Elaine Little was looking forward with optimism to 2020, which was shaping up to be a record year for Harefield Hall.
The four-star country guest house in Pateley Bridge, with its restaurant, bar, 14 en-suite rooms and bunk room for groups of cyclists and other travellers, had record bookings.
Then came covid and the first lockdown in March, which proved to be just the precursor to nine months of stop-start misery for the hall, which once belonged to the Archbishop of York.
Ms Little, the director of the hall, told the Stray Ferret:
“Just as we prepared to come out of the first lockdown and were getting ready for re-opening, a cloudburst on 28 June devastated the building.
“The rainstorm was so severe that the gutters and fall pipes were overwhelmed and the ingress of water damaged ceilings, furniture and carpets.”
The insurance claim is still to be resolved, as the pandemic has delayed the settlement processes.
The damage caused in June meant the hall could not reopen in July. Accommodation and restaurant bookings were lost, as were bar takings.
Harefield Hall once belonged to the Archbishop of York.
The premises remained closed until mid-October, then within a fortnight of reopening the second lockdown in November, effectively wiped out the pre-Christmas trade.
Now the third lockdown has dealt another huge body blow. Ms Little said:
“We’ve gone from crisis to crisis, unable to make any money to cover our overhead costs and trying to survive on a small discretionary grant and a bounce-back loan, that will need to be repaid.
“It’s so ironic, because at the beginning of 2020 we had record bookings – more than 50 per cent up on our previous best year.”
In spite of all this, Ms Little is determined that a rainstorm and three lockdowns will not blow her and her remaining team of four off-course.
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She said:
“In business, you must remain positive and focused and we are determined to turn things around because we have total belief in what we are doing here.
“We hope a similar change of fortune is not far away for other small businesses in the Pateley Bridge area – some of whom are among our suppliers.”
Amid the countless calls to insurers and suppliers, Ms Little is looking to the future.
She sees potential in attracting more cyclists who are seeking hospitality and an overnight stay at Harefield, with its woodland and riverside setting.
Nature lovers, looking for the abundant variety of birds that are attracted to Nidderdale’s natural environment, also offer business opportunities, as does the opening later this year of a self-catering holiday cottage within Harefield’s grounds.
