Romantic cottages for two in the Peak District
Romantic cottages for two in the Peak District
Enjoying a Cornish hot tub, not wallowing in Tom's Barn!
We thought we were ticking off a plumbing worry. But you never know what’s round the corner, and there was a far bigger anxiety looming. Twenty four hours of drying out pillows and washing, drying (and ironing yet to come) of previously beautifully laundered bedding later, I can tell you about it. And I still haven’t finished the washing.
What on earth happened, you may wonder? Normally on a Friday we get up bright and early, I make the ‘cake of the day’ for our guests, John fetches the logs for Tom’s Barn and empties the bins, I finish off any ironing that’s needed for the changeover and by 10am when our guests leave we are ready to face another changeover and all that might involve. At 8am yesterday morning the phone rang and Bill in Tom’s Barn broke the news that they had discovered there been a serious leak overnight, from the water tank. The water had drizzled steadily but silently, quietly soaking into four complete sets of beautifully laundered bedlinen and four sets of spare towels, and some pillows, and the new carpet below.
Our guests had only discovered when they had gone to the airing cupboard as they packed. They had done all the right things like instantly turning off the water and kindly removing many of the soaking sheets to the bathroom. Thank you Bill and Barbara – it was hardly the relaxed ending to a great stay! After they left, Roger our plumber, arrived pretty soon after to discover it was merely one tiny perished washer which had been the cause of this flood. He was able to replace it very quickly, and also to fit the seat so that was a bonus, to have it fitted professionally.
Dealing with all the soaking bedding is an ongoing story. Eight loads of washing, drying and potential ironing later we still have more previously immaculately laundered sets of bedding to rewash and iron. I wish we had taken a photo between us but it wouldn’t have been a very encouraging one. However, although O might be having a good moan, we are well aware it could have been much worse. Nothing was stained and thanks to the water being well absorbed by everything in the airing cupboard – and, admittedly, the carpet – the water didn’t come through kitchen ceiling; the damage could have been much worse.
As Bill and Barbara said their farewell, Barbara asked if at moments like this we felt it was all worth it, and we were able to say, quite genuinely, that yes, it was! And if that isn’t tempting fate, what is…?
608 is Orchard Farm
Last night we went to a village event in the Memorial Hall, and were most intrigued to see a copy of the 1843 Tithe map of Parwich. There is more information about it, and the first Census of 1841, in the Parwich Local History Society newsletter No. 3. Funnily enough, in this newsletter there is also a photo of the section of the map that shows Orchard Farm…
There it is, in the middle of the photo, section 208. You’ll notice two possibly confusing changes. Firstly, the plot is bigger because in the 1960s or perhaps 1970s the then owner of Orchard Farm sold two plots of land where the bungalows next door now stand. Of course also there is no Dutch Haybarn, rusty and ancient looking now, but not that ancient!
Then, there is Orchard Farm house on the map, with Tom’s Barn to the side, quite separate. Between them is an empty space. We always guessed that it might have been a fairly adhoc addition by some farmer owner who needed more shelter for his cows, but we didn’t know for sure. Now we have proof, but we still don’t know when. It is intriguing: when was Douglas’s Barn built?
So, whatever happens, Douglas’s Barn is post 1843 so we can’t call it an 18th century cowshed any more, although no doubt we can its older brother. From all the Censuses since 1841 and our title deeds we have plenty of facts about the people, but not about the buildings. Maybe one day we’ll discover more.
It is lovely to go away but really lovely to get back. After ten very full and happy days for us in Cornwall and briefly Devon we were greeted by a lawn of lush hay and everything looking rather over-luxuriant (including ourselves i might add, after ten days of excess food). Thanks to Janet’s attentions our guests were unaffected by our absence and the only worry we met was a rather wobbly Boots the cat.
Janet had alerted us that she seemed a bit unsteady on her pins. A fight? An injury? Had she perhaps had a knock with a car? Or perhaps it is just old age (it hits us all). Anyway, she isn’t off her food but spends a lots of time licking her right paw.
The Addison Singers rehearsing at the Minack
Anyway, a week ago I promised that the next day you would hear of more of our Cornish outings, so back to our trip. I can see some of you thinking once again, ‘What is this blog? A travel site, book site, cookery site? Most definitely probably not a holiday cottage site.” However, it is all loosely connected with our two holiday cottages are so much part of our life and one of these days there’ll be pure Tom’s and Douglas’s Barn news. Anyway, the next day it POURED, and the best day.
Two of the Addison Singers, Ruth and Flora, outside the Tate (St Ives)
We returned home via the Eden Project after our Cornish week, spending the weekend with my brother John, near Totnes. More fun and nostalgia and general self-indulgence, with a trip to Ringmore where our parents are both buried within sight of the sea and their own house and then back via the Start Bay Fish & Chip shop at Tor Cross on Slapton Sands.
