Privacy and Cookie Policy updates

We have been having the most glorious May. The gardens are looking splendid and we have had lots of guests enjoying the lovely Peak District. We have had to turn our attention, as lots of others have, to become compliant with new laws.

We are sure that you are all aware that the new GDPR laws came into effect on May 2018. We have updated our Privacy and Cookie Policy together with our Terms and Conditions. We take security and privacy seriously and have updated our policies to reflect all the new legislation. The policies can be viewed by clicking on the Policy link at the bottom of any of the pages on this website. Do get in touch with us if you have any questions.

Spring clean in the barns

Tom’s Barn and Douglas’s Barn have been closed this week for a complete repaint and spring clean. The painters have already completed Douglas’s Barn and Janet and Louise have worked their magic to get it all spruced up and ready for business again. Tom’s Barn will be open again next Friday and Douglas’s is available for a last minute break. Both barns are starting to get busy so worth booking early to avoid disappointment

The Dreaded Inspectors Drop in on Douglas’s Barn

The mystery shoppers are at it again, honing in again on Douglas’s Barn, where we last stayed almost a year ago, in November 2011. We get wonderfully appreciative comments from all our guests but there is always the sneaky worry that they are just being polite. And of course, we do just want to make absolutely sure everything is as good as we can make it and there is nothing like the owners’ critical eye.

Are our lovely guests just being polite? we wondered, and having a spare midweek short break without a booking this week we decided this was the signal for another hard-hitting personal inspection.

So in we moved in, from next door (a nicely green ‘car-free’ journey) to see how we would fare, with the aim once again of trying absolutely everything out, from boot dryers to using our brand new TV (wih HD) and Sky (where I quickly became unstuck, ditto the microwave) which is quite sobering. How do our poor guests cope? We have a file with all the manuals, conveniently placed in the drawer beneath the microwave, but apart from needing an advanced degree in Microwave technology and accompanying jargon, a month or two of spare time would help.

Note one to ourselves: to make sure we know how to work everything and can produce a short, summarised, easy to follow instruction. We’re already working on it.

We cooked a full meal, using the oven and grill, electric beaters (I’m sure the misshapen cake was my fault), the electronic scales, several saucepans and a cake tin, measuring jug etc etc. So far so good: except the electric beaters looked very tired and smelled a bit hot after a minute or two; the ‘leather’ place mats didn’t pass muster, we discovered under a bright light one of the wine glasses to be slightly chipped so…

Note 2: Compile a (long) shopping list for urgent replacements.

We already knew it was time for our six monthly ‘decor spruce up’ and had arranged with Jason Fowkes, our wonderful decorator, to come on an inspection of walls and paintwork so we could plan what to do. Jason is excellent also as consultant. He has an artistic eye and very high standards, and as he is in close contact with so many really super properties he has a keen idea of what works well.

So he has been hard at work all day and is coming back for another, just making everything as smart and bright as possible. We identified together that the bathroom flooring needs replacing, probably with tiles, and we are hoping our joiner, David Goldstraw, will make us a nice wooden side panel for the bath to replace the original one that came with the bath six years ago.

Note 3: Add to our list of things we need to achieve (we have been waiting six months now for our courtyard to be resurfaced, Shaun needs a reminder…)

Finally, I must admit that we were very warm in Douglas’s Barn, coming as we do from our draughty, old and distinctly coolish house. With the oven going, saucepans on the hob, central heating on with all the radiators full bore, we were soon down to t-shirts and going outside for a quick cool down/breath of fresh air. So now we have learnt, to turn the radiators down to the lowest setting and not to rely on more than one sweater! Modern house insulation is a wonderful thing, and a very novel experience for us… We’ll certainly advise our guests not to have the radiators turned up too high (thank goodness they all have an individual thermostat).

We still have another night, before shortly moving the microscope onto Tom’s Barn. No peace for the wicked.

Keep the Home Fires Burning?

A busy day today and it is pleasant to relax now.

Fridays are always busy but today was busier than necessary.

We had a Fire Safety Assessment scheduled for today (they had to have entry into both barns, so it had to be a Friday). When I realised today was also our cleaning day I rang to explain that we would not have much time to spare, could we perhaps suggest that another day might be better? The very pleasant man assured me there was absolutely no need to worry. ‘We’ll only take a few minutes of your time he said and then we’ll spend the rest inspecting both barns on our own’.

