Holly Lodge Dog Fields & Cafe

Tucked away in a tiny village called Upton Cambridgeshire, there's a hidden gem for dog lovers and cake lovers alike! Holly Lodge Dog Fields and Cafe is a wonderful place that I wish I could take credit for finding but Chris was the one to discover it on one of his cycle rides!

The Holly Lodge Cafe is a cute, rustic, welcoming place as well as a cake lovers dream. It opened in 2021 and is the perfect pit stop for cyclists or a welcome cake break before taking the dogs into the fields. 

With indoor, outdoor and marquee seating, there's plenty of space for everyone to come and enjoy the cafe with doggies too.

The food here is incredible and will certainly take you over your calorie count for the day but trust me- it's so worth it! Chris will also concur...

Not only is the food delicious, it's locally sourced from a 35 mile radius of Holly Lodge, supporting other local businesses. If sweet things don't do it for you, there's some incredible savoury bites like chipotle scotch eggs and pork with pickle pies!

Once full of cake and caffinated, you're ready for the fields. 

There are two secure dog paddocks to book- the North Field and the South Field. On this occasion we chose the North Field; a 3 acre field with wooded area and gorgeous views of the Cambridgeshire countryside. The South Field is an incredible 6 acre field with plenty of open space for dogs to run wild. 

From tyres and tree logs, hay bales and plenty of dog toys; it's a doggie's dream. I've not come across a place like this in Cambridgeshire before and think it's such a great place to bond with your four legged friends!

From a dog owner's perspective it's wonderful to watch your dogs run free in the knowledge that they're completely safe and secure. With recently getting another puppy, it was also a great place to let her off lead for the first time and socialise her with other dogs.  

The fields are also a great place to take children too. On this visit we brought our friends with their dogs and children who enjoyed the fresh air and play time with the pooches too. Both fields provide dog bins and waste bags, running water for doggy drinks and cleaning. Booking of the paddocks is available here.

Our hour in the field flew by so fast and before we knew it, it was time to leave but we will definitely be back very soon for more exercise and cake at the cafe! If you're interested in visiting for yourself, the opening hours are as follows:

The Farm Cafe

Thursday 9am-4pm,

Friday 9am-4pm

Saturday 9am – 4pm

Sunday 10am – 4pm

Monday 9am – 4pm

Will you be visiting Holly Lodge Dog Fields and Cafe?

Loving where I live: Cambridgeshire

I'm throwing it back to the old school in today's blog post with a tag! The gorgeous Nicole of Nicole Navigates wrote an awesome post on why she loves her home town of Towcester and has tagged me to do the same. In the meantime if you're ever looking for something to do within the Northamptonshire area, you should definitely check out Nicole's blog as she regularly posts updates on upcoming events as well as amazing reviews on places to go!

So onto where I live: Cambridgeshire...Technically I live in Lincolnshire but it's literally on the border and I spend all of my time in Cambridgeshire other than when I'm at home! I also live in a very remote area which has a shop and that's it so writing specifically about where I live would take all of about two minutes...

So instead I've decided that I'll take you on a whistle stop tour of some of my favourite places and reasons to love living in Cambridgeshire.

Food

There are an array of gorgeous eateries up and down the county of Cambridgeshire. Whether you're after fine dining in Michelin Star Restaurants such as The Chubby Castor, street food such as Steak & Honour or my personal favourite- The Brampton Mill in Brampton.

For me, The Brampton Mill is my favourite spot as it caters for all occasions. From birthdays, to Valentine's day or just a relaxing drink in the bar by the fire or outside next to the river, The Brampton Mill has it all. The food is always spot on and after recently being refurbished, the mill is even more inviting and gorgeous as ever. If you're ever in the Brampton/Huntingdon vicinity I'd highly recommend you pop in for some good food and gorgeous surroundings.

Local Businesses

There are so many amazing local businesses in Cambridgeshire and it's always great to support and shop local. The two main ones that really stand out to me are:

• Bumble Campers
• Wild Frost

I discovered Bumble Campers in 2017 and they are my go-to for fresh fun camper van holidays. I have had the sheer privilege of working with them and discovered so many amazing places through touring the UK in their camper vans.

