The deVOL Journal

Summer Loving

23rd August 2016

By Sophie Mitchell

Some days I look out of the office window and breathe a sigh of contentment. I honestly don’t think there is anywhere quite as beautiful and tranquil to work. Even when you’re having a bit of a manic day, you can step outside of the office and be greeted by beautiful greenery and flowers, plenty of wildlife and the gentle sound of water trickling from the weir into the mill pond. It’s the perfect place to sit and take a breather at lunchtime.

We’ve been blessed with some gloriously sunny days recently (I know – who’d have thought we’d get something akin to a summer after all the rain this year!) and our lovely photographer Tim has been venturing round the grounds taking some completely stunning images, which I wanted to share with you.

This is one of my favourite places to sit at lunch, right next to the mill pond where you can watch the ducks and the swans swimming around. Customers love this spot too!

I love these recent additions to the grounds. Our sister company deVOL Kitchens have been working on creating these beautiful handmade ceramic sinks in our ceramics studio. Some of the sinks that didn’t quite make the grade have been repurposed as plant pots, which I think look fab!

The perfected sinks are now available to buy here at Cotes Mill, alongside our gorgeous handmade tiles.

The ceramics studio itself is always an interesting place to visit. Any excuse to pop round and see what our ceramicists, Hannah, Claire and Ed, are up to. Every time I go round, I see something new that I fall in love with. It’s so interesting to see the journey from a lump of clay to the finished article in the showroom. They really are a clever, creative, talented bunch!

Some of Hannah’s pretty tiles.

One of Ed’s creations on the potter’s wheel.

A trip to Cotes Mill isn’t complete without visiting our resident wildlife either. We have dozens of chickens, guinea fowl, peacocks, ducks and swans roaming the grounds. As well as our very sweet family of fallow deer. Every morning the chickens leave their coop and march out for another day of adventuring – what an amazing place to be a chicken!

I hope I’ve inspired you to visit us here at Cotes Mill, there’s plenty more to see inside the building as well – flooring, kitchens, gifts and antiques, it’s easy to spend a few hours here exploring. We’re open weekdays 8:30am-5pm and Saturdays 10am-5pm. We’d love to see you!

If you want to see more pics from around Cotes Mill, then follow us on our social media channels! You can find us on: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.