Well, rather predictably, the whole visit took over two hours, and for a lot of it in spite of their assurances, they needed one of us there. As John was busy power washing our stone slabs which with all this rain were getting very potentially slippery, of course the one of us the Fire Audit men needed was me. I must have appeared very distracted and possibly not as cooperative as I/they would have wished. When you want, as we do, each barn to look immaculate when guests arrive, so it feels to them as if no one has ever been before, this doesn’t happen by chance. It takes 4 1/2 to 5 hours of sheer physical (loving – we take a pride in it) slog. And it’s got to be ready when the guests arrive. Unlike some deadlines, there is no scope for saying ‘ Sorry, I’ll be a day or two late’, or even an hour or two…

Anyway, with John drafted in after he’d got all the slabs looking startlingly anaemic and for the moment not even potentially slippery, and all was well. We finished in time, as did Janet in Tom’s Barn, so that’s that for a couple of days.

Ad as for the audit, we now await the official report. Nothing dramatic was mentioned today; we were told we ought to have an extra smoke detector at the top of the stairs in both barns and one or two other very sensible suggestions. After all, the last thing anyone wants is a fire so any advice to help prevent the likelihood is gratefully received and acted upon if practicable

More news later, when we have received the report.

Why on earth ask us about holiday cottages?

A disclaimer: Presuming to write this does sound horribly big-headed, but we have been asked for advice about holiday cottages over the years by a number of friends, colleagues and relations and we have just had another urgent plea from a family friend, so John and I have tried to put our thoughts together, hopefully helpfully.

It’s funny the way things go – one spends ages feeling a complete novice and long before feeling at all confident – if indeed one ever does – suddenly people start asking for advice. This massive status leap takes some getting used to.

The fact is that we have now been going for well over a decade. Tom’s Barn’s transformation from dilapidated cow shed’ to des. hol. res’ took place in 2000; Douglas’s Barn, the newbie on the block, only saw the light of day in 2006.

Over the years we have learnt a lot, and still are learning, all the time, but are very happy to share what we have learnt with anyone interested, and also to pick other people’s brains too. One could never claim to have all the answers.

We take it very seriously, absolutely love it and live it. We don’t think of it as a business as such but nor is it a little hobby on the side. It more feels like a happy extension of what John and I have been involved in all our adult lives (and my parents before that in their career abroad) – looking after people and doing all one can to ensure they are comfortable and happy! So, here goes…

1: First do your research!

Assuming you have a property in mind (if not, look for somewhere in an attractive area, reasonably near you or someone extremely responsible) our first advice to anyone thinking of launching out, is to do your homework with an eye on the local market and of course, the available budget. Ask around – is there a gap in the local provision or might you be overloading it? What seems to go well locally? Will you easily be able to find essential local suppliers and domestic help?

I’d recommend at this stage sending for holiday cottage brochures and looking at websites to help get a feel for what’s around and what you’re aspiring to. Look at local holiday cottage websites and talk to local owners; think of your local colleagues as friends and not competitors. it can be a lonely business if you’re all on your own and you’ll find sharing information and support with them is invaluable.

Also, it might be worth getting in touch with your official local tourism people who might have some very useful information about the local situation, and also, just possibly, where you might get local professional advice or even financial help if you are tackling an ‘interesting’ building. Locally there is an e-Business club which provides wonderful training workshops for people setting up new businesses (no longer free sadly, but still modestly priced). It would be worth finding out if there is anything similar in your area.

At this stage possibly start thinking about good local builders, sympathetic to what you are trying to achieve, and architects if appropriate. Depending on what you are hoping to do, and to what, you may have to get planning permission from your local District Council for change of use or whatever is deemed necessary – it’s best to be safe if you’re in any doubt! In our case, the Peak Park authorities have a big say in any project and it is very wise to work with them from the start.

2. Decisions

Bearing in mind what clues you’ve picked up about the potential demand local support, think hard about the kind of holiday cottage you would like to have – cheap and cheerful or more expensive and select, for families with children or cosy twosomes, for big parties and group celebrations or perhaps as part of a creative centre running classes and demonstrations…?

