Scotland and sour milk

We’ve just returned from a wonderful week in Scotland once again. This time we stayed at a place called Lochgoilhead and it was absolutely beautiful. Tom managed to get a few days fly fishing at Inverawe and we now have a freezer stocked with freshly caught trout. Taking a six year old batman meant we had to go in the swimming pool every day but hey ho, we’d forgotten how much fun you can have with a child who thinks he’s a shark!! We’ve come back well rested and ready (I think) for the autumn and winter. Whenever we go anywhere that’s worth a little feedback we like to give it and I must stress if any of you go self catering around Argyll you must buy your meat from the butchers in Inverary, it’s just in the square where the jail is. The meat is just the best we’ve ever tasted; tender, succulent and so very tasty. Coupled with the fish market and also the great seafood restaurants around the area this definitely is a place to visit for fine food, excellent fishing, invigorating walks and wonderful scenery.

The week before we went Tom had a day at the races with some ex-colleagues and friends. Being the dutiful wife I of course offered to “cover in the guest house the following morning so that he could “rest off” his previous day’s frolicking. After all, I like to socialise, I’m not a bad cook and I know how to clean a room and make a bed. What else is there to running a guest house???? Oh dear, a guest we had for the first time was far, far too polite to mention that his cereal didn’t quite taste as it should. I was mortified when I made myself a well earned coffee once all guests had been accommodated, the milk just settled in lumps floating on the top of the cup. And oh no, who should walk in just as I was screwing up my face?? Yes, Tom!!!!! He went absolutely ballistic at me: How stupid, how careless, don’t you even know how to test milk? He went on and on…… I rushed back into the lounge to apologise to Steve who had finished his cereal admitting that it did taste a little sharp. I am so very sorry Steve but if it makes you feel any better I am well and truly sacked and not allowed near the breakfast preparations again!!!! However, on the positive side I suppose it does make Tom feel more indispensable.

We've also been interviewed and photographed by artist, Tracey Holland, who is one of a group of artists preparing an exhibition displaying the Valley of Stone. The exhibition will be focusing on the stone within the Rossendale Valley; its uses over the years, the part played in the history of Rossendale and the many stories and memories created. The exhibition which has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Groundwork Pennine Lancashire runs from 6 - 14 December at the Horse & Bamboo Theatre in Waterfoot. Some of you may already know the interesting history of our property but for those of you that would like to know more and become familiar with the wonderful and unique properties of the Rural Rossendale group as well as view the fantastic artwork featured around the Valley of Stone you really shouldn't miss what looks as though it is going to be a very interesting exhibition. See you there!!!!!

So now we start the preparations for Christmas and the New Year, before you know it 2009 will be upon us and our first granddaughter is due to greet the world at the end of January.

What a wonderful time we all had during the 2008 Walking Festival.

It was a day with "Thomas" as sixteen of us left on our first walk from East lancs Railway for the four mile Sarspirilla Stroll for what we thought was going to be a rainy wet walk. I won’t lie and say the sun shone as there were many people in Rossendale that Saturday who would contradict me! It was certainly drizzling but the intrepid gang set off. All the time I have lived in Rossendale I have never once used the underpass there in Rawtenstall, I was pleasantly surprised. Whether one calls it graffiti or art the colourful collages on the underpass walls were lovely, the artists had captured very well a selection of the Rossendale attractions and I thought they looked fab.

Up through Whitakers Park (again, I’ve never walked through it before!), through the small “zoo” where they have a selection of cute ‘smaller’ animals which appeal to the young children and up through the ski-slope. Walking up by the ski-slope was the hardest part of the walk but very enjoyable and a sense of achievement was felt at the top. For those that hadn’t seen the Halo Panotoptican before the cloud didn’t dispel the enthusiasm of the group in admiring our 21^st century design. For those of us who live in Rossendale we are all aware of the beat of Cribden. Ha, ha, we met him!!!! Just when you thought he had passed over out comes his son to carry on!!!! Moira very politely thanked him as the Gordon Ramsey of Cribden (no offence Gordon), I’ll bet you can all guess at the exchanges. Oh, for country life, ha ha. Wendy Davison gave us a very informative running commentary of the quirks of Cribden as we enjoyed our walk, along narrow lanes, passed old beautiful cottages, up hills, down dales, passed horses and finally ending at Kirkpatricks for our very welcome drink of hot sarspirilla, a kind of mix between dandelion burdock meets the best part of a cough mixture. Kirkpatricks is the only Temperance Bar left in the UK, and it’s definitely worth dtaying in Rawtenstall an extra 30 minutes for. The owner kindly gave us all a hot drink and allowed a sizeable discount off anything bought which was well received by us all.

