“There is no flavour comparable, I will contend, to that of the crisp, tawny, well-watched, not over-roasted crackling, as it is well called”
            -Charles Lamb “A Dissertation upon Roast Pig”, 1822
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My Slow Life on a Sunday begins with coffee at the Riverside, a leisurely interlude at Damson Dene and, after my chores have been completed, lunch in the Carvery at Newby Bridge. A Carvery may be spectacularly old hat, but it is close to my heart and in one sense is the very foundation of my career in hospitality. The story begins in 1991 when I became the reluctant owner of the bankrupt and moribund Hill Foot Hotel in Ulverston and wondered what to do with it. Someone suggested that I might find inspiration in the Carvery at the Clarence House Hotel in Dalton, so Margaret and I went one Monday night and we couldn’t believe it. There were 100 guests on what should

This being the Awards season I found myself with 250 other hopefuls at the Castle Green for the Cumbria Tourism awards ceremony. Our Cuckoo Brow was up for “Tourism Pub” of the year, against the Wild Boar, who were unlikely rivals in the pub category, as they are a hotel. I know the Boar well, as it’s just down the road from the Damson Dene and of a very similar size, with 36 bedrooms, as against Damson Dene’s 40. But they have a wonderful talent for reinventing themselves and two years ago walked away with the award for “Best B&B”, which raised quite a few eyebrows amongst the owners of real B&B’s, who have never known the Boar as anything but a hotel. And blow me down they’ve done it again in the pub category. No-one will be surprised if next time they are “Caravan Park of the Year”. Dan and Sally were very gracious in defeat, sending them a warm message of congratulations. They are lovely people and can take solace in the fact that although the Cuckoo Brow is one third the size of the Boar they achieve a lot more 5 Star ratings on Trip Advisor.

The irrepressible Alan Ward has organised another Artists’ Day for my garden, timed for Sunday 6th July to coincide with our NGS Open Day.  Last year about 15 artists came, including Sam Dalby, who is a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Graham Lowe, the potter Diane Fay, Sue Halsam, the weaver Stephanie Halsam, the cartoonist Robin Grenville-Evans, Pat Haskey Knowles, Alison Bradley, Barbara Holt, Chris Rigby, Jane Worthington, Gerry Haddock, Fran Edney and Stephanie Armstrong.  

May last year was taken up with counting my losses.  My collection of cannas was decimated, literally, down from 250 to 25.  This was because I’d had to leave them outside while the new greenhouse was being built and they were killed by the late frosts.  Nearly all my Echiums were gone, but losses amongst the dahlias were less severe.  This year the casualties have been negligible, but I’ve had to contend with a potentially more significant loss, that of Matt, who had gardened for me for ten years. ​