Your Roving Reporters in the West Country

Holiday cottages in Cornwall – there’s hardly any limit to the lengths one will go to undertake market research. We were enticed by a delightful invitation from Ruthie and Nick, our English young – which  sadly because of the distance could not include the Autralian contingent-  to celebrate our recent significant but unmentionable  birthdays in a holiday cottage they had selected for the purpose, in Cornwall.

Well, we did enjoy being guests, both of our offspring and of the holiday cottage. The Cornish property sleeps six, and is in Polperro, an old-fashioned,  quite charming little harbour town on the south coast, which in the past was an important smugglers’ headquarters.

The differences between this cottage and our two barns could hardly be more marked – our Cornish retreat is all white painted wood and seaside-y, with a little courtyard terrace behind and the sound of the River Pol and the sea in front; seagulls cry mournfully overhead (when they are  not snatching ice cream cones or chips out of poor unsuspecting holiday makers’ hand). ..

We were promised parking for one, which we naively assumed beforehand would be beside the cottage. No such luck! The parking spot was in the town car park, a brisk ten minutes walk away, and our luggage had to be transported by a buggy and trailer down the narrow and twisting alleyways. Actually, it was rather delightful after we had got over the shock.

In terms of market research it would not be fair to compare our cottage with Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns. Our Cornish one was was for six on a seaside holiday;  it was run by an agent, so “little extras” there were none, not even a teabag; fortunately, we had prepared ourselves for such an eventuality.

There is Sky TV (but only three logs for our use on the logburner – and no suggestions where on earth one might buy more – but fortunately the weather was so warm we didn’t even need one log…!). The kitchen however was  extremely well equipped and in every other way everything was perfect for our needs.

Also,  a few yards from the door are innumerable little eating places, so we even had a bacon buttie for breakfast one morning, and of course an obligatory Cornish pasty – and a cream tea.

After all this indlugence I must add we did a 6 and 3/4 mile stint of the the South West Coastal Path, from Polperro to Polruan. The entire  ‘walk’ was toiling up rough, at times quite slithery, vertical slopes, and then plunging all the way down again only to have immediately to start once more on the uward trail.

We felt exhausted but tremendous when we finally reached Polruan – even the superfit young reckoned it to be quite a triumph generally  but I couldn’t resist marvelling that six months go I was hobbling along on crutches with a broken fibula so I gave a quiet thanks to the French doctor in the Alps and the NHS who obviously did all the right things.

News and Pics from Katie and Dan who stayed here last week

Katie and Dan, who spent their honeymoon  here in Tom’s Barn last week have just sent us these lovely photos taken while they were here, with full permission to put them up on the blog for all to see.

One evening while they were here this enormous hot air balloon hovered somewhat menacingly over Orchard Farm for several minutes: it really did feel that it might suddenly plummet down at our feet, but by the time of the photo is had found a sudden burst of wind and was on its way over the hill.

Katie writes:  “We are definitely feeling more rested and relaxed after our break, and it really was the perfect honeymoon, so thank you! We encountered the horses on our walk on the way to Brassington – they were very friendly and curious!”

So, thank you very much, Katie and Dan. (And we loved meeting you.)

Bean crunching: occupancy stats for our barns

The weather has turned lovely again, which is wonderful. It makes it particularly sad that I should have actually chosen to be indoors at the moment, out of the sun and sitting at the computer rather than tackling the weeds or any other outdoor chore that would have justified my staying outside. And actually, the need to weed is far more urgent than the stats I’ve produced but I  have been quite happily occupied for an hour or two looking at various facts and figures, including amongst others our barns occupancy stats.

Occupancy for our barns has always been well over 90%. Last financial year (2009-2010) Tom’s Barn’s was 95%, having adjusted for the 10 days withdrawn for decorating in February, with all year  one weekend and one midweek unaccountably unbooked (can’t blame a cancellation or anything like that!). Douglas’s Barn occupancy was 99%, with – apart from the 5 days withdrawn for re-decorating – only one weekend, in  December, not booked .

As far as visits go, Tom’s Barn had 59  during the year, Douglas’s Barn 60. Both had 35 one-week or longer bookings and 24/25 short breaks respectively. That’s a lot of changeovers! There’s a lot to be said for being such as small unit, how owners cope when they have a large complex doesn’t bear thinking of…

Finally, another figure which we find surprising: only 18% of our guests last year had been before (22% Tom’s Barn, 15% Douglas’s). I think that must be a blip: last year the overall figure was 24% and we do have such a lot of guests coming back and back;  I am sure the figure will be higher again next year and certainly, looking at our wall planner/advance bookings chart can almost guarantee it.

