Spring is here

Hello to all. It has been a little while since we updated you about what has been happening to us at Argument Cottage-well sadly some bad and thankfully some good things!

Firstly, Phil has been really poorly and spent a long while in hospital recently. He is now slowly on the road to recovery thank goodness! Our new routine involves us spending part of each day walking in Guisborough Forest as part of the rehabilitation process.

It is great to have such a fantastic resource so close by, it makes you really appreciate the simple things in life when things have been so hard. We then go for a coffee, tea, soup or snack to any of the many wonderful bistros nearby. At the moment our favourite is the Cats Whiskers on Chaloner Street where the soups are magnificent- especially the pea and mint. Sometime we venture futher afield to Great Ayton, Stokesley, the moors or coast. We found a new gem of a bistro yesterday in Great Ayton call Tallys. They served lovely food at an extremely reasonable price- service and ambience were great too. Things are improving every day for Phil and me, thankfully so is the weather.

Amidst all the chaos of the last few months we have had some really positive experiences too. We achieved a four star grading for the fourth time from VisitBritain for the quality of our accommodation. We were delighted that our continued improvement and good work was recognised. Thanks too to our friend Martin Smith who helped getting the cottage ready for the assessment visit- he was a real star!

We have also had some really lovely guests staying with us during this period. A mum and daughter from Canada who have a family history connection to Guisborough- Hutton Village to be precise. Shirley and Barbara, two really great ladies have kindly contributed information to Martin Smith, for the next edition of The Guisborough Life local magazine. The story revolves around a courageous act by their relative at High Cliff Farm in 1908. Please see the story below about the award he received.

Our current guests, a lovely couple, are on the way to getting married in Gretna Green! Argument Cottage has the first wedding (almost) on site...........our best wishes go to them for a long and happy life together.

Yesterday members of our lovely family took a day out to Grosmont to go on the steam train to Goathland and back (unfortunately we could not make it). Anyway they kindly let us post these great photos to our site for you to see just how wonderful the North York Moors Railway is and the villages of Grosmont and Goathland- real Heartbeat land!

Thanks to all of our guests and family for providing such interesting stories to pass on. We will keep you posted on any new developments in the next few weeks. Not forgetting the help of families during this difficult period. A mention too is needed for our dear friend Denise Nesbitt who continues to support me, with walks with Wilma on Saltburn Beach, chats and wedding exhibition planning. The next one is Dunsley Hall near Whitby this Sunday. Check out Denise's blog on mrsnesbittsplace.blogspot.com.

A big thank you to everyone from Maria and Phil!

A lovely snowy day in good old Guisborough

BBC Tees John Foster Show- I was on his programme again yesterday if you want to listen again tab forward 3 hours to hear our chat!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0020wdx/John_Foster_29_01_2009/

Winter Offers £65 per night, £260 per week

Hello there just a quick note to let you know that we have some very special offers available at in January and February if you are thinking of visiting Guisborough and surrounding area. If you stay for 2 nights or more it is £65 per night for up to 4 people to stay at Argument Cottage. The extra special weekly price for the same dates is £260 for 7 nights.

Please contact Maria or Phil to make all of the booking arrangements and provide you with the usual exclusive FREE extras- parking permit, mobile broadband, gas/electricity, luxury linen, luxury welcome pack and much more! Our phone numbers are- home 00 44 (0) 1287 638716 or mobile 00 44 (0) 07890743480

North East Restaurants Award

Why not vote for one of our restaurants to win the coveted award. I can only see Baan Thai on the nominations lists so why not give them a vote, they do provide excellent food and service. I am sure Paye will be delighted if you vote for her. Please take a look at the linking below to find all of the categories.

There is also our other favourite Krimos on the list so perhaps you can 'share your vote' around!
http://www.northeastrestaurantawards.co.uk/

Best Wishes to you, your family and friends

Maria and Phil would like to pass on our very best wishes to all, and hoping for a happy, joyous and peaceful 2009. We are looking forward to meeting new and returning visitors this year and hope very much that you enjoy your stay in argument cottage, Guisborough and Yorkshire!

Please let us know if you need any help or advice regarding your visit.

