Time waits for no-one.

As I get older I have started to say those immortal words that all older people say, or something along these lines: “where has this year gone?”.  But 2025 has flown by. As always it’s been another busy year. We welcomed lots of guests, many new, but also many returning guests. We often find guests come to a cabin or a cottage and then come back to try another accommodation. It’s always great to see guests have enjoyed staying here so much, they want to stay again.

Christmas is nearly with us, so we have been putting up tress in all the properties. In our cosy cabins we can only fit in a small tree, but we think it’s important to note the time of year with something.

Guests sometimes ask if we think it’s going to snow at Christmas. We always say it’s difficult to know. The weather can change in a moment in the Lakes. We had lots of snow in early January 2025 and Chris T had to come with his digger to clear the driveway at Highgate. Alan also had to move a bit of snow, but he didn’t move all of this by hand!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Chris M designed some lovely maps of walks from the doors of our properties. You can see them on our website. There is a pub at the end of each of the walks!

 

 

 

 

 

We had some building work to do this year (from January to March). I think I say that every year. The barns at Highgate in the quadrangle needed some TLC, as their roofs were starting to decay. We decided that we would put zinc on the roofs instead of replacing the old slates. Hopefully this will mean the roofs will need very little maintenance in the future. That’s the idea anyway. Sean, Gary and Martin came to do the wood work and Jamie and his team did the zinc. An excellent job and the barns are now watertight and looking fantastic. We are anticipating no major works for next year- famous last words.

 

 

 

Later in the year, in September, we had a wildlife survey done by Jason and Paula. They came for 3 weeks with their cameras and hides and took thousands of pictures. It was very exciting. We knew we had red squirrels, but there were lots of other creatures about in the estate. We knew there were tawny owls, but Jason and Paula got some fantastic pictures of them. We will be posting some of these shots on Instagram next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then in November, Karl and his team came and painted Yew Tree and Bluebell as it had been 2 1/2 years since they were built and time for a spruce up. We added some rugs and extra side lights too, just for some extra comfort for guests.

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us all at Hutton John.🎄☃️🐏