And as many know the hospitality industry has been hit hard by lack of travel.

So we’ve been busy keeping our heads above water.

Improving our existing places and setting up 4 new ones since lockdown started!

Quite a feat.

And we’ve been busy telling you the stories of how they all happened but thought it was time to give you all a little summary of what we have in South Tyneside (with links to the places form the titles).

And I’ve set myself a target of an hour to write this so lesgo!

1. “44 Hartington.” Our flagship 4/5 bed townhouse

Wow!

This was our first ever self catering place we set up in South Tyneside in 2016 after I felt the effect of the 2015 oil and gas downturn, lost my contract, left safety engineering and decided to invest some time and ‘hard earned’ setting up a base back in my old hometown of sunny South Shields.

I bought it to live in initially.

So renovated it to my high standards.

The same as my beautiful family home in Aberdeen.

After the world came caving in on me (literally) I went for it big style with this old Victorian beauty and spent a relative fortune on it.

Opened up the old kitchen and dining room to form a magnificent family kitchen diner which is the hub of the home. It’s fully equipped with everything you’d need (like all of out places are), has a massive dining table to sit 6-8 people and 2 large 3-4 seater leather sofas (including our lush ORANGE Italian one) for relaxing in an evening with Netflix on the large wall mounted TV.

The old fashioned fireplace in the beautiful front lounge (with sweeping views across the cricket and rugby club) didn’t last long and was ripped out, beautiful chimney breast revealed and replaced with our amazing log burner and luxury vinyl tiles laid (throughout the first/living floor). The large Italian leather corner sofa provides ample chilling space and the double sofa bed means this could really act as a 5th bedroom.

Upstairs is the master (king) with ensuite, further king, double (oh we forgot the single bedroom on the first floor) and of course……

THE BATHROOM.

With it’s stand alone page bathtub, feature wall, with walk in shower behind and fantastic tiling/LED mood lighting this great family space certainly provides the WOW factor of our already stunning family home.

I enjoyed 2 great years living here before deciding it was too large a place for me when I didn’t have my kids at home so decided to add it to the small portfolio of 2 properties I had started running as self catering up in Aberdeen in 2017.

It’s popularity goes without saying….

2. 64 Hartington – A Skandi 3 bed “Tyneside Flat”

This was the first property we start managing on behalf of a third party.

It was waaaaay back in October 2018.

Seems decades away now after recent events.

A friend approached me and after doing the checks, running the sums we agreed a 2 year (which has now been extended, as we hope they all are) guaranteed (no voids) rental amount to manage the property on his behalf.

Tyneside flats have a lovely appeal to them.

I spent my first 4 years in one, on Stanhope Road, albeit with less creature comforts than nowadays (like an inside toilet!) but I still have amazing memories of it.

We spent 3 week solid decorating it, then furnishing and equipping it to our same high standards and coming up for 3 years later it is still going strong and as popular as ever with out amazing guests, (current ones have just ended a stay of several months) as is our agreement with the owner.

I set my record for the most coats of paint required (I think it was FOUR) to cover the DEEP PURPLE room with our trademark white when renovating this place.

Like all of our other places it has a very Skandi feel (picked up I think from my time working in Norway and staying in hotels, and colleagues houses when rooms were scarce!).

We even had 3 Icelandic girls over for a weeks holiday in this property and they said they chose it as it was styled like back home!

We’ll take that.

So getting to the property.

It is solid.

3 bedrooms.

A MASSIVE master with a beautiful timber king bed (plus a single), second king and a double in the 3rd bedroom.

The lounge has 2 and 3 seater leather sofas.

And 100Mbps (that’s fast to you and me) broadband, as does all of our South Shields places (and Boldon has 50Mbps – the fastest available there at time of writing).

The kitchen is as you would expect, fully equipped with all you will ever need to cook up a storm and dining table to sit everyone.

3. Birchington Ave 2 bed ‘homeliness’

The owner, another friend who I knew through running and South Shields football club, approached me to run this place in the summer of 2019.

It was just before I was due to spend 3 weeks in Shields on holiday with my two Aberdonain kids.

I had only just finished set up a further 3 places in Aberdeen, 2 in the previous 2 months. So I was feeling a little jaded to say the least…

I had 2 weeks solo (without kids) in Shields, viewed it, fell in love with the place and decided to go for it there and then after quickly agreeing a guaranteed (no voids) rental amount with the owner.

Since starting to run properties on behalf of owners I have realised that the owners I deal with are just happy that their places are being well managed, no tenant hassles, no gaps to deal with and the rental amount is almost secondary.

Assurance definitely seems primary.

Anyhoo….

I think my affinity for this cosy place could have been it’s proximity to the lovely West Park. where I spend many happy days as a toddler/infant with my parents when we lived on Stanhope Road before moving to Biddick Hall.

It probably would have been identical to the Hartington 3 bed (property 2) but the owner converted the old back bedroom into a beautiful spacious large family bathroom with feature rainfall shower.

There was less to do here as it had recently been decorated so mainly needed furnishing.

We did this with a similar layout to it’s big sis round the corner on Hartington; king and single in the master, double in the second bedroom. Another orange leather sofa and double sofa bed in the lounge with dining for 4. And a Netflix TV like all of our places enjoy and the usual 100Mpbs speed broadband.

And it is has not suffered for having one less bedroom than it’s sister Hartington apartment as it flew out of the door from day one.

Two contractors took it for several months Monday till Friday then families and friends have loved it also.

It also has a private back yard which the owner lovingly set up and provides a nice bit out outside space to sit and enjoy the sun in these weird times.

4. Mortimer Road 4 bed Townhouse

Just like the place we had just set up in July 2020 in Aberdeen in the “just post-BIG lockdown days” this place came totally from nowhere.

Just like in Aberdeen it was a female owner who approached me in July.

We had no links, she had found us online and asked if we would be interested in running her new place as serviced accommodation.

As the sale was in the process of going through talks were protracted, with long gaps between comms but we both seemed up for the agreement.

Not how I instinctively like to do things but it was lockdown after all and we were all in the groove of mañana, mañana, mañana.

It wasn’t until October 2020 that we managed to view it, when the local Shields lockdown was lifted and was there for maintenance work trip.

The place was HUGE!

Cavernous.

We struck a deal with the owner, again agreeing a 2 year deal which suited both of us, with a guaranteed (no voids) rent sealed.

And it was March 2021 before we managed to get our hands on this one after the owners builder had finished their scope.

2 weeks solid were needed to improve the decor a little further and furnish/equip this monster from the shell we took on to the home from home it now is.

A massive downstairs room which had previously been used as a living room. But we decided to utilise it as a beautiful king bedroom with fireplace, high ceiling height bay window and original ceiling rose and cornices.

On the first floor is a further massive king (plus single) bedroom, the kitchen, bathroom, and living dining room with comfortable 2 and 3 seater leather sofas and dinging table to sit 6-8, Netflix TV and of course 100 Mbps broadband.

