2005 certainly started with a bang!

The weekend after New Year was certainly one that will be remembered in the area for a long time!

With 9 inches of rain falling in less than 2 days (you may have seen the pictures on television of Carlisle under water), followed by storm force winds—one gust recorded on Windermere was 130mph—it was a rather interesting weekend. We were very lucky as, although we had 4 trees down in the garden, our broadband mast blown over and the power off for a few hours, we got off very lightly compared to many others in the area who suffered severe damage and more than 5 days without power. Because it was during our usual January ‘shut-down’ the only people affected were those of you trying to get through on the telephone and by e-mail on the Saturday morning as all the roads into and out of Ambleside were blocked with fallen trees and power lines were down.

 

Brochure, Website & Signs

‘Hot off the Press’ comes our new hotel brochure with some great photos of the rooms, and a tariff sheet which we hope will be easier for you to interpret. The website is also being updated to reflect the design of the brochure and to make it easier for us to update with details of new packages, Special Offers etc. so don’t forget to keep visiting the site. Are there any other features we should include - do let us know, we are always delighted to hear from you. Watch out too for our new exterior signs which will soon be in place.

Hotel No Smoking Policy

Following the non-smoking policy in the bedrooms, which came into effect in February 2004, the hotel will become totally non-smoking from January 2006.

STAFF MATTERS

As many of you will already know, Head Waiter, Tristan returned to South Africa last autumn. We are delighted to welcome back Marco (right) who returns to his former position. Our Head Housekeeper, Jean, retired in January after 13 years and we wish her a long and happy retirement. Head Chef, Jane Binns, acted as a judge for the Cookery entries at the Ambleside Flower and Craft Show last September, at the same time picking up 32 prizes herself – mainly in the gardening section. She was commended by the judges for producing so many quality entries from her pocket-sized garden. Well done, Jane!

Rothay Manor Recipe : Porridge

Once again last ‘Newsletter Recipe’ was a great success. This year we have decided to let you in on the secret of the porridge that so many of you comment upon—now you can enjoy it at home too!

You will need:

1/2 pt milk 1/2pt cream

3oz medium oatmeal

Pinch of salt Pinch of sugar

Bring milk and cream to the boil, add the oatmeal and slowly cook in a double boiler for 3/4 hr. Add salt and sugar.

Serve with milk, cream, whisky or Demerara sugar.

(Serves 4. Can be made the night before)

Don’t forget Valentine’s Day

Our romantic Valentine’s Weekend Break (Friday, 10th – Sunday, 12th February), including Champagne, a red rose and chocolates, to be enjoyed in the comfortable and relaxed atmosphere that is the essence of Rothay Manor. Go on, treat yourself and your loved one and make Valentine’s Day 2006 an occasion to remember! Call for details or visit the website.

Gift Letter Service for that special treat.

Choose from Lunch, Dinner, Afternoon Tea, Accommodation or a voucher to be spent as they wish - in fact whatever you require, we can do a Gift Letter with a personalised message to suit you. Payment can be accepted by Credit Card over the telephone. Just give us a call on 015394 33605 or e-mail us.

History of Rothay Manor
The pictures of the house in the early 1900s always inspire a great deal of interest. With this in mind we are hoping to produce a leaflet in the near future giving the history of Rothay Manor from its early days as a private residence for a Midland’s industrialist to the present day. Ask about it next time you come.

Seasonal Breaks

Midweek Short Breaks are available all year and in November and December this year we are offering some extra special rates —ideal for some relaxed, unhurried Lakeland speciality Christmas shopping.

Over the Festive Season, our traditional and highly popular Christmas and New Year House Parties offer a relaxing, stress-free break while our 3-night Post-Christmas Revival gives the opportunity to ‘chill out’ before New Year.

Ask for details or check out the website.

Special Interest Holidays

The 2004-05 Special Interest Holidays were again very popular. This year’s Special Interest gives just general information about all your favourite holidays—including Christmas and New Year - with the pre-paid postcard making it easy for you to request further details. Malcolm Saunders hangs up his walking boots after the October 2005 Walking Holiday and we would like to take this opportunity to say ‘Thank You’ to him for the happy memories.

Awards for Rothay Manor in 2004

In July we were delighted to win the Silver Award for “ Small Hotel of the Year 2004” in the Cumbria Tourist Board Cumbria for Excellence Awards.

In August, our ever-popular Afternoon Tea was once again listed by the Independent Magazine as 1 of the 50 best places for Afternoon Tea in the country.

All the hard work that goes into keeping our gardens looking their best was rewarded when, during September, we won the South Lakeland District Council Trophy in the Commercial Section of “Cumbria in Bloom”. We were also runner -up in the Jackie Sanderson Trophy for small hotels.

Rothay Manor and the Nixon family were featured in the December issue of the Cumbria Life magazine

We were interested to discover last year that the author Virginia Woolf stayed at Rothay Manor in June 1938 while visiting Dove Cottage with her husband, Leonard, where she signed the visitors’ book. We were delighted to welcome the Virginia Woolf Society to the hotel in September as they retraced her travels.

Supporting the Local Community

As you may know, we have a couple of wheelchairs here at Rothay Manor which visitors may borrow. We do not charge for the loan of these, just request a donation towards their upkeep. This year we replaced one of them, but still had a surplus of donated funds. We were delighted when Julia (above) presented Ambleside Day Care Centre (Age Concern) with a cheque for £500 in December. The money will be used to fund days out for the group.