Based in Peterborough, they have an array of awesome camper vans to choose from that sleep 2-4 people and dogs too! From discovering them I have been able to travel to places such as The Peak District , The New Forest and The Lake District for a wedding! So when I do fancy escaping Cambridgeshire as gorgeous as it is, I really rate doing it with Bumble Campers. Their service is second to none and they make camping even more enjoyable.

Wild Frost is another amazing local business that brings me such joy to visit! Owner Louise has brought her love of vintage cafes and beautiful blooms together to create the most amazing place to enjoy cakes, flowers and coffee in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire. The coffee is always great and I particularly love the bacon and brie panini when I'm there but if you have more of a sweet tooth, you'll definitely love the hot chocolates and sundaes! The bouquets and flower arrangements in the shop are also incredible and you can see the love that goes into them. Louise and her team provide bouquets for all occasions including weddings and they don't disappoint.

With beautiful fresh cakes and flowers, Wild Frost café is an incredibly inviting space both aesthetically and also atmospherically with their warm welcoming staff. Louise has recently converted her second flower shop in Somersham, Cambridgeshire into another café which I definitely plan on going to in the near future. The Somersham shop also hosts some amazing play dates for anyone with small children.

Cambridge

Cambridge city is possibly one of the dreamiest cities in the country and by far the best in the county. Can I do it justice in a paragraph? Absolutely not.

What I will say though is it is a must visit if you're in Cambridgeshire for a visit. From punting to the gorgeous colleges and architecture, food, festivals and more there is so much to do and see. There is always something exciting to do on any given day and having lived in the Cambridgeshire area for 23 years, I can safely say I will never get bored of this city, nor have I scratched the surface with what there is to do when you visit.

Landscape

Cambridgeshire is known for being flat. Flat flat flat flat and that gives for vast stretching fields and beautiful landscapes and stunning fields in the summer.

Being flat for miles and miles is one of the other things I love about the county. It  makes for great running routes if like me you hate hills!

So those are just some of the reasons why I love where I live. It's actually been lovely to think about what I appreciate ad enjoy in my area and I'd recommend everyone doing the same. We may not all live in idyllic looking areas or sought after places. For some people rural life would be their worst nightmare whereas city life could give another person the exact same feeling but it's what we make of our surroundings and what we do in our downtime to make us happy that counts.

Do you love where you live? Thank you Nicole for tagging me to do this post. I really enjoyed it!

A Double Date Night at The Brampton Mill AD- Gifted

I'm back with another restaurant review and this week its none other than The Brampton Mill in Brampton Cambridgeshire! This is one of my favourite places to come for dinner, drinks and celebrating so when I was invited to bring three guests with me to see the newly re-furbished pub, I was mega excited! Being close to Valentine's Day it seemed like the perfect excuse to make the occasion a double date so I took Chris and my two best friends along to help me try the new menu and enjoy the decor.

I wasn't sure what to expect from the re-vamp but upon arrival the decor just blew my mind...

The first area that caught my eye was the bar. It's swanky polished marble top with black and gold wallpaper felt very Gatsby and fabulous and before long I was ordering one of the many gins the bar has to offer.

If you'd told me beforehand that the decor would have zebra patterned chairs, mixed with blues and greens, blacks and golds I'd have been sceptical but the designers clearly had a vision and it really works!

Some cosy touches of the bar area have been kept such as the crackling log fire so there's still an air of cosiness in the stylish new surroundings which are perfect for cold winter days.

My favourite part of the pub had to be this area- dubbed as "The Greenhouse" with its gorgeous leafy foliage and a beautiful view of the working mill. It was an incredibly inviting and pretty setting and here we had canapes and cocktail to begin our evening.