And on the second floor is a 3rd King (plus single bedroom and 4th bedroom consist of a double bed plus single bed.

So SEVEN proper beds in total to do this amazing large family home justice.

So far this place has been super popular with out regular contractors and we can’t wait until our regular family guests start enjoying making memories in it’s lovely spacious rooms for years to com.

5. Byron Avenue, Boldon.

Following on from a blog about being fully booked up in South Shields and informing landlords of our property management for a guaranteed rent a landlord and old school friend of over 30 years contacted me via Facebook.

After the viewing the deal was struck all in an hours phone call from outside his (old nana and granda’s (he was a proud miner at the local colliery) house) place in Boldon to the overseas location he now calls home and cracked on setting it up in a non stop week last month (May 2020).

And I am absolutely delighted with it.

And feel proud.

Despite the grandness of 44 Hartington, homeliness (this is a word right?) of our other properties I genuinely think that this could be my favourite of all of our self catering places.

See, this house, this home is the same type of layout of the homes where I am from.

Where I was formed as a human being and into the adult I am today.

The similar layout and neighbourhood where I formed friendships in my childhood that I still keep today.

Not what a salesman should be saying but it is nothing startling to be honest.

Just solid.

A good sized front room, with, you guessed it! 2 and 3 seater leather sofas (they’re best to clean, right?). Netflix TV. Fast broadband.

A lovely sized, bright, well equipped kitchen diner. Table to seat 6-8.

With all of his nanas old pantry cupboards still in tact.

Spotlessly clean of course.

And years worth of gloss paint now removed so that they shut properly.

But loved.

LOADS of storage.

For the guests between house moves.

And the garden!

A great size.

10 by 15 meters.

Ready to dine alfresco, hang the washing up, kids to kick a ball about. Just like at home.

Backing onto my old comprehensive school at the back.

A lovely open aspect.

Amazing neighbours either side and on the whole lovely quiet street.

Sunny and with table and comfortable seating for 8 persons.

Upstairs we have a king, double and single bedroom.

And a lovely recently renovated family bathroom with rainfall shower over the bathtub.

It is our newest place, our first, outside of South Shields by all of a mile or 3, but I know from experience that it will be a hit for years to come.

Conclusion

In true engineering style I need to sum up.

Our 2, 3 and 4 bed places are the best you will get in the area.

Ideal for families on staycations, visiting family in the area, between house moves and of course our amazing business/contractor guests.

And the best way to book them is direct with ourselves.

And South Tyneside owners, keep in touch. We are always looking for places to add to our portfolio which is slowly creeping up bit by bit.

The post South Tyneside Self Catering at it’s finest appeared first on Dwellcome Home.

“You never stop”

“You need to learn how to chill out”

Well, I’ve finally found the solution.

Wisdom teeth extraction!

Last Friday I got mine taken out.

Well my two left ones.

By a current guest of ours.

But he is a dentist!

He booked over a month ago after being seconded to the area from his base in London.

I got my third gum infection in a year 3 weeks back.

Probably run down. while setting up our new Boldon place and not looking after myself properly.

It took 2 courses of antibiotics to clear it and the emergency dentist said the wisdom tooth had to go.

So I rocked up to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Dental School last Friday and got them whipped out.

With a bunch of students staring down into me gob!

And then I had my first COVID jab on Tuesday for good measure.

But my gum and jaw’s been throbbing like hell since then so I’ve been laid pretty low on 4 sets of painkillers and antibiotics.

If you shook me I’d rattle!

And worse thing of all is I cant drink for a week whilst on them.

Not even a can watching the Champions League Final tonight.

DISASTER!

We’ve had another busy 3 weeks since my last ramblings.

Even managed to set up another place!

Our first one bed place.

This time just a mile from home in Aberdeen.

The lady who owns it asked on LinkedIn if anyone could recommend a property agent in Aberdeen.

The owner (and friends of hers) of a place round the corner from hers, which we have now been running for two years, referred us to her.

We are gaining a bit of a reputation.

It feels nice.

And is taking my mind off my gums a bit writing this.

He tagged me into her post and she contacted me.

Aberdeen has been a really tough market to survive in over the last 2 years, even pre-COVID, AND intuitively a one bed has less potential to make profit and we are a business after all

But after thinking mulling it over for a bit longer than normal we viewed it about a month or more ago.

I went there thinking “I probably won’t go for this but will go to see it anyway, nothing to lose.”

I took Lola, my daughter as my advisor, she has a good eye and judgement, even at her early age.

As soon as I walked into the place I knew I would go for it despite the odds being stacked higher against this one.

And Lola agreed.

Background: Partly due to oil and gas, Aberdeen enjoyed a employment/property bubble when the 2007 crash hit, it was barely felt up here, if anything things just flattened out a bit. But it is now suffering still when most other parts of the UK are experiencing an upturn property wise. It is a bad time to sell, rent out or run self catering properties in Aberdeen right now. And from experience I wouldn’t recommend anyone starts right now.

But I like a challenge (or maybe I’m just plain stupid).

The last tenant had given the owner serious headaches; left the place in a terrible state, locks had to be changed, unpaid bills, etc and she wasn’t overly impressed by the agents who had been unable to rent it out since January.

Do you see a common theme to our blog posts here?

Non-landlords often think being a landlord is a piece of cake.

Just buy somewhere, rent it out.

Caker!

Easy money mate.

But its really not like that.

Anyway, so after agreeing a no voids (guaranteed) rental amount with the owner, we set about putting our stamp on it.

Week 1 involved decluttering, then furnishing it with our quality and style of furniture.

Then week 2 was decorating it, and a bit of carpet cleaning for good measure to complete the freshen up.

As usual I did more than planned and ended up re-painting the whole flat, including all gloss work.

But was so worth it, I hope you will all agree.

The utilities were a ‘bit of a nightmare’ with this one.

At one point the electricity got cut off!

The last tenant hadn’t paid the bills.

So no heating. Or painting after dark…

We just had to paint faster to keep warm and get it done quicker!

Even Lola helped.

For all of about half an hour, but help she did.

I must have taken around a dozen calls to SSE’s UK and South African call centres, some 2 hours long to get it sorted!

They credited the pay as you go meter (which I hate and get changed to monthly billing) £70 in the end to keep me sweet!

Then there was Vodafone broadband.

We use them at now SEVEN of our properties as they supply the new 100Mbps fibre system in Aberdeen and the fastest in Boldon as well.

I think.

Once you get it running, their service/speeds are great.

Well Vodafone excelled themselves.

NOT.

I had TWO installation dates booked.

One in early May, and one in mid May.

And for both I never heard a squeak from them.

No email.

No text.

No router delivered.

Finally it gets installed on Tuesday next week and in the mean time they’ve sent a complimentary mobile WIFI for our guests to use to tide us over.