On Sunday, the clouds passed over taking the rain away and we were left with a beautifully sunny day for our 12 mile Soup Loop. Starting from Bacup Leisure Centre we walked along part of the Irwell Sculpture Trail, Mary Townley Loop and Pennine Bridleway. We had 20 walkers, one with his 18 month son in a ‘back-pack’, it was absolutely brilliant. We passed “the source of the river Irwell” in Bacup, through a working farm and farm shop, and through country lanes up the hills where grass can still grow along the lanes without being worn away by traffic. Our halfway point was at Peersclough Farm in Lumb where Chris had made three fantastic homemade soups; own grown onion soup, spicy parsnip and leek and potato. Warm buns were passed around followed by homemade flapjacks. I can tell you, after that feast we could have all taken on Everest!!!!! The second half of the walk was somewhat easier although we seemed to be forever climbing over stiles, some of them not so sturdy either. "At one with nature" we were often joined by the horses who kind f thought that joining in was fun, sorry but they may look beautiful animals in photographs but that is just where I like them, I'm terrified of horses and was glad when we moved on to the next field!!!!

I believe that all the other walks were just as enjoyable: The Fudge trudge were rewarded with a fantastic selection of free samples at the Fudge factory, tasty cheeses awaited those on the Cheese Breeze, I daren’t ask what time the wind turbine and whiskey walk came back (or in what state!!), the Black Pudding plod walkers were rewarded with the best of black pudding (an acquired taste I know, but believe me, I’ve acquired it!). If you do nothing else next year, you really must join in to the 2009 Rural Rossendale Walking Festival, already we are planning some interesting delights for our walkers.

Another reason for a late blog is that we have also had a spell in Madrid. What a truly fantastic place; the sun shone the whole time we were there with temperatures reaching 28-30 deg’s; the people are so welcoming, the metro is the cleanest/quickest/smoothest and non-threatening underground we have ever been on, the shopping is just awesome and we just had the most fantastic weekend. Highly recommended! For those of you that know Tom well you will know that when we are away from home he is only happy when he has a map; Madrid was no different!!! He always makes me laugh.

Unfortunately, we had a terrible experience with Easijet, they have got to be the worst airline ever. I accept that a budget airline offers flight only without the frills and that is just fine. But the cabin crew are so rude, and don’t even try to point out the rudeness or complain, they are just not interested, it doesn’t matter what you say in your email you just get a standard template response back, they neither accept nor reject what you say, it doesn’t matter you get the standard template response. Please, please be careful when travelling with this airline. We will never ever fly Easijet again and unless you have considerably thick skin and intend to sleep the whole of your journey then avoid Easijet. We drove all the way home from Liverpool airport totally wound up with Easijet behaviour, it certainly marred what was a lovely, lovely trip.

Again, it is a while since my last post, so much seems to be going on!

Just a few weeks ago we had a superb wedding party in, the groom’s family who ended up with a rather unusual wedding. Following a mix-up just the week before the wedding the couple found themselves without a venue for the wedding breakfast. A bit of a fuss and to do at the time but I think with hindsight all’s well that ends well, and they ended up having an excellent experience which all the guests were able to enjoy too. From Bacup Methodist Church, where the bride is the juvenile pastor, the wedding party then made their way to the East Lancashire Railway in Rawtenstall http://east-lancs-rly.co.uk/ where a superb wedding feast was enjoyed aboard specially decorated coaches. How unique was that, then, eh??? The following day there were lots of smiles and friendly chatter, a wonderful day was had by all. We were given a piece of wedding cake and I must admit it was beautiful. We wish the happy couple all the very best for the future. The mother of the bride thinks she has it tough ensuring that the females are all as they should be but I tell you from experience, looking after a bunch of males; groom, bestman, father of the groom etc. can be so tiresome. Ha, ha it wasn't any different this time; mum was there doing last minute sewing on shirts, ensuring that the hired suits were collected, calming down men who believe me can sometimes outstress women(!!), and only when all the men are suited and booted can she dare put on her best bib and tucker to shine her pride at the church. Well done, mum, I thought you were marvellously calm especially when sorting out the suits etc. the following day.

Tom and I have just returned from a wonderful stay in Madrid. Out of all the European cities we have been to this just has to be the best. The metro was clean, quick, cheap and regular; the people were so laid back; the shops were fantastic (as Tom’s wallet found out!!); the food very good and our hotel was just great. Just what we need to rid ourselves from the damp summer.

