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

Happy New Year

Happy new year to everyone, hoping it is going to be a good one! We have nearly completed our 1st year here at Tom’s Barn and Douglas’s Barn and what a great year it has been. Met some lovely people, lovely well behaved dogs and a few beautiful babies. Looking forward to the coming year and welcoming back returning and new guests to this lovely idyllic part of the Peak District.The bookings are starting to come in so worth planning your visits early to avoid disappointment. If there is anything you are not sure about regarding bookings etc please give me a ring. We are really flexible on periods of stay. Hope to see you all here soon Angela and Robert

Internet arrives in Tom’s Barn

Well we have nearly been here a year and have just received a most welcome Christmas present – internet has finally been installed in Tom’s Barn. No longer will guest have to wander around outside and hug the kitchen walls to get internet. Tom’s Barn has its very own hub!

Bookings now being taken for 2016. Prices held!

Good news, you can start planning for those special breaks away in 2016. The calendar has been updated with the 2016 dates and even more good news is that the prices are going to remain the same for next year. For those that prefer Douglas’s Barn, or those that are yet to experience a stay there, it is being offered at a slightly less price for most weeks. The same discount of approximately 5% is still being given for returning guests. Terms and conditions remain the same. Looking forward as ever to meeting all our guests.

Awards for Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns

Following re assessment we are delighted that Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns have been awarded a rating of Five Stars by Visit England.I addition they have both achieved a Gold Award for exceptional quality of accommodation and customer service. This is a real boost for us and confirms that the quality standards that Marion and John worked so hard to achieve are being maintained.

Parwich ‘One of the best place to live in Britain’!

According to the Sunday Times, Parwich is one of the best 50 places to live in Britain!

Come and see for yourselves, and make the most of it with a stay in Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns. Robert and myself are thoroughly enjoying life in Parwich and its surroundings and totally agree with it being one of the best places to live. We look forward to meeting all the lovely people that visit the barns as well as getting to know the people who live in this lovely village.

To top it all there is a welcoming village pub, The Sycamore, that has earned its place in the Good Food Guide 2015.

There are still some short breaks available to book in Douglas’s Barn before the peak season starts early April or why not experience a longer stay in one of our lovely peak district cottages.

Spring and Winter together at Tom’s and Douglas’s

We have had such a mixture of weather here over the last week but the sun has still managed to shine most days. This weekend saw the return of snow showers but we still managed a lovely walk with our friends from Monyash to Alport and back down Lathkill Dale. A welcoming cup of tea and a toasted teacake in Monyash was just what was the perfect end to the day’s activities.

The BT communication challenge continues in this idyllic spot but thanks to the BT hotspots around and free WiFi in all sorts of establishments it is business as usual for us. Our next review is the 2 March 2015 so I am keeping my fingers crossed for a successful broadband connection. Meanwhile the barns are continuing to get booked up so if you are hopefully thinking about booking it is worthwhile doing it now.We have received  great feedback comments from the lovely people that have stayed in the barns since we took over. All very encouraging for us as the new owners.

Happy 450th Birthday, Shakespeare!

Each weekend for the past month has been a lovely flurry of entertaining friends and family and being entertained by friends and family…

And so it continues. We are in Banbury this weekend for a happy reunion lunch with old friends from South Africa, by way of Stratford where nearly a year ago a group of us had booked to see Henry IV Part 1.

The date was chosen at random, little realising that this weekend Stratford would be given over to celebrating the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare.

Tipped off in time, we all parked and rode which was a wise move as from early in the morning Stratford was very busy, with many streets given over to processions and various jollities, all (fortunately) in the warm sunshine.

There was a lovely atmosphere – happy, relaxed and smiley with everybody enjoying the fun. A man was creating giant soap bubbles which entranced not only the children, as the wonderful shapes floated overhead, reflecting the river and the trees; there were little groups of singers and dancers, and we were privileged to listen to a group of singers from the Birmingham Conservatoire who were singing madrigals, quite beautifully, in the theatre corridor.

The RSC was holding a series of workshops in a marquee and as we waited for our matinee to start John and I briefly attended a workshop on stage fighting (as watchers rather than partakers in case you were wondering…). It certainly gave us an insight into what goes into the stage fighting we were about to witness.