Percy the Peacock
A Cornish Swallow on the Little White Alice pool
Much as we hate leaving home (we always feel bad not being here when our guests are) the groupie/Cornwall instincts took over. We immediately booked a holiday cottage and are happy to pass on a good tip. if ever any of you are looking for a romantic cottage for two of course please look at Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns. However, if you are heading to Cornwall we aren’t anyway near so can’t help. I am sure there are hundreds of lovely cottages there but we would have no hesitation recommending you look at another Premier Cottage property, Little White Alice
Little White Alice is very new, very ecologically ‘green’ and very attractive. There are seven cottages I think, a natural pool and a wood-fired hot tub, so very different from us but – swings and roundabouts and all that – we are both super but very different and in very different parts of the world so neither of us need have any fears from the other and we are very happy to recommend Simon and Rosie’s cottages whole heartedly.
I didn’t set off the write a blurb for Little White Alice but it sort of took over. Tomorrow I will let you know what we have been doing on our time off – more puffs for Cornwall and things Cornish! And a big puff for the Addison Singers. They are the greatest!
(Just listened to the weather forecast for tomorrow – not good- so plans for a trip to St Michael’s Mount may be jettisoned…)
Hanging my head in shame at the long silence. We’ve been busy but that is no excuse as my headmistress would have said, ‘It is just a case of being organised”. Organised I obviously am not, but we have been happily busy and I am sticking to that as an excuse.explanation.
We went down to London last week, John on the Wednesday as he had a rather nostalgic and fun cricket club reunion dinner at Lords to attend. I joined him on Friday evening, when as far as I was concerned the family/friends/fun began. On the Friday evening we went to see for the second time – last time in Scarborough – Alan Ayckbourn’s latest play, Neighbourhood Watch, in which Frances Grey, a Douglas’s Barn guest, was unrecognisable playing – most convincingly – the part of Amy , the seductress wife of the hapless Gareth. Then on Saturday afternoon seven of us trooped off to the Aldwych to see Tom Chambers (again) in Top Hat. Having toured the provinces for six months this is their London premiere. The theatre was packed and the audience wonderfully appreciative – as far as one could see the production was faultless.
My only problem was the person on my left sang her way through every piece, quite loud and more than quite out of tune. Pointed looks from several of us did nothing to dim her enthusiasm so we just had to try to not let it bother us too much.
The dancing is terrific, so slick, and all the dancers manage to look as if they were really enjoying it; Tom was saying they really do when the audience is responsive. How they all but Tom in particular, manage to sing and dance non stop without ever faltering is most impressive. When we saw Tom at the stage door afterwards he looked as fresh as if he had just woken up from a thoroughly refreshing nap! And he had to go through it all again that evening.
Drinks at a friend’s house afterwards and an Indian meal for us all, then brunch with another friend the next door and we felt thoroughly relaxed. Then reality struck and the bubble was burst. A text from Janet let us know that the power had gone off in Parwich. Having just had a 15-hour cut only a few weeks ago, we assumed this one couldn’t possibly rival that, but…it did. We got back at 7ish to find Parwich plunged in darkness and the house pretty cold. Our Tom’s Barn guests were pretty cheery because of course they had the log burner and they had arranged to have dinner at a pub, but the Douglas’s Barn guests were very glad to huddle up with us in our house, all in our anoraks, and valiantly consume pizza and red wine to combat the cold. In fact so jolly it was that when the lights came on at about 10ish everything looked so bright and garish we promptly turned them off again and reverted thankfully to candlelight.
These days we are all so dependent on electricity, it is very salutary every so often to have to cope without emails, (digital) phones not to mention lighting and heating. computers, kettles and toasters. But not for ever.
Do you remember that we had another Green Business (GTBS Green Tourism Business Scheme) Inspection in March? The assessor had hinted discreetly that he was pleased but obviously could say no more because he had to make his report which in turn will have had to have been assessed and – finally – approved.
Anyway, we got an email the other day, letting us know that we had reached the Gold Level golden heights. We were very pleased. We had never even thought of that as a possibility because we do not have any of the outward green trappings such as wind turbine or ground source heat pumps, and I think to anyone staying here – if they did not already know about our quiet but serious green commitment – it might not be very obvious at all. Also, there is always the anxiety about inviting comparisons or criticism if one makes too big a fuss about something.
The audit is 36pages long, helpful and encouraging. We are congratulated on a ‘well-desered gold GTBS award’ but warned lest we get too pleased with ourselves that ‘there are areas where tweaks can still be made to improve the business performance’. We will work on those but we will always place the pleasure and comfort of our guests first and do not ever want to do anything that might compromise that. Hopefully we can continue to progress greenly and continue to do all we can to make sure your stay here is the best we can possibly offer you.
