| Hello? |
| Oh hello. |
| I was hoping to speak to Jack Fitzgerald about renting a cottage. |
| I'm his wife, Shirley, and we own the cottages together, |
| so I'm sure I can help you. |
| Great. |
| My name's Tom. |
| Some friends of ours rented Granary Cottage from you last year, |
| and they thought it was great. |
| So my wife and I are hoping to come in May for a week. |
| What date did you have in mind? |
| The week beginning the 14th, if possible. |
| I'll just check... |
| I'm sorry, Tom, it's already booked that week. |
| It's free the week beginning the 28th, though, for seven nights. |
| In fact, that's the only time you could have it in May. |
| Well, we could manage that, I think. |
| We'd just need to change a couple of things. |
| How much would it cost? |
| That's the beginning of high season, |
| so it'd be £550 for the week. |
| That's a bit more than we wanted to pay, I'm afraid. |
| We've budgeted up to £500 for accommodation. |
| Well, we've just finished converting another building into a cottage, |
| which we're calling Chervil Cottage. |
| Sorry? What was that again? |
| Chervil. |
| C H E R V for Victor I L. |
| Oh, that's a herb, isn't it? |
| That's right. |
| It grows fairly wild around here. |
| You could have that for the week you want for £480. |
| OK. |
| So could you tell me something about it, please? |
| Of course. |
| The building was built as a garage. |
| It's a little smaller than Granary Cottage. |
| So that must sleep two people, as well? |
| That's right. |
| There's a double bedroom. |
| Does it have a garden? |
| Yes, you get to it from the living room through French doors, |
| and we provide two deckchairs. |
| We hope to build a patio in the near future, |
| but I wouldn't like to guarantee it'll be finished by May. |
| OK. |
| The front door opens onto the old farmyard, |
| and parking isn't a problem - |
| there's plenty of room at the front for that. |
| There are some trees and potted plants there. |
| What about facilities in the cottage? |
| It has standard things like a cooker and fridge, I presume. |
| In the kitchen area there's a fridge-freezer |
| and we've just put in an electric cooker. |
| Is there a washing machine? |
| Yes. |
| There's also a TV in the living room, which plays DVDs too. |
| The bathroom is too small for a bath, |
| so there's a shower instead. |
| I think a lot of people prefer that nowadays, anyway. |
| It's more environmentally friendly, isn't it? |
| Unless you spend half the day in it! |
| Exactly. |
| What about heating? |
| It sometimes gets quite cool at that time of year. |
| There's central heating, and if you want to light a fire, there's a stove. |
| We can provide all the wood you need for it. |
| It smells so much nicer than coal, |
| and it makes the room very cosy - |
| we've got one in our own house. |
| That sounds very pleasant. |
| Perhaps we should come in the winter, to make the most of it! |
| Yes, we find we don't want to go out when we've got the fire burning. |
| There are some attractive views from the cottage, which I haven't mentioned. |
| There's a famous stone bridge - |
| it's one of the oldest in the region, |
| and you can see it from the living room. |
| It isn't far away. |
| The bedroom window looks in the opposite direction, |
| and has a lovely view of the hills and the monument at the top. |
| Well, that all sounds perfect. |
| I'd like to book it, please. |
| Would you want a deposit? |
| Yes, we ask for 30% to secure your booking, |
| so that'll be... £144. |
| And when would you like the rest of the money? |
| You're coming in May, so the last day of March, please. |
| Fine. |
| Excellent. |
| Could I just take your details... |