Today I sit and ache following my 12 mile walk yesterday. In preparation for the Rural Rossendale walking festival www.ruralrossendale.co.uk three of us brave ladies set off to ensure that the 12 mile Soup Loop was free from nasty surprises. Actually, it is a wonderful walk with many interesting things to see along the way. The walk takes us partway along both the Rossendale Way and the Pennine Bridleway, the Irwell Sculpture Trail, through a farm shop, atop hills from where one can easily see Cribden Hill, Cowpe Valley, Scoutmoor Windfarm and a whole host of other interesting things to see. Our midway stop will be a Peersclough Farm www.peerscloughfarm.co.uk where Chris will be fortifying us her home made soup. Whilst enjoying the soup and rest the walkers will be able to enjoy the company of Chris’ many horses who usually respond very well to a bit of attention and a gentle rub on their noses!

For those of you that will be joining us on the walking festival don’t forget to wear sturdy waterproof footwear, and I’d recommend gaitors.

That blasted mink has been back again. We chased it out of Cameron’s pond today but the cheeky little blighter came back to finish off the rest of the fish. No wonder it is such a good looking animal with such a sleek shiny coat after having cleared my three ponds of fish we’ve had for years.

Aren’t children wonderful? Today Cameron (6yr old grandson) and I went collecting caterpillars in the garden. He had great fun dressed as batman collecting up his creatures especially when I gave him a container to put them in. After encouraging his inquisitiveness how could I get cross when he decided to come and chat to me whilst I prepared dinner? I ended up with caterpillars crawling round my work surfaces whilst he giggled at the fun of it. Let’s just hope we’ve found them all!!

Well, no doubt the next few weeks are going to be as hectic as the last; so many things on the horizon. I’ll try to get lots of pics of the beautiful Rossendale countryside and points of interest along the way.

What a busy few weeks we've had with one thing and another:-

The garden was transformed a couple of weeks ago to celebrate my milestone birthday. Up went the gazebo, out came all the garden furniture (with extras bought in at the last moment), up went the makeshift bar with a great selection of beers, wines and spirits and out came the sun to shine all afternoon.

With the help of our local trusted butcher, Sean Ashworth, and our local chef and friend, Paul Roberts, we were able to entertain 50+ guests to a wonderful hog roast. It was cooked to perfection and tasted divine. Tom made a great barman and bbq cook (he seemed to be on the go every time I looked at him!!) As those of you who are familiar with Tom's evening soirees will know, it just wasn't a party without one of his curries and a pan of Lancashire tatty ash. It was a truly wonderful day, excellent fun from start to finish and the children had a great time frollicking in the river.

On to food of another kind.....enough that the slugs make a meal of our meal but now we have another visitor, a mink!!!! At first I couldn’t believe my eyes, so much activity in the pond on the patio, strange I thought, the shabunkins and goldfish are not usually so frisky. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the mink frolicking around the pond. The cheeky little beggar saw me and just looked up, obviously it wasn’t let me spoil its fun and then I realised why. He was catching my darned fish for his supper!!!! I raced inside to get the camera but I’m afraid the one picture I did take hasn’t done him justice. Whilst I am quite miffed his dinner consisted of our pond fish he really was a lovely specimen; so black and sleek with real dark eyes. When he’d had his fill he jumped out of the pond and made a quick exit. We haven’t seen him since but, now that he’s located a good food source, wonder if he’ll be back. Who would have thought minks in Rossendale. Apparently though, local folk whilst fishing in Rossendale have seen a fair few mink around.

All the walks have now been finalised for the 2008 Walking Festival organised by Rural Rossendale. For full details of all the walks visit http://www.ruralrossendale.co.uk/walking_festival.asp As a member of the Rural Rossendale group I will be taking part in the Sarsparilla Stroll, a circular route departing from The East Lancashire Railway station, Rawtenstall, skirting the fringes of Oakenhead Wood to the Panopticon Halo and back to Rawtenstall via Cribden Hillside stopping off for a glass of Sarsaparilla at Fitzpatricks Temperance Bar, the only original temperance bar left in the UK, for a forward taste take a look at http://www.fitzpatricks1890.co.uk/index.php?page=home and then the Soup Loop, walking a circular route departing from Peersclough Farm, Lumb; taking in part of the Irwell Sculpture Trail, The Rossendale Way and the Pennine Bridleway. Ending at Peersclough Farm for a delicious bowl of home-made soup. We are expecting a good turn out to what should be an even better turnout than last year.

I do believe that we have an avid reader of the blog over in America, yes Brian, I mean you!!!! Brian and Sue should be visiting us again in the autumn (sorry, Brian I just cannot get used to ‘the fall’), hopefully round the same time as the walking festival when they will be able to see a lot more of our lovely Pennine Lancashire countryside.

