Romantic cottages for two in the Peak District
Romantic cottages for two in the Peak District
It’s not exactly in Parwich, but we do urge you when you are next in London with a few hours to kill, to consider visiting the London Wetlands Trust site in Barnes.
For a start you wouldn’t believe you were in London at all; it kept reminding us rather of the Norfolk Broads. Daughter Ruthie took us there for the day last Sunday – a wonderfully warm, sunny day, just perfect for strolling through the different areas and watching all the birds. As you can imagine, John was in his element, with his interest in birds and photography: his camera was almost red hot and even I got somewhat carried away with my little mobile phone camera…
The highlight of a lovely day was half an hour spent watching a heron as he eventually speared a fish. We were very close, but the heron was concentrating so intently he did not seem to notice, or mind. The scene was so gripping I completely forgot my camera, but fortunately John did not. He took a series of photographs over the thirty or so minutes we watched and waited, almost as patiently as the heron itself. Do have a look at the ‘Fish That Didn’t get Away’ in our Photo Gallery.
You will see how the heron ‘stalked’ the fish – the only movement being an almost imperceptible tautening of his long neck, until startlingly suddenly, he struck. Up he came out of the water with this largish fish, flapping and wriggling, speared between his clamped beaks. The heron then very patiently, without letting the fish wriggle away, managed to manoeuvre it round until it was lengthways on, headfirst.
With an enormous gulp he swallowed it, and it was a struggle to get the thing down. We watched as the outline of the large shape gradually went down his throat as the heron kept scooping gulps of water up in his beak, and swallowing as one might with a large pill that wouldn’t go down.
What a sight! We felt so privileged to have seen it, and what is more in such a wonderful peaceful, watery setting just minutes from all the bustle and urban noise that is London.
Today dawned grey but improved steadily and by the time the duck race was due to start it felt positively summery. People walked from Parwich across the fields, others biked and some drove. The children played happily in or near the water and the adults basked in the warm sunshine.
At 2pm this afternoon three hundred plastic ducks were launched just above the ford; the journey was not straightforward as most seemed to head straight for the banks and had to be encouraged back into the flow; the fastest seemed to be those that keeled over and floated on their sides (there might even be a moral there).
The three winners were the first to reach the second of two nets stretched across the stream below the ford crossing, where Carl stood in his wellies waiting patiently to identify the first three through. They didn’t just have to get there, they had also to float through a hole in the first net to be caught by the second.
Strangely the second duck to make it through happened to belong to the organiser, Mick, but as he was nowhere near the finishing line there could be no question of foul play. Strangely too, I didn’t win a prize. Normally I seem to but maybe 2011 will not be my year. Each duck cost £1, and the whole idea was to raise money to finance the St George’s Day parade later in the month. So, £300 raised and a lot of fun enjoyed into the bargain…
When we were children my brother sister and I were always told that April 1st jokes stopped at noon. Was that just our parents feeling they couldn’t cope with more than half a dayful of what we children thought were hilariously convincing jokes or is that idea widely held? Anyway, assuming it’s well after noon we’ll be spoilsport enough to let cats out of bags…
We were very amused by a wonderful April 1st spoof on the Parwich blog entitled a Very Special Visit which can’t have taken in too many people but has entertained a lot. We had absolutely nothing to do with the article although we weren’t surprised to see it as the blog team had very courteously checked beforehand that we wouldn’t mind if it were published.
And, no, of course we didn’t mind and no, sadly, Tom’s Barn is not the favoured Royal honeymoon destination. It would be tempting but not quite truthful to say the couple tried too late and been turned away – April and May have been booked for ages but crucially they didn’t even try unless they were already disguising their identity by using an alibi! We have turned couples away literally by the score.
I am sure it would have been a happy choice and that Prince William and Catherine would love Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns – would love the privacy and comfort, peace and quiet and would love Parwich but I am equally sure that to their loss they very possibly haven’t even heard of us; between us we’ve slipped up there! No doubt throughout the years ahead there will be many occasions when they would just love to be able to escape totally, away from all the pressure and demands and publicity that will face them.
Meanwhile, coming back to weddings, and Royal ones at that, there is a great programme for the royal wedding celebrations arranged here for the day (Friday 29th April). I will write more about that here soon, but meanwhile, you can check out the details on our electronic village notice board otherwise known as the Parwich blog.
You may remember hearing that Peak District Premier Cottages, the regional group of Premier Cottages owners, of which we are proud to be members, have been nominated by Haddon Hall as their holiday accommodation providers of choice.
Obviously this is something we are all delighted about; but it isn’t just a question of feeling flattered and privileged (which we do) – it also means that we and our guests will all benefit from preferential special offers and I think advance warnings of special dates and special events.
