Live!: News

It has been a busy summer here at Manesty. Our film, commissioned in early summer, is now playing on our new home page, which went live yesterday. James, our film maker and family friend, has spent many holidays here with us in the Lakes and his skills and our knowledge of the area has combined to make a wonderful depiction of Borrowdale.

The new home page focusses on our recent news and on displaying the beauties of Borrowdale and our local area. The new film takes pride of place, but you can still view the slideshow (which has had a few photos added to it) by clicking on the still photos. There is a dedicated space for our late availability and special offers, so you don’t have to go as far when looking for that last minute break! We also have a new facebook page: become a fan and keep up to date with our special offers, late availability and news while you are keeping in touch with friends.

We have designed and had printed our own bespoke, high quality Manesty Holiday Cottages postcards. The two photos used were both taken by us with no special equipment or lenses: it’s easy take a good photo here! We are selling them in the cottages so that visitors can send them to friends and family, or keep one as a special momento of their time at Manesty.

The recent humid weather has meant that we have been kept on our toes keeping the lawns and gardens in top shape, but now seems to have given way to bright, clear, sunny days. Visitors over the next few weeks will hopefully have the best of both worlds; hot dry sunny days and a lucious green vista. We still have some availability in August so why not get in touch and see for yourself.

After a months dry weather, the Lake District resevoirs have been at an all time low (Thirlmere was only 37% full at one point), and our craggy lawns are totally dead and brown. Unitied Utilities has imposed a hose pipe ban on their customers in the North West, in an attempt to revive the reservoirs levels. Whilst not subject to the ban, we are have also been using our own private water supply with care. It has never failed us yet, and the boggy fell behind the house and below the catchement area is still pretty wet. Last time there was a hosepipe ban (14 years ago) we didn’t have any problems.

Typically, since the ban can into force on Friday (9th July), it doesn’t seem to have stopped raining. Our lake, Derwentwater, is very full, although a recent drive past Thirlmere made it evident that the recovery there has be to nowhere near the same degree. I suppose a happy medium would be rain at night and sunshine during the day!

The bluebells are beautiful at Rannerdale on Crummockwater and are a must to visit; the coal tit is nesting in its hole on the ground at Manesty; the azealas and rhododendruns are showing their wonderful variety of colours; the red squirrels are dashing about on our lawns; the very hot temperatures of the weekend have taken a dive;  the area is very dry and Derwentwater is very low and at Manesty we are watering the lawn and garden; the birds are very noisy; the song birds are a joy and the summer visitors such as the cuckoo,  green finch,  gold finch and housemartin add to the volume and variety; the days are long, we are only a few weeks away from 24 hour daylight and the light is clear.  May is certainly a must for a visit.

We’ve been Google Street View-ed!!! We’ve just found that the whole of Borrowdale is now visible on Google Maps with Street View. The pictures look like they were taken around Easter last year; the daffodils, hawthorn and larches are out, and the grass has been growing, but the bracken and beech hedge are still in their winter state. Please look here to explore our immediate surroundings using this amazing tool. But remember that the Street Maps camera is on top of a car at the end of a long pole – you actually can’t see over the wall when you walk along the road so we really are very private!

In addition, we have now got the photos of all the work we have done over the winter uploaded onto the website. There are new shots of all the bedrooms, of Manesty Band’s bathroom with roll top bath and rain head shower, and of Manesty Dairy’s new open plan living area on the individual cottage pages, as well as new photos of the surroundings and some of our walks over the winter in the picture gallery. Happy browsing.

We are enjoying beautiful sunny days and clear blue skies (not a cloud in sight today!). With the snowdrops out and the daffodils coming through, it feels as if spring is really on its way, despite the persisent covering of snow on the fell tops. It has been a busy time over the winter, which much refurbishment, painting and decorating. The highlight of the new year has to be Manesty Dairy’s transformation; with new carpet throughout and a totally new upstairs living/dining/cooking area, the few lucky guests who have already stayed in it have been delighted with their accommodation. We have opened up the upstairs area by knocking through the kitchen and stairway into the previous sitting room, making a fabulous light and airy space. With a new made to measure kitchen from the local Southey Interiors and local greenslate worktops from Lakeland Slate, the cooking faclities have been transformed. With plenty of storage and worktop space, it is delightful for those who like to cook something special when away from the busy home life. For everyone else, it is great to look at! Who can resist sinking into the sofa, with the feel of 100% wool carpet beneath their feet, and looking out onto our own wooded area, home to tawney owls, red squirrels and much more. Guests staying in Manesty Dairy are encouraged to take their morning cup of tea outside to the seat there and enjoy the view over Manesty’s roof tops of the stunning Borrowdale valley, as generations must have done so before.

We are having a wonderful seasonal winter with skating on a completely frozen lake being the highlight albeit armed with a drill for testing ice thickness, a chart showing the water depth and a ladder for rescue; just wish some of the other enthusiasts were as well prepared. We have, as a family, skated on the lake for nearly a century. On the downside our rubbish bins weren’t emptied for 5 weeks (today was the first collection since the collection before Christmas) and we saw no sign of any salt on the roads until the thaw started, when we had 2 visits in 18 hours! This is the worst service that we have known although not the worst weather by any means.

Current projects include Manesty Band’s bathroom being totally refurbished; the farmhouse loft’s insulation being enhanced (with foam spray against the slates and environmentally friendly recycled quilting made from plastic bottle on the ceiling); new bed bases being ordered for the bedsteads; and quilted bed throws in conjunction with linen hire duvet covers and sheets being the new bed linen arrangements. The usual painting and decorating at this time of the year is ongoing. Tradesmen are less busy than usual because of the economic downturn and this has allowed us to initially make speedy progress but the flooding has seriously slowed us up now.

To reassure you all, we are fine and need only to keep regularly checking our drains for debris. Borrowdale has similarily generally kept ahead and mostly avoided problems, dare we say that we are prepared. Guests are coming and going around the water.

Sadly, the bridge at Portinscale was significantly under water and the houses on the old road to the A66 (accessed past The Farmers) were flooded; this water then flooded and closed the A66 to the west of the junction on Thursday night. Keswick was flooded on Thursday by the Greta and the river went over the wall opposite the pencil museum and flooded Booths among other places; it also went over the Penrith road past the cenotaph on the way out of town and into the adjacent houses.

Derwentwater was probably up two and a half to three meters but we will measure that accurately when it gets back to normal levels and indeed the historic tablets at Friar’s Crag will record this in due course. It is of course currently raining as forecast and the occupants of the flooded houses around the county will not be sleeping easily tonight.