We would always advise going for the highest standard you possibly can, whatever you category you plump for. Ask the Visit England Quality in Tourism people for their booklet explaining their grading system, with guidelines for the relevant star grading, 5 being the top. This way you will get a clear idea of what needs to be done to achieve – without too many tears and tantrums – the standard you would like.

By this time you should be ready to start making some concrete plans… Stage two in a few days!

I couldn’t rest putting in this pic of Orchard Farm as it was. It’s not really relevant at all, but it is in so much as it gives an indication that we have a track record of sorts!

Madam, you have a knife in your handbag

… The Swallows and I, we flew to South Africa leaving one husband/ swallow photographer behind…

The swallows will fly over western France to South Africa, at an average speed according to the RSPB of 35 mph, in search of warmer weather and juicier insects. No security checks, iris recognition checks, ‘six clear pages in the passport’ worries for them.

I too have flown to South Africa, but rather faster at about 500 mph, to see my sister again who is recovering slowly in hospital; juicy insects were something I did my best to avoid (nearly successfully).

The weather was not particularly good apart from a couple off beautiful sunny mornings but with most of the time spent in an air conditioned hospital the weather was not a priority. However I must admit that on Saturday I did enjoy a super breakfast in the sunshine on the Durban beach front with a friend of my sister which felt refreshingly if briefly holiday-like.

Not so the question mark, the permanent blot perhaps, on my security status. “Did you pack your bags yourself?” “Could anyone have tampered with your luggage?” I answered confidently. “Could you please step this way, madam?” Off I stepped, puzzled.

The security man lowered his voice, “We have identified a knife in your bag.” I expressed horrified disbelief and then remembered my darling husband had packed one of his special picnics for me to eat in the train to London. He is well known for his delicious picnics, always with a surprise or two, never dull.

I had eaten most of it in the train but not the last few foil-wrapped things which I had imagined enjoying at Heathrow. The explanation was obvious. My hand flew to my mouth as I realised the significance of my confiding to the official about the picnic with unknown surprises packed into my bag for me by my husband…

Sure enough: there was a table knife, and a small foiled wrapped avocado (grenade?). He tested the blade for sharpness. It was fortunately blunt. He tested it for length. It was longer than is acceptable. So the knife was confiscated, and the avo/grenade, and my bag and its contents taken away for specialist checks. Fortunately no explosives were identified; it was soon returned and I was allowed to move on.

I did feel very foolish. Locking back on it, it was very reassuring that the knife was spotted, and how the situation was dealt with. The young security man was charming – courteous and polite throughout – he probably thought I was some poor old soul who shouldn’t be allowed out on my own but he couldn’t have dealt with the situation more pleasantly.

And now I am back again, hopefully with my security status unblemished. It is good to be back; it always is however much one has enjoyed being away and I have loved being with my sister and seeing my brother-in-law and some old friends.

It is good to be back. Everything seems to have run seamlessly in my absence, John, Janet and co proving me reassuringly dispensable. The air is sweet and everything always seems so peaceful, particularly after the hustle and bustle of air travel and airports these days. (Dubai airport at 3am was crowded with thousands of travellers rushing to their flight, eating exotic meals in the numerous restaurants or shopping in the amazingly glitzy shops… What meal is it, at 3 in the morning?)

Whatever it is, I shall do a personal security check on my next JFS picnic.

Interior Design Dilemmas

People often very kindly compliment us on the colour and furnishing and fittings in both barns, and it is easy to thank them graciously, brushing it off with a, ‘Well we had a lot of fun choosing everything”. Which is true up to a point, and mainly in retrospect. At the time one agonises.

And we have been agonising again – this time over quilt covers. We had been thinking, Janet, John, Carol and I that Tom’s Barn bedlinen was about due for a revamp, and when I was in London recently I found myself with a few hours to kill, in the Bedding section of John Lewis, in Oxford Street.

Whether it was my state of mind or the current fashion in bedding, but – well, for a start the most lovely ones were hundreds of pounds – designer designs – so out of the question. The next stage down, in standing if not in quality, everything seemed charmingly, if subtly, tasteful with very muted patterns and colours; ever practical I couldn’t help but suspect that very soon subtle might turn into faded and over-washed and just plain dull.

