Haddon Hall

We are fortunate enough to belong to the Peak District Premier Cottages group – the very dynamic regional section of the national Premier Cottages cooperative of holiday cottage owners. You can see many of our jolly group in the ‘team photo’ taken on the steps to the Hall (no John of course, because he as always was behind the lens.)

Premier Cottages prides itself on the quality of its holiday accommodation, only accepting what we think/hope are among the finest Four and Five Star self-catering cottages in the country.

Anyway, Haddon Hall obviously rates us pretty well too and we are delighted that we have been selected as their preferred holiday accommodation owners. Unlike Chatsworth, Haddon does not have its own cottages, so is glad to have cottages that they can recommend with confidence.

To cement our new relationship we were invited today to have a private visit before the hall opens to the public in April. We were welcomed by Lord Edward Manners himself, then shown around by an impressively informative guide and we ended with a wonderful lunch laid on in the restaurant.

Throughout, the sun shone and Haddon looked stunning. It certainly was a day to remember. We shed jackets and jerseys in the March sunshine and John took masses of photos which you can see by logging onto our Haddon Hall Gallery.

Meanwhile, when the latest version of Jane Eyre hits these shores (apparently it is already going down a storm in the USA) we can all see how many of these views we can recognise in the film. Jane Eyre was shot entirely at Haddon. Judi Dench is Mrs Fairfax; she herself had made a big impression on our guide who said how courteous and charming she was at all times (and of course we all know what a wonderful actress she is!).

A Hot Pre-Budget Tip

I mean to write at least once a day, but, it seems three days have gone by, and what is there to show for it apart from a continuing warm-wave?

However, this beautiful spring day, I have a serious tip to share with you all, which came to me on my way back to the car after a thankfully uneventful trip to the  dentist earlier this morning. As I passed the Post Office in Matlock I suddenly remembered that I’d heard stamps were going up soon.

Stamps go up, again, on April 4th. I do urge you to prise yourselves from your garden (or from the Budget on the TV) and go and buy some stamps now if you haven’t already done so (or maybe you already all have and I alone had forgotten the impending deadline…).

The kindly assistant in the Post Office seemed too embarrassed to tell me what the new price was but thrust a leaflet into my hand suggesting I read for myself, presumably in a darkened room. But I can tell you, as from next Monday  a 1st class stamp will cost 46p. For those of us brought up with £sd that is over 9/-. Thank goodness for emails and Skype!!

At the moment the price is 41p and a 2nd class stamp is 32p; on the 4th April the 1st class price will go up by 5p and the 2nd by 4p to become 36p.  Buying 200 of each today ‘saved’ us £18 which is far better spent on something nice for our guests in the barns. I have ordered two new books on the Peak District.

A brief (nearly spring) stroll in the garden at Orchard Farm

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Our Barns in Alastair Sawday’s Special Escapes

We are proud to have been invited way back in about 2007 to be included in Alastair Sawday’s ‘Special Escapes’ website and at present have two separate entries there, one for Tom’s Barn and a second for Douglas’s Barn.

Anxious to ensure we haven’t slipped below their standard Sawday’s have just arranged a (routine!) re-inspection  this coming Tuesday 15th March and we are using this opportunity to have now not two but just one entry for our two barns so it will be interesting to see how the inspection goes, and assuming/hoping all goes well, reading our new description. Their editors do manage to capture the spirit of a place very  astutely and attractively – quite an art!

Sawday’s travel guides and websites are much respected and our inclusion in the Special Escapes website is an important source of contacts for us and has brought us many delightful guests. It works for us both ways, because  we always tend to look to Sawday’s recommendations ourselves when planning a trip away, most recently and happily on a trip this week to Norfolk for a sad family funeral and inevitable happy family reunion afterwards.

We spent one night at The Windmill at Cley which we knew well already and the second at Burgh Parva Hall in Melton Constable which we didn’t know before but would happily return to.

Once again it has been interesting and helpful becoming the ‘consumer’ rather than the provider. We find we are always learning…

Parwich Life – a Brief Insight

A new look for John?

The Parwich blog (as against our blog) has some really interesting posts today, which those of you nostalgic from time to time might be interested to see. Firstly, there is an a photographic exhibition of portraits by local people. do have a look at the recently enobled John F-S, with a self -portrait in the style of Gainsborough.

