Will we ever be able to stay at Lytham Hall?

Blackpool Gazette

Lytham Hall's general and deputy manager on turning the Gardener's  Cottage into a holiday let and whether they'd open up the hall's rooms to overnight guests too...

Transcript

00:00Let me start by talking about one of those planning applications, which is the holiday

00:13let at the gardener's cottage. Could you both explain to me why you're interested in opening

00:19up more holiday lets at the hall? Yes, it's actually about putting a use to

00:24some of the buildings that we have, some of the less significant buildings. Of course,

00:28the hall itself is Grade 1 listed. A lot of the other buildings throughout the parkland

00:33are either Grade 2 or Grade 2 star. So, yes, a lot of these buildings have been out of

00:38service for numerous years, many, many decades, to be honest with you. It was only last year,

00:44wasn't it, when we started, in fact, last November, a year last November, where we started

00:51with the gate houses. They went through a rigorous restoration. They were in quite an

00:56appalling state. And we enjoy around about 100% occupancy. In fact, the only time that

01:03they're ever unoccupied is when we take the time out ourselves just for a little bit of

01:09maintenance or whatever. But of course, all this is about providing a sustainable plan

01:15for the future, not just now, but for the future. So Lytton Hall can always be protected

01:20and has the funds. I mean, it is literally eye watering what it costs to run Lytton Hall,

01:26whether it may be ignoring the restoration of some of the, you know, the restoration

01:31projects that we've done, ignoring that, the sheer maintenance, the cost of insurance,

01:36you name it, is just literally eye watering. So, you know, we always have to look at new

01:43ways of ensuring that there is resilience in the future by making sure we have a sustainable

01:50plan, a financial sustainable plan.

01:52And we're not a private concern. It's not a business. We're part of a North West based

01:57charity called Heritage Trust North West. So we are, Lytton Hall is run and managed

02:04and maintained by the charity. So it's all about and restored. So it's all about creating

02:10the extra funds to take this project on for the future. Like Peter said, the gardeners

02:16cottage has been just unused for decades and decades. It's been a storage shed, basically.

02:23So it's really exciting for us to be able to turn that back into historically what it

02:28always has been. And that is kind of, well, a mini residence. It's not going to be a permanent

02:33residence, but it was at one time. It was a residence for the head gardener, you know,

02:39back in the day when the Clifton family had 80 odd staff working for them, you know, so

02:44it'd be nice to really turn it back to what it was originally meant to be.

02:48Now you're looking for other opportunities on the grounds, more holiday lets. Could you

02:52ever open up one of those grand rooms, for example?

02:56Yeah, absolutely not. The Grade One listed building is very, very, very, very precious.

03:02So yes, there's no inebriated people going in there and setting it on fire, I'm afraid.

03:08Not on my watch anyway.

03:10No, it's Grade One listed building. It's got a very intricate alarm system. It's a museum

03:18status in its own right. So yeah, it really wouldn't be the right thing to do. As nice

03:26as it might be to sleep in one of the grand bedrooms. No, we're not looking at it being

03:31some kind of hometown. So no, not at all.

03:34It is so very, very precious. So that has to be, you know, it does, it just has to be

03:39protected at all costs, really. And we have a vast stable block that is potentially for

03:46use of holiday lets in the future. It's going to cost a fortune to actually, you know, kind

03:54of restore that area because, you know, it's quite a large building and in quite a state

03:59really. But, you know, but they're all ideas and that would make a lovely kind of retail

04:04space as well with local crafts and that kind of thing. But, you know, we utilise every

04:10little corner of it that we can because you have to when your costs are so high.

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