Old Hall Newsletter
Dear Friends of Old Hall,
Welcome to issue #1 of our new 2025, monthly newsletter. We aim to bring you news from Old Hall and Norfolk, features on our team and updates on all our extended fur and feather family. We will look at what is happening in the county and highlight all the best that Norfolk has to offer.
If you want to keep up with the news, or plan your next trip, we hope this newsletter will be an engaging and informative read…😊
January at Old Hall
January started with a flurry of bookings, which is brilliant and an upturn since last year as January (except for weekends) was a quieter month. Gil and I have our annual holiday in January as when my family (my brother Richard and sister-in-law, Pam) come to stay for Christmas, they stay on for two weeks to house and animal-sit for us, enabling Gil and I to get away to warmer climes for two weeks of R&R. Whilst we are away, Finn goes on ‘hoofcamp’ to my fantastic riding trainer, Anna, who rides him each day and supercharges him ready for my return. He is very happy at Anna’s; it’s a busy training yard and he gets on well with his stablemates – glamorous ‘PRE’ (Spanish) dressage horses.
Life at Old Hall
It’s wintry at Old Hall, there is frost on the ground and the trees, the water troughs need to be broken each morning. We see our resident robin sneaking feed from the goats’ breakfasts each day. He winters very well, having an endless supply of animal feed to raid. We have seen him every winter in the stables for the last three years, he is almost tame and will happily nibble a few feet away when I am mucking out.
Daphne and Dorothy Donkey have had their snug winter rugs on since November and they are as warm as toast underneath. They spend the day in the field then they come in at night (as do the boys, Kester, Darcy, Tennessee, and Truman – the pygmy goats), to a thick warm bed in their stables and lovely full haynets.
Winter evenings at Old Hall are best spent by the fireside, perhaps watching an old movie (I love a black and white from the golden age 1935-1945) they just seem so comforting. Its such a great time of year to enjoy our speciality fondue prepared by Gil with the best local charcuterie and cheeses from our local ‘Cheese and Bees’.
Our other favourite thing is a lovely long dog walk – my winter favourites are Roydon Common (which is exactly like Exmoor!) and Shouldham Warren a wonderful woodland area just 15 minutes from Old Hall – it has miles of lovely sandy or bracken-y walks, surrounded by conifers.
Oh, let’s not forget the Old Hall Wellness offering. How lovely to be able to have a massage treatment by the fire!
What’s new this month?
We have adapted an outbuilding (it’s attached to the house but looks like a mini-Old Hall as it has thatched roof too) into a new office to operate our new ‘Concierge Desk’. This is a cosy and comfortable space for guests to come and chat to Gil about their plans, for us to help guests plan their days out or dinners or special events, or to purchase any Old Hall products or make future reservations and check outs. Check it out next time you come!
Other news is – we have appointed a ‘Guest Relations Manager’ who is our wonderful friend and neighbour, Ginni. A long-standing resident of Tilney All Saints (our village), Ginni knows the area very well, has a taste for the finer things in life (so knows the best places to eat etc) and fantastic interpersonal skills.
If you haven’t yet planned your next visit to Old Hall, please get in touch or book your next stay here on our webpage: Book Online - Old Hall Country Breaks
We look forward to welcoming you to Old Hall Country Breaks
Gil, Phil and The Team