Frequently Asked Questions

There are a number of reasons for this,

The infrastructure of the houses are designed for the number of occupants of the houses on site, about 50 persons including guests and staff. If each house invited guests equal to or exceeding the house occupancy number then the number on site could double which would exceed the physical capacity of the site infrastructure including parking spaces, effluent disposal capabilities, free space available to each guest etc..

In the event of an emergency we are the only persons able to inform the emergency service how many people are actually in the house.

We feel we have a duty of Care to our Guests and indeed Insurance Cover for the Business is to cover the guests as listed on the Booking Sheet. We feel we should not be liable for persons not entitled to be on the site, de jure trespassers, nor should we be liable for their actions on our site, such as their vehicles causing damage or injury to other guest property or person.

The Tariff paid is for the number of persons agreed at the time of booking to be accommodated at the holiday houses and to avail of the services and amenities on the site. These other visitors are availing of such services and amenities with out any payment.

In this more security conscious age it is important for us to know who is on the site at all time. This is applicable not only in national security issues, some of the recent terrorist attacks in the UK mainland – such as Glasgow Airport- used holiday cottages as a temporary base, but also in the matter of Child Protection. We have to be able to account for all the persons on our site so that parents can feel assured bringing their children to our accommodation, the booking form with the list of occupants goes a long way to providing this assurance.

In terms of management we have found over 15 years of trading that to avoid the issue of when a visitor may actually be intending to stay the night it is simpler to not accept visitors at all.

In many cases the houses are booked by people wishing a degree of peace and quiet and they do not wish to be disturbed by additional people and children from adjacent houses.

Yes, we can accept up to a maximum of 2 dogs in some of our cottages, in that they have secure gardens and are all hard-floor downstairs. We retain some cottages pet free to accommodate guests with pet allergies so please check if your cottage is suitable for pets when booking.

Unless your friends are booked into the cottages they cannot visit, as this is a breach of our insurance policy.

Parties of all types are not permitted at the cottages.

We must be informed if a member of your group leaves the cottage early as in the event of a fire or other serious incident we are the only persons who know who is actually in the house.

When leaving the cottage we would appreciate if you left the house as tidy as possible, all crockery, cutlery etc should be washed and the dish washer emptied, all the beds should be stripped leaving only the under pillow case and mattress protector. A Hoover and mop bucket are provided as well as cleaning utensils and chemicals.

Basically we ask you to leave the house as you found it. We now have a policy of not accepting a repeat booking from customers who do not leave the cottages as clean as we expect.

Arrival time is 4pm; it is generally not possible to arrive earlier as we need time to changeover each house and we usually have several houses to changeover on any given day.

If you will be arriving late please inform me before hand as then we can arrange collection of the keys.

There is a small Village Shop one mile away in the Bryansford, open to 6.00p.m. each evening, there is a larger Tesco store in Newcastle open to ten most nights in summer time and nine at other times of the year. There are a number of other convenience shops and Filling Station Shops in Newcastle and in Castlewellan open to 11.00 p.m. each evening. There is a local farmers market each 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month in Castlewellan, as Saturday is an arrival or departure day it may be possible to arrange delivery of a box of local organic produce to your house, please phone 028 43778655.

No. We don’t provide a welcome pack of foodstuffs for ethical and environmental reasons. If you need a large order for a family or group arrival we can purchase it at a local supermarket subject to a 10% surcharge, with a minimum charge of fifteen pounds.

Yes, bed lined is provided and the beds will be made-up, we will ask you if you require single or double beds so that we can make the beds in advance.

Again yes towels are provided, we provide one good quality towel per person.

Yes we can provide a cot and high chair, we make a small charge of three pounds per item, irrespective of the length of stay.

This is not permitted; the houses have a maximum number of occupants set by the local planning authority, this then dictates the number allowed by the Fire Service and the Tourist Board. If an unaccounted person is found at the cottage your entire group may be asked to leave.

Yes there is off-road car park that is only available to our customers, we have ample carparking at Tory Bush for Mini-Buses, Boat, trailers etc.

  Sorry but we no longer accept bookings from families with children or young persons aged under 16.

Yes, all the three bedroom houses have a downstairs bedroom with an en-suite shower-room with toilet and wash-hand basin. If your group does not need a large three-bedroom house but requires a house with a downstairs bedroom then we might consider charging a discounted rate.

We can accommodate for any where up to 46 people. Single beds are available for all members of your group.

Yes, across the shoulder and low seasons long-term lets are available at a reduced cost, up to a maximum of 6 months.

This is one of the most time consuming chores we have, trying to locate and return items as diverse as milk jugs and oven shelves to their rightful house, we have found the only way to reduce this is to charge for items missing from a house as though it were broken or stolen.

Not usually, but if a cottage is left exceptionally dirty the we will impose a final cleaning charge. We will not accept repeat bookings from groups that leave the house not as clean as we would expect.

Yes you will be charged for gas and electric which shouldn’t be more about one pound per day in summer, rising to about four pounds in winter.

There should be a hairdryer in each house, but often when groups are staying one member, not expecting a hairdryer to be present, often takes the hairdryer with them believing it to belong to another member of the group.

There is a washing machine in each house, and a number of external clothes lines and a moveable clothes line that can be brought to your cottage. We have  now installed a tumble dryer in most of our cottages.

Tory Bush is located exactly 4.5 mile out of Newcastle. The directions are, leave Newcastle following the signs for Tollymore Forest Park and Bryansford Village. About 1 mile out of Newcastle the entrance for Tollymore F P comes up on your left, drive pass this for another half a mile to a T junction in Bryansford where you turn left up through the village. On the left in the village is the little village shop and Post Office and telephone box and just past that there is the exit to Tollymore which is built like a Gothic Arch. From this point on there is the Forest Park wall on your left. This wall runs for about one mile and then ends, it turns down into the valley and farmland begins and you get a spectacular view of the mountains for the first time. About 300 metres after the wall ends there is a little road up to the right, this our road, at the junction on the left verge there is a brown Tourist Board sign indicating that the cottages are 350 metres up this road. Also at this junction is a little carpark where people sit and view the mountains and there is a little forest on the right where people go mountain biking.

The cottages are up this side road about 350 metres you will see the coloured buildings on the left as you drive up and a large stone with the cottages name, drive past the cottages and turn in to the entrance on left.