Extra Mile Books

Extra Mile Books Extra Mile Books is a Bristol-based independent publisher. Need a gift for a foodie? Shop books now. Out now!

Home of #1 best-selling guides to British farm shops, independent cafés, coastal cafés, and memorable spots to eat near motorway and main-road junctions. http://www.centralbooks.com/extra-mile-the.html

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The journey is part of the adventure. Unless of course that journey involves soulless, expensive motorway service stations, bland food, restless children and a six-mile tailback. Motorway services are boring – motorways are boring – but they’re a necessary and convenient evil when you need to break the journey, especially when travelling with kids and pets. The Extra Mile is an easy-to-navigate guide highlighting the best places to pause - within easy reach of arterial routes - for a more enjoyable and rewarding break. For us, that means good-quality local food from makers and growers, space for children and pets to let off steam, and attractive surroundings no more than 15 minutes’ drive from a junction. Eating and resting better and supporting local businesses without adding much to overall journey time.

03/09/2026

Next up from The Extra Mile Guide (delicious alternatives to motorway services) is The Stalls, just off the A36 near Salisbury.

The universe must be thanked for entangling the life paths of Maggie and Anna, two self-proclaimed 'massive foodies' who met while sailing the world researching microplastics.

Together they've created The Stalls, a licensed, cobbled café in restored shire stables that were built around 1580. Beamed with huge Douglas Fir, this café celebrates the local and minimises the miles. Beneath old carts that hang from the ceiling, local cheese boards with wine or whisky flights await. The brunch menu offers a classy selection of viennoiserie. Long-fermented sourdough toasties drip with Taw Valley mature cheddar while the signature toasts ooze mushrooms and blue cheese. For lunch, try the local beef in tacos, salads and melts.

Polynesian lattes and spicy chai vanilla milkshakes are a locally-crafted taste of faraway lands and their coffee steals the show, with beans from a local, independent roastery and dairy-fresh milk.



Grab your copy of The Extra Mile Guide from The Stalls or online at https://theextramile.guide/shop/, or your usual online bookshop. 😀

Introducing Porthclais Kiosk, proudly featured in The Coastal Cafe Guide. Porthclais is a tiny, 12th-century port in th...
01/09/2026

Introducing Porthclais Kiosk, proudly featured in The Coastal Cafe Guide. Porthclais is a tiny, 12th-century port in the far west of Wales. Built to serve the city of St Davids, it once zzed with traders importing timber, grain, limestone, and coal. Rocky cliffs and sheltered coves make for wild swimming, kayaking, and coasteering adventures.

Once energy is depleted, refuel at the dinky but delectable Portclais Kiosk. The blue-shuttered brick hut, a former pump room, supplies smooth coffee plus a bewildering selection of homemade bakes and generous sandwiches. The crooked arm of the harbour wall reaches into the green water, backed by gorse-speckled hills, and is prime real estate for crabbing, ice cream eating, and porpoise spotting. There aren’t many stops on this bit of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and you certainly won’t want to miss this one.

Grab your copy of the Coastal Café Guide from Porthclais Kiosk or online at https://theextramile.guide/shop/, or your usual online bookshop. 😀

Destination Stop Off!We’re thrilled to announce that we’re stocked with Teals.For those who know Teals, know that it’s n...
01/09/2026

Destination Stop Off!

We’re thrilled to announce that we’re stocked with Teals.
For those who know Teals, know that it’s not your average road trip stop-off. Sit down cafe/restaurant, deli, butcher, milk-station, gift shop…oh and a field to walk your dog and orchards to take a stroll and stretch your legs.

We also love that they put sustainability at the heart of the business. From no single use plastic to solar panels, Teals are there for Mother Nature.

Pick up a bottle of our Extra Virgin Avocado Oil made from saved avos next time you pop in. The perfect pantry pick up!

