What's it all about?
"It is the sweet, simple things of life that are the real ones after all."
Laura Ingalls Wilder (The Little House on the Prairie)
The trick is to work out just what those simple things are, definitely work in progress! It’s so easy to get sucked into the frantic pace of modern life and lose sight of what really matters. After many years with our noses firmly on the grindstone Thornythwaite is helping us to begin to slow down and reconnect with a life well lived. We are tremendously grateful for that opportunity and hope in turn that in staying here others may also share in our good fortune and inspiration.
We will only be here for a short time but will work hard to leave this little place in good shape to face whatever challenges may lie ahead.
For the barn we have tried to incorporate environmentally friendly and ethically-sourced features and products into the barns themselves with photovoltaic (electricity generating) and solar thermal (water heating) panels on the roof; thick insulation in floors, walls and ceilings which will keep all the living spaces cosy and heating requirements to a minimum; electric heating and hot water are powered by electricity and any not generated by the panels is sourced from renewable supplies; all cleaning products are environmentally friendly; even the toilet rolls (from Who gives a Crap) play their part. We have also tried to re-use as much of the barn’s original fabric as possible.
Thornythwaite Farm, with its 23 acres of pasture and small hilltop woodland, is by farming standards a smallholding, Quality rather than Quantity, as we like to think it. We have only really scratched the surface of what’s possible here and are excited for ‘Phase II’, exploring and implementing opportunities to enhance nature and wildlife whilst supporting a sustainable living with our sheep, hens, ducks, bees, vegetables, fruit and who knows what else. We’re particularly taken with the concepts of Regenerative Agriculture (Kiss the Ground) and Rewilding, watch this space!
Our Start at Thornythwaite
Our adventures at Thornythwaite Farm started as we tentatively knocked on the front door in August 2015 to politely enquire whether there were any plans to sell up following speculation on the local farming grapevine. They have not stopped since. We will be eternally grateful to Dan and Sue and their family for having the courage to hand over the reins of the place that they loved so dearly. On Christmas Eve 2015, in the thick of Storm Desmond as the Lake District was swamped by endless rain and snow, we slithered up the track with the last of our chickens and started our first chapter at Thornythwaite. It turned out to be an unexpectedly short introduction with the sudden announcement of Jim’s redundancy 4 months later, just as we were getting to grips with our first lambing. Time to get our thinking caps on!
Although very much thrown in at the deep end we were both very excited by the prospect of carving a new life for our family in this beautiful place. Our old stone barn seemed like an obvious place to focus our attention but was clearly going to be no small undertaking. What to do in the meantime? Time to get creative and so, with a huge amount of support, and some well-timed cajoling from friends, family and our new neighbours we opened up our home for B&B. And have not looked back. We were totally unprepared for the pleasure that we experienced in sharing this place with our guests from all over the world. What began as a needs-must situation quickly became a pleasure and we quickly knew we were on the right track. To cut a long story short (although Jim will bore you senseless if you’re not careful) converting the barn has been every bit the rollercoaster we should have anticipated, and all the more rewarding and enjoyable for it. Following 2 years of planning, applying for a development grant and obtaining a myriad of consents, a chance conversation with a neighbour led to our lovely builders, Garry and his father, Mike, setting-to to convert our broken barn into a solid, dry, cosy space. For the next two years whilst Victoria worked tirelessly looking after not only the family and B&B guests but also a small flock of childminding children, Jim immersed himself in ‘all things barn’, from general skivvy and labourer, to project manager, procurement and interior designer.
At the time of writing this (August 2020), having endured months of bad weather last winter, battled against bedrock, dug up most of the surrounding area for pipes and cables of one kind or another, lived on the bread line and become increasingly resourceful in finding yet more funding, not to mention Coronavirus, it has been our great pleasure, and relief, to open our first doors to our new guests. The light is slowly but definitely getting brighter at the end of the tunnel.
We often thank our lucky stars, and a lot more besides, for our chance to make a life here at Thornythwaite, our clearing in the thorns, in every sense. If you decide to have a break here we are sure that you will agree that it really is a remarkable place….the adventure is only just beginning!
The Journey to Thornythwaite
In hindsight our journey to Thornythwaite in 2016 started way back in 2011 with the acquisition of a little fat collie pup that we called Kip. Our second son, Thomas, had been desperate for a real dog from as soon as he could walk and started towing around his fluffy collie toy dog. Despite particularly Jim’s misgivings about adding a canine member to our growing family, as his 11th birthday approached we realised that we could deny him his heart’s desire no longer. The pair immediately became inseparable and Thomas spent every waking moment with his new pal, including attending the local dog training classes. It was there that we were introduced to the possibility of training Kip (and Thomas!) to work with sheep and our life was changed forever. After a faltering start, a local sheepdog trialling trainer kindly agreed to Thomas joining his weekly evening class and he quickly showed that he had a natural affinity for both dogs and sheep. Around the same time a friend of a friend offered us the opportunity to join them when they gathered their sheep off a fell near Ullswater lake. It was a truly magical experience and Jim and Thomas spent much of their spare time down at the farm over the next two years, learning the ropes and generally getting in the way.
Life in Penrith was very comfortable and settled, the extensive house renovations were nearly complete, the kids were out of nappies, our small flock of hens was growing …and Victoria was getting itchy feet. Time for an adventure, except that we didn’t really want to leave our lovely local circle of friends. After a couple of false starts and increasing frustration out of the blue we were offered the possibility of renting a converted barn with 3 acres of fields in the Lake District by Ullswater lake. In December 2013 we welcomed in our new tenants, packed up all our belongings and headed for the hills.
It didn’t take long to realise that we wouldn’t be returning to ‘town’, a decision that was taken out of our hands in any case when Thomas arrived home with 10 sheep as payment for his first farming job. Time to commit to life in the sticks but we soon found out that we were to be destined for pastures new as we couldn’t stay in our rented place. Finding a house is one thing, finding a house with land in the Lake District quite another, like the proverbial hen’s teeth. After a year of Jim banging his head on a whole host of low beams and even ‘owning’ a small farm in an auction for 5 minutes before it was snatched from us on a technicality we were still drawing blanks and becoming dispirited. Then we received a short text from the farmer that we were ‘helping out’ that she had heard on the local grapevine that some land was coming up for grabs at a place called Thornythwaite. And there might be a house in the bargain. The rest, as they say, is history.
Christmas 2018
Inspiration
For a whole host of reasons, over the last few years particularly, we have spent a good chunk of time exploring what this thing called life is all about and how to make the most of the time we have here. Our ruminations have often been fascinating and challenging in equal measure but we both feel that they have really helped us towards a much greater appreciation for the important things in life. When time permits we’d like to share a few of our thoughts and sources of inspiration in our ongoing journey here.
PS Dreams don't work unless you do!