I did actually buy a very pretty plain – no subtlety here – duck egg blue set, in a lovely cotton; having previously bought a rather fun Emma Bridgewater (yes, I too thought she was just china and tea-towels) duvet cover with swallows, which as you can imagine met with John’s approval. While I was in J. Lewis I found a lovely dark blue sheet and pillow cases to go with it – so far so very restrained and good.

Common sense began to fade; I found I kept returning to the most vivid (lurid?) and exciting quilt cover, only to retreat once again as common sense briefly rallied. Time began running short and in desperation I blurted to the assistant, ‘Yes, I’ll have that rather vivid one after all’ and the die was cast. Back home, doubts returned twofold but I knew that if all was lost, John and I could keep the offending duvet cover for ourselves. Before launching it at our hapless guests I decided the only solution was to ask Facebook friends – this was surely consulting the market place.

The cover was displayed on our Tom’s Barn and Douglas’s Barn page and my doubts revealed. Responses were varied but tended towards the positive so it will be on the Tom’s Barn bed next Friday… Watch this space!

Sharing Secret and Other Domestic Tips and Delights

A disclaimer, just in case anyone thinks I have suddenly grown my hair, affected an American accent and become a wonder housewife overnight: the heroine of this secret-revealing video is not me!

Having got that clear, here are one or two little snippets which are probably more momentous this side of the fence than yours…

The first ‘secret’, to fulfil several recent requests – and in fact this might be the best one of all – is to give you the link to our Fake Bakewell Tart recipe, which we are asked for so very very often.

Perhaps we ought to have a video of this wonder housewife/cook making the recipe? (I think not, probably!)

And now for an eBay delight, about dinner plates, no less… It can’t have escaped recent Tom’s Barn guests that there were only 5 dinner plates on the rack, six or more of everything else. Ever since the sixth and last of our supply was withdrawn from active service we have tried, absolutely in vain, to ‘source’ as they say these days, some Wedgwood Garden Maze replacements, even going to the Wedgwood factory shop in Stoke. I scoured sites that stock odd plates, and kept checking on eBay, where one could find everything possible from soup tureens to serving platters but neery a dinner plate.

Last night our daughter Ruthie rang to say she had successfully bid for SIX on eBay!! Can you believe it? So that is one problem off the list. The alternative would have to have been replacing everything. (Five Stars – everything in a set must be matching…).

The next ongoing ‘issue’ has been a debilitating and permanent difficulty we have all shared in the Orchard Farm laundry department over folding fitted sheets so they’re fit to grace a Tom’s or Douglas’s Barn bed which for a Five Star listing has to have immaculately laundered bedlinen.

Imagine my delight, then, to discover on Pinterest this YouTube video showing one how simple it really should be.

 

Social Media Networking

Yesterday at 7.30 am (had to get that in) I was in Chesterfield, 40 minutes’ drive away, to attend a Breakfast Briefing’ on ‘What’s New in Social Media’. It was stimulating, fast moving and very informative, presented by someone whose life-work it is: he really knows and lives for his social media. For those of us who dabble with some enjoyment but no expertise and even less time, the message is daunting.

Using ‘Social Meeja’ is a networking must for individuals and a marketing must for small business and large corporations. The large organisations have huge departments, and budgets; little people like us have nothing to call on but ourselves in a day which doesn’t grow any longer. It is very exciting, but it is also very sobering to think that we are all in thrall to the Microsoft and Google type giants who are continually competing to woo customers to their tills.

Yesterday we learnt in a fast-moving workshop that Google+ is a must, as is Pinterest, and what about LinkedIn? And Facebook has completely changed all its rules so we must learn them, and Twitter – a mass of hyperlinks and self-promotion perhaps should (or so it seems to me as a Twitter ignoramus). Everything is getting slicker, quicker, different. How quickly things change…

Twelve years ago when Tom’s Barn was first born as a ‘top of the (then) range’ luxury holiday cottage for two, we did not even have a website. At first we used a letting agency, and as one of several thousand properties we featured in their brochure. The whole process of booking was lengthy and time-consuming as all our correspondence was done by post and guests paid by cheque. The agency jealously guarded the rights to ‘their’ property and strongly discouraged returning guests or others from trying to make any independent approaches at all, even when they had not provided a booking for the dates in question.

