Tom’s Barn Mystery Shoppers

Not so mysterious after all, but we are taking the quality research very seriously.

We’ve always loved both our barns, and it felt really lovely staying there last night, quite cocooned from the real world and feeling very relaxed and holidayish.

We tried another telephone on the line and that doesn’t work either, so what a relief – although it is still embarrassing – it looks as if we can blame BT rather than the cottage owners.

We’ve tried the bath, again, and absolutely no complaints there (there never have been!). The shower fitting will never hit the headlines (in  a good way, anyway) but we’ve known all along that we can’t do anything about it. It’s a pity it isn’t slightly more forcefully invigorating but for a not-power-shower it just passes muster.

John did a fry up for breakfast (don’t worry, Janet, we cleaned up immaculately after ourselves!). Everything was fine except we could not find the frying pan!! So had to use a small saute pan instead which did  the job but where is the frying pan?

We’re trying the slow-cooker for the first time tonight. I must admit the kitchen is well equipped and I found it easier than I do in our bigger kitchen at home, because everything (apart from the frying pan) is close to hand.

We went as planned to the White Peak Butchery for the meat (buying some Tissington Bangers at the same time) so the meat will be the best it could possibly be but I am beginning to get cold feet – hope I haven’t been too ambitious with the plans for tonight. Time will tell – more later.

We’ve moved in to Tom’s Barn!

Well, nobody booked this midweek break Monday 15th (Ides of March) to Friday 18th March so we have with some excitement and unseemly haste, moved in ourselves to enjoy the delights – or otherwise – at first hand.

What a difference, just crossing that courtyard, seemed to make, silly as it might sound… we really do feel we are on holiday which is unfortunate, as we aren’t really, but we are going to make the most of it.  Tomorrow night we are hoping to try to make a steak and kidney pudding in the slow cooker, so first stop the White Peak Butchery in Tissington.

We’ve asked our good friend American Debs (who many of you may have had contact with, as she look after the admin side of  things when we go away) and her husband Trevor to supper so let’s hope the S&KP turns out OK.

Plus points so far – Lovely welcome (from Janet, each other and our co-guests in Douglas’s Barn), nice atmosphere, fire lit, beautifully warm, Moonlight Sonata on Classic FM…

BUT no cake (we slipped up there, but plenty of lemon drizzle next door and John did remember a nice bottle of wine); more seriously,  we couldn’t get a squeak out of the telephone. How embarrassing – how long has that not worked? Why did nobody tell us – it is hard to believe it just stopped working tonight. John tried new batteries to no avail – so tomorrow we’ll buy a new one.

How many more glitches will we discover?  Off to check the bath out now, further reports tomorrow. We’ll try to get Debbie to report her findings too.

An unforgetable experience

We love dogs, and dog owners, and really love to welcome them to Tom’s Barn. For ten years we have had the privilege of welcoming model dog owners, with well-behaved and well-controlled dogs.

We could never understand why many other holiday cottage owners shuddered at the thought of accepting dogs. We now know why.

We are still recovering from a nightmare experience (just deserts for being smug, possibly). After a short break with two apparently uncaring owners and one lively and untrained boxer we have had to scrub and disinfect under the stairs, wash all the bedding three times, take the sofa covers and the duvet to the cleaners, clean mud out of the bath and get an electrician in to replace both smoke detectors (don’t ask!).

There’s no excuse. We do ask that dogs don’t go upstairs or sit on the furniture; knowing that life isn’t always ideal we provide dust sheets just in case and we can always provide a stair gate on request.

Anyway, after much time and effort on Janet’s part, helped by Carol, John and me, Tom’s Barn is sparklingly clean again – almost cleaner than ever if that is possible – with no evidence at all of the earlier mayhem!

And I don’t know why I am writing this, really, as I know one will be preaching to the converted, but I just had to get it off my chest. We have all found the experience quite unsettling. Let’s hope it is another ten years before we have a repeat nightmare, if we have to have one at all.

Secret Honeymoon Hideaway

Our romantic holiday cottages are perfect for honeymooners

We have always loved the fact that our two barns seem to be just what so many of you are looking for, whatever your age and whatever the stage of your relationship.

Many of you don’t need any excuse but just as many might be celebrating a special birthday, an anniversary, a golden wedding or passing an important exam.

We are delighted to have noticed a very happy honeymoon trend in the last year or so, which is lovely for us and by all accounts a very super way to start off married life for the happy couples. The picture shows Peter and Claire’s honeymoon ‘rosette’ which seemed to survive the ten days of showers and sunshine of their stay quite unscathed.