I even got a call from Vodafones “Directors Office” last week to try to sort out my complaint (or the breakdown in their own system).

ANYHOO!

I added the new place on our website (watch this space for our brand-new site being launched soon).

And we took a booking straight away and welcomed our first lot of guests on Monday for an 11 night stay.

With our business traveller reputation ever growing I fully expect to receive a long term corporate/business booking on this one very soon given how beautifully it is presented, with the fastest broadband available and being close to everything.

If you know of any landlords in ABERDEEN (I know, I’m fond of a treat, right?) who might like us looking after their properties feel free to tell them of us and get in touch.

Oh and in other news, and the sale of my flat on South Shields seafront was completed on Wednesday.

It was bitter sweet.

Yay, it’s sold.

But booo, I’ll miss staying there.

Really miss it.

I bought it to live in while I was back in South Shields and it was home for a brief period of time when I was back and forth from there and Aberdeen.

Although in truth I was barely there, instead either setting up or maintaining properties in Shields or out and about enjoying the coast on my doorstep.

Why wouldn’t you be?

Cycling, walking, or at the surf club.

Me and the kids had some happy times at Seawinnings, when we were down visiting my family in Shields.

A Christmas, New Year and dozens of weeks holidays there.

Really special memories.

But now that I have moved back to Aberdeen properly it could not sit empty any longer so had to go.

And despite recently adding our lovely 4 bed on Mortimer Road, and 3 bed semi in Boldon to our South Tyneside portfolio I would LOVE to add another place along/near the South Shields seafront.

So if any of you know of any owners/landlords in SOUTH SHIELDS who might like us looking after their properties like it it’s our own, no tenant issues, no minor maintenance to worry about (we cover this as part of the management), with regular inspections, low wear and tear (from our our great business and leisure guests), and best of all a guaranteed (no voids) income coming in, then feel free to tell them of us and get in touch.

We’d prefer 3 plus bedrooms, ideally within staggering distance from the Sanddancer bar but will consider anything haha.

Also Jarrow, Hebburn, et al we love you too.

Have a great bank hol folks and leave some beer in the pumps for us for out trip back ‘home’ next weekend.

Colin.

The post Property Wisdom – One in One Out appeared first on Dwellcome Home.

Well first lets recap..

We mentioned a family who had travelled from the other side of the world.

New Zealand to be precise.

They needed a place to stay in an emergency.

The accommodation originally booked for them was a bit of a shambles.

I would genuinely pack it all in if I was still prepared to take new guests into a property after water had been leaking in a gas boiler for several days.

But that is how some other operators behave.

Shambolic.

Negligent?

ANYHOO…

With 3 young kids, this young family needed somewhere spacious, where they could recover from their long journey.

But also somewhere with a little outside space…

So our Hartington Terrace, South Shields 4 bed townhouse ticked all the boxes.

And we also mentioned an old school friend who is also a landlord.

He contacted us after we asked for properties in the South Tyneside area for us to manage and run as self catering accommodation.

Well, this is the story of how we took it from an unfurnished shell to a lovely family (or contractor) home by giving it our usual sprinkle of TLC.

Improving, furnishing and getting the photoshoot all done in a week.

And catching up with a fair few friends along the way!

We got a head start a week early by paying a quick shopping trip to ASDA.

Which I detest with a passion. Shopping, not ASDA that is.

To stock up on the usual duvets, bedding, towels, kitchen stuff, etc.

Exiting times!

My week with my kids in Aberdeen flew over. As it always does.

They are teenagers now, young adults.

God, how did that happen?

They split their time between me and their mams for which I am eternally grateful.

On Saturday night we played a quick campervan version of Jenga to pack in as much stuff as possible to maximise my time on ‘site’ making improvements, and to minimise the dreaded shopping.

So after a lovely Sunday afternoon in Inverure with my kids Sonny, and Lola and girlfriend I headed the 250 miles south in my 25 year old camper in the early evening.

When I say camper I think folk think…cooooool!

But old REJ (last part of its reg plate) is a bit of an old dear.

She’s had more welding to the bodywork than a very rusty thing.

But with some love and attention I hope to keep her going well into her retirement.

I arrived in Boldon around 10pm, unpacked the van (sorry neighbours), quickly set up a bed and crashed out shattered!

7am!

Hello Monday morning.

I couldn’t find the kettle so after a quick glass of water and a shower got stuck into it.

Apart from the usual activities associated with moving house, my main task is making the place look nice to try to attract guests to our self catering places.

And to me that means painting the world white!

I love the look.

I think it stemmed from my first holidays abroad in my 20s.

White walls, tiled/wood floors.

It just works.

Clean and crisp.

Some say white is ‘cold’ but I think this is the mind of clever marketers who’ve conned us into thinking that you need an ‘off’ white to make it look different to other people.

To flog you loads of different shades of paint!

Who’d have thought?

And the first room to tackle was the ‘Dinosaur Room.’

I also planned to freshen up the single box room which had some sparkly paper from a previous tenant. This decor wouldn’t go down well with my macho contractor guests.

Two rooms as I only had a week to do the whole place.

But as is usual when you decorate, the fresh new paintwork makes the older rooms look tatty and I ended up doing the whole hallway/stairs, kitchen and most of the gloss work!

Probably more than double, maybe nearer treble than what I originally planned.

C’est la vie.

Even before I arrived my extended ‘team’ (some folk who do what I do and take themselves a bit too seriously call workers who support their business their “POWER TEAM” haha!) had started doing some essential improvements/activities.

Lee my sparky (my best mates bro in law) had made some electrical improvements and passed the EICR (a legal electrical check).

He even put up the key lock box!

Cheers mate!

My old best mate from school, college and uni had started the garden tidy.

I needed to get my delivery head on.

As soon as I knew I was going for this place I was on the hunt for some nice furniture.

And the dining table is a critical piece.

I like to get nice solid pieces of furniture.

Solid wood.

I try to avoid Ikea type stuff wherever possible.

Stuff that will last ands stand up to hard knocks.

And I found this amazing extending table to seat 6-8 online.

The sellers in deepest Newcastle were good enough to hold onto it for a whole week for me.

Trusting me to come down from Aberdeen to collect it today as agreed.

And as anyone who sells stuff online for collection will know, there are a lot of unreliable folk who don’t turn up.

Turned out that the table was in a house right next to Newcastle United’s training ground!

Was this a bad omen (I am a Sunderland ‘fan’)? Haha!

The table had been kindly dismantled on arrival and the table top was an absolute 10 ton weight.

SO I’d need a hand at the other side from some unsuspecting knight in shining armour!

Right on cue!

Not long after pulling up at the front door, my old mate from school, who’d I’d been to a few Sunderland away games with over the years, is also my regular plumber/heating engineer showed up!

