Hello Summer

I cannot believe that so much has happened this Summer and it is only just the beginning of July. Last week we had the assessor from The Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA), Tony out to visit us to assess whether we are still eligible for four gold anchors. We of course strive for the full house of five, but until we provide boat lifting facilities it is highly unlikely that we will be awarded the highest accreditation. We enjoy being a tranquil site and fear that if we provide boat lifting facilities then White Mills could become a lot more noisy and industrial with various noisy works being carried out on boats throughout the year. At least we know why we are unlikely to achieve 5 anchors, and it is a trade off we have opted for. I must admit the marina looked amazing, Gary and the marina team had worked hard to make sure it looked its best and it really did, even Tony commented on our Wow factor. When you work surrounded by beautiful countryside you sort of don’t notice it on a daily basis, so it is really nice to be reminded occasionally, especially by an expert!

Also on Wednesday we played host to tutors from Universities in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan who, with a particular interest in visiting entrepreneurial tourism venues were on a fact finding trip to Northamptonshire and called in to see us at White Mills. We only had a shortish window in their very busy schedule to show them around and the time flew by. I think they all enjoyed their visit, and I am now a proud owner of a rather lovely fridge magnet depicting their part of the world and individual countries, . They were a lovely bunch and hopefully they found our story interesting.

Finally on Saturday, the winners of one of our auction prizes in aid of the DEC Ukraine appeal that we held earlier in the year, came down to enjoy a VIP picnic on the bank of our River Nene, courtesy of the boathouse team. It was an incredibly hot afternoon, however when the picnic was all laid out it really looked rather lovely and very relaxing. Whether Greg and Alison went for a dip or not to cool off, I am not sure but no one could have blamed them if they did, the River Nene is looking stunning at the moment and very tempting indeed. We cannot thank Greg and Alison enough for their winning bid and helping us to raise £1100 for such a worthwhile cause. Thank you.

So there we are that is what we have been up to this week………… the boathouse is proving to be increasingly popular which is great news and Mel and her fabulous team continue to provide our customers with a terrific experience. If you haven’t been to the boathouse yet, then it is well worth a visit and you do receive a warm welcome from our top team! (Of course we are biased!)