Number 678 Guest House -

Well cheesed off at the moment…………. The slugs have demolished my lettuces!!! I saved my yoghurt pots ready to fill with beer so the little blighters would get drunk and drown. Not so, ha ha, I kept having a glass of wine instead and kept forgetting to put the pots out!!!! End result…. Big fat slugs, invisible lettuces, how I despise them. Fortunately, the tomatoes, peppers and chillies are still doing very well with lots of little white flowers.

We took another walk up to the wind turbines, where else do you get a foot path like this???? Shoot the rapids on a gentle Sunday walk!!!

A pit stop on their John O’Groats to Lands End charity cycle ride, Matt and Mark Allam enjoyed an evening with their family staying at Number 678. Mum, Dad and sister, Sophie (their biggest fans I’m sure), were encouraging the boys on their way by meeting up with them periodically to enjoy convivial company and food. Matt and Mark have both given up their annual leave to raise funds for Merry Go Round Opportunity Group in Shefford, Bedfordshire which provides extra play, educational and social opportunities for children with any special need, including physical disabilities, learning challenges, behavioural and social difficulties. It also gives short respite for parents. Charity Registration No 803049. Keep up with the lads as they continue their journey http://www.jogle08.moonfruit.com/#

And ok, ok lads an extra plug for your entrepeneurial qualities:- http://www.giftwrapuk.co.uk/ I admire people with a bit of get up and go, ha ha no pun intended lads!

Golf is back on again and I'm pleased to say that both Tom and Matt have braved the weather to improve their swing. Don't think they're quite ready for Royal Birkdale though!!!

Number 678 Guest House - www.number678.co.uk

There are a dozen of us local ladies that make up the Rural Rossendale group, we’re a determined and committed bunch with a passion for Rossendale that cannot be matched. As we sat by Waughs Well enjoying our packed lunches sharing Wendy’s home made brownies and jam flapjacks the final touches were made with regard to this year’s walking festival. We don’t need those plush city offices to ‘bounce ideas’ or ‘brainstorm’, we bounce along the natural pathways and windstorm, lol!!; our passion for the valley lies in the valley and decisions are therefore made therein. By a natural fall overlooked by nature’s wind generating our next batch of electricity the use of Lancashire Fayre is used to create a weekend event to suit all ages and all tastes; whisky, cheese, blackpudding, soup, fudge it’s all there to tempt you into those walking boots and enjoy what nature gave us. Further details: www.ruralrossendale.co.uk walking in Rossendale has never been so good.

Throughout the summer our monthly meetings will take in one of the listed walks and this week we took in part of the Whiskey and Wind Turbine walk combined with part of the Mary Townley Loop and above the hills overlooking Cowpe Valley.

The wind turbines really are a sight to be seen. It is one thing to see them up on a hill from a distance but stood next to/under them is just another. Like them or loathe them, they’re amazing. When you stand next to them it sounds just like the drone of an aeroplane and it’s so strange with the propellers whirring and slicing over your head as you walk under them. Another strange thing we noticed; one can look at a turbine and it looks gun metal grey then, with the blink of any eye, it just changes colour to a silver grey. Alright it could be the clouds or even the light but the drastic immediate change in colour is striking. This walk is a definite must!

Never mind Richard Llewellyn’s “How Green Was My Valley” – How green is Cowpe Valley, and for that matter How green is the Rossendale Valley. Richard may have had first hand experience of the by gone days of his own Welsh valley but as you walk the rutted paths with natural springs running across those paths high above Cowpe Valley those feelings of nostalgia are there within us all. To walk along the paths whose ruts were made by those long ago horse and carts, to stumble across the fossilised fern just lay in rest surrounded by an abundance of wild cotton, it’s feeling the nostalgia of Lancashire life.

And then…….. on Saturday and Sunday it was Rossendale weekend. The weather may have shortened the activities, especially the outdoor speciality food stalls, but it was definitely worth a visit.

After a family trip to Barley in Pendle on the Saturday (but that’s another story) Tom and I walked over to Marl Pitts for Sunday’s activities in Rawtenstall. It was certainly a bracing walk over the hills, with a wind that kinda reminds you of why the Rossendale Valley was chosen to house the windfarm!!! Walking in Rossendale propelled by the wind!! There was definitely a multicultural feel to the festivities with a wide variety of music and food to reflect Rossendale’s multiculturalism. We rather enjoyed an Indian meal followed by Truly Scrumptious cakes and flapjacks home-made by Paula Bond, www.trulyscrumptious cakes.co.uk and then brought home home-made biscuits made by some local ladies for cancer research. A varied and interesting day which will be followed by a Gala Day on 5^th July again at Marl Pitts.

Three days of walking, home-made baking and curry… I think I’m going to need a week at work to get over it!!