🥑💜

Next up from The Sauna Guide to SW England is... Hálogi in Plymouth. Starting life as a roaming horsebox sauna, it foun...
30/08/2026

Next up from The Sauna Guide to SW England is... Hálogi in Plymouth. Starting life as a roaming horsebox sauna, it found such a wonderful community in the redeveloped Royal William Yard – a historic former naval supply depot – that they decided to stay put. This 16-acre dockside complex is now a thriving destination and visitor- magnet with homes, eateries, workspaces, and a sauna on the lawn with ice baths cleverly tucked into archways.

Hálogi’s friendly crew keep the orange segments coming, the dip tubs chilled and filtered, and the sauna roaring at a toasty and traditional 90-95 degrees. All in all, it’s a rather stylish seaside affair, with every detail designed to promote deep peace and blissful relaxation (their homemade body scrubs are divine). Ask about their discounted mid-week social sessions or, if local, the tiered membership offers.

Grab your copy of The Sauna Guide from https://theextramile.guide/shop/, or your usual online bookshop. 😀

28/08/2026

Meet Bury Lane Farm Shop — one of the gems that makes The Farm Shop Guide so hard to put down.

Since 1983, Jeremy Clayton set up a small farm shop in a Cambridgeshire orchard, laying the roots of today’s modern enterprise.

Soon you'll be able to PYO pumpkins (and in season, tulips, peonies, dahlias and strawberries) and can scoop up some of the region’s best produce and gifts year-round; the ‘local heroes’ label denotes suppliers within a 30-mile radius.

There are baskets of loose fruit and vegetables, the deli counter has a focus on artisan British cheeses, and jars of Bury Lane’s strawberry jam line the shelves. The butchers and shmongers are impressive.

Kids love the farm-themed soft play barn and the seasonal outdoor beach adventure playzone, and there is a soothing sensory room for the under-twos and those with additional needs. And remember it come Christmas-time too, for December brings meals with Santa and Christmas trees galore.

Grab your copy of The Farm Shop Guide from Bury Lane or online at https://theextramile.guide/shop/, or your usual online bookshop. 😀

"Giving back more than we take out" is a motto of the fifth-generation Bowles family, current custodians of the wonderfu...
26/08/2026

"Giving back more than we take out" is a motto of the fifth-generation Bowles family, current custodians of the wonderful (and multi-award-winning) Hartley Farm.

Just off the A36 near Bath, this is one of the brilliant places found in The Extra Mile Guide - delicious alternatives to service stations.

Across their shop, eateries and events, the family's focus is on community, balance and proper, locally-grown food.

The Barn is a fusion of a building, where corrugated metal meets wood in a warmly-lit space. Like all good farm kitchens, this is a place to rest and replenish with good food and friends. The Farmhouse Breakfast and Vegilante Burger are solid choices. The wood-fired pizza oven is at the heart of things: try a Market Garden (chilli-roasted courgette) or sweet, thyme-roasted peach pizza.

The Cabin offers fresh-ground coffee, homemade cakes, sausage rolls and gelato to go; the paddock is for pergolas and benches, flowers and feasting (with a stretch-tent for wilder days). The farm shop and butchery are predictably good; a worthy diversion near Bath and Bradford-on-Avon.

Grab your copy of The Extra Mile Guide from Hartley Farm Shop, or online at https://theextramile.guide/shop/, or your usual online bookshop. 😀

FarmCo, now featured in The Farm Shop Guide, began in 2017 as a pop-up stall in a café bringing people produce direct fr...
24/08/2026

FarmCo, now featured in The Farm Shop Guide, began in 2017 as a pop-up stall in a café bringing people produce direct from nearby farms, growers, and makers. It swiftly expanded into an excellent online shopping portal where customers can order local, low-impact food for delivery.

The Market Hall – ‘a part-time farm shop’, as they describe it – opened post- pandemic as a response to demand for a bricks-and-mortar shop. It now sells the same top-notch Welsh produce in-person. Visitors will find a well curated selection of high quality food, from organic veg and pasture-fed beef to Welsh cheeses.

