About Us

Site entrance

About Bolehill Farm Cottages

Bolehill Farm Cottages comprise of 8 self-catering cottages which each sleep between 1 and 5 people. All of our cottages are set around a central courtyard in a family-friendly setting. The site covers 20 acres of land and is in an elevated position, so there are plenty of precious green spaces and views to enjoy. We are positioned on the edge of Bakewell which is perfect in our opinion, as you are close to the centre yet far enough out to be away from the hustle and bustle. As a rule of thumb, we have cows in our fields (no bulls on our land) between the months of April to November yet our Guest Garden and allocated Dog Paddock are always free of cows. We are a former working farm on our side of the road.

milk urn

We would describe Bolehill as a peaceful and gentle site where we like to take things steady. There is no need to rush around here unless you want to. Never underestimate an easy going break away here: a walk around the fields, enjoying far-reaching views whilst watching the cows doing their thing; a hot bath or shower and enjoying local produce - all make for such a nice time at Bolehill in our book. Peak District pubs galore. Trees, flowers and birds. Should you long to add further exploration or activity, why not enjoy one of our many walks from the door or local attractions a little further afield. If the weather is not on your side or you prefer to have an 'in day'; why not cosy-up and enjoy a good book, board game or a film. Moreover, some of our guests enjoy local group organised outdoor pursuits such as orienteering, rock climbing or mountain biking.

Bolehill Farm can also be an ideal place for family and friends to come together for a break away - having the dual benefit of the space of your own cottages yet having communal facilities such as a group dining room with connected kitchen to enjoy together (group space must be booked in advance). We have had various celebrations at Bolehill from a 30th to an 80th birthday, wedding anniversaries, a coming together for walker friends through to a dogs first birthday! It is always great to see people coming together to enjoy a special occasion or just simply an overdue get together.

Sheepfold Cottage View
milk urn

Over the past few years, we have made various enhancements around site and we plan to keep working hard to keep Bolehill sympathetically moving with the times - maintain the simple and traditional feel of the site whilst enabling what you would expect from accommodation in this day and age. An example of this is a new pressurised plumbing system we've installed; our take was that the days of a poor, drippy shower should be long gone! We're now pleased to have water pressure that we hope you will be happy to use (top of the hill considering!). Please see our blog page ('Blog' link on the the main banner at the top of our website) for further details on works we have completed to date. We generally close in January for annual refurbishment.

We would very much recommend viewing the site plan at the bottom of this page so that you can see 'what is where' yet in terms of a cottage overview split, we have:

  • Four cottages which sleep up to 2
  • Two cottages which sleep up to 4
  • One cottage which sleeps up to 5
  • One cottage which sleeps up to 6

About Dan & Fay

We're Dan and Fay Opala and we're the owners of Bolehill Farm, having taken over in November 2017.

Fay grew up across the road on Melbourne Farm where her parents still live. Fays previous life saw her working in the Food Industry as a Technical Manager yet much further down the line (little Fay) had a Saturday job at Bolehill making beds. Fay enjoys being back with family (especially niece, Esther) and friends.

Dan grew up in nearby Nottingham yet spent a great deal of time in Bakewell after meeting Fay. With a previous career list as long as an arm and a leg, the main bulk of his time was spent working in: surveying, insurance, teaching and on the railway. Many useful skills learnt before taking over a site such as Bolehill which requires knowledge on a whole manner of subjects. Dan enjoys exploring the local area on foot, on a bike or in the pub.

We were graced by the arrival of baby Max in winter of 2022 so now there 3 of us. Hopefully Max may wish to take over the Bolehill reigns in the future.

We are proud to call this home and we run the site in a hands-on fashion. We are pleased to now have a few years of running the site 'under our belt' whilst having had the opportunity of getting things where we felt they needed to be. We always try our best to remain open minded and consider all options. We never want to become closed books! Bolehill keeps us very busy yet we are happier for it.