Snow to fall in Yorkshire?

Having heard the weather forecast this week mentioning possible snow in Yorkshire. It got us thinking back to last year, recalling bountiful snow from December to March, and my the North York Moors looked a picture postcard. What a joy to behold as valleys resonated to the laughter of families, making snowmen, snowballing and tobogganing. My own family like nothing better than a snowy walk over the Moors, arriving home to homemade soup and rolls. Then with glowing smiling, faces we get cosy in front of the wood fire.

Whilst I can’t promise the weather forecasters predictions, we can provide you with a 5* luxury holiday from which to experience the beauty of the Yorkshire Moors and Coast, with its hidden valleys, winter wonderland and dramatic coastline. For those more adventurous types, you can hike along the scenic Cleveland Way, Mountain Bike in Dalby Forest, or even try Husky Trekking at Staintondale.

Each of our cottages provide ample space to enjoy a quiet read in front of the log fire, watch your favourite television programme on a flat screen, listen to your iPod or indulge in sumptuous candlelit baths.

Arrive to our warm welcome at your personally prepared holiday cottage, with the table set ready for afternoon tea so you can relax from the moment you step into your accommodation!

You’ll be so cosy and relaxed that leaving will be tricky!

Mountain Bike World Cup 2011

We were delighted to hear that the hugely successful biking weekend is returning to Dalby in 2011. Next year the event will be the second in the series and takes place over the weekend of May 20th to 22nd. We expect the party spirit to return to the centre of Pickering where food, music and crowds greeted the international teams competing for a round the streets (and church steps) race.

Update on the cottages and garden

As we move into summer and have had our first barbecue, it is a good time to write about the year so far. Builders arrived in January to start work on the Applestore cottage. We had always wanted to have a bathroom next to the large twin room but never really worked out how. We did not want to lose the shape and space of the room by using a corner of it as a bathroom but were not sure how to extend in a satisfactory way. We worked with an architect and the planners on various ideas, always with the hope of having a ‘hut on legs’ or bird-hide type structure. The outlook is straight into trees so we wanted to encourage birds, create a green screening with trees and make a modern space that did not detract from the bedroom. After the usual dramas and problems we have ended up with a very satisfying space with a huge bath from which to watch the birds feeding in the trees outside. We have a beautiful modern shower cubicle as well as basin, toilet and heated towel rail. With the high ceiling we need remote controls for the roof window and the blinds also work like magic too. As the work moved to completion we realised it would make more sense to flip the two bedrooms so that the ‘master’ double room is now the huge beamed room with access to the large en suite being where the window had been between the old twin beds. The twin room is now in the original apple store with the low door and with bath and toilet en suite. Best pay a visit to the website via www.noellescottages.co.uk to see how it works now. One possible downside is that it perhaps limits the number of visitors to 4 as the sofa bed in the double room might not work for all. The old wet room is no longer a shower but has hanging space and a sink to wash off muddy boots or whatever. The quirky downstairs toilet remains of course. So now Applestore has granite kitchen work surfaces and the bathroom is state of the art.

The Coach House is largely unchanged except for decoration to most rooms.

The Barn has a huge fan in the ‘snug’ sitting room so that the double room does not overheat when the wood burning stove is on. We have fitted remote controlled blinds on the roof windows to reduce the greenhouse heating effect in summer and to reduce the bright morning light for those in the twin room.

Meanwhile outside we have been gradually altering the garden so that the paddock has lost its fences and looks larger despite planting a number of trees and buddleias for the butterflies. A large number of wild flower plugs went in last autumn but have yet to really show themselves. We will attempt a wildflower/meadow effect with paths cut through the long grass leading to the trampoline, bendy house and a shady hideaway. Sadly the path to the beehives is redundant as both colonies failed to make it though the long cold wet spring. In the woodland area more holes have been dug suggesting the residents are thriving. Several guests saw youngsters last year but none spotted this summer so far. All around our garden there have been changes. Paths dive round the back of borders, the grass is cunningly cut to allow long grass to add texture and wildflowers to modify the appearance. In a neglected corner we have created Noelle’s yoga garden with camomile and thyme lawn (it looks like mud and small weeds so far) and the soft fruit cage will provide home for the many flowers Noelle grows to put into the cottages.

