How It All Began.....and Where We Are Now
First of all - welcome to our new website and our very first blog!
We thought it would be nice to tell you about our journey that brought us to Silverdale Farmhouse B&B - a dream that started a very long time ago, over 30 years in fact.
Ever since we got married, we always had a yearning to work for ourselves, do something together but it took a lot longer than we thought! We were young back then and had jobs and a mortgage and before long our daughter came along, then we just carried on through life doing family stuff and continuing to be employed by someone else.
Over time we moved house 4 times and we kept ourselves busy renovating the properties we purchased and every time we decided to sell, we thought "lets take the plunge and look for a business or set something up" but then the voice in the back of the head would take over and say "but what about money; how are you going to manage; where are you going to live?" So we would put it on the back burner once again until....
We finished renovating out last house in 2017 and we had suddenly found ourselves at 'a certain age' so still with that dream at the back of our minds, we thought it was now or never! So we sold up everything, put our worldly goods into storage and set off on an adventure in our caravan along with our dog Marley.
Initially drawn to the west coast of Scotland, we toured around for about 2 months searching for that missing part that would fulfill our dream, but alas, it was not to be. Despite viewing a lot of properties and potential businesses, nothing worked out. Downhearted, we returned home in our trusty van and continued to live in it for the next 18months.
The search continued and it wasn't without frustration, despair and that nagging feeling that maybe we just had to give up and find jobs and go back to a "normal" life. There were months of tears, stress and let downs. Gazumping, owners deciding to take their business off the market, complications and sheer desperation.
However, in 2019 we saw an ad for a rural B&B in Northumberland and we arranged a viewing as soon as we could. We came, we saw, we fell in love! It was a few months later in May when we finally moved in and we had to hit the ground running, with bookings coming in thick and fast. We had arrived! but it wasn't all plain sailing - the tumble drier that was left was on its last legs, our washing machine broke down, there were water leaks coming through the ceiling and many ups and downs. It was emotional, stressful and a huge learning curve. But the day a guest asked, "how long have you been doing this then?" And we replied "One day" and as surprised as they were, we knew we had made the right decision!
We believe that all the trials and tribulations over the last few months plus the experience we have gained over the years, has brought us to where we are now. We soon fell into our own routines – and the fulfilment and positives far outweighed the lows – we certainly slept well on a night! Would we do it all again? Absolutely!
As we write this, we find ourselves in the middle of a pandemic and after 2 lockdowns, we are now in tier 3 which means we cannot yet reopen. It has been a tough, strange year and everyone has been affected in some way but we will still be here and we hope to see you all sometime in 2021.
Glenn & Angela