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues

And then there were………………………………… nine!!!

Sadly, mummy duck lost one of her little balls of yellow fluff last night and now only has three. However, mummy with ten still has nine of her ducklings, they are somewhat bigger than our others so were obviously born earlier and of course now a lot more agile.

The Rossendale Triathlon was on this weekend with over 200 competitors, all exciting stuff. Starting at 9am at Marl Pitts swimming pool the contestants started with 400m swim, 20k bike ride and 5km run. As the cycle race included the length of Burnley Road East I fully intended to have some colourful pics of 200 cyclists riding by, however in a triathlon we just wouldn’t have all 200 competitors cycling past at once, doh!!!! So here is a snapshot of just one dedicated competitor. We hope Derek and Carol Sinkinson from Cumbria enjoyed the event as they both looked very determined and fit when they left us. I envy you all the commitment, drive and energy! For all you running diehards keep in touch with up and coming events. And for those of you that want to keep up with events at Marl Pitts

Leaflets have now been printed and distributed for the Adrenalin Live weekend. Adrenalin Live is a celebration of adrenalin sport, it is completely free to spectators and promises to be an exciting adrenalin filled weekend with skiing, snowboarding, waterskiing and mountain biking. The events will be held at Ski Rossendale, Whitworth Waterski and Lee Quarry with categories from 10 yrs to 50yrs+.

In addition to the adrenalin events there will be lots of extras happening; equipment demonstrations, mountain bike skills workshops and lots more.

The closing date for entries is 7^th July so people really need to be thinking about this seriously if they want to enter.

Cutting edge music from Oli Brown Band and Chantel McGregor on Saturday evening will be supporting the event.

For further overall event information

Ski Rossendale

Cown Quarry activities

British Disabled Waterski Championships

Adrenalin Gateway Project

Number 678 the blog continues...

As we leave May behind....

Our mummy duck still has all five of her ducklings and proudly displays them each day on the river.

Well, what an excellent bank holiday. It was decided that we’d have a communal bbq on the green for holiday Sunday, just as we did for New Years Eve. How we battled against the wind; a child on each leg fighting to keep it firmly on the ground as adults furiously knocked the securing pegs into place. In the end we had to sack the tent and settle for a gazebo and coats!!!! Nevertheless it developed into a fun afternoon/evening with all the children having great fun and parents and grandparents enjoying the selection of food and drink. There’s still only me that enjoys Tina and Brents home-made cherry wine but hey ho I’m not complaining. By popular demand Tom produced one of his now famous curries and, as is the case each time he makes one, it didn’t last long at all. So all in all, we beat the weather, didn’t get any rain and had another enjoyable get together.

Another feathery creature that has become a popular sight is the magpie without a tail. He is such a noisy bird and I’m not sure if the noise is to try and frighten predators away from his vulnerable state. The other magpies don’t seem to like him at all and continually chase and peck him, poor thing can’t fly so has heck of a job running away and hiding. I suppose it’s not so surprising that he’s so noisy, I think I would be the same if someone was continually pecking me although Tom said how quickly one gets used to it!!!! No comment!!!!

The next walk for the Rossendale Ramblers is Sunday 01 June, 9:00am meet @ Kay Street car park for a medium graded walk of 11 miles at Shining Tor and Goyt Valley.

Next Wednesday walk is 04 June, 9:00am meet @ Whitaker Park for a medium graded walk of 9 miles at Sedburgh. For further info visit: www.rossendaleramblers.com

Have fun!!!!!

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues

Well, an eventful past few weeks.

For the first time we had football supporters staying with us and believe me we were very concerned. However, we were thrilled with our Rangers supporters. What a great bunch of chaps, here purely to have a good time and cheer their team on. Despite the fact that three of one party didn’t arrive home till 4am they were so darned considerate of other guests. When one chap went to bed and fell soundly asleep, rather than disturb him and of course other guests, his room-mate shared a room with two others in the party. It wasn’t till breakfast time and we let them use the spare key to open the bedroom door that they realised he wasn’t sound asleep, he just hadn’t come home, ha ha. Mind you chaps, you still haven’t returned the keys!!!!!

What a pity our guests couldn’t return back home to Scotland with a win under their belts. Ne’er mind lads, next time, eh???