After he assessed the actual job in hand (to see if was feasible to plumb in a dishwasher, and it was) he kindly helped me in with the table top after much ribbing about my cheek.

Cheers Colin Armour Plumbing & Heating.

A new dishwasher and washing machine was duly ordered online.

In the past I have bought these second hand to save a few pennies but experience has shown it is not worth the hassle.

And the final mattress needed was also ordered, my usual Silentnight!

At this point I was thinking “food”.

I am pretty bad at looking after myself food wise and tend to run on empty for as long as my body allows then eat big.

I am not confident in the kitchen and as a result usually batch cook or in busy (setting up new places times) eat pizzas/take aways.

I know it’s not good for you but in tough times needs must.

But on this occasion my good old mam was only 2 miles away.

A rare occasion for her to exhibit her amazingly caring motherly duties, even to her supposedly fully grown son….

I’d already been in touch to let her know I’d be down, ‘back home’ and that it would be good to see her.

Like everyone, it’s been crap since COVID hit, only seeing her a handful of times on doorsteps. etc.

Siting across from her in a garden and not being able to give her a hug.

What is that all about?

Anyway, I dropped her a text, with a throw away comment at the end “are you still doing those take away chicken dinners?”

“Not yet” she replied, but the seed was sown!

Asda pizza it was!

By the end of Monday I had the dining table in place, first coat on the dinosaur room and prepped the stairs walls where old stair gates etc had damaged the walls a bit.

Tuesday morning and was more of the same.

Up, wash, drink, paint, repeat!

But at 7am I noticed a text on my phone.

Mam: I’ll probs do mince and dumplings on Wednesday, if you want to pop over I’ll keep some for you!

YES! Result.

My mams mince and dumplings are superb.

Legendary.

Absolutely top notch.

This was the kind of boost I needed to keep me going through the pretty mundane task of painting the world white for the rest of the week!

Some proper home cooked food.

8am came and my plumber showed up and by 9am the dishwasher plumbing was in, ready to be connected for it’s arrival on Wednesday.

And the WIFI switch was installed which means that I can now turn on the heating before guests arrive to make sure the place is all cosy for them using an app on my phone. And of course switch it off when they check out to save energy and money.

We cant promise everything will be right at our places but we try our best!

Given the additional painting I decided to do I reschedule the photo shoot from Saturday to Sunday morning.

Another trip to ASDA to collect more household stuff and a pizza for tea then I was to head to a my mates (the plumber) for a couple of socially distanced beers in the garden with him and another mate I’ve known since school.

I banged the pizza in the oven, quick shower, then took pizza out of the oven to devour it before heading to his.

IT WAS COLD.

As it was the first time I had used the oven, I hadn’t realised there was a dial with a timer on, which needed to be set to warm function.

Kind of like an on button.

So my whole plan was ruined!

A quick call and my mate said “just bring it here and cook it at ours.”

Lifesaver 

Over lockdown, like many, bored our of their heads, he had made this amazing ‘bar’ from part of his garage and hopefully the next time I see him we will be allowed to go in there together!

It was great to have a good catch up with them albeit a bit chilly under the gazebo!

Apart from the usual decorating tasks, Wednesday was delivery/collection (white goods and mattress, bathroom mirror, etc) and garden tidy day.

The online order of dishwasher/washing machine arrived.

As did my old pal to finish the garden.

The neighbours in the street are lovely.

And my 2 next door neighbours have their outside spaces kept immaculate.

I always like to maintain good relationships with neighbours for obvious reasons.

Previous tenants have obviously done their best, but over the years the hedge along the path into the house had started to take over and as a result you had to squeeze past it to get to the front door.

My best guests are contractors and one heavy swinging bag from a big strapping lad against the neighbours fence could send it crashing so I had to do something about the hedge.

It was severely hacked back. Might look a little bare but will come back, and my great neighbours fence is safe once again!

The final piece of the jigsaw for the kitchen was needed next.

And it was another removal job.

The large American style fridge freezer from my old flat on Westoe Crown Village would be perfect to hold the goodies fresh for years to come.

And an old friend who got back in touch on the back of one of my blogs about being dragged up in Biddick Hall was my willing aide.

We met at my flat.

When we climbed the flights of stairs and he saw the fridge freezer he said “You never said it was on the SECOND floor!!”

Haha, sorry mate.

It was a bit of a sad time as will be the last time I’ll probably see the place.

The sale is expected to be complete in a week or 2 from now.

And I’ve had some good times in there with my kids, long weeks at the beach and a great Christmas.

But this was business.

And it was FRIGGIN heavy!

A back breaking 10 minutes later and the item was in the back of my camper and we were in the Sundial having a pub lunch.

CHEERS REEDY!

We had a top catch up and he told be of his escapades over the past few years and how his family were getting on.

Since moving away from the area 20 years ago I havre missed a lot of my old pals and is always great to catch up with them.

Sofas are normally easy.

You can pick up a really nice quality one at a decent price.

But for some reason this time it was proving a bit tricky.

So I ended up buying 2 separate brown leather ones from two different sellers which matched and planned to collect on Thursday night and that would be the last of the big items in place.

On Thursday morning I viewed a beautiful 3 bed, 2 bathroom townhouse in Cleadon.

Another old mate of 30 years plus got in touch after reading of our landlord management services.

Word was getting round.

The place was amazing.

Especially the leather and wood built in seats and drinks cabinet!

It looked like something out of James Bond in a baddies lair to me!

We have chatted a few times since and I really hope we can strike a deal for this place as I think it would work really well with lots of our guests between house moves, and folk returning to visit family.

But due to the relatively high amount of capital tied up in the property the sums need to work for both parties so we’ll see.

Watch this space on that one but either way it was great to catch up with another old pal.

On returning to Byron Avenue I put the dishwasher in place and discovered that it clashed with the cutlery drawer, which now wouldn’t open! The only kitchen drawer!

DISASTER 

It looked like some pipe modifications at the back might mean the dishwasher could move back a bit to allow the drawer to open!

HA’WAY MAN.

You need a cutlery drawer right?

This calamity was worth fixing. Or at least investigating further.

So my trusty plumber came out yet again and looked at it,

After many measurements he concluded that as well as a few other modifications, to rectify it the lead pipe work would have to be rearranged and would be a fair old job.

The benefit wasn’t worth the hassle on this occasion.

Thankfully, the dining area had a plethora of huge old style pantry cupboards which I am so glad are still part of the house.

It gives it character and makes it feel homely in my opinion.

And they would do just fine for the cutlery.

Sometimes in life you have to compromise a little!

The mince n dumplings were devoured.

Superb.

After a long day of painting it was time to collect the sofas.

Both sofas pretty close, a 5 minutes drive away.

And I thought both would fit in the van at the same time so only one journey would be required.

The next day I had help to lift them from the van so sounded a plan.

WRONG!

Once the first sofa was in the van it was clear that the second would never fit

Best laid plans and all that..