We get the most lovely comments from our guests in the Visitors’ Books which occasionally we like to share with you; sometimes there are some very touching personal comments, which we tend not to share just because they are personal. Idly going through Douglas’s Barn’s Guest book the other day I came across a charming paragraph addressed not just to us, but also to Boots, so i have no compunction in sharing that!
The secret was out… Boots knows in theory that she is not allowed in Douglas’s Barn although that is where she used to live when she came up from Devon with my father 12 years ago so she takes little heed of now being banned if cat-loving souls are happy to invite her inside. She is very old by cat standards and has brought a lot of happiness, first of all to my father Douglas, and then after he died, to us. We are sure she thinks that is her role in life (unless you’re a dog or a bird). She is very clean and she does not have fleas, and loves nothing better than to be cosseted and loved.
Hence the very personal message to Boots from Tony who like many others had enjoyed her company when staying here a couple of weeks ago:
“Dear Marion and John +*Boots,
Thank you so much for sharing this most wonderful part of the world and Douglas’s Barn with us…*Boots, we enjoyed your ‘Brrrs’ and purrs when you dropped by in the evenings to curl up on the sofa with us to watch football and DVDs, and to have your saucer of milk – Tony.”
We love meeting all our guests but have yet to adopt Boots’s shamelessly loving approach.
On January 29th this year we had some very good friends, the Cartwrights, staying with us from Yorkshire. Like so many of us they are very interested in birds and encourage them in their garden; John is very envious of them because one of their ‘garden birds’ happens to be a kingfisher which they frequently spot by the small stream which borders their garden.
Kingfishers aside, we all decided after lunch to set aside an hour, from the comfort of the Orchard Farm kitchen window (it was January after all) counting the birds that came to our garden for the RSPB Annual Garden Birdwatch. Inevitably at first there were no birds at all. Was Boots around, stalking them stealthily? Or perhaps it was an unseen sparrowhawk circling above? For a while we had visions of making a ‘nul points’ return but fortunately our feeders were soon as busy as usual when the usual ones started flocking in; unfortunately we did not keep the list we made. One enters the totals online for the RSPB and therefore we have no record of the final totals but I can confidently say that we had no wonderful surprises to record.
The faithful Orchard Farm feeders are – not necessarily in this order – Blue Tits, Chaffinch, Long-tailed Tits, Coal Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Dunnock, Goldfinches, Nuthatch, Tree Creepers, Blackbirds, Bullfinches, Pigeons, Pheasants. The squirrel tries his hardest to pretend he is a bird and gets up to the most amazing antics to get at the feeders, usually unsuccessfully I am glad to report. He does look horribly glossy and well-fed, though, so maybe he is clever enough now to time his maraudings when we are not watching like hawks at the window.
The first ten for Derbyshire this year were: House Sparrow, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Starling, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Great Tit, Robin. Bullfinches come in at no. 20 and overall were only recorded in 8% of the gardens in Derbyshire on January 29th so we certainly buck the trend there as we see them a lot now, to our pleasure, and I know we saw several on the birdwatch day.
The first ten for England were: House Sparrow, Starling, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Collared Dove, Robin. Interestingly, the Bullfinch doesn’t feature in the first 20 in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Next year the survey happens over the weekend of 26 and 27 January 2013 I shall make a point of keeping our personal tally, just for the amusement of seeing how we vary from the average.
In the past year or so Tom’s Barn has been the focus of all the attention as far as new purchases and improvements go; it is four years older and right from the start has been very popular. In the recent past there has been a new fridge, washing machine and cooker, we have had the stair gate and new oak tables and bedside cabinets all custom made, and most recently carpeting put up the stairs and in the bedroom.
By the time Douglas’s Barn came along, we had learnt a lot and were also by now on our greenward trail so we kitted it out with the best and ‘greenest’ equipment we could afford, which is all still going strong. We did have lots of problems with the boiler and were going to replace that. However, since our friend Steve Ogan from Blakelow Farm recommended the most wonderful man (Phil Jennings if anyone wants a good tip) to provide us with a new one – I hardly dare tempt fate, but after a thorough repair the original boiler has gone well. There has been little reason to replace anything, in spite of Douglas’s Barn, like Tom’s Barn, being full nonstop.
However, we couldn’t help noticing that condensation had started creeping in between the double glazing in the front door, looking horribly – whenever the sun shone – as if it just needed a good clean! Yesterday the glass unit was replaced by local Parwich man, Roger Cundy, and it now looks as good as new (which of course it is).
We also have decided to have wireless access points fitted in each barn. Up until we now we have relied on a router and booster but although the reception in Douglas’s Barn seems fine, from time to time guests in Tom’s Barn have experienced problems. They have always been very understanding and non-complaining but we advertise free (permanent understood) wi-fi and feel strongly that guests should not ever have any problem that we can humanly avoid. It isn’t just wanting the Internet for Facebook and Twitter either, we know that a lot of our guests have to bring their work with them if they come away at all, so they must be able to do access the Internet without a hitch. So that is another developmen, happening in the next week or so.
