and Emer fell in love with this part of the world many years ago and continue to explore all the delights that Dorset has to offer. Here, Gary shares his top tips for the cultural and culinary highlights you simply mustn't miss.
Eating out
The Hive Beach Café is at the end of the road on the beach and serves really good fish, including seafood platters and fantastic fish and chips. And you can either sit at their tables or get a take out and eat on the beach - delicious!
The two pubs in the village serve very good pub food. The Anchor specialises in fish and crabs etc. and The Three Horseshoes does elevated pub food really, really well. Needless to say, they both serve an excellent pint.
The Seaside Boarding House is a five minute walk away on the cliffs along from the Hive Beach Café. It's an upmarket restaurant with a cool bar and snug and it's a great place to have a cocktail looking over the sea.
About five minutes' drive from the house is The Parlour, Bredy Farm. They serve great, rustic, Italian cooking prepared over a wood fire. All serve adjacent to farm buildings where they make their own cider. Very casual in setting and great food. It’s also a lovely walk to it along paths through fields and by the side of the River Bride.
Further afield are the restaurants of West Bay and Bridport and many of them are very fine indeed. My favourite stop on a Saturday morning is coffee and cake at The Red Brick Café to break up a morning's market browsing. I can guarantee you've never been anywhere like it.
All the local eateries are popular so don't forget to book!​
Shopping
For the essentials, you're well served by supermarkets in Bridport – Waitrose, Morrisons and Lidl. Each of those is 10-15 minutes drive from the house, Morrisons being the nearest. Morrisons and Waitrose deliver to the house – let us know if you've organised a delivery to be onsite and if possible, we'll take it in for you so the cupboards are fully stocked for your arrival.
For delicious produce from independent shops, grab fresh bread and cakes from one of Bridport's bakeries. The Rise Market and Bakery is great, and the treacle tart at Punch and Judy is addictive. You have been warned.
But what Bridport is really known for is its markets. Every Wednesday and Saturday morning, the town's taken over by stalls selling everything imaginable. From collectibles to vinyl, flowers and handmade-everything, it's an experience in itself to wander about and soak up the atmosphere.
And if you're into antiques, vintage and bric-a-brac, allow a whole day to take your time winding your way through the offerings of Bridport's independent sellers. This little town has its very own Antiques Quarter and it's delightful.
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The great outdoors
Big Sky is slap bang in the middle of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – recently renamed 'National Landscapes'. These very special areas have been deemed worthy of the highest levels of environmental protection and all you have to do understand why is turn up.
The sea is on our doorstep, and Hive Beach is renowned for good reason. We see all manner of wildlife down here – from seals basking on the sand to mackerel chasing whitebait onto the sand and into anglers' buckets in August. It's a lovely spot for swimming on a hot summer's day (although it's important to note that it can be rough and care should be taken). But it's the walking that really gets me.
There are stunning hikes you can drive to, including Golden Cap, – a perfect walk for families – and Saint Catherine's Chapel in Abbotsbury, both within ten miles of the house. But you don't need a car to walk some of the loveliest land in the country. The South West Coast Path goes past the door, and whether you want a short evening stroll or to tackle a lengthy stretch, all you have to do to get started is leave the house.
But the leg stretch our family does most frequently, particularly with little ones, is an after dinner stride to the old Second World War pill box on the hill opposite the front door, where we like to sit and watch the sun go down over the sea. Sometimes in our pyjamas.
Wherever you want to explore, you'll find maps and guidebooks freely available in the space we call The Sea Room, imaginatively named due to its views of the sea.
And for the adventurous, there's kayaking, coasteering, fishing trips, and rib charters. There's not enough space to talk about everything you could do, but Tripadvisor does a decent job of summing it all up!​
Arts and Culture
Bridport is a haven for art and music lovers. On market days, the main square features a line up of local musicians to entertain shoppers, some very good! And the music continues in the evening at some of Bridport's pubs. My favourites are The Woodman and The Ropemakers – it's always worth checking out what they've got on. And before we make our way down to Dorset, I always take a look the programme for The Electric Palace - a fantastic 1920s cinema with a stunning original interior. They book big name comedians and musicians for intimate gig and also show a great range of arthouse and blockbuster films.
And at the heart of local arts and culture is Bridport Arts Centre. This extraordinary little power house offers a world-class line-up of performing arts events. There's something for everyone, on their main stage and in outdoor locations, throughout the year.
We're not short of a festival or two, either. Visit in June for the Beer Festival; July for the Folk Festival and in September for the Literary Festival, founded in 1974 and still going strong. You're in Hardy Country, after all!