self-catering holiday cottage, holiday rental near Alton Towers and Peak District

Self-catering near Alton Towers and Peak District - Call Barks Holiday Cottage 01538 703163 email barkshc@gmail.com

The Yew Tree, Cauldon

As featured in The Guardian's guide to pubs this weekend, The Yew Tree is one of our locals. I mentioned in another blog about 'interesting' pubs near to our self-catering holiday cottage; it was this establishment to which I referred. Chain pubs try really hard to create character, but The Yew Tree in Cauldon proves that only years of neglect and a passion for collecting really odd stuff can achieve the right feel. Gotta love it!

Dimmingsdale and the Ramblers Retreat

I wanted a place to walk on flat ground today. I met Clare by chance in Oakamoor and together we walked along the disused railway track from Oakamoor to Dimmingsdale. The rhododendrons are beautiful around the lake at the moment. We resisted the temptation to stop for coffee on this occasion. There is a lot to do today to get ready for weekend holiday cottage guests.
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Walking weekends



Book a 3 night weekend at Barks self catering and enjoy a relaxing and possibly invigorating walking weekend.

Barks is a rural self-catering holiday cottage with fantastic unspoilt, varied countryside where you can walk for miles direct from the front door..

The Staffordshire Moorlands is renowned as an excellent area for walking. Situated on the southern fringes of the Peak District you'll find everything from gentle strolls to energetic hill walks. Some demanding footpaths can be found among the rugged crags of The Roaches or along ancient packhorse trails. Long distance walkers can enjoy the scenic pleasures of the Staffordshire Way, Gritstone Trail and Limestone Way. If you prefer short circular walks there are plenty locally around the wooded valleys of the Churnet Valley - accessed from the front door of Barks holiday cottage.


Please check our online availability or email barks@btconnect.com for the latest information. The countryside here looks magnificent at all times of year. So pack your boots and book your stay today!

Alton Towers encourages families



Alton Towers has just issued a press release about its expansion plans. There is much talk of the employment opportunities and spin off to local accommodation providers. Good, good, we like that. The detail of the many statistics, however, didn’t mention how many of the employees at the hotels and theme park are actually from Staffordshire, I suspect considerably more are from seasonal workers from places like eastern europe. Stop me now! I am trying to stick to the the good news . . .



In the report in our local paper, The Sentinal,( http://ow.ly/5mQ7 for full report) Liz Greenwood, Alton Towers communications manager is quoted as saying that they are wanting to move from a teen attraction to a family-friendly destination. Let’s hope they are successful at that. Ms Greenwood said:


"We are trying to reposition ourselves from a teenage market to cater for families. In trying to encourage families to stay for longer, there is a need to provide further accommodation of some kind."


Ms Greenwood said the resort would seek to do more than just erect "world class" roller-coasters – such as the Corkscrew's replacement for 2010, "Secret Weapon Six" – to entice thrill-seekers from all over the UK. She said: "In 2008, we worked extremely hard to attract families and we were very successful – growing in this sector from 35 per cent to 50 per cent of our total volume.


"Now, 75 per cent of our rides and attractions are suitable for children under 10."


Trouble is, that it’s impossible just to stick to this glimmer of good news when there is detail buried in these statistics. Ms Greenwood added that only 10% of the visitors stay at the on site hotels. I shall add to that my guestimate that another 10% stay locally. That means that 80% of the 2.5m visitors are travelling to and from the resort as day trippers (although that isn’t the thrust of the story). That’s a lot of traffic on our country roads, but let’s not start the bypass debate right now! This is another reason why I am focussing on the positive of marketing to families coming for more than one day. I shan’t miss the scary driving habits of the day-tripping twenty-somethings playing hooky off work who, in their eagerness, are pumping their accelerators. Nor shall I rue encountering those enormous coaches of day-trippers that I now associate with the possibility of having dodgy brakes. I shall herald their replacements – I am imagining a stream of well driven family Prius-type cars . . .



So to end on a positive. . . .! I am delighted that more families are being encouraged to come to Alton Towers because many will stay over longer and discover that there is so much more to this area than a theme park. I am confident these families will have a holiday to remember. We will make you welcome. Families of 4 or 5 report that they love it at our holiday cottage, Barks.

Alton Towers Weekend?


Self catering holiday cottage accommodation less than 3 miles from Alton Towers. We offer from 3 nights to a week self catering, with
Alton Towers just minutes away by car.


Enjoy yourselves at Alton Towers for a long weekend. But after a busy day of screams and icecreams, get away from the crowds and have a civilised time in your own space. Put your feet up and enjoy the fine views.