Owls have been spotted in the barn owl box although it sounds like they are tawny owls. Woodpeckers visit occasionally and goldfinches flit around the garden in ever increasing numbers. Our son saw a large bird of prey take out a blackbird on the lawn one afternoon – his description did not allow identification. Somewhere between a golden eagle and a kestrel I guess!

Pickering and the locality changes very slowly, pubs rise and fall in popularity while the overall standard of eating goes ever upwards. Yorkshire seems to have benefitted from an overall increase in visitor numbers and Ryedale is becoming a more cycle and walking friendly destination. The recent world cup mountain bike event in Dalby was a huge success both for Dalby itself and for the crazy, round Pickering race. We hope it returns.

Noelle and I remain committed to ensuring our guest have an excellent holiday and hope you continue to support Noelle’s Cottages. If you can’t stay here yourselves then do tell a friend.

Best wishes and have a good summer,

Tim and Noelle

Applestore bathroom and new master bedroom

We have finally completed the new bathroom for the Applestore. It is a delightful space with huge bath, modern shower with toilet, washbasin etc. The windows give a great view out onto the trees and there is already a queue of birds waiting to feed off the nuts and seeds we have provided. During the later stages of construction it became clear that the best layout for the cottage was to make the large beamed room with the new bathroom into the master bedroom with king size bed. The old double room with the duck down doorway has become the twin room with ensuite bath and toilet. We have retained the feel of quiet luxury and hand crafted materials and hope that the new arrangements will give our guests as much pleasure as we feel when we see it finished.
The process has encouraged us to open up more of the garden for Applestore so the space has almost doubled with the addded benefit of catching much more sun through the day.
Photos to follow.

World Cup Mountain Bike Championship 2010

Dalby Forest has been growing in local then national importance for its mountain biking facilities and hosted the opening event of the 2010 international season. The weekend of 23rd, 24th and 25th April saw the area packed with bikers arriving from all over the world and the event kicked off with a crazy sprint through the streets of Pickering on Friday 23rd. There was a fantastic atmosphere for the race and plenty of people cheering and having fun. When all the awards had been distributed there was a street party with live bands, food and a great spirit evident. The days in Dalby Forest were a huge success and it is looking very hopeful that they will stage the event for the next two years.
As a result of the interest in the locality we hope to develop further biking facilities in and around Pickering.

Sunday Times 100 Coolest Cottages

We were delighted to find the Coach House listed in the Sunday Times travel supplement. There was another cottage in Yorkshire mentioned in the Dales but overall not much 'above the Wash'.

Wheelchair accessible. The Barn has been road-tested

We had our first wheelchair user staying and it seemed to work out very well. From the drop off outside the Barn door to the access around the ground floor, all seemed manageable. We found information about local attractions and eating places that accommodated wheelchairs and our guests sorted out access to disabled toilets in Pickering. We now have a key - Thank You! ... and for the kind TripAdvisor comments -
A beautiful place to stay. High level of comfort with excellent attention to detail.Everything is thought of and so you could simply arrive with your luggage!This was the first holiday my mother had been on since she became disabled and immobile. The Barn, with its downstairs bedroom and wet room, accomodated her wheelchair and she was able to move around the property with relative ease. Tim and Noelle were very supportive, providing information about accessibility in places around the area; including good accessible places to eat! They were keen to find out about ways to further improve disability access to the barn and they worked hard to ensure that we had a great holiday. We would certainly return. Our grateful thanks to them both.