Tom and I then went up to Scotland for a week. We had a super week staying just a short distance from Oban at a wonderful bed and breakfast, http://www.collaig-house.co.uk/

If any of you want a restful holiday with wonderful hosts then I would definitely recommend Collaig House. Julie and Jamie really looked after us. I seemed to have a mental block where my laptop was concerned but fortunately Jamie came to my assistance on more than one occasion, thanks Jamie

The best part of our break was the fact that we very rarely had a ‘phone signal. Tom has wanted to fly fish for so long that he decided to take a lesson at Inverawe, the picture says it all!! Despite not catching a single fish, on our last day and following just one hour tuition he caught three trout!! (The fish are lay on the rock) How sad that we can get so excited about fishing, lol, but they were beauties, we even weighed them: 2lb, 2lb 2oz & 2lb 4oz, it was brill. We gave one to Julie and Jamie and brought two home, one of which we had for dinner on the night we arrived home (it was delicious) and the other is in the freezer where it will stay until our next Jacobs Joint when we (Tom) can show off.

Once again Jonpaul made a great Basil Fawlty stand in, thanks again, son.

Our mini greenhouses have come up trumps; the lettuces are coming along brilliantly and today the leeks have gone in.

I’m really naffed, we haven’t had any frogspawn and therefore no tadpoles. However, today I saw our chicks for the first time paddling down the river after mummy duck. Only five chicks this year and the sad thing is that probably only two will eventually make it and avoid the other animals.

Well done the reds. Tom wa somewhat tired this morning at breakfast after staying up and joining in the excitement and Jonpaul was slightly hungover and was certainly not looking forward to his flight. Mind you, I think they would feel that the morning after was well worth the night before!!

We took a walk up to the Halo Panoptican at the weekend, I’m ashamed to say that this is the first time we’ve up to Top o’th Slate since it was officially launched last October. Gosh, you can see for miles. It’s a pretty impressive structure and it gives you a strange feeling when you stand directly underneath it and look up. Admittedly, I’m not sure why anyone would do that but there you go, I did and it felt strange! The Halo illuminates at night from underneath to prevent light pollution and is powered by its own wind turbine which stands turning beside it.

I’m afraid I can’t give any more golf updates until Tom has improved his game (but he didn’t do very well again!!)

Not seen any duck eggs yet, but then again not frog spawn either.

We’ve braved the weather, fingers crossed no more low temperatures, and planted our seedlings. With a bit of luck and a following wind we should have an abundant supply of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, chillies and herbs to grace our table this year. And, we’ve found a use for all those empty water bottles; we’ve cut them in half and positioned them over the seedlings to make individual mini greenhouses!

Well behind us now is what turned out to be a rather long and spread out Easter, hopefully the snow is behind us too!!!

Excitement, excitement, I have been waiting so long for the frogs to show their heads and today, lo and behold there they were in one of the ponds. No doubt over the next few days we'll have a mass of frogspawn floating, ha ha and then the updates of how they are growing!!!

We even had the ducks nestling round the garden today no doubt looking for a good place to nest following their blatant shinanigins over the weekend. Again I'm really excited, this past couple of years has seen a real decline of duck eggs and therefore not so many chicks, fingers crossed we'll get a large number this year. Keep reading and I'll keep reporting.

Judging by last week’s results Tom’s swings are not getting any better, whooped again at golf, lol!!!! Once again they were at Townley, they don’t seem to venture very far in their travels.

I was somewhat surprised last night to discover that Rossendale buses are over 100 years old and the only thoroughbred bus company left in the country. Not sure whether it is part of their centenary celebrations or just because Rawtenstall is planning a facelift but they are to get a new bus station, well let’s face it we have to look after our thoroughbreds, don’t we??

For all you bus enthusiasts (anoraks!!) take a look at: http://www.petergould.co.uk/local_transport_history/fleetlists/rawtenstall1.htm

We’re all ajitter amongst the accommodation providers in Rossendale; three have entered for the Lancashire & Blackpool 2008/09 Tourism Awards. It’s very chivalrous of us to say we are entering to raise the profile of Rossendale but come on, do many people enter for awards not really, really wanting to win???? Watch this space for the progress on our three entrants.

Last week Channel 4 were filming around the valley for their programme ‘A Place in the Sun’. Two local chaps were divided; one wanted to move to Barcelona whilst the other wanted to stay in Rossendale. That’s twice we’ve had Channel 4 in the valley, last year a couple were torn between Rossendale/Ramsbottom and France. I’m not sure though whether people are more anxious to get out of the valley or more anxious to stay, lol!!!

How beautiful it has been with the sun shining. We’re so pleased that the weather held out for our guests at weekend. The Speake family were up from Southampton for the wedding of their son in Bacup. What a lovely family and how nice to host four generations of the same family together. We wish them well.