Sarah McQuaid performs at Guisborough Folk Club (rugby club house) February 15 2009

For all those interested in Folk Music, you will be delighted to hear that Sarah McQuaid is performing at the Guisborough Folk Club on the 15th February 2009 in the Rugby Club House. If you want to find out more about Sarah and the gig please take a look at the site below.

http://www.sarahmcquaid.com/

You will find out all you need to know about the career and music of Sarah McQuaid and link to the Guisborough Folk Club site forum also. I am sure the town will give Sarah a very warm welcome!

Our weekend in Newcastle

Well last weekend was very busy for me. A trip to the Riverside Stadium on saturday to watch the boro play Bolton- not a good result. Then off to Newcastle for a reunion with Phil's friends Ian, Mike, Chris, John, Pete and Tim, from University. We enjoyed the pleasures of the Cluny in Byker before going onto the Simla Indian on the Quayside, before going 'home' to our twin private room in the Youth Hostel in Jesmond.

People just don't realise how improved the Youth Hostel Association is as an organisation. We even had a huge choice of breakfast items prepared for us ready for our late arrival in the dining room the next morning! After breakfast we took the Metro to meet with friends for a coffee in Blakes on Grey Street, opposite the Theatre Royal. We then shook off the cobwebs and headed down the Quayside for a stroll amongst the market stalls in the glorious winter sunshine all the way along the river looking toward the Sage, Baltic, blinking eye Millennium and Tyne Bridges.

It really is a wonderful city. Walking along the Tyne we all marvelled at how much Newcastle had changed in the past 20 years and hope for similar wonders for our own town of Middlesbrough in the coming decade!

A very interesting week

Last week was a very busy and exciting week for us. On monday I attended the Yorkshire Tourist Board Tourism Operators' Group meeting, of which I am a board member. The group were introduced to the new Chief Executive Gary Verity. He is an inspiring and dynamic new leader who will take the tourism network in Yorkshire far. Argument Cottage welcomes Gary to the Board and have every confidence in his success in promoting the 'state of Yorkshire' around the world! Did you know that Yorkshire has the same size population as New Zealand? Amazing!

Whilst taking the train to the meeting, I saw the Boro player Afonso Alves at Darlington station and being a real fan made sure I got his autograph for my nephew Joseph. He was with a group of friends probably on a day trip to London as he did not get off at York. This just goes to show that you can have it all living and working in Yorkshire......... great work, environment and access to city life!!

On wednesday I was delighted to be on the BBC Tees John Foster Breakfast Show again as a member of the People's Panel. It is so stimulating and exciting to be part of a live media event, I recommend it to anyone. The show was full of interesting and poignant topics such as veganism and adoption. It was good to find out that family and friends listened in and enjoyed the show.

On Thursday our regular Tees Valley self catering and bed and breakfast forum was held. This time at Springdale House in Redcar, thanks to my colleague Jan Buxton; who made the most amazing walnut cake and scones! They went down really well with all of the attendees, I can tell you that.

Caroline Found from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at Salthome gave an excellent presentation about the soon to be opened International Nature Reserve. It is just on the other side of the Transporter Bridge going towards Seaton Carew and Hartlepool. I was particularly interested in the reserve as I had managed a training programme called the Nature Reserve Project over in the Clarences for a number of years which gave the community skills to work on the reserve. I hope that some of the people we helped will benefit from the new international reserve!

So in terms of tourism it has been a stimulating and exciting week. The Boro managed to cap the week off by a respectable draw at Everton so all was happy in Chez Argument this week!

I will keep you posted if anything else interesting happens to us. bye for now

Rememberance Day 11th November 1918

Today at Argument Cottage we are thinking about all of the brave men and women who gave their lives in defence of all of our liberty in WW1 and all the terrible wars and conflicts since then!

I watched the wonderful service on the BBC on Sunday and observed the 2 minutes silence, and again today, as did 'The Captain'- amazingly (our cockateil bird). It was very emotional..... especially when the buglers played their tune!

Last night Phil and I also watched a Time Team Special where archaeologists excavated the Vampyr tunnel in Pachendale. The amazing mining and survival skills of the soldiers during this terrible battle of attrition is breathtaking.

http://www.poppy.org.uk/

It is a timely reminder that we should never forget the sacrifices made by others.........

