Still Christmas! Postcard No. 5

Hi folks, Ben here; We are having a pretty good xmas in the restaurant with probably more people coming than we expected.

We know we are not able to put on a proper Xmas themed event like Trevenna Cross do each year -to their very great credit -because we are simply not developed enough yet.

So for now, we have a great festive pancake menu, with the Turkey Crepe being by far the most popular (with me too!) and we are selling loads of Gift Vouchers which make brilliant presents. All you need to do is drop by and collect them at the till point.

In addition, we have a table full of Xmas gifts to buy from various local crafts people, and we are selling their products completely free of any commission to us. These are selling very well too. Outside Lia has now discounted her Xmas trees, both the rooted ones in the pots, and the cut trees, both of which are competitively priced alongside all local providers.

Next year, as eluded to, we will do more still, and the year after, we expect to be in a position to put on a proper Xmas fare - smaller than Trevennas, but it should also be alot of fun and will be somewhere else to take the kids to see Santa, which we are short of in Cornwall, I am sure you will agree.

A big part of our development will be overhead cover, and we finished putting up 2 gazebos just last week, and will soon be connecting heating, lighting and music to them. These things allow comfortable outdoor seating in more weathers, and this will allow us to do more.

I am now working on the kids party room too. A dedicated function room for kids parties only (right next to the playpark), so we can leave it decorated, making it easy for parents to finish it off with personalised decorations within minutes, rather than hours. It will seat 18 kids, will have the all important toileting facilities in a rear room, and being fully detached from the main restaurant, you can all go crazy without anyone hearing! You can book this room from now for any parties from the 1st March onwards. There will be no charge at all for the party room, just for the pancakes which i believe are £6.50 per person for a "build your own" pancake. You also get to feed the goats and chickens and to use the facility for as long as you like. PM us to book.

More to come on free parties for disadvantaged kids, which we will be introducing shortly and will provide some kind of foundation for you or businesses to donate free parties to. Like I say, details to follow......

It's becoming very exciting for us what is happening to the place. The Pancake Barn is now a fully self sustaining 7 day a week restaurant even in the deepest of winter time, and there are few restaurants that can do this in Cornwall, and with the extra facilities coming on line soon, we will surely only get busier each winter from here onwards.

The next stages are disabled toilets within a new toilet block, and disabled access pathways connecting everywhere important at the venue. Planning allowing, all these things should be done within 18 months of now, along with some other ideas too.

Whatever we do though, and whatever we have already done, materials are always locally sourced and/or reclaimed, and any increased energy needs will be matched with increased solar panels.

We are not perfect, but we consider every action and purchase before doing anything, to ensure it is reasonable within the climate and environmental emergency we find ourselves in.

Of course right now, it is very easy to forget all that with the new Omicron variant of Covid now spreading. I know the chances are you are already all over this issue, but just in case not, there has been lots of findings in the last few days that the booster jab is needed to have any decent levels of protection.

In particular, if you have had 2 x Astra Zeneca jabs over 6 months ago, they will provide almost zero protection, yet the booster brings you up to around 75% (source of all this is radio 4 a couple of hours ago!) So if over 40 you should book from the NHS website online or by phone, but be sure to do so quickly. Nobody will be able to avoid infection from the new variant, it is simply too transmissible, so unless you fancy taking part in the equivalent of a gruesome Xmas raffle of whether you happen to be genetically predisposed to struggle against Covid or not - something you cannot know - then go get the booster, or book your first jab.

Fortunately the kids haven't a clue about all this stuff, so enjoy going to see Santa, and try to drop in and maybe pick up a gift voucher, or try our gorgeous Turkey pancake which has stuffing and pigs in blankets within, topped with Cranberry sauce and gravy - yummy indeed!!

Christmas Postcard No 4

Hi folks, Ben here, and this week I want to write about people more than the business. This might be a little self-indulgent but my dad passed by his own hand during this period when I was young and I think it's hard wired in me to notice when people around me are struggling. And struggling they are. Everywhere I look people are exhausted either financially, mentally, or both.

But what helps humans most is knowing and understanding that others are in the same boat. It shouldn’t help, yet it does, the companionship of it, and the empathy the frontal lobe elicits in us all.

If you’re human you are born to both struggle and reach heights that other animals can’t, other than dolphins and apes and so on…… (other frontal lobe owners). Hence, you and I, and everyone we know must at some point come to understand that suffering comes with the territory, and that once you accept it, embrace it almost, then you can even out the highs and lows, and just generally deal with being a human being in these turbulent times a little better.

Understand, reader, this Christmas time, that you are special to more people than you realise.

So let us choose to deal with it well and choose the positive over negative. Gracefully move the negative thoughts aside, switch off the news about bleddy Covid (after getting vaccinated that is – don’t be foolish now), and move forwards to a great Christmas period, one in which you are a positive influence on those around you. Because lots of people need you - like I say, more than you know.

Let your real character shine through, be kind to people, enquire in this difficult world how people are.

And if you are just skint and have kids wanting a good xmas, and need something to brighten just an hour or two at least, then maybe we can help a bit, you only have to ask me, Kim, Vic or Nina and you can have free pancakes. PM us if you feel the need to check, but I guarantee you all that the afore mentioned will be more than happy with your request if you are genuinely in need.

What I hope I get across from this is that you are not alone, we might not know you, but I tell you, all the leaders of this business have struggled in their lives at times, myself included. I know because I have spoken with them all about various things. Yet they are strong people in charge of their lives, owning their own businesses, with families and kids. How can this be? Like I say, we all struggle, it is normal – own it, embrace it, grow, be stronger, have fun, help others.

