Westwood Lodge Ilkley Moor – Archived News (pre-2008)
*** We now put all our news on Twitter or our Blog ***
Westwood Lodge – Ten years of progress 1998 – 2008
2008 will mark ten years since Tim and Paula acquired Westwood Lodge and began the return to its former glory. Purchased as The Glenmoor Centre from the local Council, the buildings were very tired and forlorn. Immediate closure was necessary whilst major project work was undertaken leading to the reopening in Spring 1999.
Tim and Paula have gone on to fully restore the entire house and cottages – work that will continue for many years yet! Numerous awards have been collected over the years and Westwood is know well known throughout Wharfedale as the premier place for self-catering holidays, short breaks and business stays.
Coach House Cottage Refurbishment Completed – March 2008
This winter has seen a major investment in our original living quarters – Coach House Cottage. This was the first cottage to be refurbished back in 1998 and it’s turn has come around again! What was high quality then is no longer acceptable today and much thought went into this major upgrade.
Coach House Cottage has been completely refurbished internally to meet top FOUR STAR standards. Further work next winter (which requires Listed Buildings Consent) will see external work to the roof and dormer windows carried out.
Friends of Ilkley Moor – 5th July 2007
Tim as Secretary of the Ilkley and Wharfedale Tourism Partnership, is delighted that a Friends of Ilkley Moor Group is to be set-up under the direction of the local Council. The group will represent all users of the world famous Ilkley Moor – including tourists, estimated year. It will be able to apply for grants and funding that the Council cannot do itself by way of Charitable status. The Friends of Ilkley Moor proposals are currently going through public consultation with a view to being formally established later in the year.
Five Stars Again – 15th May 2007
We are delighted to have retained our Five Stars rating for our three apartments and The Old Gallery. The criteria have been tightened even further since the last inspection by Visit Britain, with a minimum score of 87% now necessary in all the key areas assessed. These include cleanliness and standard of service as well as fittings and equipment provision.
The inspectors report concludes that Westwood Lodge “offers seven very well presented properties in a very good location offering quality accommodation with high standards of customer care and housekeeping. A great deal of refurbishment has been carried out since the last visit, further consolidating the present grading”
Westwood Going Green! – 3rd April 2007
Westwood Lodge Ilkley Moor has joined the Green Tourism Business Scheme. GTBS is an accreditation scheme for tourism businesses relating to environmental good practice. It provides practical environmental measures to enable businesses such as Westwood to reduce their environmental impact, improve the management of resources used – such as energy and water and meet the needs of the ever-growing environmental conscience.
See our Green Tourism page for more details.
Companies celebrate awards on a glittering evening
Ilkley Gazette, September 2006
The first Wharfedale Business Achievement Awards proved to be a glittering success with many of the area’s top businesses attending the presentations at Ilkley’s Craiglands Hotel on Friday night.
The event, promoted by Wharfedale Newspapers, was a celebration of the tremendous contribution businesses make to the local economy.
It was also an opportunity to honour their individual successes and it threw up a number of outstanding performances in challenging markets.
The main sponsors were Appleyard Jaguar of Bradford, NG Bailey, of Denton and the Craiglands Hotel.
The main award, the overall Business of the Year 2006 went to Westwood Lodge of Ilkley, owned by Tim and Paula Edwards.
Introducing the evening Mr Vasey said: “Last year the Ilkley Gazette and Wharfedale Observer spearheaded a campaign urging people to support their local businesses and shops. We did this because we believe that towns and villages which don’t use them will lose them, and in doing so will also lose their community identity.
“During that campaign, we discovered just what a wide range of thriving businesses there are in our area. Businesses that are innovative, businesses that are forward looking, businesses that in some cases are unique – and, above all, businesses that are successful.
Westwood Lodge also won the Awards for Tourism and Rural Innovation of the Year.
Many thanks to everyone who has made possible our latest achievement – we were winners at the Yorkshire Tourists Board’s much coveted White Rose Awards held in York.
Please click here for The Ilkley Gazette’s report.
Ilkley in Bloom 2006 Winners
We are delighted to have won First Prize in the Ilkley In Bloom Competition 2006. This the third time in the past four years we have won the trophy (we didn’t enter in 2004, due to major refurbishment taking place). Against stiff competition from the local hotels and B&Bs, Westwood was commended both for it’s overall display as well as little touches like the kitchen herb garden, where guests can pick fresh herbs for use during their stay. Ilkley was the winner of the Britain in Bloom small town category last year and hopes are high locally of a repeat win this summer.
Conservation Award
We were delighted to receive the Best Conservation Project of the Year Award from the local Civic Society. The Award was for our restoration of The Old Gallery into a four bedroom, wheelchair access cottage. News of the award was extensively covered by the local press.