Many of you may remember/know Debbie our great American friend who lives in the village and who over the years has often helped us with the barns when we have been away. She has sent in a number, including a lovely one of Ally their daughter. John’s is more, shall we say, unusual…

There is also a very interesting post from Afghanistan from Ben Ingham who lived in the village as a boy and whose family still live here. One can understand why he should feeling nostalgic for Parwich.

There is also news of Nia, whom you probably won’t have met because, although she plays an active role in village life actually works full time away from the village. She has just run the 42-mile  gruelling High Peak Marathon to raise money for a friend’s child devastatingly affected by meningitis last year. Apparently she and some friends did it in 15 1/2 hours, non-stop.

Not directly to do with Parwich but of possible interest/dismay to everyone, some of you may have also seen in this  week’s The Week that  we are being predicted a series of bitterly cold winters in Europe and possible the arrival of a mini ice-age!! John and I are seriously considering snow tyres…

And finally, a portrait of Boots, taken by John today and a chaffinch.

A daffodil in February (but only just!)

There really is hope – spring is getting nearer all the time. Here at Orchard Farm we have been watching carefully as several dwarf daffs have gradually revealed more yellow each day  since last week, but we can proudly record that our first grown up daffodil has actually made it before the month of February is officially out. What a heartening sight! The splash of yellow sums up sun and warmth and just makes you want to smile. Meanwhile the faithful snowdrops are still blossoming in their happy clumps although the first ones to come out in front of the house are actually over by now; they have all been a real joy and encouragement in what has been a long winter.

Come tomorrow, St David’s Day and we are already well into 2011 now, with the days lengthening and the birds getting seriously lively and chattersome.

We have a busyish morning tomorrow with the AGM of our Peak District Premier Cottages regional group – lots to report and discuss and including a workshop given by Caron Lyon on using social media effectively. As a group we have a Peak District Premier Cottages Facebook page now, to share news and views with other owners and our guests so amongst other things (in the hour!) we are hoping to learn how to use it most usefully for everybody. So far the page has only 15 people ‘liking’ it but when at least 25 people do we can change the name from a random looking lengthy code to the rather more easily remembered Peak District Premier Cottages.

A final news flash – we have just been sent, three weeks after the inspector’s visit, our Visit England Quality in Tourism report. We cannot open it! As you might imagine, that is quite frustrating. What on earth does it say that we are prevented from seeing?

Has SprIng Sprung at Orchard Farm?

Probably not, but it certainly felt like it today.

We have enjoyed the most perfect spring day, with sunshine, blue skies and warmth… The birds have sung their hearts out including this little robin John snapped in the garden this afternoon.

The birds were all singing, the woodpecker tapping and the pheasants screeching; our lanes were bustling with village folk going out for walks together, people one has hardly seen for months as we have all skulked indoors trying to keep warm for what seems like a long time – it is three months since the big freeze up started (on 27th November).

But before I get too carried away, rain is forecast again for tomorrow afternoon, and if truth be told, it snowed last Monday morning so we are not quite out of the winter wood yet.  Our guests in Tom’s Barn who have been here a week (on their sixth visit) were saying that they felt they had ‘enjoyed’ all weathers in that time – snow, sleet, rain, fog, mist and now warm sunshine. No wonder we always have the weather to talk about!

John and I enjoyed strolling round the garden this afternoon, enjoying the snowdrops, the daffodil bulbs and tulip leaves, and inspecting anxiously to see how much damage the snow and cold actually had wrought and which we fear is quite considerable but it was by no means total devastation. The magnolia looks fine and many trees and shrubs which have been badly affected do appear still to have some signs of life in them. The ceanothus in front of the house which has been such a joy is a mass of dead brown leaves, but there is new green growth at the top so we’ll have to wait and see.

And here is Boots lying in the sun, also enjoying today’s sunshine.

Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns using Facebook

So much has been happening the last few days although following our blog you might wonder as I appear to have been rendered temporarily silent. Not for long…

As well as everything else, Facebook has been on my mind this week. The straightforward news is that the 19 Peak District holiday cottage owners who like us have been lucky enough to be accepted into the Premier Cottages cooperative of  5 and top end 4 Star private cottage owners have started a Peak District Premier Cottages Facebook page.

We don’t really know what direction it will take but one imagines it will become a meeting place for owners to share news and views with each other and their guests and interested friends; it would be a good place to tell everyone about interesting events in the area, and possibly to find out what people think about certain topics.

