Sykes Owner Stories - Bridge Lake Farm and Fishery

Nestled on either side of the Oxfordshire & Northamptonshire border, within the quintessential English village of Chacombe is Bridge Lake Farm and Fishery.

The site consists of 6 available properties: Acorn Lodge, Willow Lodge, Maple Lodge, Oak Lodge, The Shepherds Hut and The Tunnel.

The properties offer EV charging, wood-fired hot tubs and fishing courses on the spring-fed lake.

Owner Brendan sits down with us to give us his story and how he aims to go the extra mile for each guest.

What made you decide to get into holiday letting?

It's been a long winding road, I started off in plumbing and drainage and then became an electrician and had a business which I sold, and I have always been good at spotting business opportunities and evolving them.

I had a lad that worked for me and he kept saying he went fishing in the village, going fishing in Chacombe. I never believed him, I didn't even know it existed and the opportunity came up, we looked at selling our house and my wife found the house just next to this site which we purchased and moved into there and then found by chance that this lake was next to us.

And then the opportunity came up for that to be bought and we did so, with the view to see what we could set up on it.

What were the most significant/difficult parts of the build?

So, the site is obviously set around a lake, the first two lodges we originally got were Acorn and Willow, which are over in the corner. We've tried to position them all so they are not overlooking the other ones as much as physically possible.

We then went on and decided that because those two lodges are sat back from the lake, why couldn't we put them on the lake itself? So we have then gone on to develop Oak and Maple. Oak itself is actually a shipping container, we have built that lodge out of a shipping container, basically built it around it and inside it. We also have The Shepherds Hut.

Initially, we purchased two pods, just before COVID they arrived, literally the week before lockdown. So we started with the two pods and established them into place and then realised really quickly there was an opportunity here with the surroundings, it is peaceful around the lake.

When did you consider the fishing aspect?

The fishing side of it, even though it was an old fishery, hadn't really been at the top of the list. Once we bought these two pods, we then started to build our own, getting rid of all the niggles with the two that we bought and then gradually just progressed until we had five.

We have tried to balance with nature, we've tried not to disturb nature at all where we can. The lake is a spring-fed lake, the water is crystal clear, and some days it looks clear enough to drink.

We've got a great selection of fish and everybody that has fished on it has said that it is some of the best quality fish they have ever seen, and we put that down to the spring water and the quality of the oxygen levels in there. The challenge that we have is that we have a lot of reed growth because the water is so clean, but that is the price that we pay.

What do you think makes your properties stand out?

The main feature really, and what everyone wants, is a hot tub. So we have gone for eco end of the hot tubs and we have gone for log-fired. As the site is so peaceful and quiet, there is very few interruptions on the site, it is really as back to nature as you can be.

Some of the simplest improvements have come from guest feedback, and if we get enough people commenting on the same things, we know that's an important thing to guests.

Simple things that have come along have been things like clotheslines, for hanging their stuff on when they get out of the hot tubs, hooks for their gowns when they come out of lodges, and the gowns themselves. Just regular feedback on particular comments has helped us to evolve.

What type of wildlife do you have at the properties?

You are back to nature, you've got everything from kingfishers, herons, we've got an otter, we have badgers and there is deer in the neighbouring field, we have muntjac that come down onto the site - there is such an array of wildlife here. There is crayfish in the lake, there is a wide variety on offer here.

Tell us about the new tunnel property

Well, when we bought the site, The Tunnel was here. The irony is, I have walked for years in the fields at the back and could see the tunnel from the field all boarded up, with no idea where it was or how to get to it, but was only a stone's throw away. A lot of people in the village actually don't know how you get to it.

When we bought the property, there was planning permission on it to convert it. It was a workshop originally for the fishery, and there was planning permission to convert it into a dwelling.

It's the icing on the cake for the site. The view is tremendous from the upstairs windows, even from the downstairs windows, but the absolute shot is when you open the blinds on a morning and you are looking out onto the lake.

So, as a site we have tried to keep up with technology without damaging the environment that we are set in, so we have installed car chargers. We try to keep all the cars off the site and they tend to park on the old railway line, which is ironically on the top of the tunnel and that's where the car chargers are located.

So you are able to come along and charge your car while you are in your lodge at night. There's plenty of parking, some couples tend to come in two cars, we then transport you down. Keeping the cars off the site just helps to keep that experience for everybody.

Can you tell us about any special or unique features of the site?

I think the uniqueness of the site is predominantly the setting, the lodges set around the lake have a certain serenity to them, and it does not matter what type of weather it is. I actually prefer sitting down here when it is raining and just watching it, I think it is because I don't have to do any jobs when it is raining. But it does have a certain attraction. Then of course we have the hot tubs out facing the lake, the unspoilt night sky, and the nature around you.

The lodges are positioned so you are not on top of your neighbour, they have all been tweaked so you have the maximum privacy we can possibly give. It's just about that high-end experience, with a good quality finish so you can have the break you deserve.

Why did you choose to let with an agency?

I decided to go with an agency because it is not my skill set. There is so much now with advertising and technology, which you need to be savvy with, and also we've got so much work actually developing the site and getting it up and running, so it was a choice that was made. I've done this through my years of business, if I can outsource an element of it that I'm not particular good at, why not? It makes sense.

The places where we can now be found advertising are amazing. The breadth of where I find people and where they say they have booked through is tremendous, because I could just never replicate it easily.

What type of guests are the properties catered towards?

So, we cater exclusively for adults, and it was a conscious decision we made at the start. We looked at the health and safety elements of the lake, and it allows us to do other things and open up areas such as the open-fronted pontoons in front of the lodges safely, and also it is around the noise and the escape for people. It has become one of our unique selling points.

People love leaving their kids at home or with their in-laws, when I pick people up at the top I can see the car seats in the back, so I know they've got kids, and they just love getting away.

The pets side again, I know is a disappointment for some people, but the challenge that we have got is that we are right by a lake, dogs jumping into lakes and going into lodges doesn't necessarily leave a great experience for the following guests. So we decided to go pet-free as well.

The decisions have not affected our business at all, if anything they have actually become a unique selling point. We get a lot of return guests, our best-returning guest has been back four times, and considering we have only been open since the end of COVID-19, that's a regular return visit.

What is your experience of using Sykes Holiday Cottages?

In my years in business, Sykes is one of the better firms I've ever had to deal with. It's honest, and it's a nice team to work with. The experience of Sykes has now become very easy, people know who I am and what I am trying to deliver and that makes it easier to talk to people, it's not faceless anymore, it's people who understand.

What is your favourite thing about letting out your properties?

What we try and do, we try and give people what they want. It's lovely to see guests leaving and thanking you, there is nothing nicer and it happens regularly. I am really surprised but you'll get chocolates or they'll leave you a bottle of wine or a card, they will take the time to go out and buy a card and there is nothing nicer than that, it means you have really made someone's experience.

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