Teesdale Mercury

Think of Headlam Hall and those thoughts will probably turn to a luxury getaway. But it wasn’t always like that for the Robinson family. Editor Trevor Brookes investigates

WHEN the bottom dropped out of agriculture in the late 1980s, the Robinson family embraced the well-worn word “diversification”.
Only for them it wasn’t a case of launching a holiday cottage or starting a small side business – they were lucky to own a significant, if underused, building. That building was Headlam Hall.
Today it’s a luxury hotel, restaurant, spa, wedding venue and golf course business employing 90 people. But it wasn’t always like that for the Robinson family, who have farmed in Headlam for five generations.
Thomas Robinson, now managing director of Headlam Hall, says: “My father bought the hall in 1977, but he bought it for the farmland that went with it. It was a slightly run-down building at the time – it was more of a liability than an asset.”
He recalls how his father, John, began opening up the grade II-listed 17th-century country house for guests and shooting parties, describing it as a house for hire rather than a hotel.
“I can remember a family who came over from America and hired the hall for the entire summer holidays,” explains Mr Robinson.
Among the guests during those years included a president of France and Count Cinzano from Italy.
When hard times hit agriculture in the late 1980s, the Robinsons decided to make more of their country pile.
“Prices were very poor. Farming survived but everything had to streamline. When I was at school we employed six or seven people on the farm– now it’s just contractors,” said Mr Robinson. By the 1990s, Headlam Hall’s star was rising and the business began to grow. The ballroom and coach house suite was added, which meant that people holding parties didn’t have to put up a marquee.
Last winter the hotel underwent a major £1.25million makeover of its 38 bedrooms, restaurant, lounges and bar.
“It had a top to bottom redecoration but it was important we got the balance right between old and new. It’s lovely to have that old charm but guests also want it to be clean and fresh,” he said.
While it’s not exactly a rags to riches tale, there can’t be many people who can claim to have started as a Teesdale farmer’s son and ended up in charge of one of the region’s premier hotels and an award winning country inn, The Rose and Crown, in Romaldkirk.
Mr Robinson remains down to earth – he loves nothing better than walking in the wilds of Teesdale, a place he loves.
“If I explain it to someone who hasn’t heard of Teesdale, I tell them it’s just as attractive as the Yorkshire Dales but quieter. It’s a thinking man’s dale. If you go to Wensleydale, even if you go on a walk there are queues of people. If you really want to get away from it all, then you’ll be doing well to find anywhere better than Teesdale,” he says.
The message seems to be catching on.
England cricketer and former captain Alistair Cook, our nation’s highest ever Test run scorer, stayed at Headlam last year while he was visiting the area to buy rare breed sheep for his farm in Essex.
Mr Robinson described him and his family as “lovely”.
Getaway guests, spa lovers, wedding parties and business clients may flock to Headlam but those who visit the nearby Rose and Crown, which is run by Mr Robinson’s wife Cheryl, are often those who are there for the lure of Teesdale.
“We get a lot of walkers and countryside lovers at the Rose and Crown,” said Mr Robinson, whose other hobbies include his dogs and classic cars. The Mercury remarks that the later must be a costly habit.
“It’s as expensive as you make it,” he smiles.
His brother, Simon, runs the family farm, which like Headlam Hall has evolved over the years.
“It used to be a mixed farm. My father used to breed Hereford cattle but they went after the foot and mouth crisis,” says Mr Robinson.
The old grazing land is now the golf course, which he says “has done very well for us”.
On the blustery Thursday morning at Headlam, there was no shortage of golf bags being unloaded from car boots in the car park.
County planners have already approved plans for self-catering units overlooking the golf course and Mr Robinson is waiting for the “dust to settle” after last year’s refurbishment before starting the next project.
The need for the business to grow is always on Mr Robinson’s mind.
“Economically we were growing significantly year on year but that plateaued in 2010/11. It’s certainly not dropped off but it’s harder to keep the job right every year because of the costs imposed on businesses. Business rates are going up and we could be looking at potentially an extra £30,000 a year,” he says.
But being independently owned brings a unique charm to Headlam Hall.
“Group hotels are always looking for the maximum return in the next 12 to 24 months. It’s all about the now. Independent hotels like us play the longer game because it’s all about reputation and repeat business,” says Mr Robinson.
“The difference is that we are family owned. I live in the village and this is my home as well. This place isn’t just an asset sat on a spreadsheet somewhere that has to return a percentage on an investment.”