After 6 years of only working a summer season this year we decided to also work 2 months of the winter season. Instead of finishing work at the end of October we carried on our 12 days off/on contract and finished at the beginning of January. It was means to an end and meant we could get the final renovation jobs completed in the cottage without having to save up all year to do so.
Winter working brought with it a whole new feel to the site, days got shorter, darker, wetter, colder, there were tonnes of leaves to be raked, wet and muddy floors to mop and taps to unfreeze. No-one sitting out in deckchairs sipping drinks in the evenings, no sausages sizzling on bbq’s, everyone scurrying to and from the shower blocks eager to get back to the warmth of their unit. The site was still full most of the time as people travelled up, down and across the country for pre Christmas visits to friends and family, or stopping over after visiting the spectacular Christmas Winter Wonderland events at Warwick Castle. There were even a few arrivals on Christmas Day and New Years Day. The year ended on a final flourish with a race event on New Years Eve. The whole front area of the site was taken over by the Jockey Club to host a day of racing and revelry. Food vendors, drinks bars, coffee shacks, prosecco waggons and marquees for live music set up where the previous day were caravans and motorhomes, it certainly was a different look for the site. Twenty pitches on the gravel area were still open and occupied by members, most of who regularly book 12 months in advance every year to secure their spot for such a dazzling occasion. The day isn’t without its anxieties for us as the site managers but all passed off well and judging by the shouts and cheers as the horses crossed the finishing line it seems that many went home with more pennies in their pockets than they arrived with!
After this event the site was winding down, with only 3 days to go until closure the arrivals were fewer and it was starting to look empty. Following the final departure on the 4th Jan the gates were closed, windows boarded, taps removed, pitch markers and signs brought in cleaned and stacked, office paperwork archived, systems closed down and a final facility block clean done. The keys were handed over and we pulled out 2 days later heading back to home to start the work that we had just earned the money to pay for!
We had already lined up our trusted tradesman to make a head start before we arrived home so things were well under way with renewing the staircase and replacing the log burner and fireplace. It did cross our minds that who on earth would choose to have a log burner taken out and have to wait 2 weeks for a new one to be installed in the month of January? Well that would be us – and when we had snow for 3 days and the builder couldn’t get back to us we questioned our sanity even more. After what seemed a very long two weeks we finally had the cottage back to ourselves and could relax in our lovely new (and warm) surroundings. That hopefully should be the last of our major renovations completed, everything I envisioned when we bought the place 3 years ago is now in place, that is unless I think of some extra little upgrades that would be ‘just right’. Can you hear the groan from Steve there?
Ooohhhh – If we worked next winter maybe we could then have………?
2gocaravanning 