So I headed back to Byron Ave wondering how I was going to swing this one.

I cheekily knocked on Connor, my next door neighbour, who by a massive coincidence is another old best mates son!

Connors wife answered and he was out and not back till later.

I scanned the street for another set of hands to help.

A couple of men were chatting a few doors up.

As I started to approach they headed into the house.

Must have saw me coming.

Sod it.

I can do this by myself.

I had a plan.

Two wheelie bins could work, right?

I got both wheelie bins placed next to the back of the van and planned to swing the sofa between the 2 of them.

Then wheel it down the path.

Simple.

How could it fail?

I was not long into this (doomed) plan when, as I realised I needed another set of hands, I heard a car pull up and a voice over the sofa shout: “Need a hand bonny lad?”

It was Gav!

A friend I spend hundreds of hours with as a kid in Biddick hall. Getting into loads of scrapes. Going to the football together (and we DONT support the same team!).

He came over, grabbed the other end of the sofa and helped me in with it.

He was round to see his son.

We chatted briefly.

But not for long enough.

Let’s have a catch up next time I’m back and I’ll get you a few beers for old times.

It was good to see you mate.

I headed to the last address for the final sofa.

Got back, and as if by magic Gavs son was getitng out of his car and both sofas were in place!

They looked great in the lounge.

It made me want to have a well earned seat.

After a busy week and lots of calories burned I was really fancying a take away washed down with a beer or two.

Damn!

No beers.

And I really couldn’t be bothered going out at this time.

I was shattered.

Then I remembered.

Along with her food parcel, my mam also included a nice bottle or red.

The pizza was ordered, and a couple of glasses of the wine washed it down a treat!

The end felt in sight and I crashed out in bed.

Friday was a big day.

The penultimate before the photos.

The router had been delivered and right on time the broadband went live.

You have your moments, but thank you Vodaphone!

Glossing is no-ones favourite task but has to be done.

And some of this woodwork hadn’t seen a brush in 10-20 years I reckoned, so it was pretty satisfying seeing the yellow turn white!

Makes such a difference.

Many folk paint walls magnolia so the yellow isn’t so apparent.

But thats not our style.

We don’t want to fool anyone and try to do things right.

White walls and white woodwork.

But the pantry doors were an issue.

Over the years they’d seen so much paint that many didn’t close and latches were stuck fast.

ANOTHER old pal Andy Mac (a joiner) was booked to come round Saturday morning and would sort them out no bother.

The main cavalry was due to arrive on Friday night.

My girlfriend Shonagh had offered to get the train down from Aberdeen after her work for the final days prep on Saturday.

A proper disaster stuck.

A fatality on the line (poor soul) meant she had to get a replacement (mega) bus to Dundee, so her train into Newcastle was delayed until after midnight.

Now that is going beyond the call of duty….

Delayed beers as I was collecting her from Central station.

Damn, but more glossing time I guess…

Every cloud.

On leaving the house to collect her and getting a few breaths of fresh air I felt a bit high from a day breathing in gloss fumes.

She arrived in one piece and after dodging a few drunks in Newcastle city centre another take away, bottle of wine and good nights rest later we tackled the final day.

It was a bit like Anekas Rice’s old TV show where they had a week to transform a place.

Just it was us two whizzing round.

Tidying, getting all my crap (tools, boxes, painting equipment, etc) tidied away, the new stuff out and newly ironed bedding (thanks Mam) on and in place ready for guests.

And another trip or 2 to ASDA thrown in for good measure.

The garden was looking much better after it’s make over from my mate.

But I had also struggled to get some garden furniture which would do it justice.

Then out of no-where I saw lovely wooden set of table, 2 benches, 2 seats for sale in County Durham.

Messaged the seller and collected it within an hour and it fitted perfectly.

My final two lovely Saturday night tasks awaited me while Shonagh made the place look lovely.

The garden bin was in sorry state.

It felt like it was half full of bricks and STUNK.

I have smelled septic (sewage) tanks when I worked on shipyards and I would say it wa son a par if not worse than that!

I wouldn’t surprised if it it hadn’t been emptied for several years.

But as I would need it empty for my garden waste to be collected I had the most pleasant task of dealing with it’s contents.

I firstly poured the gallons of manky water (probably a great fertiliser!) onto the lawn, then spread the contents out on the path to dry out overnight and mulch into the flower beds in the morning.

Sorry again neighbours but it needed doing! Thankfully the smell was gone in the morning

Then there was the outhouses to empty which were packed to the ceilings with the contents of probably the last few tenants of the property.

This is often the issue we face when taking on new properties.

Things can look okay on the surface but when you dig a little deeper you find things needing addressing.

During cleaning we also noticed that the very heavy glass shower panel was loose and likely to break someones ankle if it fell. This is now rectified also!

Anyway, the old kids toys, decorating equipment, tools, polystyrene packaging, etc were removed and loaded into my van for disposal.

The resultant space was used as a new bin store.

The original occupiers/owners of this great house, my friends grandparents, would have used this space to wash clothes, and the water to tend to their leeks and other garden vegetables which were lovingly home grown.

Sunday was photos day.

Things went swimmingly well.

Massive thanks to Nathan for his patience and I am really delighted with the output.

After packing our final possessions, refuelling the van and our bodies the final leg of the journey was complete and Sunday night came around again.

Yet another owner, recommend by the owner of Byron Ave contacted me just yesterday and we will chat next week about the possibility of looking after her place.

I’m not too sure how many more places I want or can manage but will be interesting to find out what she has to say.

Have a great weekend everyone and as always, I would love to hear any thoughts on our latest shenanigans and if you’d like to see the final photos heard over to our Dwellcome Home South Tyneside Facebook page and feel free to give it a like.

Colin.

The post With a Little Help From my Friends appeared first on Dwellcome Home.

Our South Shields self catering places were doing well.

Really well.

We’d been fully booked for weeks.

And with Boris allowing the nation out to play we are expecting a boom of staycations.

And what better place in the UK to come on holiday than to sunny South Shields with our amazing beaches and friendly locals?

So at the end of the blog I said if any landlords had any spare properties that we would be interested in speaking with them.

It was Facebook messanger actually.

“Alright Colin. Just seen your post. I’ve got my place on Byron next to the school available at the end of this week.”

As it happened we were driving down to South Shields do some maintenance work that night.

So a viewing was set up for the Saturday morning.

But first we had a 250 miles drive in a 25 year old camper on a Thursday night to contend with.

The skylight kept popping up whenever we went over 60 miles an hour so it was a noisy tiring drive down.

We arrived in one piece and a take away chicken kebab and a few beers later we retired to the mattress on the floor of the living room.

This isn’t a metaphor; the sale of my lovely flat on Westoe Crown is going through so have been de-mobbing it in stages, this being the final one hopefully.

Friday came.

