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 11 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 lives in Newcastle upon Tyne. Neil lives just half
an hour from us with his fiancé, Gemma. There has been great
excitement this year with preparations for their wedding in April
next year. Vicki has been on the Wedding Dress buying expedition,
and is going to Gemma’s hen night in February. The first of our
eccentric Irish Water Spaniels, Rags has long gone … and sadly
during 2008 we have lost Dilly - the younger of our two eccentric
Irish Water Spaniels, Smokey - the last of the four cats we
inherited when we moved here, and Gladys - one of the first hens,
bought back in August 2005.
We
get a regular supply of eggs from our flock of approximately 40
hens, which are a mixture of Black Rocks, Wellsummers, Rhode Rocks,
White Stars, Cuckoo Marans, and other hybrids, as well as a
beautiful (well, handsome?) cockerel called Big George. He was one
of the chickens we hatched in 2007, and is a beautiful golden colour
with black tail feathers. Hens often don’t lay during their second
winter, and we lose some (natural causes) so we supplement our flock
with regular influxes of new hens and chicks hatched from our own
eggs.
Last, but not least are our alpacas. Three male alpacas - Cappucino, Barnaby and Domino, arrived in March 2008. In September we bought another, slightly different kind of alpaca called a Suri. He’s called Prince Rupert, but Steve insists that he will only call him Rupert! They are primarily to guard our hens, but are also a huge attraction for our guests. Information about alpacas can be found on our Alpacas 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.