There is plenty for children to do in the area besides going to Alton Towers. There are children-friendly places to visit such as a zoo, a steam railway and canal trips only 5 mins away. Enjoy freedom in the countryside and get some fresh air - climb trees in the woods, go for a picnic or a cycle. There are tea rooms galore, really unusual country pubs, farm shops, and award-winning restaurants. Do Alton Towers for a day or two and stay on longer to explore.

All enquiries to 01538 703436 or email barks@btconnect.com. 50% payable on booking, remainder 4 weeks before arrival - please ask for our full Terms & Conditions.

Seaworld at Alton Towers

It's really lovely!

I thought the Sharkbait Reef Sea Life section at Alton Towers was going to be just one room with a token shark, but then we went round a corner, and another and it goes on for ages.

I felt rather seasick looking through the magnified and curved glass tanks, but became used to it eventually. I was suprised how much I enjoyed spending a bit of time watching the Sea Life creatures and talking to the Alton Towers staff about the Sharkbait Reef exhibits. It's great that the staff are so knowledgeable and keen on what they are doing. They keep the place pristine clean, which is perfect.

Beware the Cleaner Shrimps! You are invited to stick your hand into the tank so that these shrimps can clean off any dead skin. With kids they make for the finger nails but with adults they seemed to love a knuckle or rough thumb. I had a tiny gardening cut on my finger and they very quickly 'cleaned' the wound and left it open again - not great for the following weekend's gardening.

I enjoyed our special visit to Sharkbait Reef Sea Life at Alton Towers and anyone planning a trip should definitely navigate their way to it.

http://www.altontowers.com/theme-park/attractions/sharkbait-reef/

Les Oakes on Gardeners' World

Staffordshire rarely makes it onto TV so I was pretty stunned to see our local Cheadle ‘architectural reclamation’ yard Les Oakes featured on Gardeners’ World. I loved David Oakes’ wheeler dealer TV appearance. Les Oakes have some great stuff lurking in heaps around the yard. We have bought all sorts from there.

I have to say I preferred the original colour scheme of the reclaimed doors and wouldn’t be able to live with the giant wendy house look that the Gardeners’ World team created. I need a shed though!

Alton Towers opens

An increase in enquiries and the hawthorn leaves appearing are both proof of the arrival of spring. Alton Towers opened this weekend, which possibly explains the surge of booking enquiries that we received. Either that or the improvement in the weather. In the last week alone people have contacted us from UK and Ireland with a variety of requirements - with/without children, with/without dogs, weekend walking breaks, accommodation near Alton Towers, and a business stay that requires WiFi. All are welcome at Barks.

Perfect walking weather

I walked for miles this weekend. Our friends Lucy & Paul were staying with their wire-haired vizsla so we went out as a pack. First we had to do a short 20 minute circuit for the benefit of my 17 year old lurcher Echo. It served as a hearty appetiser because it is uphill through the woods, has a fresh wind on the ridge and then a couple of fields coming back down where the younger members of the pack can really stretch their legs. The old girl senses we are past the half way mark and trots ahead a little bit until I need to carry her over the stile.

Echo went reluctantly to her basket and we carried on for the main event; down into Oakamoor’s Carr Wood and then back up past Orchard Farm and into the woods. We were out for a couple of hours and enjoyed the best of the weather. I had put too many layers on and ended up with sweater and heavy coat tied around my waist for all serious uphill stretches. Paul had a hip replacement only nine months ago and I was somewhat alarmed when there was a plaintive cry for help at the back and he was lying in the rut of the path. It is soft peaty ground, so luckily he was enjoying the drama of it.

On Sunday the plan was to meet Karen and Megan the spaniel and go for a 1 ½ hour walk in Cotton Dell, but the clock change meant that it was just Lucy and me and the dogs. My whippety-lurcher races up the track likes she’s been let out of a trap, my terrier checks all rabbit holes and the vizsla jumps straight into the river and all further muddy pools of water. This is a fluffy vizsla and a muck magnet, who must have wondered why we were so keen to throw sticks for her into the deeper parts of the brook. The sun shone, the birds were singing and the temperature was perfect for a long walk up hill and down vale.

Later, while I was gardening, a man walked past with his dog and checked directions with me. His wife had dropped him in Alton and he was hiking back to Ipstones – approx 8 miles. We agreed it is perfect walking weather.

Following the walking and gardening, my legs feel quite stiff this morning, so instead of the hour long return walk down to school I confess we went by car, taking all of 3 mins each way. Not the same at all!

