Our Story

Meet our family; Alex, Vanessa, Izzy, Billy and Millie the cat; and since June 2012 our ferocious puppy, Oona! We moved from Bath in March 2012 in the search for adventure, an escape from the ‘rat race’ and a new way of life to allow us to watch Izzy and Billy grow up with plenty of outdoor activity.

Vanessa grew up in Kent, where her parents were successful farmers and went on to study Hotel Management and Tourism at Manchester Metropolitan University. Alex spent his childhood living in Norwich and spent many an hour messing about on the Broads, before spending some years with his Spanish relatives in Fuerteventura in the Canaries. We met whilst we were both working in London and after a year touring the States and Central America (researching ideas for a business!), we returned to England, moved to beautiful Bath and opened a successful tapas bar and cafe.

After 10 years we made a bold decision to leave our wonderful and
much loved friends, school and home in search for a different way of
life... and here we are!

We took the reins of the Bodiam Ferry Company from Jim and Bev
Newman; who I’m sure will be greatly missed by the large number of
regular campers and ferry visitors, and we are thankful that they will
remain in the area. We are all adapting well to our new lifestyle and
are really enjoying everything this beautiful setting and region has to
offer.

So far, we have re-branded the business, increased the offerings in the
cafe, introduced a breakfast delivery service and fire pits in the
campsite and added kayaking to the river activities. Currently, the
cottage is being replaced with a kit house! We have planning permission to develop a new cafe with indoor seating and a small farm shop and we are brimming with more ideas of ways to put Bodiam Boating Station firmly on the map.

There will be lots of exciting prospects and changes in the future months and we will keep you up to date with these plans via our website, Facebook and Twitter pages.

We look forward to seeing you here soon and hope you will enjoy sharing our journey with us.