Bikers are Welcome

Biking does not have to be all 'hair shirt'. Bike by day and enjoy the comfort of our cottages to get warm and dry, look after your bike and kit then slip out for a good meal in the evening. Come with a group and it can be as little as £25 a night for each of you. For that you get our usual welcome, bottle of wine, scones and provisions. Wood burning stoves and logs are provided, as well as free Wi-fi access, TV and music machines to make your stay comfortable. There is a wealth of information in the cottages and for the wet and muddy there are washing and drying machines. We have a lockable garage for bikes, we will provide a drying machine and drying cupboard and drying lines and there is a hose outside to wash the bikes off.
Pickering is increasingly biker friendly and has an excellent mountain biking shop who can take guided trips. Dalby Forest is gaining international reputation and is only about 10 miles away. All standards and challenges are available. Ryedale has a good network of routes and guides to help you enjoy your stay.

Walkers are Welcome

Pickering has been awarded the 'Walkers are welcome' status - only the 26th town in the country to be recognsised for the network of routes, the local support for walkers and for the natural beauty that surrounds us. You can google Pickering Walkers are Welcome for more information on the organisation. There have been a number of guided walks and events and there is continuing support and advice for accommodation providers.
We were delighted to be given our WaW status for Noelles Cottages when we were assessed for our stars - a full set of three five star rated cottages again.
Our cottages have washing machines, tumbler driers, hanging racks and places to dry your boots (we don't recommend you use the wood burning stoves...they end up with foot prints and your boots will be cooked!!) For those who don't take this advice, Trailblazer Outdoors in Pickering is an excellent source of all walking gear, maps and guide books.
There is a wealth of information, maps, guidebooks and even a boot brush and boot tray in your cottage and we are putting together a link with walking related information including signposting to local walking groups.

Noelle's Cottages wins the GOLD award in the national finals

After a 'glittering' reception and dinner in York at the Railway Museum we had the envelope opening wait for the winners in our category. Noelle's Cottages won gold along with the fabulous looking, medieval accommodation - Woodhouse Farm Cottages in Herefordshire. The official description is 2009 Self-catering Holiday of the Year Enjoyengland Award for Excellence. We just like to condense that to say 'Best in England'! We were absolutely delighted and can hardly believe we have progressed so far in the four years we have been in business. We are so grateful for the encouragement and support of our guests, for our long suffering family who help out when they are available and the army of people who have come along with us in this adventure. Alice and her domestic support, Diane, Janet and Louise who has now stepped back to grow her bump a bit more. We were joined recently by Ruth who is trying to organise us better. Our builders - Halders have embraced our approach and standards while Nigel Barnes our plumber goes the extra mile and a half for us. Stephen Bean (Associates, now of Malton) has advised on our ecology and wildlife as well as landscaping our gardens and producing the bendy house which you can see on our Flickr page. We must make special mention of 'our' joiner Keith who adds his personal touches to the restorations and to the underfloor heating. He has become nearly a family member over the 12 years we have lived here and restored the Hall. David and Paul work steadily away to keep the gardens tidy while Stan visits regularly to keep an eye on my bees, I think I am a very poor pupil, 'could try harder'. Hann's butchers have made the saturday sausage run much more agreeable as I queue jump the patient gathering as also happens in Chocolart who supply the handmade chocs for the cottages. Our website designers Gary and Cheryl-ann of http://www.design-farm.co.uk/ have done a fabulous job on our communications and much more besides. Cheryl helps with styling and on all those occassions when we need to rush around for a photoshoot. Gary designs our presentation and is an enthusiastic supporter of Noelle's Cottages and Welsh football.
Ric Blenkharn had the inspiration to use the space in the Barn to best advantage and helped us slip through the planning process with ease. Edward Green - Technical Welding Services -designed and made not one but two staircases with a stunning end result. Rita and Claire have made miles of beautiful curtains and other soft furnishings while Krystyna Demkowicz styled, coloured and decorated to perfection.
Thank you all.