Time to book a spring break

‘Doris’ has just blown through and no damage at Orchard Farm Parwich. The days are getting longer. the spring flowers are starting to poke their heads through, the snowdrops are in full bloom at Hopton Hall so why not treat yourselves to a few days away. There are still a few days available in Tom’s Barn before the end of April but more choice of days in Douglas’s Barn. This barn is warm and cosy and there is plenty of space to relax in. The jaccuzzi bath is delightful after a days activity. There are plenty of places to wander to from Parwich and the newly refurbished pub offers a good menu so why not treat yourself to a few days away in the Peak District.

Happy New Year to you all – our 3rd here!

Happy New Year to you all. We are about to celebrate the start of our 3rd year as the owners of Orchard Farm and Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns. We are still loving every minute of it and really enjoying all the lovely people and dogs that come to stay in the Barns. This year by we are changing our policy on short breaks. Previously these were limited between October and Easter but people’s lifestyles seem to be changing with more short breaks being taken. In response to this we have decided to offer short break throughout the year. Hopefully this will still allow those that want a longer break to be able to book them. If you can not find what you want available on the calendar or you are looking to book in on a different day or need a shorter break than usual please give us a call to discuss.

Christmas festivities start in Parwich

The Parwich Church, Hall & Legion are holding there Christmas Fayre on Sunday 4th December. The fayre will be opened by the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Denise Brown at 3pm. The church is open 3 – 5pm, the Hall and Legion 4-6pm. The Chameleon Choral Coir will perform in the Hall and the Legion and there will be lots of stalls with gifts decorations, cards, wreaths, homemade food raffles and homemade crafts and much more. A BBq is planned and there will be mulled wine in the church. To support the fayre we have put a decorated Christmas Tree from Orchard Farm and Tom and Douglas’s guests.

A Wedding at Orchard Farm

We got married at Parwich Church on 16 September 2016 at 12noon so now are Mr and Mrs Roebuck. We had our reception at Tissington Hall followed on the Saturday with a Garden Party at Orchard Farm. Great celebrations lasted for 3 days. Here are a couple of photos

Last minute deals

There are still a few free dates at the end of March/April in both Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns. Short breaks, 3 or 4 nights, which are not normally available are on offer. Please look at availability and give me a call or book on line.

Tom’s Barn and Douglas’s Barn join Friends of the Peak

We have recently as a business joined Friends of the Peak. This charity is run and managed by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and its aim is to safeguard the landscapes of Britain’s first and most beautiful national park.
They challenge and campaign against developments that threaten the Peak District’s beauty and tranquillity.They support homes for local people, sustainable jobs and local services.
Climate change is the biggest threat to our countryside and Friends of the Peak champion suitable renewable energy, environmental building design and green transport schemes in the national park.

In support of the charity we have added an optional extra for our guests, at the time of booking, to donate £1 to support the Peak Pound Partnership which helps to raise funds for the work to protect and enhance the Peak District landscape and support rural communities. In addition there are collecting tins in the barns for people to donate small change.
More details about the Friends of The Peak and there work can be found at www.friendsofthepeak.org.uk

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

Do Real People Ever Actually Win a Competition?

One never expects to win, and many of us may have wondered cynically whether a real person ever does. Does ‘ecstatic Mr B from John O’Groats’ really exist, or ‘Pensioner Mrs J from Land’s End’? Or have they been dreamt up by someone in some PR department?

Well, we can tell you ‘Competition-winner Sal C from Birmingham’ is no figment of the imagination of any (non-existent in our case) PR department. She really does exist. She and Andrew have just spent the weekend here with us in Douglas’s Barn.

To prove it here is a hurried photo taken by John when they came to say goodbye! We persuaded them back to Douglas’s Barn where they very good-naturedly sat on the sofa, still in their outdoor clothes poor things, as they were all set to leave.

Even Sal had not been too hopeful of any chance of success; after she had left we found this delightful and totally unsolicited entry in the visitors’ book:

“Last winter, I was sat on a delayed commuter train and saw a competition to win a weekend break in ‘Jane Eyre country’, in Stylist magazine. Having forgotten I had even entered I was very surprised when I received an email to say I’d won! I had four Premier Cottages to choose from and quickly chose Douglas’s Barn and am very glad I did! We’ve had a lovely relaxing and peaceful weekend in Douglas’s Barn. The barn is equipped with everything you could ever need! Thank you for a lovely stay!”

So, top marks to Premier Cottages, with their ‘unparalleled track record for excellence’! It looks as if we have all ended up winners: Sal and Andrew having had by all accounts a wonderful weekend, we having had some charming and grateful guests and Premier Cottages for once again providing unbeatable quality for their guests and owners.

