Old Forge at Fanners Yard

Your Hosts: Tim and Lucy Kerridge

This small complex of buildings once formed a hub of activity in the tiny hamlet of Compton Abbas. The estate wheelwright and coachbuilder used the slate roofed buildings on one side of the courtyard, whilst the blacksmith hammered away in his forge opposite. To complete the busy scene the final building, a thatched cottage, was the village post office.

Now with not a hub in sight (though the wheelwright's templates still hang on the sitting room wall) the activity continues, with Tim restoring vintage cars in the workshop behind the house. The Old Forge was lucky to find such sympathetic owners who have restored the buildings faultlessly - flagstoned floors, old elm and pine, patchwork quilts, wonderful antique beds, dolls houses, a smuggler's trapdoor and even the village post box - a little more magic at every turn.

The Forge is now a peaceful place to stay - so any early morning ringing in the ears, can be blamed on the drink, not the blacksmith!