Booking Conditions
  • You can book using the Availability Calendar
    • Click on your start date in the Calendar, then select the number of nights you want in the Booking Form
    • Complete the rest of the Booking Form
    • Post a cheque or pay by bank transfer (see below)
  • Alternatively phone me, Diana, on 01900 85206 or email me at diana@highswinside.co.uk
    • This is a particularly good idea if you want dates that the Calendar does not appear to allow.
I will then hold your dates for a week while awaiting your payment to confirm your booking
  • A DEPOSIT of a third of the total price is due when you book
  • The BALANCE of the total price needs to reach me 6 weeks before you arrive
    • If you are booking within 6 weeks of the holiday, please send the total payment when you book
    • If booking within days of the arrival, I would be grateful if you could pay by bank transfer rather than by cheque
How to pay:
  • You can pay by bank transfer to High Swinside, A/c number 91291467, Sort Code 401803
    Please give the first few letters of your surname & your start date as the reference (eg. Hill 17Jun2021)
  • Or you can pay by cheque Please make it payable to 'High Swinside Holiday Cottages' and post it to High Swinside, Scales, High Lorton, Cockermouth, CA13 9UA (with your name and start date written on the back)
  • Paying from abroad? Please get in touch by email to ask for the BIC code or IBAN account number that you will need to make a payment from outside the UK.

Finally, please read the Booking Conditions before you book
(I know, I hate them too, so I've kept them brief!)
Cancellations
If you cancel before the balance is due, you will automatically get your deposit back. If you cancel later than this and I can fill your dates with another booking, I will still give a full refund. (If I'm not out of pocket, why should you be!) However if I can only fill your dates by reducing the price, then I will only refund you the reduced amount that I am being paid.

If you cancel after the balance is paid - ie within 6 weeks of arrival - and I can't fill your place, I will refund your balance but not your deposit. Finally, if you cancel within two weeks of arrival and I can't fill your place, I will not be able to refund either deposit or balance.
Changing your booking dates
If you want to change your booking dates, this may count as a cancellation of the original dates if there is very little time left for me to fill your original dates. If this is the case it would be treated as above. In other words, with changes of booking dates within 6 weeks of the holiday I would only refund your booking payment if I can fill those original dates; the amount I would refund you is dependent on how much I have to reduce their price to fill them last minute.

Cancellation Insurance

So PLEASE tell me as soon as possible of any changes you need to make, and PLEASE take out cancellation insurance for your booking. This is really worth doing even if it is only for a short break in the UK. (Maybe look for an annual insurance policy that includes short breaks?)

Numbers & Fire Insurance

For fire insurance reasons, please don't try to fit more people into your cottage than it is advertised as accommodating. If you need to book for more than 9 people, please note that you can book both the Farmhouse and Little Swinside and connect them together to sleep 11 overall. (NB the farmhouse kitchen table seats a max of 12; and the Farmhouse sitting room is most comfortable with 9 adults). No smoking in any of the cottages, and sorry, no candles.
Water Supply
High Swinside is blessed with a constant supply of beautiful fresh spring water from deep in the hillside behind the property. There is no chlorine or fluoride added to it, and it is treated purely by filtration and UV light. The local council tests the supply annually to pass it as fit for drinking, but if you know you are sensitive to changes in drinking water or have any worries, I recommend that you boil the water before you drink it.

Dogs
  • Please let me know when you book (or at least 14 days before arrival) if you will be bringing a dog/s.
  • Dogs must not be left unattended for any length of time at all, including in the garden or 'dog run free' area.
  • They must not be allowed on any of the furniture or throws/blankets.
  • They must be under your strict control at all times
  • You must clean up any fouling on any part of the grounds, and I would be grateful if you could also pickup after them in the area around the property and on the lane - for the sake of other footpath users and guests.
  • I have done my best to enclose an area in the garden where dogs can be safely let off their leads, but it cannot be treated as 'escape proof' for all dogs eg the tiniest or the most athletic!
Look after your cottage and please leave it as you found it
I don't want to ask you to do loads of cleaning on your day of departure, but I would ask you to please look after your cottage over your stay as if it were your own, and leave it in a similar condition to how it was when you arrived. Just sensible things like taking outdoor shoes or boots off when you come in, even if you've only been out for more firewood. Rubbing dogs down well after a walk and even hosing the mud off if it's been that kind of a day, and encouraging them to do their final drying off on a towel or some old bedding rather than the new carpet or the sofa! If something gets damaged, or if anything is spilt on the sofa etc, I'd be grateful if you would tell me asap to give me the chance to put it right before the next guest arrives. If it's just something small I'm unlikely to charge you anything to put it right, but larger breakages or damage may have to be paid for.
Bed linen is provided - and towels can be hired
Bed linen is provided and your beds will be made up ready for you. Towels can also be provided for a hire charge of £2.00 This might be useful if you are coming by public transport.

Pickup is possible from nearest public transport

Please let me know in advance if you will be coming by public transport. I can pick you up from the bus stop in High Lorton when the Honister Rambler bus (77/77A) is running between Easter and the end of October (no charge). From October to Easter I can pick you up from the bus station near the centre of Keswick for a charge of £12.00 (this is the bus stop next to Booths supermarket where the bus from Penrith train station finishes).

Arrival and Departure times

Your cottage will be ready for you from 16.00 on the day of arrival. You are welcome to arrive earlier than this, park, and go exploring, but your cottage is unlikely to be ready with beds made until 4pm, and there might be the noise of the lawn being mowed or other work taking place before that time. On the day of departure I don't like to rush you, but I would be grateful if you can be out of your cottage by 10.00 am at the latest so that I have time to make it ready for the next guests.
Finally
I have tried to make sure that there are no errors on this website, but if you do spot a mistake, please let me know.

Though highly unlikely, if I have to cancel your booking for reasons outside my control, your money will be refunded in full; (this would not apply if the cancellation is due to 'acts of god', civil war, riot, failure of a utility service or transport network, breakdown of plant or machinery, strikes, fire, flood or storm).

Finally, though highly unlikely, if you ignore the terms above and bring more people than are allowed to stay in your cottage, or cause malicious damage to property, or carry out illegal activity in the cottage, or disturb other guests with undue noise, music, or partying, or permit your dog/s to damage the furniture or decorations, or foul the grounds, or disturb other guests, I reserve the right in these situations to ask you to leave immediately without any refund of your booking fee.