Certificat d’Excellence pour Tom’s Barn et Douglas’s Barn

I know we’ve been dashing thither and thither recently, but I bet you didn’t know that Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns has been on the move too: we appear to have been transported to France…

A few days ago we received this rather handsome table plaque from TripAdvisor, accompanied by a warm letter of congratulations, in French. The plaque, rather conveniently has an English translation on the reverse, but no such political correctness for the (French) letter.

I mock, but not seriously. Whether in English or French, we are delighted that, thanks to those of our guests who have taken the trouble to write a review, TripAdvisor has seen fit to award this acknowledgement. We have said before, but we feel so lucky to have such lovely guests who seem to be so happy with everything, even when the weather is bad. We often hear dread tales of ‘the guests from hell’, but we are lucky enough to feel with nearly all of ours that we would be grateful to count them as friends.

It’s not all sweetness and light. We do have problems from time to time – flooding boilers, power cuts, deep snow, a fridge going on the blink on Christmas Eve… Fortunately – thanks to our great band of loyal and kindly local’tradesman’ and the fact that we live next door and can usually come to the rescue somehow (and that our guests tend to be very understanding and sympathetic) the problems are usually quickly resolved or turn into the opportunity for a party, such as when we have the odd power cut and entertain by candlelight.

And such as also once when our really lovely guests from Edinburgh couldn’t leave because their little car was knee deep in snow but the incoming guests insisted stoutly that absolutely nothing would prevent them from getting here.

We end with two photos that seem to sum up what it’s all about, and neither any credit to us. We are simply fortunate to live in such a lovely area as the Peak District and we can bask in its reflected glory. The views, the walks – with or without dogs, the soothing peace and quiet of our little corner: we appreciate them as much as anybody and it is a privilege to be able to share them with our guests and revel in their enjoyment.

All In a Day

Once again, smitten with guilt (and disappointment because I really love what feels like a personal letter to ‘you’) I try to cover up an embarrassing week’s absence from the blog.

There seems to be a lot going on in all the different sectors of my life, more than I sometimes find easy to squeeze into the day. One way and another we have had a very full time recently, partly work, partly pleasure, the former tending to have to be squeezed in rather late into the evening when all other commitments have ended, which does nothing for the maintenance of youthful looks or joie de vivre of the next day (and so on)…

Tonight half the village, clutching cushions and bottles of wine, hurried to the village Memorial Hall for the eagerly awaited Parwich Cinema’s one-night’s showing of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Like many others we has already seen it, but enjoyed it so much we very much wanted to see it again. As John and I approached the hall we were surprised to see that dozens of people were walking away in the opposite direction. Was there some other excitement to which they scurried? No, it turns out the cinema remote control had gone missing since the last village wedding. The spare was safely locked up in the house of someone on a far-off holiday, so the film could not be shown.

So back we all trudged but at least it means I now have time to return to the blog! So it’s not all bad, and the film will be rearranged for a day when the remote control becomes available…

To think back to last weekend, we went to a very memorable 50th birthday party of a friend in Lichfield, followed by lunch with another friend, owner of the beautiful Bronte, who has just moved into a wonderful new to her but very old timbered house near Repton. We sat in the sun all afternoon, something that has not happened very often this year. There followed then a couple of days of meetings and ‘catch up’ then we had the great pleasure of seeing Lorna, a friend from childhood (our parents were friends and we never have not known each other, if you know what I mean) but who now lives in Gloucestershire so we don’t see her that often.

They came to supper on Wednesday, then yesterday, Lorna, her husband and two friends asked us to join them on a walk up the Dove from Dovedale. Having dropped us at the car park, John and Lorna’s husband were to transport the picnic to Milldale where they would meet us for lunch. This significantly meant I had no back up camera pro at my side and would have to rely on my mobile phone camera.

It was sunny and warm and peaceful, once we had passed the scores of school parties on ‘educational’ trips clutching clipboards with questions they could hardly read. One little group of very young boys who approached us for their ‘survey’ were struggling so hard to read their questions they were relieved to pass them to us to read them out to ourselves before answering!

We stopped to photograph a heron (or was it two? We weren’t sure) on the water, patiently waiting for lunch to swim his way. The Dove is so clear we could see the little minnows that he occasionally snapped up, but we could also see what looked like a trout, over a foot long, skulking in the shadow of the overhanging trees. Either the heron didn’t spot him or we were too impatient, but he suddenly flew off. So when we came across another (?) heron later we weren’t sure if it were one and the same.

In my enthusiasm I over-zoomed my mobile phone camera so all but a couple of photos are hopeless. However, to my fortune and pleasure, who should we bump into but Martin and Sue, who were staying in Douglas’s Barn! What a small world… They very kindly gave me their two photos of the heron so all was not lost!

There followed a lovely picnic in the sunshine at Milldale; having had lots of heron views, but no kingfishers. Maybe next time?