Luggs in 1950: romantic memories from a very special guest

Somehow half term has been and gone, along with three short break bookings back to back, so we've been as busy as ever! All our visitors recently have been lovely, as have their dogs, and we consider ourselves very lucky to meet so many great people. Monty and Ted, as usual, have adored all the company and the attention.

This weekend has been particularly exciting as we've had a very special guest staying in Luggs Barn. Six years ago, a lovely lady knocked on the door of the farmhouse and told us that her late husband had proposed to her here - his family owned Luggs for many years. At the time we were planning the conversion of the Barn into a holiday let and since that first visit while on holiday from her home in Sussex, we've corresponded several times.

The current Bill is threatening to re-enact this athletic pose one day - watch this space! 

Along with her two sons and daughters in law, Valerie has finally been able to enjoy another holiday at Luggs! This morning, she came in for a chat and brought with her some wonderful photographs of the family visiting their aunt here back in 1950.

Our special guest here at Luggs back in 1950!

Auntie Sybil (Griffin) was the owner of Luggs. I think the Edward Griffin who we know undertook a lot of work to the main house in 1920s, installing the bathrooms and so on, must have been her husband.

The beautiful young lady called Valerie in these photos was barely eighteen years old then and is our lovely visitor. Her late husband was Tom; he and his brother used to visit Luggs regularly for holidays as children. Tom proposed to Valerie here around this time, adding even more to the romance of this story!

It's amazing to see the thatched porch on the farmhouse and the wooden hayloft doors at the top of the stone steps on the Barn, but even better to be able to welcome a visitor with such a strong connection to Luggs. We have various names in the deeds, but learned today that many of them were related to the Griffins. We had no idea that various branches of the family were custodians of Luggs for so long. 

What a lovely way to start a Monday - fascinating for us, and hopefully a wonderful break for Valerie and her family revisiting old haunts. We hope it won't be long before they, and plenty of our other guests, are back again!

I'm inspired to start putting all our treasured memories in albums - although my writing's not quite up to Tom's standard!

Garden update

A few photos of progress in the garden so far! Roses and irises are coming out, and the lilac and wisteria have been glorious for the past couple of weeks. All the beds around Luggs Barn, and the one in front of the main house, have been planted up and already we can see a huge difference as the plants begin to flourish. 

The moment the plants arrived! Big - and expensive - day for us, but well worth it!

Child labour in the kitchen garden!

Main house viewed from courtyard. New planting on the left and just behind the front wall.

The main veg bed after 3 weeks of sunshine!

Spot the ducks...and we're so thrilled to see the pink roses again

Can social networking boost holiday bookings? Plus kitchen news

Having attended Cosmic's Introduction to Social Networking course arranged by the Blackdown Hills Business Association today, I'm inspired to make even better use of our Facebook and Twitter accounts. Along with this blog, they're an integral part of our efforts to ensure that Luggs Barn is reaching the widest possible audience.

One of the most interesting points covered was the importance of video clips in marketing - as musicians, we've looked up bands or pieces of music on YouTube - check out Bill's session with The Atlantics on there! But we hadn't realised the importance of video tours of our accommodation, setting and surroundings. Keep an eye on this blog, plus our Facebook and Twitter pages, as adding videos to our profiles is probably the most important development we'll be making this year.

Other news - we've finally moved into the new kitchen extension! We're no longer gazing enviously at Luggs Barn's beautiful kitchen as the main farmhouse has one of its own. There's still some finshing off to be done - a sink is top of the list! - but once it's looking its best, I'll post some photos. Reclaiming the living rooms from temporary kitchen and piles of boxes has been another bonus, especially being able to use the inglenook fireplaces again. We're also delighted to have central heating, and heated towel rails are the best prize of all! Although Willow (aged nearly 3) woke up on the first morning after plumber Darren Kirk of DK Plumbing had left, hit the radiator in her room and declared: 'I not like this. It make me too hot.' The adults in the house, however, have had the heating on for the past week in glorious sunshine as a matter of principle after months of cold and damp after the extensive lime plastering!

Now that the main farmhouse is almost finished, we'll be celebrating by publishing exclusive discount offers for Luggs Barn on all our social networking profiles over the next few weeks. If you're considering a Devon holiday and have an eye for a bargain, keep in touch!