First published in The Ilkley Gazette:
Lodge couple win design award with Old Gallery
The conversion of a picture gallery in an historic Ilkley country house has been singled out as the best conservation project of the year by a town design watchdog. Ilkley Civic Society chose the Old Gallery at Westwood Lodge, Westwood Drive, as winner of the Conservation Award at its Annual Design Awards, for its conversion to holiday accommodation, complete with disabled facilities.
The civic society hands out awards and commendations to a variety of developments each year, which it feels are worthy of commendation, and stand out as good examples of developments or building improvements which are sympathetic to the local surroundings. The society encourages nominations from members of the public and is keen to recognise good examples of new design in Ilkley.
This year there were around 20 nominations in the three awards categories, covering design, conservation and improvement projects.
Civic Society vice-president John Finney presented the accolade to the owners of Westwood Lodge, Tim Edwards and Paula Hunt, at a special ceremony.
Westwood Lodge is a Victorian country house with courtyard cottages, standing on the edge of Ilkley Moor. Much of the house was built in 1875 with some additions in 1890. It was the private residence of a Leonard Horner, and later major Bradford mill owner Edward Briggs.
Westwood Lodge had several changes of use in the 20th Century, including housing Eastern European refugees in the Second World War, becoming a convalescent home, and later housing a College of Housecraft. The Lodge was renamed The Glenmoor Centre in 1989, and was used as a training facility and holiday cottages by the local authority.
It was bought by Tim and Paula in 1998, who set about restoring the Grade II Listed building, uncovering historic features which had been hidden under concrete and carpets.
The Old Gallery is the latest part of the building to undergo restoration. It was originally built as a picture gallery for a large private art collection, with a glass roof. This was later felted over while the building was part of Ilkley College.
Modern building regulations meant the glass roof could not be replaced, but the gallery was instead stripped down of its modern additions and beams and a Yorkshire slate roof added. The gallery had been used as a conference room before Westwood Lodge gave up on the conference centre facility – a casualty of the 2001 foot and mouth disease crisis which led to much of the countryside being closed off.
It has now been fitted out to a nine-person holiday cottage with wheelchair access and facilities, and as well as gaining a sought-after Five Star rating from Tourist Board inspectors, the Old Gallery became the first self-catering accommodation in the Bradford District to meet M2 mobility standards.
The Civic Society said the conversion had been sensitive and original features were preserved and enhanced.
Mr Edwards hopes the restoration of the Old Gallery will give it a new lease of life for future generations, and inspire others to restore and make disabled access possible in historic Victorian buildings.
He said: “It’s really great when your hard work in terms of restoration of a listed building, and undoubtedly hard work goes in, is appreciated by a body such as the civic society. We’ve been working on this job for eight years.”
Disabled guests staying at the Old Gallery has told Mr Edwards this was the first chance they had had to stay in the Ilkley area. The completion of work on the Old Gallery also marked the culmination of the Edwards’ restoration of Westwood Lodge.
The Old Gallery gets Five Star Award
The Old Gallery, our latest refurbishment project, has joined the three apartments at Westwood in receiving the coveted top FIVE STARS award from Visit Britain (formerly the English Tourism Council) accommodation inspectors. Westwood Lodge Ilkley Moor received the first ever Five Stars award in 2001. It recognises the high standards, warm welcome and extra touches that are to be found in our accommodation.
Helping the environment
Our recycling campaign has been a tremendous success. By recycling glass, newspapers, cans and compostable materials, we have reduced our waste by 1000 litres per week – about 6 domestic dustbin loads. Imagine what could be achieved if every cottage complex, hotel and pub did the same?
Visit Ilkley and Wharfedale – Baht ‘at Country!
Tim was instrumental in launching the new local tourism partnership in 2003. As Chair, he helped bring together local businesses involved in tourism under the banner of Baht ‘at Country (from the famous song On Ilkley Moor Bah’t at). There’s now a website, posters and leaflets describing local tourist sites to visit. Go to www.bahtatcountry.co.uk
The Family
Thanks as always for asking about the family. Annie Rose has now moved to Year 2 and Alice is now in Year 4 – they grow so quickly! We’ve been heavily involved in launching ‘proper’ school meals at the All Saints Primary School as well as launching a walking bus. You may have read about it in the Yorkshire Post or Daily Mail.
Many of you know that Paula also runs her own consultancy as a fully qualified dietitian and nutritionist. She works mainly with public and private organisations and recently was called to give evidence in front of the Government Health Committee looking at obesity.
You may also have seen her on TV including a recent edition of BBC1’s “Real Story” being grilled by well-known presenter, Fiona Bruce.
Our latest family member is Pudding – a lovely English Springer Spaniel born in Spring 2006. You’re sure to meet her during your stay with us!
What ever happened to your meeting room?
Just in case you’re still looking for details of meeting rooms here, look no further – they no longer exist! We recommend Colin and Jo at The Rombalds Hotel in Ilkley (01943) 603201.