22nd March 2016
From Sinkhole to Success in the heart of Staffordshire.
The Laurels Bed and Breakfast in the heart of North Staffordshire has triumphed in its battle to re-open after a major landslide and sinkhole over two years ago. After a long and heartbreaking battle, Phil and Helen, owners of The Laurels, are delighted to be relaunching their business with a lunchtime drinks reception.
The celebration will be an opportunity to thank those who have supported them throughout their journey as well as to share all that their business has to offer to visitors to Staffordshire. Phil and Helen had only just settled into their new life in Staffordshire in 2013 when disaster struck in the form of a large landslide, followed by a huge sinkhole at their Bed and Breakfast in the stunning Moorland village of Oakamoor.
After much press coverage and a few television appearances (including Channel 5’s Britain’s Horror Homes), Phil and Helen have worked tirelessly for over two years to not only bring their business back to life but to create a dynamic and active local community of businesses that they are able to work with to provide visitors with the best experience of Staffordshire.
As they prepare to open at the end of April this year, they are working with a range of attractions and local businesses to provide stunning experiences for their new visitors, including days out at local museums, and delicious afternoon teas, to name a few.
The support of the Staffordshire tourism community has been invaluable as they plan their new beginning and will provide visitors with an outstanding holiday while staying at The Laurels. Quote: Phil and Helen said, “After a long and difficult journey, we are thrilled to be opening at last…” Alternative quote: Phil and Helen said, “Reopening The Laurels gives us a great opportunity to share the best of what Staffordshire has to offer while allowing us to continue our dream of living and working in beautiful Staffordshire.”
For further details & images, please contact: Phil and Helen 01538 702629 the_laurels@yahoo.co.uk
Dust? What Dust?!
12th March 2016
In our last blog post, we promised you an update on the work on our main entrance steps. So, in an effort not to disappoint, here it is. As Monday morning dawned, another bunch of Men in Boots (MIBs) duly turned up to do their funky thang. Given that we’ve had more MIBs now than you can shake a stick at, we’re somewhat reticent to number these ones, so let’s just call them The Brickies.
It could be suggested that we’d tasked them with creating a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, as we’d already had to half demolish the steps to allow the previous MIBs access the rear of the property. Still, they seem to have managed to make a good fist of things so far, as you can see.
And The Next Contestant, Please
2nd March 2016
No sooner had our American friends departed than another set of intrepid travellers arrived on our doorstep, willing to swap their time and expertise for the comforts of our B&B and experience all things English.
This month’s volunteers are a couple from Oz, and a chap from Chicago, whose ability to pack all their belonging into a large rucksack never fails to astound.
We’ve had guests stay at the B&B in the past, apparently staying for just one night, who turned up with more luggage than was used to test Terminal 5’s luggage system just before it opened – and we all know how that ended!
The most recent task we challenged them with was to board out our loft. It’s not that there were no boards previously, it’s just that they weren’t screwed down and were placed strategically enough to provide sufficient confidence that you thought you wouldn’t fall through into a bedroom below, but actually putting you in great danger of doing so every time you went up there.
Like any Englishman’s loft, this one is full of extremely important stuff that we’d moved from our previous house’s loft and will probably be moved to our next home and ensconced in the loft there; such is the importance of our continued ownership of a load of stuff we haven’t used in the last 20 years. Still, we now have a nicely boarded loft, enabling us to move the stuff we’ve been storing in our workshop for the last 18 months (and not using) into the house, where it will continue not to be used.
Outside the house, we’ve seen the arrival of the MIB3s. These new guys from Evans Paving, have been employed to put our upper drive back to the state it was before all things slippy slidey.
In our experience, most paving companies arrive unannounced outside your door in a Mitsubishi Shogun, with a magnetic sign on the door proclaiming them as ‘Paving Specialists‘ and sporting a thick accent which promises you a fantastic price because they’re “doing work in your area” (begorrah).
Luckily the boys from Evans Paving are not the norm. They spent a huge amount of time preparing the surface, checking levels and generally ensuring everything was spot on before they even unpacked a single pavior.