FarmCo’s new home-delivery service of sustainable meat and veg boxes (available across Wales and the West of England) launches soon: find details online. You are near the glorious Gower here, so compile a first-rate picnic to enjoy by the sea.

Grab your copy of The Farm Shop Guide from FarmCo or online at https://theextramile.guide/shop/, or your usual online bookshop. 😀

If immersion in nature is your goal with The Sauna Guide to South West England, it's happily unavoidable at Campwell Far...
22/08/2026

If immersion in nature is your goal with The Sauna Guide to South West England, it's happily unavoidable at Campwell Farm.

This forested retreat that’s a guaranteed entrant on any self-respecting Top Ten Saunas list is home to a magical off-grid camp atop a wildly wooded valley near Bath.

This memorable spot has cabins, yurts, and a cluster of bell tents at the heart of a 5thgeneration Wiltshire working farm, today stewarded by Tim Bowles and his family.

The farm has a large, wood-fired Finnish sauna with chilled and ambient tubs. You needn’t stay overnight to sauna: join a shared or women-only group or gather the heat-seekers for a private hire. There are rituals with sauna masters like Nick Tettersell, and forest bathing experiences, too. Let your cares dissolve as the Campwell alchemy takes over. (A second sauna is in the wings, check online.)

Grab your copy of The Sauna Guide from https://theextramile.guide/shop/, or your usual online bookshop. 😀

Introducing The Dunvegan - one of the brilliant places featured in The Coastal Cafe Guide. Nothing stirs the inner anim...
20/08/2026

Introducing The Dunvegan - one of the brilliant places featured in The Coastal Cafe Guide.

Nothing stirs the inner animal quite like cooking over fire. Chefs at The Dunvegan – a zero-waste spot at the loch’s edge – work over an Argentinian-styled asado grill (quite possibly the only one on Scotland’s West Coast) or a wood- red oven to provide succulent, smoke-tinged Scottish ‚avours.

Quality local produce is cured, smoked, pickled, and fermented here, for a menu that shifts with the seasons. Loch Bay shellfish and grass-fed Highland steaks are menu highlights and the bread, cakes, and desserts are all homemade.

The Dunvegan’s crew are passionate about exceptional food and drink, design, and the environment. Herbs and salads are all croft grown and fed with their own compost and, with Climavore.org, they focus on ecologically restorative ways to farm. Marvel at MacLeod’s Tables across the water, overnighting in a loch-view room if doing the eponymous 11km hike.

Grab your copy of The Farm Shop Guide from The Dunvegan or online at https://theextramile.guide/shop/, or your usual online bookshop. 😀

If The Extra Mile Guide is all about breaking journeys without having to resort to service stations, you won’t regret do...
18/08/2026

If The Extra Mile Guide is all about breaking journeys without having to resort to service stations, you won’t regret doing so at Wotton Farm in Gloucestershire.

You'll arrive to be greeted by fuzzy-headed Bantam chickens scratching around in their pen, like little Cossacks. In the Potting Shed Café, bag your own 'shed' to take in the hillside views as you await food fresh from the kitchen: filled baguettes, thick-cut bacon sandwiches, jacket potatoes, quiches, sandwiches and 'scones as big as your fist'. Cakes are carved in generous hunks; try the coffee and walnut or millionaire’s shortbread.

The plant-encircled farm shop is a treasure trove: Tayberry jam, Cotswold vegetables, local onion relish, a heaving deli counter, cooked meats, cheese, scrumptious frozen meals (no one need know) and posies of fresh flowers. In spring select a bright hanging basket, in summer a punnet of soft fruit fresh from the fields.

The stacks of ceramics, garden gifts and country homewares are expertly selected: prepare to come away with a bag full of foodie loot.

Grab your copy of The Extra Mile Guide from Wotton Farm Shop or online at https://theextramile.guide/shop/, or your usual online bookshop. 😀

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