Henry 1V Part 1 (Part 2 for us will be later in the Summer) was the reason we were here at all to enjoy all these scenes and activities.

Apparently according to RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran, Henry IV Parts I and II are two of Shakespeare’s greatest plays but it is not a play we had seen or knew anything much about. I found it surprisingly easy to read beforehand and of course all the scenes with Falstaff (Antony Sher) mean there are as many laughs as ‘tragic’ scenes.

We sat three rows from the stage, at ground level, so almost felt part of the action: we were all gripped from start to finish. Antony Sher as Falstaff was predictably quite superb. Alex Hassell as Prince Henry was good; I wasn’t so sure about Hotspur, played by Trevor White. To me he overdid the ‘hotspurish’ nature to the extent that Hotspur came over as childish and almost manic. This didn’t fit the picture of the brave and heroic man that King Henry compared so favourably to his own disappointing and dissolute son, Prince Hal – who despite his failings came over as the more attractive.

It would be interesting to know what any of you reading this, who have seen this production of Henry 1V think. Perhaps when I listen to the talk by the Artistic Director I will eat my ignorant words and edit this whole section!

Buy One, Get One Free?

…In Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns? Surely not…

No, we’re surely not offering free holidays…

We’re talking about giving a present you will enjoy quite as much as the recipient – two people’s happiness for the price of one – this to me seems the perfect arrangement and far better than the standard ‘BOGOF’ when you end up with unwanted baked beans or pineapples.

This Top Tip is not our idea, we’ve learnt it from some clever guests who sussed it out ages ago but we’re happy to pass it on.

Often someone’s partner/husband/wife books a holiday in Tom’s or Douglas’s Barns, as a secret surprise present for their partner/husband/wife. John and I are sworn to secrecy, furtive phone calls are made and immediately aborted if the said partner/husband/wife unexpectedly and inconveniently interrupts the conversation the other end, and emails are sent to a ‘private’ address.

Eventually, with a flurry of the proverbial trumpet, this secret surprise gesture is eventually ‘out’, and received with great delight and appreciation, and the giver warmly appreciated for their generosity and thoughtfulness.

Both parties come to holiday in either Tom’s or Douglas’s Barn, together, and both have a wonderful time. The giver feels good – don’t we all love giving a present that is really appreciated? And the ‘givee’ feels wonderfully loved, and everyone is happy.

And there you have it – two people’s happiness for the price of one. You could even try it but be sure to warn them to keep the dates clear or you could end up coming on your own.

Happy New Year!

Our blog and our Facebook Page activity has been strangely static recently, which I really regret. It is nothing personal, nothing other than other excitements and responsibilities that can happen over Christmas with a happy houseful. We have never been less than seven and and recently nine in the house which means with the barns as well, a fair amount of washing and baking, not to mention opening of presents, prolonged meals and silly card games after supper – and even the odd walk in the rain! And talking of washing, we have all noticed our clothes are tending to shrink – it must be because we are having to use the dryer rather than hang them outside?

Our Australian contingent is over, to our joy: Sara, Derek and young Tom who is now 8. Last time they were here we had prolonged snow over their entire stay; this time it has never stopped raining. Let’s hope their next visit we have prolonged unnaturally fine weather!

We have had a lovely, family time. However, we thought at first that we might have a cat crisis/tragedy on our hands as Boots our much loved Orchard Farm puss seemed to be rapidly going downhill, a diagnosis the first visit to the vet confirmed, with thinly veiled warnings that the final sleep might be hanging over her. However, four trips to the vets later, antibiotics and various injections, tempting morsels of turkey and ham (will she ever go back to those pouches of nameless cat food?) and she is making terrific progress but she is very old and we accept that we can’t expect her to go on for ever but meanwhile she is enjoying her recovery, as are we.

Soon other realities will kick in – marmalade making and tax returns and the annual Quality in Tourism inspection, which has tightened up its standards we are told. Meanwhile, with new Year looming the strange Christmas- New Year ‘no man’s land’ continues…

Happy New Year to one and all.