Plans and improvements

Whilst Fold Cottage was always a pretty splendid place for a holiday in Lakeland, we've been gradually upgrading it since we bought it in 2010, and it's a bit like the Forth Rail Bridge - it always seems to need repainting!

Over the winter of 2011/12 we had the living room chimney opened up and a wood burning stove installed, new local slate floors, under floor heating throughout the ground floor and bathroom, a new kitchen and a new bathroom. We used local craftsmen including Beetham & Dean of Ambleside, Kirkland Kitchens in Kendall, J Brownell & Sons from Windermere with slate from the Kirkstone Quarry (now, sadly, closed) and the Burlington Quarry.

We also employed local architect, William Sutherland, to draw up plans and obtain planning permission for a small extension at the back. Work started on that in November 2013 and continued until March 2014! It's the bit on the left in this photograph with the French windows.

In 2022 we had a new roof having lost a few slates in the storms of the previous winter,

Then the garden wall at the back fell over so that had to be rebuilt. We had a new garden gate in early 2019 to keep the dogs in and in December 2019 we replaced the main door into the garden. The outside was repainted in 2020. We're going to need to redecorate inside soon.

The bedroom window was replaced in October 2021 and a new Herdy wool carpet from Wools of Cumbria fitted in November 2021.

We eventually got round to replacing the key safe.

The gales of 2021 brought to light the fragility of the roof, so we bit the bullet and had it re-slated in the summer of 2022.

If you've any ideas for further improvement, please let us know as we do take notice. A year or two ago we had an extractor fan put in the kitchen, as guests had suggested. Nothing too expensive please!