Heysham

We've just returned from a much needed break in the lovely village of Heysham in Lancashire. We spotted Cockle Bay Cottage as a sponsor on the flier for the Northern Vegan Festival and booked a week there. The cottage is owned by veggies Jane and Ian and we were met when we arrived by Jane with a vegan welcome package of wine, chocolates and Goody Goody Stuff. Indeed the latter are actually made in Heysham! Jane has also left us soya yoghurts and coconut milk in the fridge. It was a lovely touch and we were delighted with the cottage. It was spotlessly clean, really comfortable and cosy and there are nice touches like vegan friendly bath products, washing up liquid etc also provided. I slept so well whilst I was there and came home from a week away truly refreshed and rested.

The area is known for it beautiful sunsets and we were lucky to get some great weather. We were minutes from the ruins of a 6th Century chapel .

There was lots of walking on the sands. We did the walk along the bay from Heysham into Morecambe quite a few times.

On a clear day you can see the Lake District across the bay and as we hired a car we were able to go off and do a bit of exploring. We also had a day in Lancaster visiting the amazing GB antiques centre and of course the lovely Whaletail Cafe.

Although we didn't stay at the fabulous art deco Midland Hotel in Morecambe this time we did book into the restaurant for a Sunday night meal. This restaurant has got to have one of the best views ever!

As we booked it a few days in advance they were able to sort out a Vegan menu for us again.

Here's what we had!

Back at the cottage we rustled up a few meals. We took a celebration roast so there was a roast dinner with the leftovers for sandwiches. We had a Sunday brunch complete with fried eggs made from smoked tofu and Vegg which were delicious.

We also took a selection of bits with us to create deli boards. The Vegusto smokey slices are delicious and the thing that looks like black pudding is actually made from prunes and walnuts and was something Matt brought back from Holland. It was stunning paired with Vegusto Piquante.

So, there was several evenings of teas like this whilst watching DVDs. Just next to the slices and Vegusto was another new discovery that I really loved. It's raw onion bread. This stuff is pricey but a little did go a long way and we wanted to try it out as we are thinking about investing in a dehydrator at some point.

If you are looking for someone with stunning scenery and peace and quiet I would really recommend visiting this part of the world and also the cottage.