A busy couple of months

Phil and I have had an extremely busy time at the cottage in the last couple of months with guests and projects to keep things looking good. Recently we had a few extra days free and thought we would use them to enhance the already exceptional quality that we provide at the cottage. We managed to refresh and redecorate both bedrooms and the dining room in such a short space of time that we cannot believe we did it! Things are looking as good as ever at argument cottage and in the middle of the work we had last minute guests arrive so it kept us both busy and got us fit, I can tell you that!

We have also recently invested in new kitchen equipment- an A rated fridge freezer, dual function bin for recycling and domestic waste, eco kettle all in line with our environmental commitment and wonderful le creuset kitchenware which is superb. The bedrooms have also been further upgraded with luxury bathroom linen and soft furnishings. For your comfort we have had individual thermostatic heating controls installed on all the radiators. Finally we are happy to announce that for a small fee we now provide mobile internet broadband connection.

We are looking forward to welcoming more guests in the next few weeks and over Christmas.........if you are thinking about visiting Guisborough, the North Yorkshire Moors or Coast nearby then do no hesitate to contact us and we will be delighted to accommodate you!!

The Arguments- A band from Glasgow

Lizzie just found this band advertising a gig in Sheffield..............we are pleased that there is a band called The Arguments from Glasgow and hope they are doing well.

http://www.thearguments.org

Our last guests wrote us a wonderful poem; ' A Tribute To Argument Cottage'. Adapting the lyrics to 'The Road and the Miles to Dundee'.

Copyright A Millar October 2008

(Click on image above to enlarge please)

We were overwhelmed to receive a wonderful tribute poem to our cottage from our last guests at Argument Cottage. Our lovely guests from Dundee penned, 'A Tribute To Argument Cottage'; with special lyrics about the cottage and our lovely area. The Tribute is to be sung to the tune, 'The Miles and The Road to Dundee', which is a popular Scottish song.

The new lyrics and old tune will be merged by Phil, who is the musician in the family and sang to the tune, ' The Miles and the Road to Dundee'. He has already been practising on his mandolin to bring it together.

We were kindly given permission to use the tribute in the public arena so here it is above...... you will be able to hear the adapted lyrics to the great Scottish Tune............soon so watch this space!! For now you can listen to the original version of the song I found from someone who had posted it on youtube just to get you in the mood.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_xGzePqhMw

We thank our guests for their wonderfully kind gesture, it gives us the opportunity to pass on positive feedback about the cottage, Guisborough and our beautiful area to future and returning guests.

Here's to Scotland, Dundee, Anne and Iain!!!

Mobile Internet Connection is here!

Just a quick note to let all of our guests and prospective guests know that we have invested in mobile internet technology. If you are worried about missing emails or important messages whilst staying with us at Argument Cottage, then worry no more..............

For a very small weekly fee of £10 all of our guests can use the mobile internet connection to keep in touch with family, friends and dare I say it.............work??

If you wish to use the internet just let us know when you are booking your accommodation and we will ensure it is available on your arrival.

Argument Cottage website link

Please find all of the details about argument cottage on the link below:

http://www.argumentproperties.co.uk/

We hope that you come and stay with us sometime soon!

A lovely message from unknown Argument relations in Wales. Why not visit the Goat Hotel if you are in LLanfair?

The internet is a wonderful thing, isn't it! We have received this lovely message from some other 'Arguments' in Llanfair, whom we have not met yet, anyway read on..................

Hello,

I came across your website today while looking for a holiday property in Yorkshire for October half term and I would just like to tell you how impressed I was. Unfortunately your lovely cottage is not suitable this year as we are travelling with my husband, two daughters and one boyfriend - so we need three bedrooms! However it was lovely to read particularly the links and blogspot. We met Frank and Phil with Kath and Eileen many years ago after I had appeared on a daytime Quiz programme called "Today's the day!" (not very successfully I must add!) It was lovely to meet them all, although I still haven't managed to work out the family connection yet! Since then we do still see Michael occasionally - he turns up like a hurricane without the warning!

I think that Frank did make contact with Richard's dad, Roy Argument and his wife Sheila. Unfortunately he has since passed away also.