We love having old friends return, and they seem to like the feeling of coming ‘home’ to somewhere familiar. That isn’t to say of course that we don’t also really love welcoming new faces here and it is gratifying that so many of you do keep finding us one way or the other, through the internet or through friends and family – so, do keep  coming!

Busman’s Holiday for our Mystery Shoppers

Well, we have been away for a week, visiting friends and family in Kent and East Sussex, hence the silence on the blog, but of course behind the scenes it has been business as usual.

We’ve returned to warm sunshine, evening sundowners outside the barns and talk of barbecues planned for tonight; all the tubs are gasping and suddenly it feels like the summer we have dreamed about for so long is nearly here. Having said that it is almost inevitable that the snow will return, as has been known in April before now. Let’s hope not.

While we were away we spent three nights with my sister and husband who are over from South Africa, staying in a holiday cottage they had rented. Personally, this was most enjoyable and fun as we don’t get to see each other that much; professionally, it was quite intriguing as one couldn’t help comparing.

Although it was clean, warm, comfortable and adequately equipped it felt functional and impersonal, lacking any sense of excitement or ‘magic’. It provided a convenient base for us all, rather than a soothing retreat! Describing it thus is easy; much harder is to define why…

You can now book online for 2011

All being well, you should now be able to book your holiday for 2011 online. There has been some pressure on us to do this as so much of this year had already gone by the end of February.

However, as always we accept all bookings for the forthcoming year at the current year’s prices so until midnight on Dec 31st 2010 the increase can be avoided completely by booking ahead.

We have pondered and agonised; finally we have taken a deep breath and decided on the prices for next year – a scary proposition because who knows what global financial/economic crises may be lurking in the wings.

With only the skimpiest of business backgrounds (if one wanted to make a killing teaching was never the career to choose…) we always feel anxious putting prices up but there is no getting round it, one’s costs increase all the time. We are also going to increase the cost for dogs to £25; much as we love well-behaved dogs and their owners there is no denying they do create a lot of extra work.

Finally, we are always delighted to take bookings on the phone so please continue to book this way if you prefer the human contact. However, we do know that lots of busy people far prefer to do it quickly and efficiently, online. At last this is now possible for 2011 too.

Tom’s Barn Mystery Shoppers’ Final Report

Staying as our own guests was an intriguing experience. Not surprisingly, we felt totally at home but at the same time we did feel we were experiencing something special. We had to keep reminding ourselves that we weren’t really on holiday: we were there for quality control purposes!

We were warm, beautifully comfortable and more than once painfully aware that the quality of some of the equipment was rather superior to what we are used to at home (which is as it should be…). The one exception was the shower, but we are lumbered with a less than vigorous flow because of the lack of headroom; otherwise we slept like babies, loved the bath, appreciated the fluffy towels and the bathrobes, enjoyed the flat screen telly in the bedroom and found it an easier kitchen to cook in than our own bigger one. I would love a Sony Netbook…

The most obvious flaw was the telephone. BT tried their best to assure us it was an internal problem (which at first we assumed) but actually it was a problem with their line which eventually they came to fix, so all is well on that front now.

Then we couldn’t find a frying pan, although there are two saute pans. I have since bought two non-stick ‘frypans’ as they appear to be called these days, and a non-stick griddle, plus – crucially, a non-stick ‘turner’.

We noticed that the chopping ‘boards’ were rather tired looking, so have replaced them with a superior board.Two of the dinner plates had a little chip (must have been new or Janet would have spotted them). We have replaced the plates but now have no more spare so that means a trip to the Wedgwood factory shop in Stoke – no great hardship there.

Finally, we accepted to our disappointment that the lovely easy chair, which we had had cleaned at some expense in February – and therefore which must be clean – still doesn’t look it and therefore we will have to replace the whole chair in the next few weeks, or find someone who can recover it.

So, to sum up, we didn’t find anything dreadful but have acted on everything we did find that wasn’t quite up to snuff. We look forward to our next excuse to stay again, and are longing for a chance to stay in Douglas’s Barn.

Parwich Primary School Sleepover

A delightful sight met our eyes last night as we came out of our Pilates Class (until the new Memorial Hall is built our classes are held in one of the school rooms).

Thronging up the road towards the school, accompanied by their parents, were all the school pupils, pink and washed and in their dressing gowns and pyjamas, many clutching teddies. They were coming back to school for a sleepover…!

The older children looked very happy and excited, some of the smaller ones excited but looking just a tiny bit apprehensive too. There were lots of staff waiting to greet them, and obviously the children were in for a lovely time.