Ultimately, we have just this short period to live, so let us not be dwelling on ridiculous stuff that we cannot change. So come on, burn the brightest form of you this xmas, and if that includes going out for a festive turkey pancake then do that too! Buy one of Lia’s trees while you’re at it you miserable bugger!! xx

Postcard No. 3

As a family we have had a hell of a month, busy both in our private lives and at work with a mixture of good and bad things to deal with, much like all young families really. We know this is likely to be you too reader, because the vast majority of our customers are young families just like us, and it is why you come to us, because we designed WPN to fit our own young family and then hoped others would like it too. We fenced the entire perimeter of the land so if any of us take our eye off the youngsters, chances are they will be fine, and went on from there.

We are currently laying the patios, on top of which will sit large and permanent canvassed gazebos, heated by infra-red lights when in use. But before then I hired a digger to trench in lots of electric and internet wiring, making the place look like the Somme for a few days, and it felt like carnage. But I know that this will future proof us for all sorts of interesting things like outdoor lighting and connectivity for various bits of tech we plan to introduce. You have to break eggs to make a pancake, as the saying almost goes!

The great thing about the heated gazebos is that you will now be able to book in kids parties knowing that this excellent facility is available (right next to the playpark) in the event the indoor restaurant is busy, so effectively you will likely have the choice (on the day) of indoor or outdoor, however worst case scenario, your kids will be undercover, heated etc. right next to the playpark. I will add that in the event that terrible weather is forecast, then we will of course reserve a room inside for you. In general though, kids want to be outside, playing.

By the end of January, we will have dedicated party function rooms completed in addition to the gazebos, allowing us to host as many parties as you can throw at us, and we will be introducing a charitable scheme funding parties for disadvantaged kids (I have already written about this before so won’t repeat myself again here until we go live with it in the coming months).

We are chuffed to have been able to announce our opening 7 days a week even through the winter, and I will continue to design the outdoor areas to increasingly give the impression of an endless summer, with plants like Camelia taking centre stage, flowering as they do through the winter months, and unusual evergreen trees like various forms of Acacia and Eucalyptus to name but a few. In addition we will continue to add interesting sculptural structures, seating and sheltered areas to make it genuinely pleasant to be outside in the winter if that is your preference, as it is mine. This is Cornwall after all, and as such our temperatures can accommodate such ambitions, so why not?

As a boy I loved playing in and around ponds, collecting newts and frogs etc. and so do our boys now, so I excitedly used the digger to dig a large pond in the forest area (centre of the car park) being careful to tier my way down in order that if a small child somehow gets over the large logs in front of it, the first tier is shallow enough for the child to simply climb out again. It is big enough for hundreds of multi coloured goldfish, similar to the pond at Kimberley park, Falmouth, and I can’t wait to finish it in the spring.

Next door to it will remain the small existing pond, but we will move the fish from it to the big pond, and introduce amphibians to it (fish would otherwise eat the eggs and tadpoles etc.)

I have also now identified where a small glasshouse will sit, in which will live tortoises and snakes (separated!) and your kids will be able to view them from outside, with the weekends also featuring animal hours hosted by Nicholas who will teach kids about all the animals, feeding the snakes too, which is a bit scary, but very exciting.

Anyone who knows Nick will be in little doubt he will excel at this task despite him only being 7 come the summer, and he will be learning more about the animals himself over the coming months to make the sessions as good as possible for your youngsters.

We will be building an outside large pizza oven, wood fired, and this will effectively make us a Pancake and Pizza venue from the Summer holidays onwards. They won’t be any old pizzas either. They will be of the highest quality and made using the traditional Italian ways, and if you want to help us out in this regard, perhaps you can, as we are looking for an Italian chef by the name of “Simeone”. He used to work for Zizzis in Falmouth before it closed during Covid, and he was brilliant with both pizzas and kids. He would grab our kids and get them making little pizzas when it was not too busy there, and he is exactly the kind of chef we need. Unfortunately our attempts at tracking him down have been as yet unsuccessful, so do you know him? Can you put us in contact? Last we knew he was living in St Austell, but we have a great opportunity for him and hope to tempt him over here.

In other news, I have improved the rabbit accommodation, digging an underground warren using a galvanized tunnel and warren system which I insulated on all sides. I spent forever making it just so, finally installing the underground tubing leading from ground level to the warren, using some left over chimney liner which is perfectly ridged to give bunny purchase as they make their way up or down. But here came a comedy moment, because I had my x 2 middle aged man glasses on the whole time, and I forgot about that fact, so when I finished the job, I looked at my work, and satisfied, I let bunny out of the run and into the new accommodation with access to the new warren, and at that point I saw the bunny and thought “Blimey, she’s massive!!” Then I realized it was my glasses, so I took them off, looked at the now dug in chimney liner and realized the damn thing was 4 inch diameter not 6 inches!! I was certain the rabbit would not fit, and my worst fears were realized when she crammed her fat behind down the tube but then never re-appeared!! I was certain she was stuck somewhere in that tube, and the irony of death by kindness was weighing heavy when after 4 days she finally came back out (to my utter relief). I do not know what she was doing down there for 4 days, but it kinda shows she not only fits just fine, but she likes the place too because I see her using it regularly now. All that is now left to do is predator proof the outdoor run, leaving us able to give 24hr access to it, and then we can introduce some friends to her. (in line with the recommended methods of additional bunny introduction). Bunny also got a new above ground accommodation, and it all leaves me feeling very happy, if not a bit tired of all the digging.

I will leave you with this thought, and it involves the Fry Up Crepe Pancake meal. You must have it, and I stress that you should not ask for it with the Triple Stack form of pancakes, no. I appreciate triple stack sounds really cool, but they don’t work with the fry up meal, but Crepes really, really do. I’ve been eating them every morning for the last 2 weeks, and they make each day around 36% better, sometimes even 40 if I add brown sauce.

Peace out.