Book self catering accommodation near Alton Towers and the Peak District


I just drove past the gates of Alton Towers, some 3 miles away, and all was quiet. It felt strange because normally on a bright, sunny day I see a stream of oncoming traffic going into Alton Towers theme park. But Alton Towers is not open yet . . .


Now is a great time to walk in the Churnet Valley and really appreciate the peace and uninterrupted birdsong. The paths and woodland around Alton Towers, Alton Castle (pictured) and Dimmingsdale are a treat right now.


Now is also a great time to start booking your summer visit to Barks self catering holiday accommodation near Alton Towers and the Peak District. Ring 01538 703436 or email barks@btconnect.com for 2009 rates and availability.


Children and pets welcome at Barks holiday cottage.

In praise of the Staffordshire Oatcake

Guardian article on Staffordshire Oatcakes that appeared in Saturday's leader columns: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/07/editorial-staffordshire-oatcakes

Our area was described in the article as 'the beautiful surrounding "lost land" of North Staffordshire'. Fair description, I'd say.

On the hunt for Staffordshire Oatcakes? Simple answer, come and stay in our holiday cottage and order our breakfast hamper. We always include them, and we almost always receive queries about how to deal with them.

My neighbour makes his own Staffordshire Oatcakes. I would like to give the impression that I go to the famous, soon to be demolished, hole-in-the-wall outlet in the Potteries but I buy them at the local supermarket or village shop.

As a follow up to the earlier piece on the local butchers, the one in Alton has in fact recently closed. Ian, the butcher, suggested that he'd had enough of working on his own and was off to join his wife's business in Leek. She makes Staffordshire Oatcakes. The ones of hers that I used to buy from Ian were tastier than the supermarket ones, that is for sure. I wish them well.

On the hunt online for Staffordshire Oatcakes? Try Facebook, there are hordes of people seperated from their native "lost land", pining for the tastes of their childhood and musing on whether its preferable to have with melted cheese, beans and bacon, or sweet with syrup . . . ? Don't tell my neighbours, but as an evening snack we like them blini-style with pretend caviar, chopped onion and sour cream. Breakfast has to be cheese, beans and bacon though.

Mice in the bird feed

click image to enlarge


Look who checks in when you leave the lid off the birds' peanut bucket. Released back to the wilds of the fields after posing for this photo.
These look like long tailed field mice, aka wood mice. More info on BBC nature website

Winter sun trap

mar
We now have four hens, following a successful bid for a couple more at the farm auction in Leek. Like all chic chicks they like to preen themselves in the sun. The best sun trap? The door and french winders to the holiday cottage. Plus, here they can check their looks in the reflection. Come summer these girls will be donning Raybans and SPF 25 and demanding a skinny latte.
It might only be January, but the air is clear and the sun is bright. The forecast is for snow this week. What will the girls make of that?

Seasonal Events

Villages in this area have very distinct characters and many annual events.
A few miles to the north of us we have Ipstones, a village with several pubs and a great village shop and a butcher. Folk there think of their nearest market town as Leek. Ipstones has a couple of great village events during the year - the agricultural show in the summer and lights night on the last Friday of November. We were helping on one of the many charity stands (The Play Pavilion) and were trying to get families to have a go on a tombola to win a cuddly toy. Even though every ticket was a guaranteed win, it felt like a hard sell. Cuddly toys were being offered as prizes by a lot of the stands and our target audience were wheeling push chairs already laden with soft toys. We walked to the church of St Leonards in Ipstones and admired the Christmas trees decorated by local community groups. These village events have a fantastic atmosphere that can be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.

On Friday it is Alton's turn for its pre-Christmas event. A few miles to the south of us, Alton is another thriving village community with two shops, lots of pubs and a butcher. Alton has a classic summer fete with maypole dancing, cake competitions etc and a themed winter event. On Friday there'll be a girl on a donkey led from Alton Castle calling at inn after inn until she is taken to the Round House (a former village lock up). It is tempting indeed to make satirical references to Friday night youth binge culture, but obviously this is a re-enactment of the nativity and Mary on the donkey is turned away by the inns, and the Round House is now a crib scene around which the villagers meet and sing carols. It is all very heart-warming stuff, especially so when drinking Shep's mulled wine. Carols never sounded so sweet.

Winter Warmer Short Breaks - semi-catered, chalet style.

Winter Warmer short breaks at Barks are designed to cram in loads of entertainment and fresh air and minimise the time spent on anything domestic. We are describing this as semi-catered in the style of ski chalets. Weekends are great but can feel so short, so we are doing what we can to help our guests maximise a Friday evening to Sunday afternoon break. All you have to do is bundle the family into the car - which let's face it is a big enough hurdle to get over.

