Latest news with #fishinglodge
CTV News
15-05-2025
- CTV News
Lodge owner discovers mass caribou slaughter
Winnipeg Watch The owner of a fly-in fishing lodge in northern Manitoba is deeply shaken after discovering a mass caribou slaughter on his property.
Times
10-05-2025
- Times
Historic UK homes you can stay at now and live like a king
Around the country, wealthy families are transforming old, rundown mansions into alluring private-use homes in which they're welcoming visitors to stay. Some come with private chefs, ghillies, yoga teachers and fishing instructors; others are filled with historical artefacts, from a collection of Cecil Beaton's artworks and personal effects to antiques that have been in the family for generations. We've reviewed three with glorious interiors and plenty to keep everyone entertained, inside and out. • This article contains affiliate links that can earn us revenue WherwellAs country houses go, Freelands is pretty perfect. As fishing lodges with double-bank fishing along one of the most revered stretches of the River Test, it is practically a place of pilgrimage. Set within 28 acres of glorious Hampshire countryside, the house was built in 1878 as a fishing lodge. Its recent renovation by its American owners stays true to that purpose. Although no expense has been spared on transforming it into a rental house for up to 16 people, it's not too grand. The vibe, rather, is traditional English — William Morris meets Colefax & Fowler without anything being twee or matchy-matchy. The owners have employed incredible craftspeople to add objects of enduring beauty — and usefulness. One of the highlights is a new, handmade gothic oak staircase. Others include a lift (for luggage and the less sprightly), flawless wi-fi, a helipad on an island in the lake — and oh, the bathrooms. Each of the bedrooms is so cosy and classy that you'll immediately want to redecorate your own house in homage, but it's bathrooms (and dentistry) that Americans do far better. These have everything you could dream of. Alongside fluffy towels there are freestanding claw-foot baths and marble double sinks, armchairs and chaises longues, and motion-detecting soft lights for middle-of-the night trips. In addition they've added thoughtful touches such as magnifying mirrors, spot-on appropriate Wildsmith Skin English botanical bathroom products — and great showers. The water pressure is on a constant loop system (like big hotels have) and the showers are so good that it's hard to resist the urge to return for a second dowsing after breakfast. (And, should you need some refreshment in between meals, there are little snack rooms, upstairs and down, in which to nibble on something or make a cup of tea.) Adding to his other accomplishments the owner is a passionate fisherman. If you were of the same persuasion and had deep pockets, Freelands is what you would buy. The area's unique ecosystem, created by rain filtering through the chalk Downs before it runs into the river, is nutrient rich feeding not only the fish but also the insects — hence the sensational birdsong. The River Test, particularly this half-a-mile double beat in Hampshire known for its brown trout, is a bucket-list destination. And if that wasn't enough of a lure for a fishing fan, the owners have two others just down the road called the Chilbolton beats, as well as a three-acre, spring-fed lake, well stocked with brown and rainbow trout, perch and pike. But then, everything at Freelands is as good as the fishing. In fact, it is all so good that (faintly sacrilegiously) you don't even have to be into fishing to be enthralled by a stay here. You can also go wild swimming, do wine tastings, take cooking, flower-arranging or pottery classes, play golf or go cycling, hiking, shooting, riding and deerstalking. Or just take long walks in the Hampshire countryside. • 21 of the best fishing spots in the UK For non-fishers the most stunning part of Freelands must be its Retreat. The new low-profile addition, built to look like an old barn, holds a yoga studio with lovely tall ceilings, a domed roof and a wall of glass doors that can be folded back onto a terrace. It's large enough that a full house could all do yoga at the same time, and it can double as a screening room. Then there are the wellness facilities: the small pool with a swimming jet current, a massive Jacuzzi, a sauna and steam room, a big treatment room filled with natural light and a well-equipped gym whose soundtrack is the river burbling just feet away. I can't think of any other non-hotel private property that has a facility like this. For those who don't want to exercise on their own, the house has links with an incredible roster of specialists in yoga, Pilates, osteopathy, personal training, massage, facials, reiki, sound baths and even manicures, so guests' wellness is as well catered for as their meals. Of course, you could bring your own practitioners or chefs, but the flawless house managers, Olivia and John de Villiers, the guide Mike Hurd and the riverkeeper Sam McMurray really do have it covered. Hurd, a former therapist who worked with troubled teens, cuts to the chase when describing the benefits of Freelands: 'Getting people to switch off from what they normally do and being next to the river is everything.' The food is as impressive as the fishing and the bathrooms; the chef Shaun's meals are off-the-charts sensational, whether he's serving pea velouté with a warm pea salad, asparagus tips and artichoke crisps followed by pan-fried trout or a sugar-free chocolate tart that is so delicious it frankly smacks of witchcraft. 'Before guests arrive we talk through what they love to eat, how they like to dine, what occasions they might want to celebrate,' John de Villiers says. 