Anyway many thanks for your excellent website and the blogspot - we will try and make it up to stay at your lovely cottage when we are a smaller party -
Regards
Richard and Alyson Argument
GOAT HOTEL - LLANFAIR CAEREINION

Captain Cook 'memorials' in Botany Bay, Australia

Take a look at these lovely pictures in memory to Captain Cook our local hero!

Sandie at Botany Bay where Captain James Cook came ashore

++

The memorial to Captain Cook on the statue at the spot where he landed in Australia

Can you believe they even have a Captain Cook 'wheelie bin' imprint in Australia!

Here are some lovely piccies sent by our friend Sandie Fowler who is studying in Sydney and from Guisborough. Whilst out and about she went on a trip to Botany Bay and saw our local hero Captain Cook's memorials and kindly sent them on to us back home as she knows how mad we are for all things Cook! He sailed on the RMS Bark Endeavour; the replica is now docked in Sydney having left Whitby, Yorkshire for the last time a few years ago.

We have recently had a guest staying at Argument Cottage who was a descendant of the great man Captain James Cook and his family had held for many years one of Cook's diaries!

We have also had a relative of the great sea faring captain William Scoresby who was a whaling captain (in the days when it was seen as ok to do it, we appreciate this is not the case any more). Our guest was kindly donating an oil painted portrait of William Scoresby to the Whitby Museum!

Let's hope for more guests related to such renowned characters!

Tribute to a much loved father Mr Frank Argument during his days as a wrestler

Take a look at the link below and you will see a wonderful article from the Remember When section of the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette.

http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2008/08/the_iron_men_from_joe_waltons.html

It details the early life of our much missed late father Mr Frank Argument and his brother Phil Argument, (now living in Woolongong Australia!) during their days as wrestlers in the Boro!

The Argument brothers made a great duo against auspicious rivals such as 'Dirty Dick Swales' and John Batty- they really knew how to wrestle in those days; not like the more recent WWF and WWE wrestlers!

Anyway we hope that the Argument history interests you and we will be posting more interesting stories in the future, enjoy.

Yorkshire Day

Our friends- Ken from the Tourist Information Centre in the Priory
and Julie Marsden the Tourism Officer

Anne selling Yorkshire flags and roses on behalf of redcar ladies lifeboat association. It was her birthday, very happy birthday to you Anne

the band played it's a long way to tipperary and on ilkley moor bah t'tat!

the procession enters the church service with
opera star suzannah clarke singing for them

mace bearers en route to the service

On Friday the 1st of August, Guisborough hosted the wonderfully named Yorkshire Day! At argument cottage we are proud to be part of Yorkshire and are members of the Yorkshire Tourist Board and finalists in the White Rose Awards for Sustainable Tourism.

Guisborough welcomed 40 Mayors from all over Yorkshire and the day started at 10:30. The proceeding began with a parade down Westgate, dignitary photographs in the splendid 12th Century Augustinian Priory Ruins and a service at St Nicholas Church with a song from local opera star Suzannah Clarke. It was a great day for all Guisborough residents, visitors and those attending the event.

The day ended with a dinner and guest speaker and proud Yorkshireman Dickie Bird providing the wit and entertainment; a common trait amongst us proud Yorkshire folk.

Thankfully the weather was lovely and all went splendidly for the wonderful occasion!

We hope to host many more such prestigious events in Guisborough!

Autumn last minute break at Argument Cottage

Autumn Special Offers

Enjoy a lovely relaxing break in Guisborough, the Gateway to the North Yorkshire Moors, Historic Market Town and Ancient Capital of Cleveland. Give us a call and we can let you know the current offers. All of our loyal repeat booking clients receive 10% discount so if you have been before why not come and see us again?

Jet off to see us in Guisborough and go on the Argument Heritage Trail taking in Guisborough and Whitby where there is Arguments Yard too, our ancestor built this with money made from mining the precious stone of Whitby Jet.

If you have family or friends in the area why not enjoy spending time together, we are here to help. Call us to make a booking we have a few days free in September 13th-18th for the great price of £295 for 5 nights.

