Well… it is lovely here!  And not just the splendid Dunkery Beacon Country House or the wonderfully scenic Wootton Courtenay, but our friendly villagers who have greeted us with a warm welcome.  Let us introduce ourselves.  We are Andy and Tanya Downes, the proud new owners of this special guest house.  This is our first blog and there will be more to come…

To be honest, it was hard leaving behind a settled home of almost twenty years, where we raised our children and had a ‘normal’ routine.  It was emotional saying goodbye to family and friends, to move across the south of England and embark on a new life-changing vocation with a different type of ‘normal’.  Tanya is the first to admit, although it’ll come as no surprise to those who know her, that it has taken a while to get her head around swapping Kent for Somerset.

But with every passing week we are becoming more settled to life here, surrounded as we are by such amazing scenery in the beautiful Exmoor National Park…. and we are assured it is raining in other parts of Britain too!

.

.

.

.

.

.

What is more, it is great to be only about 15 minutes from the sea, a new novelty for us and our senior chocolate labrador ‘Bella’ – great beaches with soft sand, shingle or pebbles.   Whatever takes your fancy.  We can’t wait to explore them all.

.

.

.

Soon after we had unpacked the snow came and hung around for a couple of weeks, which made the place look truly magical in the lead up to Christmas. Then, after lots of tidying and clearing out, the family descended upon us for the festivities.  Our first guests, which was lovely!  A good opportunity to try out more of the rooms and get some ‘honest’ feedback.

.

Then disaster.  On New Year’s Day Tanya was unusually the first to get up and as she descended the last few stairs she missed her step, fell to the bottom and fractured her ankle.  Now in a special boot and on crutches, she’s ‘not as much use as she’d like’!!  A very frustrating start to the new year and we hope her first available hospital appointment this week is not three weeks overly late.

Thankfully, we had already taken the decision to remain closed until the Spring.  There are some renovations being carried out before we plan to reopen on a bed & breakfast basis in mid-March.  We will keep you posted.

We know some previous guests may be disappointed that the Coleridge Restaurant is now closed and we will not be offering an evening dining option.  When John and Jane were looking to sell the business, they did not hold out for another fine dining chef and so The Dunk got us instead!   That said, we will never let a guest go hungry.  Those arriving with us on just two wheels (cyclists) or none (walkers) can be catered for, as can large group bookings (by prior arrangement) or those seeking a venue to hold a special function.  Packed lunches can also be available upon request.

Many other aspects remain the same or will have seen an improvement, including our eight comfortable bedrooms with their fantastic views and our breakfast offering will ensure guests are well fed to start their day.  We are also keeping the licensed bar and looking to improve/update some of the bathrooms as part of our refurbishments.

And just as importantly, all of our guests can be assured a very warm welcome as we look forward to making their stay as relaxing and enjoyable as possible.  We would love to meet and share with you some of that local hospitality.

Best wishes

Andy & Tanya