We will put more details up on our website in the next few days, but meanwhile, let me just mention the excellent Haddon Hall restaurant. This is on site but you don’t have to be visiting the hall to go to the restaurant so it would be an excellent place to have a lovely lunch or afternoon tea after a day in Bakewell; you’d be on your way home, it is such a beautiful setting in the shadow of the hall, the food by all accounts is excellent (we had a delicious lunch there last week) and parking should be OK although you do have to cross the A6 to get to the drive from the official car park.
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 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.
Those of you who have stayed in Douglas’s Barn may remember the beautiful painting by Lewis Noble above the fire place, one of our (rather too many) artistic/cultural extravagances which we don’t regret for one minute.
Lewis is exhibiting in London at the moment, at the Hart Gallery in London. We were pleased to see the exhibition highlighted in the current 12th Feb issue of The Week Arts page (p27) Where to Buy…
It is an emotional rather photographic impression of the Parwich landscape, with the wonderful blue/grey/green colours so typical of the Derbyshire Dales and Staffordshire Moorlands and which we have tried to recreate downstairs in Douglas’s Barn. We love it and many of our guests remark on it, as they do the equally lovely but very different water colours by Joan Wood, another local Derbyshire artist – and the delightful Ruby Hickmott cartoon in the loo. (Must ask John to try to capture these all on photograph…)
Before you suspect that we are in commission I must reassure you that a) unfortunately we are not, and b) Lewis has no idea we are writing this.
Finally on a very different note altogether, many of you will have met Sue, who helps us in the garden – in fact without her help the garden would quickly revert to the jungle of docks, nettles and brambles that it used to be (after we removed all the breeze blocks, asbestos and tractor relics from what had been a farmer’s neglected dumping ground).
Anyway, you might be amused to see these shots by John on Parwich.org, the village website, of Sue and Mike trying valiantly – and they did succeed – to transport hundreds of willow canes in last week’s gusting wind. There are several shots of Orchard Farm in the background.
Parwich.org , our village blog, has just reached a fairly historic milestone – half a million visits in under three years which is quite (very!) impressive.
When it started it was apparently one of the very first villages to have its own website, but now apparently even Ambridge has one! And what is more, apparently the Archers scriptwriters are using ours for ideas, which is amusing – do keep your ears open, all you Archers fans – to see what similarities you can spot when the Ambridge blog is talked about!
That’s quite a thought – perhaps we ought to suggest to the village blog team they could run a ‘Spot the Difference’ competition. You never know, there might even be a local Tom’s & Douglas’s Barns-type blog set up.
I have a horrible feeling if there is it’ll probably be Lynda Snell that does it; if so do you think Robert will become the unofficial village photographer…? Or maybe it’ll be Joe Grundy. Hope I’m wrong on all counts.
A warm (warmer, it’s all relative) day so hardly any snow or visible ice about on the roads and paths, although in 
deep puddles there still can lurk a layer of ice providing a slippery trap for the unwary.
John and I and another group of friends went today to Hartington where most of us embarked on a delightful two-hour walk ending in a very pleasant and convivial lunch at the Devonshire Arms (in Hartington, not Beeley!).
Of course because of all the sudden warm(er) weather there is a lot of mist about in the valleys, lingering all day in some places. John managed to capture some rather evocative misty views looking down over Hartington from the hills above.
These are the grey/green/blue misty colours I find so attractive and which we tried to reflect in Douglas’s Barn, wanting to create a calm, peaceful and relaxing atmosphere.
If you’d like to see a few more John took today (all variations on a theme) they are in the Photo Gallery, under Here and There. Double click on a photo then you should be able to see each in turn, slightly enlarged.
Idly watching the Antiques Roadshow at Chatsworth tonight we were intrigued when the daughter of an artist called Bert Broomhead (who up until that moment we had never heard of) produced a rather beautiful picture of Parwich painted in 1950. John had recorded the programme and was able to ‘rewind’ and take a few stills but a picture of the actual painting can be seen on the artist’s website
Momentarily we struggled to place the view until we realised it must have been painted from directly behind Orchard Farm. Interestingly there is no rusty haybarn which we had assumed to be even older than 60 years and of course no sign of any of the ‘newer’ houses along this road.
What is there in pride of place is nostalgic reminder our old two-seater privy in the foreground on the left. There was no loo and no bathroom and not much else either in the house when we bought Orchard Farm in 1983 but needless to say we did improve the facilities somewhat before moving in. The privy sadly was demolished by a van taking the corner too fast at least twenty years ago so now all we have left is the levelled off waist-high wall.
The church is there in the background, the McCabes’ old barn, and is that Knob Hall in the right hand corner?
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