If you're a long time reader you'll know been fortunate enough to review The Brampton Mill before (read here) plus I've been many a time before so I can vouch that the food is phenomenal and this evening was no exception! Our canapes consisted of  duck liver & port parfait with a gooseberry and Prosecco compote on toasted ciabatta, deep fried brie in panko bread crumbs and some roasted lentil falafel. Everything tasted divine and was a great way to sample several of the new menu options too.

Soon we were ready to head to the more formal dining area and again we were greeted with fabulous decor.

Our table was set on the third floor which is probably my favourite of all the dining areas with the high beamed ceilings. Again the tasteful modern decor has revitalised the place but is also in keeping with the traditional features of the 500 year old pub. The low lighting in the room made for a lovely romantic setting and atmosphere for our date evening. 

Now onto the important stuff- the food! We truly were spoilt rotten with choice as everything sounded incredible. After much deliberation we went for  Thyme-Roasted Portobello muschrooms in Cropwell Bishop sauce with rustic toast, Salt & Szechuan pepper squid, Scallops of the day and the Lobster and King Prawn pot in Devon crab crème fraiche with toasted ciabatta bread.

I was assured by my other half and my dining chummies that their starters were delicious but I can comment most on the Lobster and King Prawn pot. It tasted incredible with a drizzling of lemon over the top and the chef didn't scrimp on the prawns either- they just kept on coming from the pot!

To accompany your food The Brampton Mill has an impressive drinks menu to choose from and on this occasion we opted for the Vieux Chevalier Chateau Neuf Du Pape which was delicious and full bodied.

For mains we dined on 9oz Rib-Eye Steak with twice-cooked chunky chips, crispy onions, grilled mushroom, confit tomato, baby kale and a side of lobster and garlic butter.

 
Seared salmon fillet on Chorizo mash, tenderstem broccoli and Bouillabaisse sauce.

Chicken, leek and creme fraiche pie topped with ham hock crumb, served with kale mashed potato and buttered green beans.

 

Again I was reliably informed by my friends and hubby that their mains were delicious and they tasted even more amazing than they looked. I had the chicken, leek and creme fraiche pie which was small but mighty! It's deceptive size was definitely filling and the ham hock crumb topping made a nice change to a traditional pastry topped pie. The mash was incredible and if I can re-create it I definitely will because it tasted amazing! The mash itself was incredibly creamy with kale embedded inside for an added crunch and interest in texture.

We were so full and two courses would have easily been enough but then we saw the desserts and our inner piggies persuaded us to have a final course. Well, all but one of us who opted for an Old Fashioned cocktail to finish the meal- a refreshing combination of smooth, rounded woodford reserve bourbon, a swirl of aromatic bitters, a hint of sugar and a twist of orange peel served over a perfect sphere of ice to create the quintessential sipping cocktail.

Meanwhile the other three of us were in chocolate and cheese heaven with Ice cream and home-baked triple chocolate cookie. 

The chocolate and raspberry pudding filled with a raspberry compote middle and served with Bourban vanilla ice cream. I had this and it was epic!

And finally the British cheese board which contained all the cheeses- Shepherd’s Purse Yorkshire Blue, Lubborn Somerset Camembert, Belton Farm Red Leicester, Isle of Man vintage Cheddar with a selection of Fudge’s nut & mixed seed biscuits, grapes, celery and chutney.

What a meal. We were all full to the brim by the end of it and slowly waddled our way down to the bar for a nightcap. 

I was thoroughly impressed with both the food and the service at The Brampton Mill and the re-vamp has definitely given the place a new lease of life. I'm already thinking of other occasions to go for dinner such as Mother's Day next month and with the friends we dined with that evening, we've organised a dog walk and stopping by for pizza and beers in the garden over the summer time! The Brampton Mill truly is a treat and I'd recommend it to everyone.

Have you been yet?

I was invited to the preview night at The Brampton Mill after its extensive refurbishment and received a complimentary three course meal for myself and three guests. I was under no obligation to write a review or promote the refurbishment but I enjoyed it so much I decided to do a blog post so that you guys could discover it and hopefully go and enjoy it too!