We can offer a room, but we can't operate on a dog

Our first weekend, probably of many, working on "Well House Manor". The previous owner finally completed her move out on Thursday, 1st June, and we had vacant possession from that afternoon.

We wish her all the very best for the future, and appreciate her gestures such as the flowers left to wish us all the best. We also very much appreciate the paperwork that goes with the place.

What gems have we discovered from the new papers? More about the issues of neighbouring trees, planning applications for the conservatory and extra bedrooms, and also for the forbidding, view-blocking wall that fronts the main road (and goes under our planning application. That the place was formerly called "Linken" - which I'm pretty sure came from the first three letters of each of the owner's forenames, and that when sold in the late '70s by the vet who used to practise there, he added a stipulation to the sale that it should not be used as a veterinary practise by the new owners. I suspect that nothing was further from their thoughts; it's certainly not part of our thoughts, which makes the question of whether or not we would be bound by the condition to be pretty academic.

Well House Manor, pictured here just after we took over. A year or two back, plans were to knock the place down and build some 20+ housing units on the site. So although the gardens were being kept nice, there has been little investment in recent years in them, and they're looking tired and a bit scraggy ... slipping paving stones, rock plants growing out of crevices, and so on. Most of the trees are fine but in need of a little trimming back - several of the neighbours are less than happy with their effect and putting ourselves into their shoes, I quite get their point. And a tiny proportion of the trees are beyond their useful life or in the way of access off the road to the level required by the county (and endorsed by ourselves) to a level that's safe and appropriate for a small hotel.

Inside, the decor is dated too. Much was redone in 1979 and had become life expired. A major clean down and redecorate as a minimum is called for. I wondered whether or not I should post pictures here - they're hardly encouraging for future guests at the hotel but for history's sake, here are a couple to give you an idea. It seems incredible that this room, this bed was in use by paying guests up to the May Bank Holiday, 2006 - that's just a week ago. And our last delegate (under old managements) stayed just 3 weeks ago.

There's a huge potential here - perhaps you can already envisage, as we can, the use of this room pictured as the breakfast / dining room? It looks out over the back / onto a patio and will seat all of our guests comfortably. It's a bit of a shell at the moment, but I'll come back to here in months following and post update pictures.

Some 9 of us were working at Well House Manor this weekend ... and the place is so big we could easily have accommodated the same number more again. Wallpaper, carpets, and fitted cupboards have been stripped from six bedrooms. Kitchen and Utility Room have been partly stripped back, and some stud walls / coverings removed or peeled back to give us further insight into what needs to be done. In many areas, there's encouraging news that the scale of works may not be anything like as great as was expected, and seeing thing under the surface and on the ground without the landlady hovering has been enlightening. Well - actually the landlady HAS been hovering, but that's Lisa now ;-)
(written 2006-06-05, updated 2006-06-06) 266d

Associated topics are indexed under

M350 - Well House Manor - project diary
  [4012] A course is not just for a year - its for a career - (2013-02-20)
  [3968] Expecting nothing, but prepared for anything - (2013-01-05)
  [3963] National TV - Melksham - 9th January 2013, Pre-alert. - (2012-12-27)
  [3847] The Accidental Hotelier - (2012-08-24)
  [3645] Keeping our hotel looking like new, by using our gained experience - (2012-03-09)
  [3585] The changing Hotel and Bed and Breakfast business in Melksham - (2012-01-18)
  [3014] Well House Manor - the next six years - (2010-10-24)
  [1975] Well House Manor Hotel - on plan for 2009 business guests - (2009-01-03)
  [1211] A lot has happened in a year - (2007-05-31)
  [1098] Three big events - TWSW, Business of the year and the police - (2007-03-03)
  [1087] Telling a story in different ways - (2007-02-20)
  [1069] Rail trouble forced me to buy hotel - (2007-02-07)
  [941] Snagging - (2006-11-24)
  [932] A tale of a wee wall - (2006-11-19)
  [931] Before and After - Well House Manor - (2006-11-18)
  [902] Brand new hotel and training centre, Melksham - (2006-10-22)
  [894] Where quality costs less - (2006-10-15)
  [890] Open - (2006-10-09)
  [881] Coming together. - (2006-09-29)
  [862] 4 weeks to go - (2006-09-11)
  [858] From the Manor written - (2006-09-07)
  [855] Fitting our bathrooms - (2006-09-04)
  [844] Hotel, Melksham, Wiltshire - (2006-08-24)
  [816] Above the parapit, Well House Manor - (2006-07-28)
  [776] Naming Rooms - (2006-06-24)
  [756] Seeing the bricks for the trees - (2006-06-11)
  [739] The eye - (2006-05-31)
  [721] Residential - (2006-05-15)
  [720] Planning a hotel refurb - an example of a Gant chart in PHP - (2006-05-14)
  [677] Sympathetic development - (2006-04-09)
  [571] Well House Manor - (2006-01-21)
  [555] Hotel novelties - (2006-01-05)
  [550] 2006 - Making business a pleasure - (2006-01-01)