The big item I am keeping until last. As from this afternoon, Douglas’s Barn has the full Sky package…! Mike the Sky man who came to set it up was a bit shy about having his photo taken but there he is at the top of the page, working away behind the TV! Both barns have had FreeSat and from time to time we have wondered nervously about providing Sky but the sheer cost instantly put us off. Also, when we asked guests if they missed it/would like it, they always said no. It took us some time to realise that we were not asking the right people, because anyone that desperately felt the need for Sky would not have chosen to come here in the first place!
But recently, thanks to a suggestion by Neil our aerial man, we have been able to apply for an additional ‘multi room’ package for Douglas’s Barn which is next door to the room where our telly (with Sky) is, at a relatively modest monthly rate. We would not be able to do the same in Tom’s Barn for technical/phone line/financial reasons. So that means another choice: log burner or no log burner? Dogs or no dogs? Sky or no Sky? We are pretty sure we know that some wives or partners of sport fanatics will have some interesting discussions before a possible compromise has to be reached on that last point.
Two weeks ago we were watching our guests slowly attain a deep tan while we all sat in the sunshine, barbecued outside and strolled about in light summer clothing. The flowers bloomed, the grass grew, the birds sang fit to burst. Unfortunately it was all too good to last.
We heard unimpressive rumours about snow but didn’t believe them for a minute until on Wednesday morning we woke to see the world had gone white overnight and snow continued to fall most of the day. Heavy winds blew, trees fell, power lines went down and we experienced a series of temporary power cuts followed by a very permanent one which eventually lasted from about 9.30am until half past midnight.
It was all strangely liberating. You realise how much of our day to day activity depends on electricity, from turning on a light, making a cup of tea to sending an email. Apart from the Aga and our log burner we had no light, heat or telephone and no communication with the outside world apart from, as we did discover eventually, a very old non-digital telephone which meant we were able to phone out for updates about the situation which changed alarmingly each time we rang.
One becomes strangely resourceful. It was fun to see how we could, as it were, beat the system. We could have cheated too, with the shop and pub being open but in the circumstances it felt better keeping warm indoors. 
I tidied my desk; our guests read, played scrabble, did the crossword and one happily managed a lot of knitting without the sense of guilt she would normally have experienced knitting during the day.
Of course, we felt responsible. We worried most about our guests in Douglas’s Barn, which is all-electric. Fortunately it is very well-insulated and kept warm all day; however, a warm bath or even a cup of coffee became an unattainable luxury. John and I kept them supplied with hot water in a thermos and mugs of soup at lunch time. Our Tom’s Barn guests were much more fortunate: they were able to keep themselves as snug as the proverbial bug with the log burner and could boil up pans of water to make hot drinks. They could have baked potatoes had they wanted to or in fact fried themselves eggs and bacon.
The only trouble was, no one knew how long it was going to last. Come the evening, as darkness began to fall, suddenly it threatened to become less than funny. We checked torch batteries, gathered up dozen of candles and tea light, stoked the log burner and invited our guests in for a candle-lit supper. I meanwhile scuttled about, making a casserole with some lamb steaks we most fortunately had in the fridge and all the lovely Riverford organic vegetables which we most fortunately also had. Some generous measures of red wine to help it along its way and into the by now worryingly cooling Aga the whole thing went!
And what a fun evening we had! The six of us talked and laughed our way through the evening and it was well past midnight before any of us thought of moving. As they said their goodbyes and stepped outside, suddenly the world came alive – all the light came on, fridge and freezer buzzed and whirred and life suddenly and rather disappointingly returned to normal. It hadn’t actually, as it turned out. My computer had been badly affected so i spent the whole of the next day still without access to the internet and with the digital phones still not working. It was 6pm last night before, thanks to Dove Computers in Ashbourne, life truly returned to normal.
For once, I had a very genuine reason for not having written a blog post.
I have had the pleasure of managing Tom and Douglas Barns for 10 Years and felt it was time to enjoy a bit more of my retirement. The barns will continue to be holiday cottages and will be maintained to the standard that all previous guests have enjoyed. The only change is that Sykes Cottages […]
The weather is a bit mixed but we are still getting sunny days. A perfect time of year to come and stay for a few days and have a walk in the lovely countryside, take a bike ride, visit one of the many attractions that all stay open or just relax in Tom or Douglas […]
The weather has been so wet but our barns offer a cosy retreat in beautiful countryside. Why not pack a bag for a few days and have a break . We have extended our spring prices until mid June and reduced our summer prices. It would be lovely to see you for a few days […]