At long last we give a golfing update……. The chaps dodged the weather well this week and managed to have an excellent day at Townley, http://www.burnley.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?categoryID=1165&documentID=152

in what proved to be warm sunshine. Off came those ‘wets,’ as the only wet being generated was the perspiration of the physically exerted!!!!! Despite being somewhat wet underfoot the chaps enjoyed a good round, four of them playing this week, two against two. Paul and Matt won the round by one point however, Grenville has now gone off to Spain for eight days of golf so with a bit of luck the return match such prove interesting!!!

The Easter school holidays have now started for Lancashire so I thought it might be interesting to take a look at what is happening.

April 20^th – Cronkshaw fold farm are having a lamb and piglet day where children will be given the opportunity to bottle feed the lambs and play with the piglets. The day begins at 11am and finishes at 4pm. Should be an interesting and cute day for all the children.

http://www.cronkshaw.co.uk

Until April 27^th Rossendale Museum are hosts to Viva Mexico, a touring exhibition of Mexican arts and crafts. And to cater for the children there are man, varied craft sessions throughout the school holidays. Check their website for full details

http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/web/view.asp?siteid=2856&pageid=4976&e=e

We had a ‘small’ family birthday party for our eldest up at The Hargreaves Arms last night (Sunday). Eighteen of us enjoyed an excellent meal and Paul even brought in a couple of bottles of the birthday boy’s favourite wine (cheers Paul). The food was excellent and the staff were great. All 18 meals were served together and each guest thoroughly enjoyed their food. It was a super night but why oh why do we have to have ‘the morning after!!’

Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Jonpaul.

Access Statement

Read our Access Statement @

http://no678accessstatement.blogspot.com

Last week in March - read our guest feedback @ http://www.no678guestfeedback.blogspot.com

For the past two weeks we’d been hoping to bring some golfing news but adverse conditions have put a stop to this; the first week there were transport problems and then of course this week snow and ice prevented our ‘fairweather’ golfers (Tom, Paul and Matt) from donning their waterproofs. Hopefully next week transport and weather will be kind and there’ll be some news to bring.

St. Andrew’s Children’s Hospice is our chosen charity for this year. http://www.standrewshospice.com/children_index.asp

A weekend for two at No678 Guest House at any chosen time is up for auction at their forthcoming Charity Ball.

St Andrews Childrens Hospice cares for children and young people up to the age of 21 years who all have been diagnosed with a progressive life limiting illness and require palliative care. The hospice also gives support to the family members of these children and all of the services are provided free of charge. The hospice takes children from a wide geographical area and offer both day therapy and in-patient care.

Our nephew's wife is a midwife in Grimsby and, together with five of her colleagues, will be 'walking the walk' by visiting The Great Wall of China to undertake a 6 day trek. There will be 22 other trekkers joining us from various places in the UK all walking for their own chosen charities. Good luck, Amanda. With four children of her own who will be staying at home I’m not sure who will be working the hardest; grandma or Amanda!!!! We’ll keep you informed as progress is made.

The Hargreaves Arms once again received the best accolade from our guests for their warm welcome, beer selection and tasty food.

The Black Pudding Hashers (drinkers with a walking problem) go hashing every four weeks. Our last hash was from The Hargreaves Arms with fourteen of us joining in the fun. It's always good fun, a great way to enjoy the countryside and a relaxing social event. I'm pleased to say that we don't have many 'runners' amongst us so the pace is always 'manageable'.

Next week's hash, 6 April, starts at The Buck Inn at Cowpe and we'll be meeting at the usual time, 11:30.

Easter Weekend - read our guest feedback @ www.no678guestfeedback.blogspot.com

Another multicultural week for us, with guests from Iraq and Spain. In the short time we’ve been open we’ve had visitors from Kuwait, USA, Greece, Cyprus, Isle of Man, Isle of Scilly, and from the very north of the UK in Scotland to the very south in Newquay; all such interesting people.

Easter has crept up on this time, obviously because it is so early, and it hasn’t brought the promising spring weather with it; far from it, we’ve actually had snow! My six year old grandson asked if it was Christmas!!

Nevertheless, the cold weather hasn’t stopped us getting into the spirit of things and we joined in the bunny hunt at Rawtenstall market. The stall holders all joined in; some wearing their home made bonnets, some floating balloons and of course those stall holders who joined in by having Mrs Bunny’s hidden shopping held on their stall.

Rossendale is the only place that has an annual clog cobbing competition during the Easter bank holiday weekend, as usual it will be held at The Roebuck pub which is half way between No678 Guest House and Waterfoot. It’s definitely a quirky competition where an old clog is tossed with both hands from the front and over yer ‘ed. Obviously the clog thrown the furthest is the winner. It’s a good family day with lots of other activities too, the event normally gets a visit from the Mayor/ess so let’s see if this year sees them there too, I’ll let you know in next week’s blog.

