About us
We
(Vicki and Steve) moved to Holestone Moor Farm on 1st May 1998, with
our Irish Water Spaniel, Rags. We had found an old three bedroomed
farmhouse with some interesting almost derelict farm buildings and just
under 6 acres of upland, most of which had been used for grazing by
the previous owner. Our two sons, Adam and Neil, then 19 and 17, were
living not far away in Nottingham.
The two farm buildings consisted of a two-storey stone barn with huge grain silos at one end, and a building that had variously been stables and pig sties in a previous life. The Barn already had a slate tiled roof, but The Stables was sheltered under ancient and dangerous corrugated asbestos. It took 8 months to convert the two farm buildings into ‘The Barn’ sleeping 12 and ‘The Stables’ sleeping 4. During that time we planted around 4,500 trees and hedging, and we started to plant our own garden.
Just
two days before we opened for our first guests, we had a
bit of an anxious time, when we tried to move
furniture into The Stables living room, the settee would not fit in.
No way was it going to go through the front door. Fortunately our
builder was still around and within an hour he took a window out,
got the settee in, and put the window back!
It’s very much an
owner run business; teamwork is very important. Vicki does all the
administrative work and Steve does the maintenance on the cottages
and our land. We couldn’t manage without our brilliant and loyal
team of ‘girls’ who help with cleaning, bed changing, restocking
etc. Some of them have been with us from the start. We
manage to meet occasionally for coffee breaks and meals, and we keep
in touch by means of a Walkie-talkie!
Now,
some things have changed a lot, others just a little. The trees have
grown … the wildlife pond and wildflower meadow (pictured right) are
flourishing. Décor and soft furnishings are changed … we regularly
discard, move and renew things so that there’s always something
different for our returning guests. (The record is 15 visits since
we opened at Christmas 1999.)
Our
eldest son Adam has been married for about five years and lives in
Newcastle upon Tyne with his wife Jess. Neil lives just half an hour
from us with his fiancé, Gemma. Rags has gone … but we now have Parsley and Dilly
(pictured left),
both eccentric Irish Water Spaniels. The last of the four cats (Smokey)
we inherited when we moved here is still around … we reckon she’s
about 18 or 19 years old now.
She’s still going strong, but increasingly likes a bit of comfort,
so after she’s been fed, she likes to come and sit next to the
radiator in the Office, when Vicki is working in there.
We
get a regular supply of eggs from our flock of chickens, which are a
mixture of Black Rocks, Wellsummers, Rhode Rocks, White Stars,
Cuckoo Marnans, and a beautiful (well, handsome?) cockerel called
Big George. He was from one of the chickens we hatched in 2007, and
is a beautiful golden colour with black tail feathers.
Last, but not least are new boys - Cappucino, Barnaby and Domino, three male alpacas, which arrived early in 2008. They are primarily to guard our hens, but are also a huge attraction for our guests. Information about alpacas can be found on our News page.
We have a huge amount of wild and birdlife, including some rare species - water voles, bats, and badgers, skylarks, woodpeckers swallows, wrens, lapwings, owls etc., to name just a few. There are walks from the door … seats where you can just sit quietly and relax, barbecues, play areas and so on. We hope it feels like a home from home.
