Nothing here is captioned in place of being built. Hover, focus, active, disabled, loading, empty and error states are all present as real markup so they can be inspected, measured and copied. Values come from tokens.css; no framework, no dependency beyond Cabin and Bitter.
Block 2
Buttons
Four variants, three sizes, six states. The longest label in the system (Check availability on Cottages.com) and the shortest (Order logs) must read as siblings — both are shown below at the same size.
Sizes — large · default · small · full-width mobile
On dark and over photography
The focus ring is a 2px ground-coloured gap then a 3px ring. On photography the gap is white and the ring is ink — a bare ring disappears into image detail.
Block 2
Form fields
A failed form on a phone with one bar of signal is a lost enquiry, so the error state is designed as carefully as the default. Every field is 48px tall minimum with a 44px hit area on every control.
Text — default · focus · filled · disabled
Text — error · success · with help text
Textarea · select · date
Checkbox — default · focus · checked · disabled
Send me a note when the log shed refillsSend me a note when the log shed refillsSend me a note when the log shed refillsSend me a note when the log shed refills
Radio — delivery or collection, selected · default · focus · disabled
Local delivery (radius pending)Collect from the yardCollect from the yardPallet courier — not on this product
Quantity stepper — default · focus · at minimum · at maximum
2208
Turnstile slot — unverified · verified
Turnstile — verifying you're a person
Verified — Cloudflare Turnstile
A visually-hidden honeypot sits alongside on all three forms. It is present in this file — inspect for .gs-visually-hidden.
Submitted successfully · submission failed
That's with us
We answer enquiries the same day where we can. If it's urgent, ring the farm.
That didn't send
Your message is still here — nothing has been lost. Try again, or ring us instead.
Three states, always visible, and shown per lake — a booked match takes a whole lake out of use, so one combined number would mislead. Every chip carries a dot and a word; never colour alone.
Top lake · places availableBottom lake · a few places leftFull for this date
Key-facts row — four confirmed facts, one provisional slot. Wraps at 375.
Sleeps 105 bedroomsPrivate hot tubLevel accessFreestanding bath (to confirm)
Block 2
Header — four grounds
The wordmark is Direction B: "Goldstones" with an amber rule and stacked FAMILY / FARM. The logo sits in a fixed bounding box so the finished mark is a file swap, not a header rebuild. The basket indicator stays visible at every width.
The drawer is full-height, opens in 240ms ease-out, and the page behind it holds position with scroll locked. Closing reverses the same duration.
Block 3
Heroes
Three variants. Text over photography always sits on the scrim and is always cream — amber letterforms on a bright sky sit on the AA threshold, so amber appears as a rule beside the eyebrow instead.
Home — full bleed, H1, standfirst, two buttons
Ashdon · Saffron Walden · North Essex
A working family farm, open to all.
Stay the weekend, cast a line, stock the larder or put us to work on your land.
Someone is usually about. If not, leave a message and we'll ring back the same day.
Block 3
Cards
Gate, cottage, product and service. The service card has no image slot at all — a moss rule and a line mark instead — because the contracting work will probably never be photographed, and an empty frame reads as broken.
The fishing rules are the longest list on the site and are read carefully by people who intend to follow them, so legibility beats elegance: numbered, generously spaced, one column on mobile.
What's in the barn
Private hot tubWood burnerLevel accessEnclosed gardenParking on siteWi-fi throughoutMeadow walksCot and highchair
Rules of the lakes
Please read before you set up.
01A valid Environment Agency rod licence is required.02Barbless hooks only.03Unhooking mat and landing net on every peg.04No keepnets without prior agreement.05Take every scrap of litter home with you.06No fires — stoves on stands only.07Park in the marked area, not on the banks.08Children under 14 with an adult at all times.
Block 3
Bands
The seasonal strip must survive with an image and without, with a button and without, and with a heading of four words or twenty. All four permutations are below.
This month on the farm
The log shed is filling up
Ash and oak cut last winter, split and stacked since spring. Order now for delivery before the clocks change.