We are happy to include all of the following free items for every booking:

• 2 free visitors parking permits
  
• free gas and electricity
  
• free bedroom and bathroom linen
  
• free exclusive welcome pack (free bottle of wine, flowers, newspaper, bread, free range eggs, organic milk, orange juice, marmalade, jam, butter, free trade tea, coffee and sugar and ecover laundry and cleaning products).

Ring Maria or Phil NOW on 07890 743480 or 01287 638716 to take advantage of this great special offer or emailmailto:mariawilcock@hotmail.com

Please quote BLOGOFFER when contacting us directly about these special offer.
We look forward to welcoming you to argument cottage! We care for the environment.

September 12th 2008 Listen out as Maria is on the John Foster Breakfast Show again on BBC Tees

On September 12th I will be on the radio AGAIN! I really love going in and chatting to John Foster (Matthew Davies has left) it is little bit sad as Matthew has left............Well argument cottage wishes him the very best for his new life and future career and hope he is as successful as he has been on BBC Tees................Good luck Matthew.

If you want to listen live between 9.00am and 10.00 on the Sept 12th 2008 then tune in to 95FM or the BBC Tees website and go to listen live for the radio section........go onto the BBC tees site with www.bbc.co.uk/tees once on the radio section go to listen again. If you miss it and want to hear it later then go onto the same site/radio and press listen again to John Foster, tab forward 3 hours to get to me.........if you dare!!!

Matthew is happy to see little Edmund and hopes he enjoys his expedition!

Visit Edmund's fund raising site to help him pay for his trip to the arctic

Or go straight to his teddies to the arctic fundraising page for St Teresa's Hospice in Darlington

or look and listen at BBC Tees site

BBC Tees kind comment about Argument Cottage from Nottingham by Nicolas

Hi Maria & Phil!

Firstly Can We both say A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU BOTH!!!

Did you get to listen to the show on BBC Tees this morning with Alex Hall?? - I sent her an email saying how much we have fell in love with the area and especially Guisborough - and I asked her to say Hi to you both which she did!!!!!

Warm regards


Nicolas
Nr Nottingham

Krimo's wonderful restaurant in Hartlepool!

I have just come back home having spent the lunch time at Krimo's with spectacular views of the harbour, North Sea and Huntcliff away in the distance at Saltburn. I can tell you it was a wonderful meal and experience for me as it is the first time I have eaten at the Krimo's.

I had my favourite starter Moules Mariniere which were superb, so succulent and tasty with the delightful complementary sauce. But the piece de la resistance for me was the fantastic Lamb Tagine, as it states served in it's very own traditional Algerian Tagine ceramic pot; which was brought over from Algeria specifically to serve Krimo's clients an authentic taste of African cuisine. The lamb was so delicious with couscous, coriander, chick peas, tasty sauce and fresh vegetables to boot!

I was delighted with the venue, atmosphere, service and of course the truly great food. Thanks to Krimo and his staff for an enjoyable meal, 5 stars in my eyes!!! I will be further recommending Krimo's to my visitors at Argument Cottage in Guisborough. Kind regards Maria Wilcock

Free Parking Permit for visitors: Success at long last!

Well can you believe it?

Today is a great day for everyone who visits Argument Cottage. As after over 5 years campaigning and requesting free parking permits, we have finally been successful!!
Phil and I are absolutely delighted, and although our present parking arrangements have been great, we are now able to offer an extended service to our visitors to enhance the quality of their visit to Guisborough.

Thanks to Andrew in the highways section at Redcar Council who worked hard with Phil and I (and our neighbours), to make sure we have equal provision for parking within the scheme and zone P nearby!

Walt has returned

Well can you believe it..........the missing bird has returned, a bit worse for wear with what seems like a broken foot. I took him to the vet and it appears he is going to be ok and is apparently 12 years old, what an old trooper. He came back 4 days later and we couldn't believe it. He is happily sat in his favourite spot on the window ledge, safe from predators. Welcome home Walt!!

Walt is gone!

Our friendly homing pigeon Walt has left us..........(see the piccie of him when he first joined us at the bottom of the blog) There were loads of feathers in the yard 2 days ago and straight away I was in shock as I just knew that the cat that had been stalking him for months had got him!! We have had no sign of him for days and I now think he is dead, despite Phil telling me he has 'flown home' to reassure me!! We will have to pour all of our affection into the Captain from now on.......until Walt re-homes himself with us again..............boo hoo RIP Walt!