The highlights of our Winter Warmers are:

Friday evening - The heating is on, the fire is lit and there's a meal in the oven waiting for you. The beds are made (and any cots or extra beds are in place too). Memories of the motorway will soon fade, I promise.

Saturday - Various breakfast goods are available for you to help yourselves to a fry up or cereal and toast. For days out, walks, lunch venues and family activities we can recommend some options to suit your party. While you are out we can nip in a straighten the kitchen and lay another fire for the evening. If you want another meal prepared for Saturday night just let us know, or alternatively we can recommend restaurants and pubs meals in the area or help you source local ingredients to cook yourselves a delicious dinner.

Sunday - Make this more than just a packing up day and stay as long as you like. Indulge in breakfast then get some fresh air maybe. There are pubs to hike to, tea rooms to cycle to and a hotel to swim at . . . or newspapers to read, whatever takes your fancy.

For further information on Winter Warmer Weekends please give us a call on 01538 703436 and give us an idea of your requirements.

In the mean time, her are some activities and outings nearby that might appeal:


  • -Alton Towers Splash Landings
  • -Alton Towers Spa
  • -Alton Towers crazy golf
  • -Aerial Xtremes - nearby in Trentham and Buxton
  • -Hikes and walks - we have maps, books and several recommendations
  • -Cycling - Churnet Valley from Oakamoor; Manifold Valley into the Peak District; Buxton to Ashbourne Tissington trail.
  • -Pub Walks - from the doorstep
  • -Lights nights and Christmas shopping evenings in local market towns.
  • -Theatres
  • -Museums
  • -Great undisturbed painting locations
  • -Kayaking or sailing on Carsington Water or Rudyard Lake
  • -Letting the kids clamber around on the fallen tree and taking a flask of coffee and some sweets onto the ridge then coming back and putting your feet up by the open fire with a book and cuppa (until your favourite programme comes on telly).

Hens

We took delivery of a hen house on Saturday and some hens yesterday. Not an obvious time of year to start keeping hens, because we'll feed them all winter and as the nights draw in they won't lay so many eggs.

We went to a genuine farm dispersal sale last weekend. It was a fascinating event on so many levels. A reclusive old local farmer had lived on this 90 acre farm in the middle of nowhere all his life and now he has moved to a care home. I can only imagine that he held this fate at bay as long as possible, but seeing the state of the farmhouse I guess another winter was out of the question despite the amazing efforts of Staffordshire Moorlands visiting carers.

Many that turned up to the farm sale did so out of respect for this farmer, as much as to seize a bargain in these tough times. I overheard farmers and labourers with local accents so strong it could be called a dialect. There were a few other women, some children allowed to lark about on the haystack and farm machinery, but this event was noticeably dominated by local farmers; all white, predominantly male. They are a hardy close-knit local bunch, many of whom have been on their farms for generations. As a southern 'incomer' I felt priveleged to have been there, as I would if I'd been camel herding with the Bedouins or driving llamas up a mountain in Tibet.

So I was pleased that we scooped the coop for a reasonable sum. A local farmer brought it back for us in his trailer and then dropped off a couple of pullets for us yesterday. The coop is in the orchard in front of Barks, so visiting children will be able to collect eggs and catch hens. My 5 year old son is delighted by it all.

So to the business of marketing Barks self-catering holiday cottage now that we have welcomed our two chickens, and thinking up legitimate new straplines that might grab the search engines' attention:

Farm stays - self catering
Alton towers - dogs welcome - feed the hens
Stay on a farm with 2 chickens, 10 sheep, 3 dogs and some fruit trees.
I'll keep working on this . . .

Feeding the birds

I just tripped over an initiative of the RSPB encouraging us to feed the birds in our gardens - National Feed the Birds day 25th October.

We have regular woodpecker families who love the peanut feeder which we keep topped all year round. They are top of the pecking order to all the tits and nuthatches. Our resident crows, nicknamed Square and Squawk, seem to do OK foraging in the compost heap. The kestrel sits on the phone wire and dives into the field if it spots something moving. The buzzards screech overhead, and have a favourite perch in a nearby oak tree, but they do fine for food without our help. I could do without the magpies attacking our bin bags on collection day (we are too off the beaten track for the Wheelie Bin dustcart to visit). It is the resident robin that I would like to do more for, and have just saved our sunflower heads for winter.