I haven’t yet heard how it went, but am longing to find out. I imagine all the adults involved will have felt more than ready for their Easter break by this morning!

The Wildest Dream

We have just returned from a brief overnight trip to London to attend a rather special event – the ‘IMAX preview’ of this amazing film which is not due for release until 6th August. The film – which was ’26 years in the thinking and five in the making’ was directed by Anthony Geffen, our daughter Ruthie’s boss at Atlantic Productions; Atlantic Productions was working with Altitude Films with the active involvement also of National Geographic.

We are still full of our experience. The IMAX cinema at the Science Museum was an adventure in itself, with a screen the size of I forget how many double decker buses. We were warned beforehand to shut our eyes if we started to feel seasick…

The film essentially is about climbing Everest, with two men, Conrad Anker and a young British climber, Leo Houlding – trying in 2007 to reach the top the way they felt George Mallory would have gone had he/if he reached the top in 1924. There is the the human drama as, against the backdrop of the overwhelming splendour of the mountain, as men struggle against overwhelmong odds – the extreme cold, altitude sickness and exhaustion, but spurred on always by their ‘wildest dream’ of reaching the summit.

But these are ordinary men, too, with families and wives they love and who love them, and for whom they yearn while on Everest. To add poignancy to the love element, the voice of Mallory’s wife, Ruth, was provided by Natasha Richardson shortly before her death after a skiing accident, and the narrator of the film is Liam Neeson, her widower. (Ralph Fiennes provides the voice of George Mallory.)

I hope I have relayed the facts reasonably accurately (I’ll have to ask Ruthie to check it over). Anyway, the film – and the reception afterwards – was a wonderful experience for both John and me; then, in no time it is back to work/normal life for everybody! And we always feel, however much we have enjoyed ourselves away, it is always lovely to come home. And it was particularly lovely this time, to be welcomed in for a cup of tea by our guests in Douglas’s Barn.

Steak and Kidney Pudding in the Slow Cooker

You may have been wondering how the  the catering went when we invited Debbie and Trevor  to supper with us in Tom’s Barn last week, whilst we were guests there ourselves. Rather rashly I had decided to try the slow cooker recipe for Steak and Kidney Pudding; too late I had remembered that when catering even for very good friends one needs to be able to have a reassuring peep every so often while something cooks for eight hours. This is impossible with everything hidden from view behind grease-proof paper within the slow cooker.

Unwrapped, it smelt delicious. So far so good; the moment of high drama came when I couldn’t turn the pudding out of the bowl…

I should have just calmly run a knife round the edge but in my panic shook the whole thing more violently than necessary so it all ended in a jumbled heap on the serving dish!

Fortunately the lighting was low, candles glowing and a  quick top up of wine glasses ensured we all quickly forgot that we weren’t being served neat slices; in fact the suet pastry was deliciously crumbly and not in the slightest stodgy and of course the Tissington beef will never fail you.

So, as a modest cook but greedy eater I’d award myself 10/10 for taste and 3/10 for presentation. But the recipe is definitely worth trying again. Not only am I coveting the Sony Netbook, I am now coveting a slow cooker as well; in theory the bottom oven of the Aga is the equivalent, but as  the cooking space  isn’t as enclosed as inside a slow cooker the effect isn’t quite the same.

The Silence of the Mystery Shoppers

Why the strange silence?

Had we absconded  for ever to Tom’s Barn? Drowned in the love tub or fled the country…?

The last is nearer the truth. We have been down to London where our daughter Ruthie was signing in a concert (in the choir, not as a soloist!) fondly imagining we’d be writing daily missives on the blog; for technological reasons too dull to go into, we were unable to do so!

However, we are back now, in full spate, ready to pick up where we left off…

Our visit was – for us – a totally happy interlude.  We felt very relaxed, very comfortable and worryingly detached from the hundred and one things that really we should perhaps have been getting on with. As already mentioned, we found the bed and the bath pretty special. We really enjoyed using the Sony Netbook (wish we had one!); we had a lovely evening with Debbie and Trevor – much of which later…

Used to a rather colder house, we were actually too warm and turned the heating off completely relying solely on the logburner.  We were disappointed to note that the easy chair and stool which we have just had professionally cleaned at some considerable  cost and which therefore obviously is clean, doesn’t really look it, so that needs attention, if not actually replacing.

The frying pan I shall replace tomorrow; BT’s  ‘Open Reach’  man has arranged to  come tomorrow afternoon, muttering many a warning that if it turns out to be our fault and not after all due to their line it will cost us a call out fee of £120 plus VAT.