The Hargreaves Arms in Lumb also have their annual mini beer festival, this year they have over 20 guest beers, and as you can imagine it’s usually a well attended event. We’ve directed a few of our guests up there and not had a bad word yet, ha ha I doubt very much there would be any bad words this weekend, though, lol.

Until next week……………….

March is here

Number 678 Guest House - read our guest feedback @ www.no678guestfeedback.blogspot.com

As we move in March the split Easter holidays play havoc with peoples’ short break plans; do they take a break during the long weekend or wait till the official school holidays???? Who knows!!
Keeping our website up to date and interesting is proving challenging. However, attending the various short courses can prove to be both mindblowing and interesting.
For those of you that know us well you will know that I also wear another hat with another business completely different in all aspect to Number 678. Harwill Energy Systems Ltd www.harwill.co.uk could not be further apart from the tourism industry, trading mainly in steam raising for process heating, marine engineering and supplying international engineering products and services to the oil and gas field industries swopping hats at the blink of an eye can haddle the brain, honest!!!! Nevertheless, we are always kept on our toes and as I continue to work on Number 678 website I am also flicking through Harwill’s too as this is also in need of a complete re-vamp and update.

It’s Saturday night for heaven’s sake, I’ve been on this machine since 1pm and I am now going for a chilled, well earned g & t!!!! Till next time…………….

Leaving February behind .....

After eight months of trading Visit Britain has accredited us with four stars. One would say a pat on the back for both of us but it’s really a pat on the back for Tom; he’s chief cook and bottle washer, always ensures the guests the very best he can offer and as his biggest fan I say he deserves every one of his stars. Well done, darlin’.

We're back again after a short break. We’ve both had a well earned break in the Canaries. Leaving the guest house for the first time in somebody else’s hands wasn’t easy; would they be as keen as us, will they clean as well as us, will our regulars like them, will they prepare breakfast ok, the list of doubts went on and on. Our ‘man in charge’ was actually our nephew, Craig Doble, whose family have a hotel in Blackpool: www.thevillahotel-blackpool.co.uk . In fairness he was well practiced but in fairness, not with us!!!! Being a part-time comedian on the club circuit in Blackpool, raig kept our guests well entertained, ah thanks, Craig.
I’m pleased to say that Craig looked after the place well; no complaints from our regulars and he even took some advanced bookings. Ha, ha it didn’t stop Tom going through the place with a fine tooth comb at the first opportunity “Just in case”!!!!

A week in the life of:

The winter may not necessarily be the busiest time in the tourism industry but it is never without a dull moment.

It would be funny if it wasn't tinged with sadness; following visits over the past few months to visit their elderly aunt, the most recent to celebrate her 100th birthday, our guests returned once again this week for their aunt's funeral. Mmmmm, I had forgotten to tell Tom that the funeral cortege will be collecting the lead party from our guest house before departing for the local church. Oh my giddy aunt, poor old Tom nearly had a heart attack himself when he saw the hearse pull up outside, the funeral guests were sitting enjoying the sun in the rear garden as poor old aunt waited patiently. Now I wonder how many of our neighbours were watching trying to work out whether it was me or Tom leading!!!

Leaving Winter Behind

It can be darn cold up in these Rossendale hills so unless you are wrapped up against the elements then you may miss the beauty offered by winter in the valley. The extra peace and quiet the winter months give you is also accompanied by extra cold and rain!!!!!

A very pretty rear decking we may have, oh so restful and lazy in the warmer months, but when Jack Frost comes along we are the wary owners of our own private skating rink!!!! Are we mad taking the risk of feeding the ducks the uneaten pieces of morning toast!! Really must stop wearing the 3" heels to serve breakfast, they don't bode well on the rink.

However, here we are in February and we can be forgiven for thinking we're at the back end of spring. Whilst the guests were enjoying their locally sourced and extremely tasty breakfast I watched out of the kitchen window as the magpies began building their nests. Have you ever stopped and actually watched the nestbuilding in progress?? Amazing!! You gotta laugh, just two weeks ago I watched as the very same magpies were rolling, yes rolling, they were playing, in the snow on the rooftops of the chalet bungalows across the river.

To increase our offering of local produce we've decided to serve locally made jam and marmalade, visitors love it. Jams with such strange combination of fruits that set beautifully but cherry, oh no not cherry. We're not sure whether to offer it as cherry juice, it just does not set!! The taste is marvellous but don't expect it to sit on the toast cos it won't, it'll run off!!

So from rain, ice and snow we move into the beautiful sunshine and the welcome spring. 12degrees today. Rossendale has so much to offer the visitor and our local tourism team has it allhttp://www.visitrossendale.co.uk