What you won’t find in Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns

• Disabled access (regrettably)
• Any hidden extra charges
• Interfering owners (although they are on the spot if or when you need them)
• Traffic noise
• A wild night life locally
• A convenient local train station
• Cottages anywhere else quite like them

Our Vision for Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns

Of ourse, no doubt like all holiday cottages owners, we want them both to be the best. Like all fond parents we think they are the best. We have tried to make them the kind of place we would like to stay in ourselves …

And what is that?

We want going away to be a treat, better than home (and we most of us  have quite high standards these days).

We hope to come back retored and refreshed. We want to have a complete break, free from worry; having arrived we don’t want to be  fussing abut paying extra for anything, or making do without something.

We want to be sure everything is spotlessly clean, that the bedding and towels are top quality and that everything that we might possibly need has been provided.

We want to feel welcomed and valued (not just a body paying for a bed) comfortable, warm and secure, in a cottage that itself feels cheerful and welcoming and not gloomy and cold.

We’d like to be somewhere rural but not too far from good food and interesting things to see and do.  Attractive walks from the door, a villlage pub and a shop within walking distance all these wouold be an added bonus.

Not much to demand you may think…! But actually we do hope we have succeeded. Many  of these qualities you will find in our two barns  simply because of our having the good fortune to live in a lovely place in a beautiful Peak Park village setting. The rest we have done our best to provide for you.

The Story of our holiday cottages: The Reality

Marion’s father, Douglas, finally moved up to his new home in October 1999. Her settled in very quickly and happily, having already made a number of good friends in the village. His quarters were completely self-contained but we shared our dining room which could be accessed from either end.

Tom’s Barn wasn’t really ready until the spring of 2000. We started at first with English Country Cottages, so instantly had guests, but it wasn’t long before we felt we wanted to run Tom’s Barn ourselves which we started doing in 2003. It proved a sound move…

We already had established a good reputation and a long list of loyal guests; we had  a Five Star grading and were fortunate enough to be able to join Premier Cottages, a co-operative of owners of Four and five Star holiday Cottages. We really enjoy the personal contact and fun of running our own show.

Marion’s father, Douglas, died in 2004. Eventually, by 2006 we had transformed his house into Douglas’s Barn, which had always been the long term plan, which Douglas himself knew and heartily approved.

The Story of our holiday cottages: The Birth

Transition traumas and triumphs:

Looking back on it now the process seems to have happened quite quickly, but it did not at the time. We agonised over how to achieve the best possible use of our redundant farm buildings. We needed a self-contained ‘house’ for Marion’s father, Douglas, next door to ours; next door to him on the other side would be a really super, ‘top of the range’ holiday cottage for two.

The builders started work during the wettest autumn and winter months of 1988. Outside and in became a sea of mud, they used our pride-and-joy veggie garden as their builders’ yard and it goes without saying that we had our fair share of crises and unforeseen technical hitches.

The story of our holiday cottages: The Dream

First Stage:

In April 1983, having bought Orchard Farm – a wreck (but with exciting potential) with its derelict farmhouse and almost as derelict barns and outhouses, our one and only thought was getting it habitable  – with plenty of ideas, a very limited budget, and Peak Park rigid planning restrictions.

We had the builders pull down the dreadful asbstos and breeze block piggeries and assorted sheds opposite the house – that bit was quite easy as they were falling down anyway.

It was a harder decision to demolish the milking parlour. This  sat most inconveniently right in front of the house but it was the only sound, dry building on the site! However, all that now remains is the low walled garden area with a picnic table and where now the newspapers are left.

Finally, in 1999, we embarked on the cowsheds attached the house. For a long time we had been a bit worried: the gable end wall was bowing badly and we weren’t too sure about the roof any time there was a heavy wind!

Marion’s father’s decision to accept our invitation to live up here with/beside us gave us the much needed impetus to start on the next big phase – Stage Two – of the Orchard Farm restoration project.

How Green are We? 2009 Inspection

We were daily awaiting our ‘green’ inspection all summer; in fact the Green Business in Tourism inspectors were very keen to come the same day as the QiT inspector was scheduled to come. We thought that too much of a good thing, certainly for us and even more certainly for our poor guests who were already being disturbed more than we would have liked  without having a double dose imposed on them.

Very fortuitously the inspection was put back to September, which gave us a welcome breathing space which (ssshhh!) has now extended to the end of November…

As well as the practical inspection we have to produce a very great deal of figures and supporting data. It is quite demanding, but certainly is helping us be very aware of all the green issues and what else we ought to be doing to support the environment and avoid unnecessary waste.

In fact, we have been on a ‘green’ spending spree, of which more later…