I regularly see birdwatchers in the village so we must be doing something right! Suppost I ought to thrust our Staffordshire Moorlands holiday cottage info at the next birdwatching group so that they can catch the dawn chorus . . .

anyway, here are the RSPB's tips on what to feed garden birds:

GOOD kitchen scraps:

  • Uncooked porridge oats
  • Cake crumbs
  • Potatoes – baked, roast and even mashed
  • Grated cheese
  • Windfall, soft or over-ripe fruits

BAD for birds:

  • Bread – it has very low nutritional content and is essentially a filler
  • Salted foods such as bacon or peanuts (Barks does unsalted nuts only!)
  • Polyunsaturated fats or vegetable oils – these can smear birds’ feathers making them less waterproof
  • Milk – birds’ stomachs are not designed to digest milk
  • Desiccated coconut – this may swell up inside a bird causing it to die.

Locally-reared meat

It is normally so quiet that a clattering in the field caught my attention. I peered out of the window and saw local farmer, Chris, bolting the tailgate on his trailer and a small flock of very nervous sheep sizing up their new environment, our fields. Black ones this time.

The summer residents have moved on: the ewes to a different pasture and the grown lambs have gone 'to market'. This is clearly a euphemism for the fact that they have now entered our food chain. They had a great life in our fields graduating from skipping, suckling lambs to enormous great brutes that enjoyed a stand-off with our terrier. I hope Chris fetched a good price for them this year.

We are lucky in this part of the country that we have local abattoirs that supply local independent butchers. I am not sure that enough local consumers really appreciate our local supply chain, with the lowest food miles possible.

'Foodies' and cooks wanting local meat, or any local or organic produce are encouraged to discuss requirements with us. To really enjoy every aspect that the Staffordshire Moorlands has to offer, you need to include its produce.

TV and WiFi

Dek the aerial man was pretty upset with us last week. He had been expecting a simple digital aerial installation but we turned out to be customers with exacting requirements that did not want more holes drilled through our walls. Poor Dek! He left the aerial wire wrapped in a coil hanging off the chimney and drove off just slightly grumpy. Now we await the arrival of Richard, the electrician, who is coming back to explain the mysteries of the aerial wires that he put in place earlier in the year when we had Barks renovated.

Since our holiday cottage is so good for families with pre-teen children it seems only fair to offer decent TV. Children who have hiked or cycled most of the day deserve to chill out, and those that have had adrenalin rushes all day at Alton Towers maybe need to sit down for medical reasons. Reception on all TV channels is great - at night we can look across the Trent Valley and just see the distant aerials around Birmingham glittering red against the horizon.

Broadband Wifi access is already available to guests. So hurry up Richard, we need the digital TV sorted out before some 9 year old boys come to stay during the bank holiday week.

Bilberry Season

In June 2008 I read an article in The Guardian newspaper about the Bilberry, aka Winberry or Blueberry, and its northern roots. link: http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2284528,00.html#article_continue

Apparently this superfruit is sold in Morrisons in its northerly outlets; I wonder how much for. Curiously, readers of this Guardian article were advised that the season is August and September - maybe that is so in the north. Here in the Midlands, however, it is prime bilberry season in early July.

Favourite uses in our household are bilberry and strawberry jelly and freshly collected bilberries on our breakfast cereal.  I trek into the woods first thing to gather them for breakfast (double health benefits from this).

Personally I am not keen on them when they become over-ripe.  There is something about the smell of processed bilberries that can be off-putting, especially in cartons of juice and bottled squash.  They have to be fresh from the woods for us.

Bilberry Tourism to Churnet Valley

From Walking the Moorlands - Walks around Barks Holiday Cottage
There are some woods and moorlands around our holiday cottage that are full of bilberry bushes.  In the spring the woods are buzzing with bees visiting the bilberry flowers (pictured above).

This is a popular area with walkers as it is, but in the July bilberry season we become a tourist destination for bilberry fans. Some stop for a chat and seek permission to pick these super-fruits.  Walkers are such polite people.  Really keen pickers come with those comb-like bilberry pickers that really speed up the fiddle of the picking.  I slightly regret not buying a bilberry picker when I saw one during our holiday in Norway.  But on the other hand it doesn't take long to pick a breakfast worth.  Some local friends make wine - I have yet to try it.

Two thoughts for eager, younger pickers: don't eat too many when out picking or you'll get purple poo (!) and please could you mind the walls with your purple fingers when you get back to our holiday cottage!?

Apart from that, enjoy foraging for these fruits of the forest and connecting with the spirit of our hunter-gatherer ancestors.  Bilberries are very therapeutic for so many reasons - physical and spiritual.