2009 peak forest beer festival and family fun day

The peak forest beer festival is now only 4 weeks away. Last year's festival was a great success despite the weather! come along this year and join the fun. For more information see

Liverpool Batala Samba band play Hargate Hall

As part of one of our guests wedding ceremony, we will be having an outdoor concert performed by the Liverpool Batala Community Samba Band. This will at 13:30 till 15:30 on Sunday 7th June. Tickets must be bought in advance and cost £5.50. A bar will be provided, and bring you own picnic. For further details please visit www.hargate-hall.co.uk/batala-liverpool.php

chickens, eggs and foxes

For 2 years we (and our guests!) have enjoyed seeing our chickens running around, and the delicious eggs they produced. Sadly a few weeks ago they were attacked by a fox, and were all killed. One of them made a brave escape and was found by a nearby farmer. The farmer brought the chicken back to us but it did not survive the night.

We are in the process of making a new improved run, and we will then buy some more chickens.

HaHa and other news

The HaHa is now dug out! We have taken it to about 3 feet deep. It still needs tidying up and wheel/track ruts from the digger and dumper truck need smoothing out, and the path ways that were damaged need to be repaired..... Trouble is we get a few nice dry days so that the ground almost gets dry enough to start doing these things and then it rains again! Well I guess that is the Peak District for you. I have another few hundred meters of fencing to put up and then we can get some sheep put in. We recently had a group here from Gripple who gave me some good instruction on how to fit up the fencing.

We now have a cover over the BBQ area so you can have that planned BBQ whatever the weather. It also doubles as a smoke shelter.

Hargate's HaHa

After investigating a few holes (small ones!) that have appeared in the grounds after recent rain, we have found the route of the old HaHa that ran across the grounds at Hargate Hall. In the early 1900's deer were kept in the lower part of the grounds and they were kept in by the HaHa and a dry stone wall.
At some point the wall collapsed and the stone and other debris were thrown into the ditch of the HaHa. thinking it would be a relatively quick job, I decided to start digging it out. In the process I have found all sorts of things - old ovens, zimmer frames (it was a care home for a while!), a car door, etc. After 2 weeks about half of it is now dug out but continual rain slowed progress to a standstill, so I have decided to let it all dry out before finishing it off.

I am only digging out 3 to 4 feet depth though it may go as much as 8 feet. Once done we will start keeping sheep. If nothing else it will save me a few hours a week cutting grass!

Peak Forest Beer Festival

The second Peak Forest Beer Festival has now been confirmed for the 18th July 2009. The event will build on the success of last year and will include even more beer!! Further details of the festival will be added to beer festival website as well as some pictures from last year.

Hargate Hall Wedding Fayre

Having recently become licensed for civil wedding and partnership ceremonies, we have decided to hold a wedding fair at Hargate Hall. There will be stands and catwalk shows in the main hall, and additional stands in a marquee.

The wedding fayre will take place between 11 am and 5 pm Sunday 13th September 2009

Hargate Hall has rapidly become a very popular wedding venue, particularly because of the flexibility offered in the way that the wedding weekend is organised. We offer a lovely and relaxed place to hold your wedding as well as onsite accommodation for many of your guests.

Brides-to-be and their fiancées will have the opportunity to talk to large numbers of wedding service providers and also to have a look around Hargate Hall. We will be on hand to answer any questions about booking Hargate Hall as a wedding venue.

Refreshments will be available throughout the day.

Further details of the wedding fayre can be found on www.hargate-hall.co.uk/wedding-fayre.html

If you would like to have a presence at our wedding fayre please contact our co-ordination Kerri Jones on 07800 995120

For more information, contact the Julie or Anthony Knox on 01298 872591 or e-mail info@hargate-hall.co.uk.

Murder Mystery Weekend Party

Lots of people keep telling us how good a venue Hargate Hall would make for a Murder Mystery Party, and I have to say we agree. We are looking at organising one for 2009. If you are interested please email us and then we can keep you informed as our plans develop. To email us please click here.

50% off list prices in January

Due to the fact that we are doing some redecorating in the Main Hall and some grounds works outside, we are offering 50% off all midweek and weekend breaks during January. Visit our short breaks page for further details.

Peak Forest Beer Festival

Following the amazing success of the Beer Festival held in July this year, we are planning another one for 2009. Hargate Hall is close by so anyone needing accommodation for the weekend, let us know. As soon as further information and dates are available we will post them here. So watch this blog for updates!

Midweek Breaks

Nearly all our weekend short breaks have now been fully booked for the main school holiday weekends in 2009. However there is still good availability for our midweek breaks. Mid week breaks during the school term time are even better value as the tariff is lower. Have a look at our website for further information on our self catering breaks.

First Snow

Well, we have just had our first proper snow fall this year. Having had several days below zero the snow has settled easily on the ground and trees - look fantastic. Its a shame that the group we had in this weekend missed it. All the kids would have loved tobogganing down the grounds, but maybe they will get it next year!