Z203 - Cat and Dog
  [4016] Red, yellow, green or pink dog? Yellow Dog Project - (2013-02-23)
  [3943] With us for a year already! - (2012-12-03)
  [3936] Lisa is home today ... - (2012-11-26)
  [3920] Challenge for a photographer - (2012-11-10)
  [3908] Black dogs at Halloween - (2012-10-31)
  [3906] Taking the lead, not the dog, for a walk. - (2012-10-28)
  [3737] Postcards from Barmouth - (2012-05-20)
  [3675] Spring 2012 - (2012-03-30)
  [3674] Off to walk the dogs - (2012-03-30)
  [3625] An update on Billy the Greyhound and Gypsy the Lurcher - (2012-02-25)
  [3606] Gypsy and Billy enjoy the snow - (2012-02-10)
  [3561] Happy Christmas ... a Christmas morning walk in Melksham - (2011-12-25)
  [3553] Changes to morning routines - (2011-12-16)
  [3541] I loves Melksham - (2011-12-06)
  [3537] Letting the foster parents know ... too little or too much? - (2011-12-04)
  [3533] No message - just doggy pictures of the new doggy - (2011-11-30)
  [3530] A typical weekend?? - (2011-11-28)
  [3338] Return trip - Dogs Trust, Newbury - (2011-06-27)
  [3324] Rabbit Shelter - (2011-06-12)
  [3096] Contrast in pictures - (2010-12-20)
  [2897] The Land of the Black Labrador - (2010-08-01)
  [2787] Sleeping in on Sunday - (2010-05-30)
  [2689] Can my dog eat potatoes? Doggie Dietary Research, and political sleaze! - (2010-03-23)
  [2555] Bookkeeping - (2009-12-29)
  [2499] ourdog is Greyhound, Staffie and Ginger Cake - (2009-11-09)
  [2496] A better design of mouth - (2009-11-07)
  [2456] Bright Eyes - (2009-10-16)
  [2451] Gypsy says - (2009-10-12)
  [2450] Family Gathering at 404, The Spa - (2009-10-11)
  [2295] The dog is not in trouble - (2009-07-17)
  [2271] Dogs Trust, Dog Show, Newbury - (2009-07-06)
  [2252] Leaping dog, Leaping horse, copyright of old masters - (2009-06-20)
  [2167] Watching the tele - (2009-05-10)
  [2140] Beware - giving copyright away when you upload a picture - Dogs Trust - (2009-04-25)
  [2138] Ski bore ... train bore ... dog bore - (2009-04-24)
  [2132] Learning about Lurchers - (2009-04-18)
  [2029] Also for the eyes of the cat - (2009-02-07)
  [771] From cat breeder to Cobol to Perl - (2006-06-21)
  [547] Taking the dog for a walk - (2005-12-29)
  [96] Variable Scope - (2004-10-22)
  [62] Technical Open House - (2004-09-25)

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