Who knows? We haven’t any grand plan, although we do know that our first priority is to get a proper title ‘Peak District Premier Cottages‘ as our url rather than the mile long code we have at present. Apparently we can achieve this when 25 + people have ‘liked’ the site. So – if you are a Facebook user – do have a look at the site and if you can in all honesty click that ‘like’ button and even possibly suggest how you could find it entertaining or useful (or not!) that would be fantastic.

Now the confident tone begins to falter. The ‘we’ I have been using above is as a Peak District Premier Cottage owner and ‘administrator’ of our page. As an owner of Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns the ‘we’ speaking is very shaky (and John is even shakier, if that’s possible).

I have a personal Facebook Marion Sessions profile which I use from time to time, badly but enjoyably – you are very welcome to have a look.  Years ago, in the days when on Facebook you couldn’t have a ‘business’ page Nick set up a Tom’s Barn page like a personal page which being extremely law abiding I felt uneasy about so have on the whole conveniently forgotten about, but it does still exist.

Then daughter Ruthie, set up a Holiday Cottages in the Peak District ‘group’ from her profile, with her, Nick and me as administrators; instead of friends we have members so in effect it is like a fan club rather than a business…

These days you now can (see above!) set up a Facebook ‘business’ page which if possible I need to be able to convert the two previous pages into. Can anybody help? Please! We had Caron – a Social Media guru of some repute – staying in Douglas’s Barn last weekend so I shall direct her to this cry for help too.

Reserve List for Last Minute Availability

Both Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns are fully booked now until August (Douglas’s Barn) and September (Tom’s Barn). But when people have booked well  ahead, cancellations are always on the cards so we are starting a ‘last minute reserve list’ for  those who may have been too late to get the date they wanted earlier.

We get the strong feeling that in spite of – indeed probably because of – the current economic uncertainly more and more people are desperately keen to seize a few precious days away, as far removed as possible from the daily grind, the continual daily stresses and strains, the noise and the rush.

After all, what price can one put on peace and serenity? And to find it is easily available, not far from home yet feeling a million miles away… We’re talking about nothing more mystical than the chance to enjoy some peace and quiet and fresh air and comfort – walking in the beautiful Peak District, delicious meals in lovely pubs, coming back to a warm and welcoming ‘home from home’ (but without your real home’s responsibilities).

Planning ahead is part of the magic – so often people say when they have rung up to book ‘”I feel better already, just thinking of it.” But sometimes, a last minute spur of the moment unplanned trip could be just as exciting. Personally I am full of admiration for anyone who can so organise their lives as to be able to drop everything and go at relatively short notice but we are know that there are many who are.

So, if you would like to be on ‘Cancellation standby’ please let us know. We’ll ask Jeremy our lovely webman to hep us devise a suitable form but in the meantime, we have already started a list. We will always advertise sudden gaps and availability on our website but we appreciate that not everyone is permanently glued to our site so a quick email or text (preferably) or phone call wouldn’t come amiss.

It will be a question of first come, first served – your place on the list won’t mean you are in a better or worse position because the emails would go out at the same time. And we won’t keep your name on the list for ever, unless of course you ask us to!

Tom’s Barn News Catch-up

The days have hurtled by in a flurry of trying to sort out our email crisis and getting our tax returns done by the end of the month. Thanks to a lot of help from Aaron at Dove Computers in Ashbourne, and Jeremy Brough our website wizard, the email situation is more or less restored; in the end 401 emails poured through the system at once so it is taking some time sorting through them all and hoping not too many are seriously urgent.

And as for meeting that menacing tax return deadline of Jan 31, yes, we have, just…. but at some cost to a relaxing state of mind, and to the total exclusion of more interesting things like keeping the blog up to date.

Before you feel too sorry for us, there have been some light interludes and quite a lot of fun squeezed in beside the headaches. We were lucky enough to get tickets to Matilda in Stratford, having a light supper beforehand in the River restaurant high up in the new  RST building which was very atmospheric (and convenient).

Matilda was a joy! At least a third of the cast are young children, but so skilled and so well trained – they sang and danced and spoke like pros three times their age. Miss Trunchbull the ghastly headteacher  (not a child!) was wonderfully dreadful, too, but it would be hard to pick out any one individual. The show ends in Stratford at the end of he month, but no doubt will be going to London or on tour, so if you get a chance – book early!