Self-Catering Holiday of the Year – North-West England, 2009

It has been announced that Hall Hills self-catering cottages in Cumbria are the winners of the competition for the Self-Catering Holiday of the Year for the North-West of England. the announcement was made in Blackpool on Monday September 28.

Hall Hills has five self-catering cottages near Dalston in Cumbria, not far from the Lake District.

For Jude and Tim Walker, the proprietors of the self-catering cottages, this was the second surprising event of the year. The first occured in the spring when they were named by Cumbria Tourism as the Self-Catering Holiday of the Year for the Lake District and the rest of Cumbria. This was a remarkable achievement for a holiday cottages that had only been operating for little over a year and that are outside the Lake District National Park. Jude and Tim assumed that it would be virtually impossible to compete with more established cottages enjoying a location close to more well-known resorts inside the Lake District National Park, which for visitors who don’t know of Cumbria’s other gems is synonymous with Cumbria itself.

As winners of the Cumbria Tourism competition, Hall Hills was automatically entered for the regional competition for the North-West of England – a competition that required a lengthy and carefully prepared presentation plus a detailed inspection by the judges. Now, having been named Self-Catering Holiday for the North-West of England for 2009, Hall Hills will go through to the national compeition organised by Enjoy England.

Hall Hills was, until recently, a complex of farm buildings that had long been neglected. Jude and Tim Walker painstakingly revovated the derelict house and then set about converting the seventeenth century stone barns into beautifully designed self-catering holiday accommodation. With a strong background in interior design, Jude was able to take on planning the interior decoration of the cottages herself, before managing the fledgling business itself. She is now running five cottages that can accommodate a total of 18 people. Each cottage is individually designed and has its own patio areas with lovely views across the Cumbrian countryside, and there is ample parking.

Recent visitors to Hall Hills have included the chef, John Tovey, who was delighted with the self-catering accommodation and all the extra assistance both Jude and Tim were able to provide. They say that they are there to help out in whatever way they can, should it be needed, but are also sensitive enough to give their guests complete privacy.

For further details see http://www.hallhills.co.uk