It reads as a door rather than an error because it keeps the farm's radius, type and button shape — only the ground changes. Full-bleed navy edge to edge reads as a section that failed to load.
Block 4
Shop, basket and hand-off
The unit matters more than the price. A "load" of logs is meaningless to a first-time buyer, so the unit gets its own line with real weight — this is the component that prevents a phone call.
Firewood
Seasoned hardwood logs
The unit
One load — a full tipping trailer
Roughly a winter's worth for one wood burner. If you're not sure, ring and we'll talk it through.
Species
Ash, oak and beech
Seasoning
Cut last winter, air dried since
Moisture
Under 20%
Delivery
radius pending · or collect from the yard
1£ — —
Basket — drawer on desktop, full page on mobile
Your basket
Seasoned hardwood logsper load
2£ — —
Kindlingper net
1£ — —
Subtotal£ — —
Delivery is worked out at checkout, or collect from the yard for nothing.
Delivery or collection — chosen before checkout, because it changes the price
Stripe hand-off — the moment of leaving
Taking you to Stripe to pay
Your basket is saved. Stripe handles the card details — we never see them. You'll come straight back here afterwards.
Return page — order confirmed
That's paid — thank you
There's a receipt in your inbox. We'll be in touch to arrange a delivery day, usually within two working days.
Block 4 · post-freeze variant
Day tickets and the date picker
One ticket type — dawn till dusk — so there is no type selector. Two steppers at £10 and £5 with a live total. The picker is the most-used control on the site and gets used outdoors, possibly in gloves.
Buy a day ticket
Dawn till dusk · 23 pegs across two lakes
Top lake · places availableBottom lake · a few places left
Choose a date
August 2026
MTWTFSS
1234567891011121314151617181920212223
ChosenOpenMatch on one lakeClosed
Who's fishing?
Adult£10 each
2
Under 16£5 each
1
2 adults + 1 under 16 · Sat 15 AugustTotal
£25
A current Environment Agency rod licence is required — buy one on GOV.UK.
Sold out — names the reason, offers the next date
Full for this dateSat 22 August is taken
A club match has the bottom lake that day. The top lake still has pegs on the Sunday.
The month is full-bleed inside the card, so it takes the page width rather than the card’s inner width. Seven 44px columns plus 2px gaps need 320px; a 375px phone offers 333px. No scrolling at or above the 375 floor — overflow-x:auto sits on the band purely as a guard, so narrower Android widths degrade to a scroll rather than hiding a day of the week.
Match bookings
£100per lake
Take a lake for the day, dawn till dusk. Two lakes, so two matches can run at once or one club can have the pair.
HoursDawn till dusk
Pegs23 across two lakes
Day tickets£10 / £5 under 16
Block 4
Enquiry forms
Three forms — match, contracting, general contact. All three carry a Turnstile slot and a visually-hidden honeypot. Match bookings are an enquiry, not a checkout, because the date has to be agreed with the farm.
Enquire about a match
Tell us roughly when and how many, and we'll confirm what's free.
Turnstile — verifying you're a person
We answer match enquiries the same day where we can. Nothing is charged until a date is agreed.
Contracting enquiry
What, where and roughly when. We'll come back with a price.
Verified — Cloudflare Turnstile
General contact
Turnstile — verifying you're a person
Block 3
Gallery, prose, empty state and 404
The empty state is a real destination, not an apology. Both it and the 404 give the visitor somewhere to go.
+6
Swipeable on mobile · tap opens the lightbox · arrows and Escape on desktop
Prose block — 68ch measure
Four generations, one patch of Essex
The farm has been worked by the same family since before the war. It is still a working farm first — the combine goes out every August, the contracting keeps the yard busy through the winter, and everything else has grown up around that.
Why we opened the gate
Diversifying was not a rebrand. The barns were standing empty, the gravel pits had filled with water, and people kept asking. So we tidied the barns, stocked the lakes, and started selling the logs we were already cutting.
The barns were converted in 2019 and let year round
