Our Works Department has been restoring Golden Gates Lodge, a listed building in the middle of our deer park on the Ridgeway drive that used to bring carriages down from the British Camp on the Malvern Hills to the Castle gates in the village. Lucy, my wife, has been in charge of the decorations and furnishings. The Lodge has long been by-passed with the inevitable cattle grid speeding vehicular traffic on its way to the woods for off-road Land Rover driving or to a nearby farm, but the Lodge has been let and kept in good order.

Recently, with the Big Chill and other busy Park events, it has not been as peaceful a place to rent as it should be, so we decided to make it our second furnished holiday cottage. It joins another Park property, Peacock Villa which we have been letting successfully from this spring and has one double bedroom, sitting room, kitchen and bathroom on the larger, west side, and a double bedroom and bathroom on the east side. We have rebuilt the supporting wall for the lower garden, which has a wonderful view over the Park, and made a patio there for warm weather use.

The Lodge lies close to the footpath which crosses the Park and takes walkers up onto the ridge of the Malvern Hills and the Worcestershire Way. (See the cottage gallery for views of the surrounding area) The Ridgeway Wood, just behind the Lodge, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and visitors can follow the drive up to the gates at the top of the Ridgeway or join another footpath that crosses it and leads up to Clutters Cave, also on the Hills. It will be a great place to stay. JH-B 3rd June 2010