The West Wing, Crow Hill Estate - Marsden, Yorkshire

When did we visit?
21-28 December 2015

How many does it sleep?
8

How much was it?
£1425

Who did we book with?
Crow Hill Cottages

What were our initial impressions?
The house, I can't really call this a cottage, was in a lovely spot.  Just outside Marsden village, in its own grounds, surrounded by lovely countryside.

There was plenty of parking, but not right next to the front door, so unloading was a bit of a pain, involving a short flight of steps, which could make things a bit tricky in bad weather.

There was a lovely traditional Christmas wreath on the front door which looked very grand, but welcoming.
The house felt lovely and warm and was well furnished, though things seemed a bit tired in places, with some kitchen doors a bit rickety and the stair carpet a bit grubby.

There was a nice grand staircase in the entrance hall and plenty of space for coats and shoes.

The lounge was lovely with plenty of comfortable seating, there were six of us staying, a nice big TV, with Sky, and a Christmas tree in the corner.
The dining room and kitchen were nice and spacious, though we did have to negotiate on freezer availability, as what was available on arrival wasn't really sufficient for what we needed ... this issue was, however, soon resolved.
There was a welcome bottle of wine and box of biscuits, with some milk in the fridge.

There was also a utility room, which was lovely and cold, where we thought we would store all our Christmas drink and other provisions.

Also downstairs was one double bedroom and a shower room.

Upstairs there was a huge master bedroom, next to a nice master bathroom, and two lovely and cosy adjoining rooms, one twin and one double, with a small en suite.
There was additional access from the adjoining double room to the kitchen, via the old servants' staircase.

Overall it had a nice feel, it was a bit quirky, the views from all of the windows were of open countryside, there was plenty of room for all of us and we thought we'd settle in well.

Our likes over the course of our stay ...

Overall this cottage worked really well for the six of us staying there over the Christmas period ...

• The weather was really bad during the course of our stay but we were lovely, warm and cosy.  It was also very easy to regulate the temperature, if it got just a little bit too warm
• The adjoining twin and double bedrooms were lovely and cosy and very comfortable
• There was a lovely range cooker in the kitchen, with double ovens, which made cooking, even Christmas dinner, easy for the six of us
• The layout of the kitchen was great, making it easy for 'observers' to hang around without getting in the way of the 'chef'
• The dining room worked really well too, with plenty of space for us to all eat together
• We loved the lounge, there was plenty of room for all to spread out and be comfy when chilling out in the evening
• It was a nice walk into the village, where there were plenty of shops, pubs and cafes and a nice walk to Standedge Tunnel
• Compared to the cost of other places we had looked at to stay over the Christmas period, we felt that the cost of this one was really good value

Anything that could have made it better ...

There are just a few bits that could have made our stay even more comfortable ...

• The master bedroom could have felt cosier.  It was huge, so space wasn't a problem, though it only had a normal double bed, and it had a wooden floor, so felt a bit empty. It would have been more cosy with carpeting and a big comfy sofa.
• We did have a few issues with hot water from time to time, especially with the master bathroom shower.  I think we just needed to leave to run for quite a while for the hot water to come through
• For those staying in the downstairs bedroom, the downstairs shower room involved a walk through the lounge, involving two separate steps, which was not ideal
• For us, the kitchen was not that well equipped.  There were plenty of roasting pans, but not much in the way of serving dishes, no measuring jug, minimal utensils and not that many glasses, considering how many the house could sleep

Would we recommend this cottage to our friends and family?

Absolutely!

Would we stay in this cottage again?

Definitely - it was really comfortable, good value and in a great location.

Ameretto, Cranberry & Lime Cocktail

Whilst I do have lots to tell you about our Christmas break, which was completely different to usual this year, I thought I'd kick the New Year off with a cocktail recipe.

This has got to be my favourite cocktail of all time. It's dead simple to make and always delivers.

It is so simple that I've padded out the post with plenty of pictures!









Ingredients

• 1 measure of Ameretto (or cheap imitation from Aldi if you are being economical - it tastes just as good, I promise)
• 2 measures of cranberry juice
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• Ice
• Lemonade

Add the Ameretto, cranberry, lime juice and ice to your cocktail shaker and ...... shake.  Note - Tastes better if someone else does the shaking!!
Pour into a glass and top up with lemonade or, if you are feeling really naughty, then use Cava or Asti.
Brilliant for any time or occasion.

Cheers!

And that my Friends ...... was 2015!

Hi there everyone

Well, here we are ... Almost at the end of another year, how quickly they seem to pass.

I've had a bit of a blog break this week, Martin and I have just felt really lazy and have made the most of that chill out time, between Christmas and New Year, by not doing very much at all.

I do have lots to tell you about though, including our family Christmas break In Yorkshire, a Christmas wedding and an update on where I am with my list of 50 things to do before I'm 60 so look out for my usual Monday posts, which should be back on track from next week.

It seems that this time of year it's 'de rigeur' in the bloggersphere to take stock and do a bit of a review of the most popular posts of the year, so, not wanting to be left out, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.

So here we go .... In reverse order .... the 10 (well, actually it's 11) most popular posts on Life of Pottering for 2015 ....

In joint 10th place you liked my holiday cottage reviews of The Rest and The Haybarn, two of the holiday cottages that we stayed in this year, both in the lovely Peak District.

In close competition for 9th & 8th most popular posts were two posts from our holiday in The Cairngorms.  You liked reading about our visits to Royal Deeside, in particular, Balmoral and Ballater.

Then we had my post about our visit to Sudbury Hall, A National Trust property that we had been meaning to visit for years, but never seemed to have the time to stop whilst passing.

The 6th most popular post this year was my list of the 50 things I want to do before I'm 60, an update on this will be posted over the next few weeks, so you can see how I am getting on.

Then we have one of my first posts of 2015, A Crafty Hand Made Christmas, where I shared my new bracelet making efforts with you.

In 4th place is another travel post, back in Derbyshire, with our wander around Leek.

In 3rd place came the recipe for Morello Cherry jam, one of very few recipe posts that I've done this year.

In 2nd place was another National Trust visit, this time to Stonywell, a new property, which opened just this year, in Leciestershire.

The most popular post of the year came as a bit of a surprise, it was the post about my decoupage placemats upcycling project. I am pleased to report that these are still in service and doing a great job.

So, that's it then, from Life of Pottering for 2015. I can't wait to see what 2016 brings. I hope you all have a great New Year and hopefully I'll see you all in 2016.

Thorpe, Derbyshire - Stepping Stones & Tissington

It was the last full day of our week's break staying at The Rest, a lovely warm, cosy and relaxing cottage in Thorpe, in the lovely Peak District.

After a slow start we decided that it would be wrong to have stayed here and not at least have visited the stepping stones, so that's exactly what we did.

It was raining and the river was pretty high, and had flooded it's bank in places, but we were dressed for it and soon ended up back in one of our favourite spots, where we messed about taking photos for a bit before heading back to the car.

We then decided that Tissington might be worth another try and we were pleased that we did, as the gorgeous gift and sweet shops were both open for business and we couldn't help but make just a few purchases.

Both shops are definitely worth a special trip. The gift shop was overflowing with beautiful things, all colour coordinated and looking amazing. The sweet shop was a real treat too and we couldn't resist fudge, flying saucers, jazzies and violet creams.

It was then Back to The Rest for our last afternoon of chilling, hot tub, peppered venison with Gorgonzola scones, which had been bubbling all day in the slow cooker, and a last evening of TV, before heading for home and the madness that comes with the preparations for Christmas.