Canterbury luxury bed and breakfast
You'll find this special B&B nestled in the heart of East Kent - at the crown of the Elham Valley. We offer luxurious accommodation situated in beautiful countryside and yet within easy access to the City of Canterbury (less than 5 miles), Channel Tunnel terminal, ferry ports and the coast. Beechborough B&B is an ideal base for you to enjoy walking, cycling, sightseeing or... just plain relaxing! Off road parking and free Wi-fi access are available for all our guests.
We use quality produce from local farms for our meals and you can be sure of a warm friendly welcome on arrival from your hosts Lizzie, Martin and Rudi our well trained chocolate Labrador. We hope you enjoy all that our picturesque little village has to offer, including our favourite Shepherd Neame CAMRA listed pub - The Mermaid Inn, which serves first class local beer and lunchtime food.
Activities:
Whether you fancy walking, cycling, country pursuits or sport - we’re perfectly located to suit all. The North Downs Way (a national trail) passes by our local pub ‘The Mermaid’. Our bed and breakfast accommodation sits in the heart of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), so you'll enjoy country views from our rooms and plenty of beautiful vistas across rolling Kent countryside round and about. You'll find walking maps in your room and we can safely store bicycles. After a hard day of activity, come home to a hot bath to soothe sore feet, relax, have something to eat and enjoy an evening in the pub supping local ale. Perfect!
Sightseeing:
We're less than 5 miles from the historic City of Canterbury with its breathtaking cathedral, restaurants, bars, shops and everything else that a City has to offer. Explore the pretty market town of Faversham and visit the Shepherd Neame Brewery, or enjoy some sea air at Whitstable. Maybe even visit Dungeness with its bleak landscape and where you can see the totally original seaside garden of Derek Jarman. You could even enjoy a day out either to France or Belgium if you drive onto Eurostar from the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone. Wine and cheese awaits!
Or just relaxing:
There’s no need to rush around. You’re more than welcome to use the upstairs daybed room to relax, read books or sit. Of course, weather permitting, you can enjoy the garden and sit under the parasol and read a book - maybe take a gentle stroll. There’s nothing here to disturb you apart from the distant sound of sheep, birds and the occasional horse trotting past at the end of the garden... oh, and not forgetting the neighbours chickens!
Rooms, food and facilities
1 king size double ensuite (The Sports Room)
1 twin (The Twin Room) - please note this is not ensuite and can only be booked when booking The Sports Room.
Services:
- TV/Freesat/Radio
- TV/freesat/radio
- Tea/Coffee facilities
- Herbal tea/Night drinks
- Biscuits/Nibbles
- Fresh mineral water
- Daily clean/replenish
- Bathrobes
- Wireless internet
- Alarm clock/wake up call
- Trouser press
- Iron/ironing board
- Ample off street parking
- Garden (weather permitting)
- Direct access to Elham Valley Way
The following are available at an extra charge (by prior arrangement):
- Evening meal / light supper (£varies)
- Morning paper (at cost)
- Packed lunches (£10pp)
- Champagne on arrival (£varies)
- Laundry facilities (£5 per load)
- Flowers in room (£varies)
Sorry, no dogs, as we have our own
How to find us
From Canterbury:
Leave the A2, signposted Barham. Turn right at the end of the sliproad, under the A2. Right and then immediately left into Frog Lane. Bear left by the church into The Street. Right by the pub into Park Lane. Beechborough is on the right hand side, gravel drive, green porch.
From Dover:
Leave the A2, signposted Barham/Bridge. Turn right at the end of the sliproad. Either first left into Rose Lane (red sign for The Mermaid Inn) or second left into Frog Lane.
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
The Kent Downs AONB is a special place and we rejoice in our position at its very heart by working hard to preserve it for future generations. We encourage our guests to share our appreciation of the countryside and its wildlife and being directly situated on the Elham Valley Way and North Downs Way, it is easy to share the pleasure we appreciated on a daily basis.
We work hard to do our bit to preserve its character, and both Lizzie and Martin are part of the Bishopsbourne Parish Council - Lizzie is passionate about reducing urbanisation in the village and is vocal about its upkeep and presentation. The village is a special place and by being involved gives both Lizzie and Martin a sense of satisfaction that they are 'doing their bit'.
Here in the Elham Valley, we have a long-established tradition of mixed farming (of arable, livestock and horticulture) which covers over 74% of the AONB. Expansive arable fields surround the village and although this is grazed mainly by sheep, our local landowner has recently introduced some old breed cattle - Dexter Browns - and these can be seen happily grazing in the fields around Beechborough B&B. There is also an increasing provision for leisure; including equine activities and shooting and we can happily recommend a couple of excellent horse riding facilities and shoots nearby (both within walking distance!)