An early trip to good old Greggs for a bacon roll and a coffee at the Nook before heading to our 4 bed for a weekend of decorating.

The morning that dreams are made of!

On arriving at the Nook I noticed a voicemail, a Facebook message, a missed phone call! Someone wanted to get in touch with me, and fast.

I rang back.

The lady need emergency accommodation from today for 2-3 weeks for a family travelling from overseas.

She had been BADLY let down by another local accommodation provider.

Apparently water was leaking all over inside the boiler of the place she had booked for them.

In fact it was pouring out (she showed me the video later).

They’d had several days to rectify the situation but had failed to do so.

Failed their booker.

Water, corrosion and gas isn’t a great mix so they wisely decided to give that place a side swerve.

And contacted us.

Our place she wanted was already booked so was currently unavailable.

Regular contractors of ours had just checked out and were back in again next week.

But this family had just travelled half the world, with 3 kids.

On arrival they needed to self isolate for 10 days so wanted our place with some outdoor space.

We needed to pull the stops out to help.

Can’t have a family stuck indoor for 10 days when they’d already been cooped up on a plane for a day.

So I contacted the company who’s workers we were housing.

Explained the situation.

We have a great relationship.

One time they had to cancel a booking last minute as their work that week was cancelled.

They asked if there was any chance we could refund “any of the money.”

“No problem at all Melanie.”

“We will just credit this weeks monies against your next weeks invoice.”

In effect a full refund. We gave back a full weeks income with little chance of taking another booking.

Not many accommodation providers operate like we do.

But our loyal clients know that we treat then the way we would like to be treated so come back time and time again.

So when I explained the situation, Melanie had no problem about me reallocating the guys to another of our places, which had just become available.

All decorating plans needed to be cancelled.

YAY.

Every cloud and all that.

So as this was all so last minute it wasn’t on to drop this on my cleaner, especially since we were down.

So a few hours later the workers things (I’d allowed them to leave as they were returning next week) were transferred to the place on Mortimer Road.

Food and beer in the fridge, slippers by the sofa!

And a full bedding change and clean was completed just in time for the new guests arriving.

Now that’s service haha.

In fact joking aside, that is the SERVICED part of SERVICED accommodation.

And it is what we do.

After that manic day we needed to switch off.

And on passing the New Crown noticed a free table in the beer garden!

So pulled up and paid it a visit.

It was ABSOLUTELY freezing haha. But worth it for these views.

Saturday was viewing day.

The property, although still in South Tyneside was our first potential venture outside of South Shields.

BOLDON.

When I was a kid, living in Biddick Hall, South Shields in the 80s we used to have a big rivalry with Boldon.

Fights were organised at the ‘lakas,’ a train bridge running over the burn was the usual battle ground.

From memories they were pretty the affairs really but as a youngster got the adrenalin pumping.

And after I left Biddick Hall junior school I ended up going to Boldon Comp school and had to face up to these kids we had this previous rivalry with.

It was character building stuff.

And now some of them are my best friends.

So this prospective new place of ours actually backed onto my old school!

On pulling into the street I got a good feeling.

Quiet.

Well kept.

Neighbours seemed lovely.

The last tenant showed us the place.

I had a quick look around and she gave me the keys as agreed and she left.

The place was absolutely ideal.

Solid.

Well maintained.

3 nice bedrooms.

A big kitchen diner and lovely bathroom.

HUGE back garden (VERY handy in these COVID uncertain times and to our four legged guests).

This place would work.

I was certain of it.

We retired to the office (camper) and I called my friend who live a couple of continents away.

“Mate, the place is great”

“How does £xxx sound? We look after all small maintenance items, and you avoid agents costs”

“Colin, its a bit less than I could get but I want hassle free and that is what you seem to give, you’re a mate, so lets go for that”

Wow! That was easy.

No agents, no finders fees. No hidden costs.

Just a mate helping another mate.

In fairness, that is how the vast majority of my, now 8 dealings with owners have went.

Smooth, quick and painless.

Now that business was out of the way we proceeded to happily chat about old times, old friends.

And we headed off to ASDA to start the stocking up process!

God I feel like I live in that place 

So a week later, after a week back in Aberdeen with my kids, and I am ready to do it all again.

Van ready to be packed full to the gunnels to furnish the place to drive back to work again tomorrow night.

Electical check complete last week by my electrician.

Broadband installed next week and sofas/dining table ordered for collection.

Paint and brushes at the ready!

South Shields, SORRY, BOLDON!

Let’s do this.

Have a top weekend everyone.

PS – If you know any landlords in the area we would still be interested in hearing from them about looking after your place for you. Gluttons for punishment man 

The post An Old School House appeared first on Dwellcome Home.

I kid you not!

A guy I worked with 20 years ago in my first job in Aberdeen first contacted me 2 years ago about it on LinkedIn.

Before I did my masters in Safety Engineering I worked as hard hat and boots safety in shipyards on the Tyne and offshore.

It was character building stuff.

Wandering round these huge vast heavy engineering yards, with both cranes and men who seemed a 100 foot tall.

I’m just off 6 foot, but by a 100 foot I mean in stature.

Men who I looked up to.

And learned from.

Anyway the space centre offer got me thinking of how I now use the technical and people skills I learned in heavy industry and engineering and apply it to my current profession.

Hospitality and property management.

I used to have to analyse the harmful (I guess there are no good ones!) effects of accidental oil and gas releases by calculating jet fire lengths and explosion over-pressures.

Then work out what we, the project team, needed to do to make this risk from the predicted fires and explosion acceptable.

How ‘thick and strong’ does the blast wall need to be? How close can the living quarters be to the process area?

How close to the risk tolerability criteria are we?

Will the authorities allow us to keep operating if we add this to the platform?

You know, that type of thing.

And then in a meeting full of engineers, platform operators and senior managers you had to answer critical questions at the drop of a hat.

Decisions which could cost lives or cost millions in project costs if you got it wrong.

Or your job.

Now that’s pressure.

And to help make these decisions, sometimes you use fancy computer packages.

And other times you use judgement.

Engineering judgement.

That’s it!

Once you’ve been doing it for a while you get ‘a feel’ for what the answer should look like.
And often your good judgement senses that a computer analysis doesn’t look ‘right’ and is giving the wrong answer!

Intuition I think they call it.

Then the hard bit; write a fancy looking report to back up what you say and get a dozen signatures of a senior rank to check your spelling.

I still need that now, haha.

So, now when a property owner contacts me about their property.

And asks if we would be interested in running it as serviced accommodation.

And when I see photos of it.

Or walk into it for the first time.

After now having 5 years experience of serviced accommodation.

And knowing what my perfect clients are and what they need.

I instinctively know if it will work or not.

Hmmmm.

The house layout is a bit weird….

But with a tweak here, and swap this with that, that layout should work.

In fact, no.

It will.

