Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues

Rawtenstall Artisan Christmas market was a brilliant event.  Our local artisans usually have stalls in Manchester, and so popular are they, that they had a three day event here in Rawtenstall.  Locals and visitors alike enjoyed the festive atmosphere of with a collection of Fine Food, Craft and Vintage stalls.  The market lit up our newly laid town square at one end with the fun fair lighting up the opposite end of Bank Street.  Three days of fun and frivolity and, although the artisan market has now come to end, this does not see the end of festive happenings throughout the valley throughout December.  Alder Grange Community and Technology School will be hosting a craft stall at Rawtenstall's traditional market this coming weekend.  The children from Alder Grange craft club will be selling their Christmas arts in aid of local charities.  Hand made wreaths and Christmas decorations of all shapes, sizes and prices will be offer for that unique addition to your Christmas celebrations.
Our guests are enjoying bright, clear, crisp weather here in Rossendale.  We still have a duck with a poorly leg which hops in each morning for its breakfast.  Poor thing, he does enjoy a bit of black pudding though!
We are so fortunate with the variety of wildlife that enjoy coming into the garden for their morning titbits.    The vivid colours of the bluetits never cease to amaze me.

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues


Well, although we drove out of Rossendale today, we did stay in Lancashire.  We drove just 40 miles up to Lancaster, parked the car and walked by the River Lune and then up and over the viaduct to walk along the towpath to Hesk Bank.  Oh, it was lovely, such a beautiful walk; about 4.5-5 miles each way.  Apart from the scenery the vast array of birds were a pleasure. Two beautiful herons stood statuesque by the water as we wwalked past and then on the way back it was hilarious watching an elderly couple trying to get some pics.  Every time they got close enough the heron would take off and move further up the canal, heaven knows how long they were following it!  The highlight for me were the kingfishers.  I have only ever seen the kingfisher at the back of Number 678 on a couple of occasions so it was lovely to see four of them flying up and down the canal, and not just once!  The flew up and down as we walked both ways: beautiful.  Some strange looking swans too; some pure white with wonderfully shaped wings when folded, and others in shades of brown and white.

  Hest Bank was a lovely place to stop for an hour.  From the towpath, it is just 200 yards to the sea front, plenty of services, pretty and gentle.  So, Number 678 can really be your gateway to lovely Lancashire.

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues



What a beautiful walk we had around Grane Road Reservoir last week making the most a lovely bright and fresh day.  We first bought our hot Bovril from Clough Head Visitor Centre Cafe and then parked up at the reservoir.
Tomorrow promises to be bright and crisp so we now decide where the day will find us!  We'll keep you posted.

On Tuesday I took a trip to CadburyWorld with 30 students.  What a fantastic day!  Cadbury's chocolate is so my favourite, I definitely have a weakness for it.  But............. by the time we climbed on the coach to come home we were all sick of it...... even me!!  It was a super day with so much for everyone, from the very young to the rather mature.  We laughed, learned, ate, laughed, learned, ate.  And the staff; they were absolutely great.  My fridge is full of goodies, and yes, I have some Christmas presents!

Autumn

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues  

What a wonderful start to November!  We are definitely in autumn here in Rossendale.  So crisp and sunny has the weather been that we've actually been walking round Townley Park on both weekend days.  No matter what the weather or what your occasion, a visit to the valley is not complete without a trip to Townley Park.  There is something for everyone: acres of walking, museum, craft shop, indoor cafe, outdoor cafe, duck pond, garden centre, bowls, golf, tennis and lots more.  Check the What's On page to see upcoming events, especially all the festive Christmas events.

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues


Number n678 nominated for Rossendale Business Awards

We are very touched and of course pleased to be nominated for a business award.  A big thank you to the person who nominated us.

From: Val Carder [mailto:enquiries@valleyatwork.co.uk]
Sent: 30 September 2012 10:08
To: Number 678 Guesthouse
Subject: Congratulaions on being nominated for the Rossendale Business Awards 2012.

 

Congratulations,

 

Number 678 guesthouse has been nominated for the Rossendale Business Awards 2012 in the category Tourism Award

The criteria are as follows:

The winner of this award will be a Rossendale-based business associated with the tourism and leisure sector that has, in the opinion of the judging panel, has made the most significant contribution to developing or responding to Rossendale's visitor economy in the last year (since September 2011). Nominees will be asked to demonstrate:

• Improved business performance since September 2011

·         Visitor satisfaction through impeccable service delivery

Effective promotion and communications that showcase the business and Rossendale

Summer!!!

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues

Our eggs have hatched and now flown away :D  We do, however, have another nest!  Our garden bushes obviously make good homes for our feathered friends.

How lucky are we here at Number 678??  As the country continues to be blighted by heavy rains and floods, we sit in the Rossendale hills too high for flooding waters to affect us. 

Spring has sprung

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues
Another Easter passes us by, and this April Tom and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. It's certainly been an eventful 35 years, so much so it's passed in a whirlwind! Work commitments mean that celebrations will be low key with a family evening down at the local Indian restaurant followed by dessert and champs at home!

Spring has sprung here in Rossendale with the swallows returning once again to make their nest. Our two back rooms give a perfect view of the nest with sweet scenes of parent swallows flying backwards and forwards.

Despite always having a couple of nests each year we haven't yet seen any duck eggs although our three faithful male ducks are becoming very protective and "homely". Maybe they know something we don't know and a clutch or two is expected!

The sly old fox got our chickens again, ggrrrrrr
Would we being cruel to get some more or should we accept this as nature??? Decisions, decisions.