'Someone might want a formal five-course dinner in the dining room one evening, then a riverside picnic the next day featuring the trout they caught that morning. It's all possible.' Most wonderful of all is that, although there are extraordinarily high standards, this house still feels like a fishing lodge and, more importantly, a home. But oddly, it's not like someone else's home — you don't feel as though you're trespassing. It's the home you would buy if you could. Kate Reardon From £13,800 for a two-night minimum stay for six guests, including meals, drinks and access to all amenities, • 9 of the best country house hotels near London Flintshire, north WalesWith bedrooms featuring Basquiats and Beatons, a Turner en route to the shower, a dozen David Shrigleys, plus works by Julian Opie, Damien Hirst and Peter Doig, Hawarden Castle's West End apartment is not your average rental. The 18th-century gothic revival castle in Flintshire, north Wales, was the home of the British prime minister William Gladstone until his death in 1898. The Gladstone family still live here today, and the castle's three-floor, five-bedroom, grade I listed West End wing has been restored, renovated and lavishly refurbished by the present owners, Charlie and Caroline Gladstone, and is available to rent. Charlie, an enthusiastic art collector, is also the great-nephew of the designer and photographer Cecil Beaton, whose paintings and family portraits — part of the estate's Cecil Beaton archive — adorn the West End, along with dozens more contemporary and classical works. I sleep beneath a vast 10x14ft oil painting depicting a scene from Don Quixote (artist unknown) bought by Charlie at auction. But the historic, eccentrically bohemian West End is no formal, polished museum — the welcome is relaxed and warm, and extends to dogs. Charlie's previous careers — in the music industry and as founder of the now closed Pedlars vintage store in Notting Hill — are evident in both the vinyl selection by the record player and the eclectic rock'n'roll aesthetic. Along with bespoke desks, lamps from Flos, Designers Guild cushions and Welsh blankets from SCP, much of the furniture (including a giant birdcage) is vintage or reclaimed. While the former prime minister was famed for his tree-felling hobby and often drew crowds in their thousands to watch, sustainability is now paramount. Cosy and impressively draught-free, the 100-plus-room castle is heated and powered by a vast bank of solar panels. Much of the 3,500-acre estate has been converted from agricultural land to organic farming, with a lakeland nature reserve and wildflower meadows. The farm shop and café — voted in The Times top 35 in the country — is a destination in itself, selling local meats, cheeses, wine and beers, deli fare, Hawarden Estate own-brand preserves and exceptional bread and pastries, all baked on site. The entrepreneurial Gladstones also own the Glynne Arms pub and restaurant, a 15-minute walk across the estate, a campsite and Gladstone/Hellen, a new sustainable fashion and homeware brand whose studio is in the castle's basement. There's heaps to do in the day. The walled garden, home to a wood-fired sauna and hot tub (there's a second, infrared sauna in the West End basement), hosts classes including photography and flower arranging, and guests can tour the 13th-century Old Castle. If you ask the caretaker Karl very nicely, he might even show you Gladstone's 'Temple of Peace', the former PM's office, largely untouched for 125 years, containing his desks, books, busts — and his prized collection of axes. Jane Mulkerrins From £800 for two nights for two guests, • Grand British houses for a truly restorative retreat Stoford, SomersetSet in a sleepy Somerset valley trimmed by oak and beech trees, Newton House was built in 1612 by Robert Harbin, a wealthy wood merchant. It was characterised by Flemish tapestries, grand stone mantelpieces and stained-glass windows bearing the family crest. Over four centuries, generations of Harbins lived there, adding corniced ceilings, a library and walled gardens. But by 2006 the house was inhabited by an elderly her death this now faded Jacobean mansion was sold and its contents auctioned. A local couple, Robin and Jane Cannon, bought and extensively renovated the house and gardens. Then in 2020 an American descendant of the Harbins repurchased the property. Her mission: to create a home fit for a modern multigenerational family while celebrating the historic features and heirlooms, many of which she had saved in the auction. She hired the American interior designer Jeffrey Bilhuber, whose bold and opulent styling has transformed the mansion, using fabrics by John Rosselli and Rogers & Goffigon, custom-made rugs and oversized ceramic lamps by the New York-based Balsamo Antiques. Renamed Newton Surmaville, the house today is a history buff's dream and surprisingly cosy. Its five living rooms, grand dining room, nine bedrooms, sun terrace, games room, cinema, yoga studio and gym provide ample room even for a full house of 18. There is no generic 'five-star interior' feeling here. The centuries-old portraits of beady-eyed Robert Harbin and his descendants make sure of that. You picture them walking the flagstones to the original kitchen, where a fire blazes in a 17th-century hearth and a dresser displays pewter plates used by Charles II. There's an adjacent fitted kitchen to which the private chef Tim Ford can be summoned to create delicious meals that are served in the grand dining room. Guests will flop on the sofas in the drawing room or play board games in the 'tapestry room' where two restored Flemish works hang on original panelling. Upstairs, morning light streams through an oriel window into the library, which is lined with antique books. • 100 Best Places to Stay in the UK for 2025 It's the four grandiose suites, though, that make this house a real treat. Three contain a four-poster bed (including Harbin's), fitted with marshmallow mattresses and The White Company bedlinen. The master suite has two dressing rooms. In the attic, meanwhile, interconnecting rooms have been created for parents with young children or teenagers. The house is surrounded by 62 acres of parkland through which the River Yeo flows, so there is walking, fishing and kayaking on site. Roberts and her partner, Stuart Pitts, can organise shooting or deerstalking, or historic excursions. Pitts may give a clay-pigeon shooting lesson or set up golf and croquet on the lawn. Yeovil Junction, with direct trains to London Waterloo, is three minutes away. Or guests can arrive by helicopter. What would Robert Harbin have thought? Bridget Harrison From £6,000 a night (minimum two nights) for up to 18 guests, or from £4,000 a night for a seven-night stay,