Weddings: Update on the Marquee

We have created a second blog aimed mainly at the wedding market. So if you are looking to get married at Hargate Hall, have a look to see what we are doing.

Weddings: Update on the Marquee

beer festival success

Despite the occasional shower, the beer festival was a terrific success. Hundreds of people turned up and judging by the amount of beer that was consumed, they all had a great time. A big thank you to all those that helped organise and run the event, those that sponsored it, and of course those that came!

Online guestbook

We have just added an online guestbook to our home page on the website. If any past guests want to sign it then plase do.

beer festival

The peak forest beer festival is now only 10 days away. If you want tickets or any further information please contact us or visit the beer festival website. On the site you will find information on the events and also entry form for the competitions. Donn't forget - it is cheaper to buy tickets in advance than on the day.

BBQs

We now have 3 new built in BBQ, which should give enough grilling space to feed all guests here. We have also just taken delivery of 6 new 8 seater pub style piknik benches, so with the 3 that we already had, you can now all sit outside as well.

last minute short breaks in the peak district

Last minute weekend breaks in the peak district seem to be very popular right now. Several of our summer weekends filled up well in advance, but suddenly there is a flurry of activity of people booking those much needed weekend breaks. Don't worry though, we still have some space left for both weekend breaks and midweek breaks. check our availability page for more information and for making a booking.

First Wedding

We have just had our first civil wedding ceremony conducted within Hargate Hall. There were around 80 guests, the majority of whom were able to be put up here for the weekend. They had a marquee, caterers, live music and even sunshine! From the booking we are getting, this is clearly going to be the first of many weddings held here. If you are interested in finding out more please look at our Weddings page on our website.

Peak Forest Beer Festival

On the 19th July there will be a beer festival and family fun day at the nearby village of Peak Forest. There will be a variety of activities, games and general entertainment during the day and in the evening there will be live music, disco, hog roast, BBQ, a bar and of course plenty of real ale. Have a look on the website for more information on the Peak Forest Beer Festival.

Cycling - Tissington trail

We decided to go out for our first proper cycle ride today. After inflating tyres, finding the child seats and working out out to fit the bike trailer into the car, we finally got going. So apparently had everyone else. The car parks on the closest cycle trails we all full as were the road sides near them, so we set of for the Tissington Trail. it was easy cycling, great for the kids and plenty of places to stop and have a picnic. Also there was a good cycle hire facility and cycle shop on the trail at Hurdlow. After 3 hours we were back at the car feeling tired but much better for the fresh air and exercise.

derbyshire peak district civil wedding venue near Buxton

We were recently asked by a couple if they could get married at Hargate Hall, in order to be able to say we applied for a wedding licence. This has now been granted so we must be the newest Derbyshire civil wedding venue. So if you are looking for a civil wedding venue in the derbyshire peak district, then please get in contact with us or look at our website to find out more information. www.hargate-hall.co.uk/weddings.html.

New ropes course

Much of the old high ropes course has been removed and our focus has been on establishing fewer but better activities. The ropes course is now aimed at companies using it for team building challenges. Development will be ongoing so please check out our website dedicated to team building activities www.hargate-hall-teambuilding.co.uk

more website

I have just finished a series of training sessions on website design, structure and optimisation. Hopefully, over the next few weeks, we and you will see the benefits of this filtering through. The training was given by Ann Stanley of Anica Solutions. Highly recommended!

new website

We have just launched our new website. It is at the same address www.hargate-hall.co.uk . We have updated the information and made it easier to navigate around the site. let us know what you think.

nearly done

12 of the 15 bathrooms have been replaced or had improvements made.

Tourist board grading

We have had our tourist board grading assessment. It was very nerve wracking for us as it was our first time. However all went well, and the recent improvements were all notice. We maintained our 3 start grading. The process is actually very useful as it help to ensure that we are putting our efforts into improving the things that matter, as well as being able to publicise ourselves on the peak district tourist board's website!

chatsworth

As we start to familiarise ourselves with the vast array of places to walk and explore, eat and drink, or visit, we will post details of what we have most enjoyed so that it may help you plan your itinerary when you come and stay with us.

First stop Chatsworth House. This can easily be a full day out as there is so much to see there. We won't describe all of it as there is already a huge amount of info already on the web. We still visit regularly but just pay the car parking fee and walk around the outer grounds and do some of the walks from there. We normally finish with a drink and snack in the cafe and a trip to the farm shop.

Ventilation

We have installed a heat recovery ventilation system which continuously and silently extract air from the basement bathrooms and pumps fresh air into the basement bedrooms. This has instantly cured the condensation problems and stuffiness that was previously noticed there.

project bathroom

Starting with Windsor apartment we are going to overhaul or replace the bathrooms of all the apartments. It will take several months as we are going to do this between bookings rather than closing the place..