I’ve always been a bit of an optimist.

And will the figures stack up?

Well, they expect ‘x’ in rent.

It will cost me ‘y’ to maintain it for them, an agent would change them ‘z’ for doing very little.

So I’ll offer them x – y – z.

And add on a, b, & c for taxes, utilities, insurance, etc to the ‘rent’ to get the expenses or costs.

And I know we’ll get so much a night for so many nights a month.

My ‘ins’ will be so much more than my ‘outs’.

And that figure is enough of a prize to go for it.

To take the time, trouble and effort to set it up and run it.

YES! The figures will stack up.

And the best bit?

No report to write haha! Just get the paint brush out, get some nice beds and furnishings in and get it ready for guests!

I do have a simple spreadsheet (I have many) for this but it really is that simple.

Others make this simple decision into some form of back magic (and rip newbess off by charging them mentor fees to let them into their secret world of big boy sums) but it is really just…

You guessed it.

Judgement.

But ‘oh no’.

The pandemic,

The restrictions.

Who will fill them?

We don’t have it easy as 2 year ago.

The bookings don’t just come to you any more.

YOU (well I) have to go looking for folk to fill our places.

Well after having to speak to every man and his dog (and yes we are dog friendly…at all our places), literally sometimes, I have a decent knack of striking up a relationship with (prospective) clients and keeping them very long term.

Because we look after our guests well and service their needs (that is the serviced bit of serviced accommodation)

Have you ever tried to get 1000+ pensive hairy arsed welders (and every other trade) to get onto a vessel where you’re conducting a new type of radiography to test a weld in your early 20s.

Or to persuade the purse holders of a 300 million pounds kitty why they need to chip into their slush fund for yet more steelwork because the current blast wall design isn’t string enough.

Compared to that, making sure your clients have enough beds for their workforce, that there are enough sockets in the right place, that the broadband is the fastest you can get in the area, making sure the beds are comfy like Goldilocks and most importantly making sure that the price is right is an absolute ‘caker’.

Good engineering and good hospitality is just providing good value.

And speaking of value there’s no need for fancy software to determine what OUR nightly rate is.
Many use software to manage all aspects of running serviced accommodation.

They put their trust into software to determine THEIR nightly rate!

A computer that doesn’t know THEIR area like they do and doesn’t know the quality of their competitors places like they do (from guests that have left there and come to stay with us!)

Well guess what we use?

Judgement.

I like to still call it engineering judgement!

Serviced Accommodation Engineering Judgement!

What have people paid in the past?

What do similar properties charge?

Oh I forgot, there are no properties as nice as ours so similar ones are hard to find haha.

And sales.

After I left engineering, when I was trying to suss out what I wanted to do next with my life few different people said to me, you should go into sales.

Those words sent shudders down my spine.

The thought of pressure to sell, commission always scared the hell out of me.

Then marketing.

Since lockdown I’ve tried hard to market our places.

Totally winging it.

Never read a book.

Just try to get some ideas.

Do what seems sensible.

Go to the right places, speak to the right people.

And this brings us to where we are now.

Fully booked in South Shields!

And thats WITHOUT leisure guests.

And Aberdeen is looking up.

OUR places are in high demand.

So we are looking for more places to look after.

So that we can service the needs of our clients.

And give them nice places to stay.

So if you know any landlords/property owners, in South Tyneside particularly, we would love to hear from them.

We offer a guaranteed (no voids), hassle free (no tenant issues) long term (2-3 years hopefully leading to 10+ years) agreement where we’ll look after your place like its ours.

So if this sounds good to you please get in touch; we are actively looking for our next serviced accommodation place in the area.

And as for the space centre…

Well there are times when we need to say no.

Well, I should say get the support from an old engineering friend.

So….watch this SPACE for that one! (did you see what I did there? ;))

Have a great Thursday folks.

And finally, does anyone know a good beer garden in South Shields? We’re down for a work trip very very soon and after all this work I think some play is in order!

Yay.

Colin

The post Hospitality Engineering appeared first on Dwellcome Home.

What a lovely message from our newest owner last night.

We’ve managed her place in Aberdeen after a few minor improvements we made since last summer and as you can see she is delighted with the arrangement.

We are expecting a large booking in the next few weeks which means we will need at least one or 2 extra properties in Aberdeen to fulfil the order.

So if you or anyone you know has a property in Aberdeen which is empty please get in touch.

We offer guaranteed rent in potentially long (or short if preferred) term agreements and look after them impeccably, like they were our own.

Please let any Aberdeen landlords you we may be able to help them.

Thanks, Colin.

The post Landlords: We need your properties! appeared first on Dwellcome Home.

I do.

The KILLER Marsden Bank!

If you’ve ever done the Great North Run (worlds biggest half marathon) you’ll know as the final mile of so is after this killer bank!

If you know you know…

We’ve been busy today working on our properties so haven’t got round to wiring our next blog but would like your help if that okay!

Please help us choose what to write about next.

Vote:

A for Marsden Beach – over the road and down the steps from this very point, or

B for the BIG (Sandhaven) Beach

Have a great night, Colin.

PS – still open for non leisure guests at our self catering places 5 minutes from here – only to non leisure guests currently.

The post South Shields Guide: Where next? You choose! appeared first on Dwellcome Home.

I’m not really sure where to start with Littlehaven Beach (sorry ‘little beach’ guys, it’s what I’ve always called it) but others refer to it as the little beach or Herd Sands.

I just love it so much. But really couldn’t pick a favourite South Shields beach. I love them all equally.

There are so many amazing ways to approach it and to start your time exploring here.

I love approaching from the west with the elevated sweeping views of the River Tyne, piers and sea from the Lawe Top (Lawe Road) then walk down the steps (of doom – as referred to by local runners who use the steps in training sessions), or though the North Marine Park (which has been renovated recently using lottery funds).

If you come via Lawe Road the great Arbeia roman fort is well worth a visit. The Harbour Lights pub on Lawe Road also has great views and there are cannons on the roundabout. My kids loved playing here when they were a little younger pretending to sink boats in the harbour!

It is also lovely approaching the Littlehaven beach from either the south if walking from the big beach and over the South Tyne Pier or kinda from the north/west from along the riverside path.

It’s basically the centre of the universe!

Haha! Just kidding.

There is loads of parking available in the council run car park adjacent to the beach.

Littlehaven beach is dog friendly all year round.

It is a section of mainly sandstone fine sand hemmed in between the Herd Groyne Pier to the north and the South Tyne Pier to, well the south!

When you stand on this beach you literally do feel like it is the gateway to the great oceans of the world.

With the River Tyne pouring out into the North Sea (then sucking the sea water back in as it’s a tidal river) and given South Shields rich maritime history I often think back to how many amazing shipping vessels have arrived and left this great town via this point to faraway lands all over the world.