Canterbury City Council has been running an excellent recycling scheme for some time now - this is soon to be improved. Plastic bottles, food packs, paper and cardboard are collected on a regular basis. Lizzie recycles all the glass via a bottle bank. Whilst we would like to recycle food waste, having a smaller garden means a compost would attract vermin, so garden waste is collected and anything over goes on the allotment. Food waste is something that does not occur in our house - Martin has an excellent appetite, anything he can't eat gets finished by the dog! Needless to say, our landfill waste is therefore minimal.
Much of the Elham Valley provides surprisingly tranquil and remote countryside (considering we are so crowded here in the South East) – offering dark night skies (Bishopsbourne has no street lighting and long may it stay that way) and peace away from road traffic. We would always recommend low carbon public transport during your stay - the bus stop is only a short walk up Frog Lane and provides direct access into Canterbury and most of the surrounding villages on the Elham Valley Way. It's easy to jump on and off and saves the hassle of parking.
Water is too precious to waste and, when it rains, we savour every drop. We gather rainwater in water butts and even on my allotment I've fashioned a shelter to collect rainwater!
And we of course choose suppliers that match our environmental values and shop locally where we can. Enjoy our locally farmed bacon - happy pigs do create yummy meat.
Community
Here at Beechborough B&B, and living in such a beautiful area, we benefit from being part of a close knit local community. We're proud of our our high quality local eggs, milk and produce, and serve it to you at breakfast, (along with freshly squeezed orange juice). Our jam is made locally and our bread is usually home baked daily.
We're always happy to recommend places where you can buy produce and food and locally made things to take back home from local shops, pubs, restaurants and in some cases farm gates!
We encourage our guests to visit our local pub, The Mermaid - CAMRA listed, where you will receive a warm welcome from Steve and Jackie. It's the place to try beer from Shepherd Neame, Britain's oldest brewery. It's based in Faversham, and it offers brewery tours if you want to know more.
We invite our guests to join us in keeping traditional tastes alive by visiting one of the local farmers markets held at weekends, where you can try before you buy and talk to producers. Another option is even more educational! We can point you in the direction of the national fruit collection at Brogdale, where you can learn everything there is to know about apples, orchards and fruit growing - and even buy the plants (in season) if you're interested.
We shop at a local produce shop which means that I can talk to the producer and find out how the food is grown, raised or produced and when it was picked.
And another important point is that our fresh local produce tastes better beacuse it's fresher. Food that hasn’t travelled for great distances will have retained more of its vitamins and minerals. We eat seasonally at Beechborough B&B and so can you! It also cuts down on 'food miles', the distance travelled to get your produce to us. The average item on supermarket shelves travels over 1000 miles increasing the use of fossil fuels and adds to global warning. So we all benefit.
We recognise local issues and actively campaign to address them as both Lizzie and Martin are members of the Parish Council.
We support local projects & people through volunteering, fundraising or charity and have recently helped with the fundraising efforts at our local church.
Landscape
We welcome guests from near and far and hope that although you arrive as strangers, you will leave as friends. Many have fallen in love with what the Elham Valley has to offer and we see many frequent visitors - always a pleasure to welcome back old friends! We try our best to help everyone feel welcome and hope that you enjoy the Garden of England as much as we do.
Even if you're thinking of visiting us for the first time, you can always be confident of a genuinely warm and friendly welcome, and we'll be ready with a nice cup of tea, a cold drink or a glass of wine if you need it, after a long drive or a hard day at work. The choice is yours.
We take pride on being local experts, so feel free to pick our brain about things to see and do in the local area. According to your interests and the weather we can recommend a variety of wonderful local walks from our door: such as a simple evening stroll through the meadow adjacent to the village church which has some stained glass that dates from the 13th Century. If you're interested in encountering our local wildlife, or seeing wild flowers, (in spring or early summer) we know where they can be found; and when you're most likely to have an opportunity to see (or hear) them. Just ask.
We're on the Elham Valley Way and many of our guests enjoy the beauty of this well maintained walk. It's a recreational route that runs all the way from Hythe to Canterbury, approximately following the courses of the Seabrook Stream and River Nailbourne (ask us about the legend involving St. Augustine). The route is easy to follow and marked with arrows. so really keen walkers can experience the whole route in both directions over a weekend. It passes through some of Kent's finest landscapes. We can help you plan your route on the map and give you tips about things to look out for, from the seaside bustle of Hythe, to the Seabrook Valley, the dramatic escarpment of the downs, un-spoilt villages such as Elham, and the ornamental parklands and ancient woodlands near Barham. Don't forget to bring your camera; and, if you have one, you could, like some of our guests, bring your bike too. If you need a picnic, please ask, as I'm happy to put together a little something for a small charge.
We find our guests welcome our no shoe policy inside the house; but don't worry, we always welcome walkers and cyclists, so we'll always find somewhere to dry wet clothes and store the muddiest of wellies and walking boots.
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