Wild weather, high tides and river surfing in Bude ... officially the warmest place in January 2014!!

Heavens! What a wet and wild start to 2014 we’ve endured weather wise. 

As reports of chaos across the West Country hit the headlines many of our lovely regular guests contacted us to check how we were doing in light of the storms. I was relieved to be able to tell them each time that we were fine and that fortunately Bude hadn’t been too badly hit.

Our hearts go out to those whose homes, businesses and lives in general were so dreadfully shaken by storm damage and winter flooding.  With the much needed dry spell we’ve all enjoyed in the last week or so we hope that life for everyone is starting to get a little more back to normal.

For those who know Bude, the extremely high tides and strong winds in January did cause the River Neet to overflow its wall slightly along The Strand and the lovely little shops down there were saved by their sandbags on more than one occasion.  With sea conditions being unsafe for surfers at the height of the storms some locals were actually filmed surfing the waves in the river where it approaches the town centre itself … this was quite a sight to see and was caught on camera (and YouTube) here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTBz8g7c9Hc

The winds and high water levels resulted in a large amount of debris being washed ashore onto our beaches and some of the beach huts were sadly damaged beyond repair.  Across the county a call went out to help with a clean-up operation and on a sunny Sunday in mid February  50 people volunteered at Summerleaze Beach to assist with helping to clear the debris scattered during the extended period of stormy weather.  The local community well understand the importance of tourism to the area and wanted to reassure visitors that Cornwall is still very much open for business.    

The Met Office confirmed what everyone suspected all along, we had just endured the wettest January in one hundred years.  No great surprise there then, however they also revealed the maximum temperature during January was actually recorded on the 5^th …. at 14.1 C …. in Cornwall …. right here .... in Bude!!!!

You can read more about this in the Met Office Blog here

http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/january-weather-summary/

 

As we moved into March many pretty yellow daffodils popped up in our front garden and in the last week or so we’ve had a lot of lovely warm sunshine …. all day long … no rain at all. We noticed our Agapanthus plants (who've looked very sorry for themselves throughout the winter) are starting to push new green shoots up through the soil outside the breakfast room bay window and the shrubs we cut right back in the Autumn are all showing new growth.  At last there's a definite feeling of Spring in the air.

After a winter of re-decoration and refurbishment (and you thought we did nothing from December to March!) the AA have confirmed our "4 Star Gold Award" status for another year and we're keen to get going again with our 2014 season. To coincide with this our Spring Short Break offer is up and running again where 2 people can enjoy 3 nights bed and breakfast in a Superior Double or Twin En-suite Room for £150.00 until early May.  Please follow the” Spring Break 2014” buttons on our website below to locate full details and terms and conditions of this popular offer.

http://www.fairwayguesthouse.co.uk/index.htm

So, if you are thinking of visiting Cornwall for a few days but were at all concerned that that the county is still suffering the effects of this winters’ bad weather please be reassured …. it’s very much “Business as Usual” in Bude and we would all very much love to see you here.

 

Is it Spring yet?

Don't get me wrong, I love wrapping up against the cold and taking a brisk walk on the beach at this time of year, then nipping back home to a roaring open fire. Comfort food for supper, a glass of sherry and candlelight in the evening ... all lovely stuff!  I really don't mind the Winter at all, but January and February can sometimes seem like incredibly long months. Get me the other side of Christmas and into the New Year and I just can't help but long for little signs that Spring is on its way. 

We all hope that Summer 2013 will provide us with some much needed sunshine and lovely warm, dry weather conditions.  That said, with much of our very nicest English weather occuring in recent years during the Spring and Autumn rather than the traditional Summer months this could be the ideal time to leave the cold, dark days of winter behind and plan a few days away in Cornwall

Our three night Spring Offer Package is back for 2013. It's proving to be as popular as ever and you're advised to book early to avoid disappointment especially if you have a particular room preference in mind

This special price applies to two people sharing a double or twin bedroom
 and runs from  Friday 1st March 2013 until the night of Wednesday 8th May, 2013

 (excluding the Easter & May Day bank holiday weekends)

Superior Rooms with En-suite & View ~ Rooms 3 & 6
£150.00 TOTAL for 2 people staying 3 nights B&B
Extra consecutive nights at £50.00 per room per night 

Superior Rooms with En-suite ~ Rooms 1& 8
£145.00 TOTAL for 2 people staying 3 nights B&B
 Extra consecutive nights at £49.00 per room per night 

Standard Room with En-suite ~ Room 2
£135.00 TOTAL for 2 people staying 3 nights B&B
Extra consecutive nights at £45.00 per room per night  

Non En-Suite Rooms (with Private Facilities) ~ Rooms 4 & 7
£125.00 TOTAL for 2 people staying 3 nights B&B
Extra consecutive nights at £42.00 per room per night

Please do remember to mention the offer when you book!

An Evening Beach Walk .........

 T'was such a lovely evening earlier that I set off with Harvey to get some pictures of the beach huts on Summerleaze for our website.  We thought you might like to come along with us .....


We set off down the road towards Crooklets Beach, through the CarPark ......

and turn left infront of the cafe past the sunken boat play area ......

then up past the Crooklets beach huts ( in need of a little TLC) .....

stop for a quick peek over the handrail at the ocean ......

and off along the coastpath ......

to the steps down onto Middle Beach ......

 a quick look back to where we came from .......

then off across to Barrel Rock .....

past the little fishing boat at the Breakwater ......

and the Canal Sea Lock Gates ....

at last .... the Beach Huts in the distance ......

across lots and lots of squigy sand ......

finally we get our picture for the website .....

and take another just incase the first one was rubbish (just look at that sky!!) ......

then back off across the golf course and home :)

A Busy Winter behind us and Spring Arrives in Bude!

How lovely to see Bude "springing" to life again after the long cold winter we have all endured.  The town's accommodation providers, seaside shops and lovely restaurants are all gearing up for what we hope will be a busy and fabulous season ahead. 

The lovely warm sunny weather and gentle sea breeze of the last few weeks has welcomed the arrival of the Easter holidays and (hopefully!!) signals a lovely summer to come.  Pretty spring flowers are popping up everywhere and without doubt when the sun shines there really is nowhere nicer to be than the English seaside. Even now in early April people are enjoying the sand and surf down at the lovely beaches of Bude.

At Fairway House we are happy to say we've survived a very busy winter. Although we closed from November to February we were still frantically making improvements that we hope our returning visitors in particular will love.  These include a complete refurbishment of the bedrooms on our top floor here and the provision of two new luxury shower rooms.  No longer do guests in our non ensuite rooms have to share a shower and toilet facility ... both these rooms now enjoy not only a golf course view but also newly refurbished large private shower and toilet facilities in close proximity to the bedroom itself.  The feedback from guests returning to "Wentworth" (Room 6) is incredible and really does make all Mike's hard work up there through the winter months so worthwhile. 

We've been fortunate enough to receive some superb reviews from our lovely visitors on the Trip Advisor website http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g190804-d521999-Reviews-Fairway_House_Guest_House-Bude_Cornwall_England.html ... a huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share the experience of their stay with us ... we so love reading your reviews .... please do keep them coming :)

Thank you so much for reading our first Blog ... we plan to keep this up to date with all the comings and goings here at Fairway House with lots of information about whats happening locally and doubtless the odd photo hillarous along the way :))

Here's to a wonderful summer ahead .... enjoy the sunshine and lots of good times .... hope to see some of your down here at some stage!

http://www.fairwayguesthouse.co.uk/