Alun Thorne and his family found a place in Cornwall where re-charging batteries comes as standard.

Pat and Dave Smith have embraced the digital age.

They may have spent a lifetime living off the land but they understand that modern tools are needed for a successful modern business.

“I blog as often as I can,” said Pat, who along with her husband bought Bosinver Farm in 1998, “It’s about what’s going on, where are the best places to go, the best places to eat, we go along and try things out.”

For Pat it’s about the customer experience and the blog is just part of their quest over the past 14 years to create an enclave of luxurious tranquillity around the farm that Dave (or ‘Farmer Dave’ as he is known on his Facebook fan page) continues to work.

When the pair bought the 30 acre site in a hidden valley between St Austell and Mevagissey it was a farmhouse and a series of run down wooden chalets which, slowly but surely, has grown into a village – if that is the right word – of 15 beautifully appointed holiday cottages.

The whole ethos of the farm is relaxation – the Smiths are on a mission to banish the stresses and strains of modern life, an affliction suffered by many of those who cross the Bosinver threshold.

In terms of location, Bosinver is as good a base as you will get to explore the rest of Cornwall but the point of Bosinver is that you may not actually want to go anywhere.

The cottages range in size, sleeping from four to 12, but what they all share is the kind of amenities you might expect in a suite rather than a cottage – en-suite bathrooms, state-of-the-art kitchens and hand-picked art, all tastefully blended with fresh flowers, comfy sofas and magnificent views and completely in tune with their rural and historic settings.

There is even a spectacular zero-carbon eco-home built using local wood, stone and other materials and boasting the latest renewable technology.

At the heart of Bosinver is the Grade 2 listed farmhouse, which was made of stone and cob in the 16th century and is believed to have been a forest ranger’s house when much of the area around St Austell was still wooded.

A number of the original out-buildings of the farm have also been totally restored and now house things like a play barn for the kids, a laundry and a free DVD library. There is also a games barn with snooker, table tennis and the like, not to mention a tennis court.

But while staying indoors is no hardship, Bosinver is a working farm with meadows and woodland to disappear into amongst the livestock that graze there.