As I sit here starting to write this weeks blog, the rain is pouring down outside, and I am about to write about this weekends Christmas Craft Fayre!!

So, 'think positive' - imagine a nice crisp, cold day with a covering of white snow, carols playing from the cottage at the edge of the wood, a sleigh & reindeer's standing still outside the front door, whilst a fat old man dressed in a long red coat, and a big white beard sits gently rocking in his chair, entering sat-nav co-ordinates in his iPad!

Got the idea? Well hang on to that vision & then move in your mind to Old Bolsover Yard early on Saturday morning, a hive of activity as gazebo's rise up from the ground, stallholders are arriving loaded with bags of goodies to tempt the crowds who will be arriving in a few hours time.

         Yes!! it is the Old Bolsover Yard Christmas Craft Fayre 2018!

From 10am through until the last visitor leaves we will be - Ho! ho! ho-ing! with the very best of them, and at 12 noon & 2pm Creswell Colliery Brass Band will be serenading us with a programe of Festive Christmas music.

Elsewhere in Bolsover there will be the annual Christmas Festival & Lantern Parade, in & around the streets of the town.

As well as the craft stalls, we will also be joined by a Humpty Dumpty scarecrow - part of the town Scarecrow Festival, and a 6 foot inflatable Santa to get you into the Christmas spirit!!

Now with a build up like that, how can you possibly afford not to miss all this?

We are looking forward to welcoming you all, and showing how the work on the Yard has been progressing - and you will be allowed to 'Ooh' & 'Aah' as much as you like.

We are proud of what we have achieved since we arrived in Bolsover in April, and we are looking forward to putting in the finishing touches at the beginning of 2019, before a long Spring & Summer Programme in the Courtyard

Sorry that we didn't make our Wednesday evening deadline, this week, but as they say - 'better late than never'.

Over the last week we have carried on with our repair & maintenance of OBY, with interior painting etc. ongoing.

The most exciting part of the last week is that we have formally signed up another tenant. Cup & Saucer will be joining us from 1st January, with their  exciting - 'all things tea'. Hopefully, we will get more about them into a future blog.

There are still two Units available for rent & if you want further details send us a message on our Facebook page, and we will send you information. Alternatively have a look at last weeks blog.

We have had some more quotations for re-surfacing the Yard, and the figures don't get any better!

I understand that we have formally become a Derbyshire Market Towns Access for All Champion. However the good news is that we won't be charging for you to come and see this local landmark, but of course we are glad to have been recognised in this way.

So, as the days get shorter, the cold is increasing, the work of getting Bolsover's latest business up & running continues apace, and thank you to all of those of you who have supported us since we moved in in April.

Keep reading the blog & looking at our Facebook page for up to the minute information.

​Until next week then ......

After last weeks hectic happenings, this week has been a bit more leisurely, though still with plenty to do. 

The Gallery has completed its first week, and thank you to all those of you who have 'popped in' to see us, and have a look around. And the bonus is that we have managed to sell some things, so 'onward & upward'.

Our two Unit rentals were reduced to one, after one of the people who had said they would like a Unit, decided that perhaps it was not for them. So we still have two units available to rent - 

If you are interested in having a look at either of the Units then get in touch, and we will arrange to show you around.

We have continued to paint the inside of each of the Units to make them ready for tenants, and my thanks to Damion of Ethos Upcycling for his work in wielding the brush & splashing on the paint in a very professional manner.

Elsewhere, our thoughts have turned to the refurbishing of the Courtyard, and we are talking to a number of companies about the different options available. Our original idea of wanting to lay traditional cobblestones has kind of gone onto the 'backburner' when we had a quotation for £40,000 for the work!! However, undaunted we will come up with a solution!

On Monday we had a visit from Gillian & Jane from Access for All UK, who advise on how businesses might do their best for disabled visitors. They both had a good look around and a useful discussion, and we are now awaiting their report on what we might do to make OBY 'disabled friendly'

And as well as all of that, we are moving with increasing speed to the Christmas Craft Fayre on December 1st, which is part of the Bolsover Christmas Festival & Lantern Parade. We are looking forward to welcoming our stallholders with their wares, as well as Creswell Colliery Brass Band with their festive potpourri of Christmas music. So, please make sure of two things - one that you have the date in your diary, and two, that you allow enough time in your visit to the Festival to come and see us in Old Bolsover Yard, catch up on what we have done, support our craft stallholders, visit our Gallery, and generally enjoy some festive bohomie! (now there's posh!)

Well, I think that is more than enough for this week, more news from the 'front' next week.

​Bye for now. 

Last week we were away with the family having a half term break in Whitby, and a good time was had by all.

No sooner were we back though and we were back into Old Bolsover Yard, starting on Sunday with putting the finishing touches to the Gallery ready for it to open on Monday 5th November.

Now, for most of us, 5th November is all about Guy Fawkes, bonfires & fireworks, but this year all that was outshone by the Grand Opening of the Old Bolsover Yard Gallery. Yep, the first part of opening up OBY after the repair & maintenance of the last few months, means that the Gallery will be open Monday to Saturday from 10am  to 3pm each day, with an array of wonderful items, for you to have a look at & more importantly buy!!

Thank you to those of you have visited us in the first few days, and we hope that you have liked what you saw & will now spread the word amongst your friends & neighbours.

Flushed with the success of that day, we moved to Tuesday & Wednesday, when we invited people who had expressed an interest in renting a Unit to come along & have a look, before we opened it up to other interested parties.

And, guess what? We have secured tenants for all but one of the Units!! Only Unit 1 remains available. This is a 9.66sq.m unit measuring 2.9m x 3.33m and is available at a rental of £53 per week. The rent includes electricity.

If you are interested in having a look, then email: [email protected], and we can arrange for you to meet.

So, now we are half way through the week and in need of a lie down in a darkened room!

In the next few days we will be preparing draft leases for our new tenants, and most of them will be joining us on January 1st 2019, if not before.

In the coming weeks, we will introduce you to our new businesses.

So, now we move on again - never a moments rest! - and the forthcoming Christmas Craft Fayre on December 1st which is part of the Bolsover Christmas Festival & Lantern Parade.

Do please keep up to date with the weekly blog, and if you are passing the front door, drop in & see us!

​Until next week ............