Lonely planet names North East England as must see destination

17 October 07
Lonely planet names North East England as must see destination

North East England has been named as one of the must-see destinations for the coming year in the new edition of Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008.

The region is one of only 30 places around the world to make it into the “Go-List” section – a chapter dedicated to highlighting the up-and-coming destinations in the influential guide.

The book praises North East England, describing it as “the most exciting, beautiful and friendly region in the whole of England,” with the region’s rejuvenated cities, fascinating history as well as the dramatic Northumberland wilderness identified among the region’s biggest draws.

The guide goes on to say: “If your image of North East England is of coal mines and bad weather then it’s time you forgot your preconceived ideas and discovered the most exciting and friendly in the whole of England. Stretching from the River Tees to the Scottish Border, the Northeast sees nine-million visitors annually, with overseas numbers rising by 30% in the last seven years.”

We have always known it is a great place to live and visit, so now it is official!!

Sandro outside his ancestral home! He is just gorgeous......

Phil and Maria at Yorkshire Tourist Board White Rose Awards- we were finalists in the Sustainable Tourism Category

Beating a path to our Green Door

Take a look at the recent article in the evening gazette telling all about our green credentials!! click here

Argument Cottage is a finalist for the Yorkshire Tourist Board White Rose Awards 2007 in the category of Sustainable Tourism

Hooray, we have been shorlisted as finalists for the coveted Yorkshire Tourist Board White Rose Sustainable Tourism Award. All of our efforts and hard work in the field of environmental best practice has been recognised and we will be attending the Gala Dinner Ceremony to find out if we are the winners on 11th September 2007.........tickets are only £70 so come along and enjoy the evening with us if you can!!


There is some very tough competition though, not least THE FORESTRY COMMISSION! Check out the press release and look at Section 15 to see the competition......

Argument Bathing Machines Whitby Beach August 1905

Take a look at what the Argument Ancestor's used to own, bathing machines! check out the Argument name on the side of the machines........down on Whitby Beach at the turn of the 20th Century

The wonderfully powerful high tide at Saltburn yesterday.......the beach has gone!

The flowers sent to me by West Yorkshire Police- they are dead now but luckily I am alive!!

funny things you see when you haven't got your gun!!

did you hear what happened to me yesterday, well wait till you hear this???

went for a meeting in castleford and on the way home got mixed up in an anti-terrorism 'training exercise'!! the car in front was shot at by men who pulled alongside me and got out of a van and bmw and another car with rifles shooting at all angles of the car in front just feet away............my god was it scary................stupidly I thought that the sun visor would save me and sat frozen behind me before I realised perhaps I better back away and tried to do this but the road was jam packed at rush hour?? then I finally ducked down whilst the shooting continued and hid only for the car door to open and this man to stand there who I thought was going to kill me cos I saw the lot and he just said, oh no it was just a training exercise and due to the rise in terrorism it had to be done 'out in the community', by this time I was in hysterics and didn't believe him and thought he was going to take me away as hostage or to shoot me.................the adrenalin was really flowing by this stage you understand...............??!!


well the things you see when you haven't got your gun and leave the sanctity of Guisborough!!!

ria
xxx

We would highly recommend Argument Cottage. Great location, high quality accommodation & fantastic hosts. As Aussies on holiday we loved the real Yorkshire experience. Congratulations on your first 2 years Phil & Maria. I'm not surprised your venture is so successful.Regards Mark and Susan,Australia

Annette

(Hi Annette I have added this to the posts for others to see, thank you so much for your kind words and hope you and Kevin are both well, Maria)

We were the first people to book this cottage back in January 2005 - would recommend Argument Cottage without doubt! We were made to feel welcome from the time of booking until we handed back the keys! Clean, very comfortable and everything you could possibly need, even alarm clock radios in BOTH bedrooms! Bedding and towels are also provided. Ideally located close to the town, with permit parking thrown in, should you need it. Highly recommended!!

Wonderful people, great hosts.