Within the LittleHaven Hotel is a nice hidden gem in that not many locals seem to know about or use it. You can buy a drink in the bar, and sit outside in the summer in their beer garden to take in the lovely views over the river to Tynemouth, and the Priory, Lord Collingwood Monument, etc!  This is a fantastic place to watch the sunset over the River Tyne.

Coming from the Littlehaven hotel car park, set back behind the sand dunes at the rear of the beach there are some funny sculptures called the “conversation piece” and kids of all ages tend to love these wee men!

From the Littlehaven beach you can walk to the end of the little pier where the Groyne (Red coloured) lighthouse is and along the Littlehaven Beach toward the South Tyne Pier.

The beach is good for rock pooling near the Groyne Pier when the tide is out, and also for seabirds, seals and bottle nosed dolphins are other visitors.

If, unlike this cheeky chappie above, you don’t like sand or are not able to tackle it, you can travel along the lovely promenade running along this beach which is prettily lit up at night with coloured lights.

Include info about the ‘eye sculpture’

There’s a nice Minchella’s cafe set just back off this promenade near the fairground end of it where you can get coffees, cafe food and ice creams and theres a little sitting area here.

At the far (south) and of the beach is the South Tyne Pier and ‘the fair’ or the Ocean Beach Pleasure Park to give it it’s full name.

We will maybe cover those in future blogs.

Thanks for reading, we will add some more detail to this tomorrow but if you have anything more you think we can add before then we’d love to hear you comments.

Cheers, Colin.

The post South Shields Guide: Littlehaven Beach appeared first on Dwellcome Home.

It is being prepared to give our guests, and anyone else we can hep, my personalised insight to places I have discovered in my time living there and now visiting South Shields on our regular trips ‘home’.

After living in Aberdeen for 20 years, I have developed a strengthened passion for my old hometown of South Shields, and for the people from there; locally referred to as Sanddancers.

I guess there’s no place like home but the area really does have so much to offer which is maybe why you’ve decided to visit or are considering a trip!

And if you come here for work or any other reason I really hope that this personal guide helps you find some nice places to enjoy.

For me, the best part of South Shields is undoubtedly the coast and along the River Tyne, and its parks and beaches so that’s what we’ll concentrate on.

And obviously a little further afield there is Newcastle, Sunderland, Northumberland and Durham on our doorstep.

As you read this, if you can suggest anywhere I have missed or not discovered yet I’d really appreciate you letting me know in a comment or message and I will try to include it in a future blog.

Right. Let’s set the scene a little.

The BEACHES! And we are blessed with THREE decent sized beaches and loads of nooks and crannies in between.

To get to the beaches on foot from any of our 2, 3 & 4 bed self catering places I’d recommend either walking through Westoe Village then cutting along to Mowbray Road to get to the big or little beach. Or if you want a clifftop coastal paths walk then along to Marsden and Souter Lighthouse, head along Grosvenor Road, pass the college then down to The Bamburgh pub and walk over the Leas (fields at the top of the cliffs) and head either north towards the river or south towards Sunderland from there to explore.

The LITTLE Beach is the first place we will cover but that will be tomorrow.

But to give you an insight into the popularity of this amazing stretch of sand I ran a poll on a local Facebook group called South Shields In Old Photos. It created a fair response and some pretty strong views on what it should be called!

The poll result was a resounding win for the name the LITTLE beach with over 800 votes, then came the name I’ve always called it, Littlehaven beach with over 300 votes. Next came Herd Sands, which according to the Ordinance Survey map is the name for both the big (aka Sandhaven) and little beaches which are intersected by the South Tyne Pier.

And I cant wait to tell you all about it tomorrow!

I’d love to hear you comments if you have any.

Have a good Sunday night.

Colin.

The post Our South Shields Guide: Introduction appeared first on Dwellcome Home.

The quasi respite of the festive period is gone and it is back to this new constantly changing norm.

The restrictions are becoming tougher again.

In Aberdeen, Scotland anyway where I now call home.

Where I live, and where my 2 teenage kids spend half their time with me.

It’s just 8am and I have already felt the wrath of boy child and tried to raise the girl child.

It’s their first week back to (home) school.

Imagine the mind games we would have had trying to do your chemistry homework when you had your new Pacman game on your Atari console staring you in the face! Tough times.

Haha.

The changes are affecting us all in different ways.

And we all react differently.

But at the end of the day it is all about SURVIVAL.

Fight or flight.

Thankfully, from a personal perspective, we can still get out for exercise and get those primitive urges out of our systems.

Now that exercise is limited again to exercise to as close as your home as possible, it normally involves walking up to the local woods.

Being in touch with nature, even just a little, is a godsend for me.

And for all of us I think.

Your head can become a bit ‘done in’ being cooped up indoors.

Whether it’s marketing, working on getting guests in to cover the bills, doing home schooling or playing on your Xbox.

The big screens aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

Or little ones!

So I’m grateful for those hours of outdoor time throughout the week.

We’ve seen our local Kingfisher regularly and some deer.

But I am also missing my old hometown.

The place that moulded me as a person; South Shields.

I’m missing the river, the beaches and the clifftops.

And the people.

I’m grateful I had them, but two brief one week working visits between lockdowns in July and October is the smallest amount of time I’ve spent there in a year since coming to Aberdeen for work in 2001.

It’s looking likely that by March we will have had a year of varying states of restrictions.

So I know that I will not be the only one feeling the yearn to return to the place I grew up.

SEPARATION from your loved ones, friends and family can be though.

And when you’re working hard to make things work, like businesses and jobs, to get through this period it seems counterintuitive to SOFTEN UP your approach.

When there’s friction in the house it takes a strong person to take a deep breath, count to 10 and diffuse a situation.

Whether it’s waking up a grumpy teenager to start their day or limiting their time on electronics in the evening.

But it’s essential, now more than ever to soften our approach.

Mental wellbeing isn’t just an important factor at home but also at work.

And from a business perspective we continually do it.

Trying to help our guests.

Offering refunds for those who can’t travel due to self isolating.

Generally just doing our best to look after people.

And it seems to be paying off.

We are continuing to host BUSINESS travellers staying for work and training purposes.

We are still receiving enquiries, more or less exclusively direct via our current website or Facebook business pages. And if you’d like to connect with us on social media have a dig around our website and you’ll find the links.

The guys from Malta here for armed forces training (who armed with our personal guide to the area are loving their daily exercise along the coast), and others from the wind turbine, fire protection, health and food industries.

Most of these heard of us through our social media.

Through you.

So thanks AGAIN.

For helping keep us afloat.

And this week we have just reviewed the first draft of our brand new website.

It still needs a few tweaks but we are really excited about it and hope it will lead to us getting even more bookings to get through this tough period.

So remember that when you can return to South Shields or Aberdeen.

We are fighting to still be here for you.

And with your help.

We’ll keep the fire burning for you.

Take care and stay safe.

Colin

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