Cottageguide.net
The Bears Barn - Hartington, Derbyshire, England. Part of a converted two storey barn. One bedroom with a four poster bed. Double glazed with heating via storage heaters on heatwise system. Large kitchen with dining area. Electric cooker, microwave, radio/CD player, TV with FreeSat, DVD, washing machine. Under-stairs cupboard outside for cycle storage. Shops and pubs within one minute's walking. Good walks from your door. Electricity included. All bedding (duvets) and towels provided.
For two adults, non smokers only. Sorry, no children or pets.
The barn was originally owned by a vicar in Hartington but he was moved south a few years after he bought it and only used to visit occasionally (we were told by someone in the village). When we first visited it, it hadn't been occupied for a while, and many generations of creepy-crawlies had made it their home. The stairs that you can see on the drawing to the left lead up to the bedroom and when the boys were young they used to sit on the balcony blowing bubbles.
We aren't sure how old the building is. We know it was converted in the late 1980's because the vicar bought it from new from the builders. From the look of the tiles on the roof, we would estimate it to be around the mid to late 1800's. It was definitely there in 1918 because we have a dated postcard of it.
The barn is a mixture of new and old inside. The beams in the living room and bedroom are original, the rest is a more modern design and the kitchen was installed by us just after we bought the barn. Heating is by storage heaters running on the heatwise tariff, which means it gets three top-ups over each 24 hour cycle.
The four poster doubles as a trampoline quite happily and the view to the rear looks out onto a farm. The lounge has a FreeSat TV and DVD and the kitchen sports a dishwasher.
Well Dressing probably originated in pagan times, being thanksgiving to the gods for the gift of water. Derbyshire still has villages that give thanks for their water by creating large floral pictures comprising petals, seeds, pulses, leaves and other natural products. These pictures are held in clay and displayed for a week around the village at the original sites of wells, springs, and in some villages at the site of old standpipes and taps. Most of the villages that hold Well Dressing ceremonies are sited on limestone beds where the water drains through the rock very quickly after a rain storm leaving the ground dry again, obviously a difficult place to exist in times past with limited access to water.
The tradition of Well Dressing has been handed down over the generations and Youlgrave Village has some of the most experienced dressers in the country making Youlgrave one of the main Well Dressing villages in Derbyshire(the village even has it’s own water supply provided by the local spring managed by Youlgrave Waterworks company). Every year in June the Youlgrave water supply is celebrated with five Well Dressings. A theme is chosen for the well dressings and drawn up on paper, these are then transferred onto wet clay ready for decoration with hundreds/thousands of petals,leaves, seeds, pulses etc. In the week prior to the Well Dressing ceremony teams of people spend hours preparing the pictures. In some villages if you are in the village the week before you can get your hands dirty and help make the pictures.
The Youlgrave Well Dressing ceremony is held on a Saturday afternoon in June. The procession through the village is led by the Youlgrave Silver Band and each well dressing is blessed along the route. People come from far and wide to join in the procession, our own children have joined in the fun since they could walk. It is a very traditional way to spend a summer’s afternoon, with plenty of tea and cake along the way. Although I say summer’s afternoon on many occasions it has been raining (well we are celebrating the gift of water).
Tel 0115 914 5808
www.peakdistrictcottages.net
Derbyshire self catering holiday cottages