We quite soon decided to break away from the agency. As we launched out into the scary unknown, we realised there was a price to be paid for exciting independence in terms of cash and hard work and as well as everything else we would have to provide our own publicity. We designed our first, extremely amateur leaflet ourselves (soon replaced by an extremely expensive but much more ‘grownup’ version. Then we commissioned our first website which we thought was wonderfully sophisticated but was actually rather lumbering and cumbersome and we had to rely on the very patient designer man to make every change that was necessary which could mean waiting months.

We were accepted to join Premier Cottages who also had a website, but also cumbersome in current terms. And now we are on our fourth website version, the majority of bookings are done online, all correspondence is done by email. And do we have more time now that everything is so slick? For all sorts of good reasons the answer seems to be less than ever…! The not so good reason is the lure of social networking – enjoying what you can do, and trying to get to grips with what you are still tackling. Facebook is the biggest time-waster, but such fun. I have started with Pinterest and Google+ and am determined to make a go of both, eventually. Of the two Google+ is thought to be potentially very important for all sorts of Google-significant reasons including featuring well on Google searches.

My current dilemma is I can’t seem to find more than about ten of our friends, colleagues and business contacts who use it yet. If any kind soul reads this who can help out, please let us join circles!!! Otherwise, just pity me.

Keep Calm and Carry on Eating Cake

In spite of the fact we get very few people actually commenting on the blog friends, guests and often complete strangers will email us, or tell me on Facebook or at parties how much they actually enjoy reading our blog. They do say they enjoy John’s photos too which doesn’t surprise me. I really enjoy writing the posts, just wish I had more time to indulge my weakness! It feels just like keeping in touch with friends, and is a wonderful pastime and stress reliever.

Some nice soul emailed this today: I regularly keep up to date with your blogs; they are a joy to read and much more cheerful than the news, national or international.

Potentially much more cheerful than the news or indeed our blogs, tonight I have a newish recipe which i have tried out twice now and which has received the thumbs up from guests, family and friends. It is a variation on the permanent favourite Fake Bakewell. Perhaps we ought to call it a Cherry Fakewell?

I asked John to take a photo, but he wasn’t quite quick enough before most of the last batch had disappeared, hence the rather sparse display on the plate.

Tom’s & Douglas’s Barns
Cherry Special Bakewell Tart

If you think of the basic recipe as being for every egg 4 oz of ground rice/ground almonds, sugar and butter you can make the size you want. I always make this in a large Aga baking tray so it is the basic recipe times four. For normal family use one would probably do half, i.e. 2 eggs etc.

Recipe:
1lb good (Stork) soft margarine (or butter if you’re feeling expansive)
I lb sugar
*1/2lb ground rice
*1/2lb ground almonds
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Almond extract
Flaked almonds
Fresh stoned cherries, or one tin of cherries, well drained
Short crust pastry (either a bought block or made with 1lb flour)
About half jar jam (sharpish like raspberry, blackcurrant or homemade plum) For the Cherry Bakewell I used cherry jam and some raspberry, as the latter seems a bit softer and possibly moister.

Method:
Roll out the pastry and line the tin you are using. Spread the jam over, and cherries if using. Ideally put the tin (layered with cherries and jam) into the fridge but I can’t say I always – or actually ever – do!

Melt the butter/marge and sugar in a saucepan on a lowish heat, stirring occasionally to ensure the sugar completely dissolves into the melted butter. Add the ground rice/almonds and leaving it on the heat, stir for a minute or two until it is all well mixed and smooth. Take off the heat, and when it is a bit cooler, stir in the beaten eggs and a generous teaspoon and a bit (to size and taste) of almond extract.

Pour the mixture onto the pastry. Sprinkle generously with flaked almonds and pop it into the oven. In the Aga (2-door) I put it on the bottom grid of the top oven with the cold plain sheet over, for about 25-30 minutes+ until it is firm, looks golden and the almonds nicely coloured.

*It is perfectly delicious – and I rather think better – made with just ground rice and no ground almonds at all, but I often do half and half. I’ve never (yet) done it with all ground almonds.