Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2006-01-21 06:15:14 - Graham Ellis
The background - we've been running open source training courses in Melksham for more than 5 years, and we foresee ourselves doing so into the future. We love the town, we have a good customer base, and the work is great fun as well as being work.
Being in a niche market, our delegates travel far and wide to our courses (that would be the case wherever we were based) and around 80% of them stay at local hotels and B&Bs. But alas - from a flood of good places in 2000 we've moved to something of a famine. We're also finding that, more and more, our delegates need office facilities where they're staying, wish to pay by credit card, and have a few other requirements.
In a few months' time, we'll be offering public and private training courses here in Melksham at our current training centre that includes accommodation and breakfast, which will be provided just up the road from us at Well House Manor - currently "The Old Manor" B&B where many of our delegates already choose to stay. We'll own Well House Manor ourselves, and oversee its operation.
Key features will include:
* All rooms en suite, with double or twin beds (but let as business singles).
* All rooms fitted with flat screen TV, work desk, plenty of power points.
* All rooms will be smoke free.
* Uncapped wireless and wired internet access facilities.
* Business facilities include copier / scanner / black and write printer
* Payment included in your course cost or payable by credit card.
* Continental breakfast provided from 7 a.m.
* No evening meal service, but you are welcome to bring food in from one of the many local takeaways if you wish.
* Well House Manor will be exclusively reserved for delegates during busy courses.
* Car parking on site for all guests (although we know a lot of you come by train or share with colleagues).
Around and about:
* Well House Manor is set in a large garden around which delegates are welcome to walk.
* Bus routes X72 (hourly to Devizes and Bath) and 237 stop right outside.
* Well House Manor is just 2 doors from the local Spar shop and garage, open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
* You're 5 minutes walk from the town centre.
* You're 10 minutes walk from our training centre; it's your choice whether you walk or drive - you're welcome to leave your car at either location.
Further afield:
* There's plenty of lovely countryside around and the Kennet and Avon Canal passes close by
* We're 4 miles from the National Trust village of Lacock, 6 miles from Corsham
* 6 miles from Devizes and 12 miles from Bath, both reachable by bus from outside the front door, or by car.
* The Marlborough Downs and Salisbury Plain are just a few miles away.
* Avebury stone circle and the Westbury White Horse are less than 30 minutes drive.
* Stonehenge, Longleat, Marlborough and Salisbury are all within an hour by car.
Getting to us:
* Melksham station is currently served by 10 trains a day. Fastest journey from London is 90 minutes.
* We're 100 miles West of London, just 20 minutes off the M4 Chippenham exit.
* Melksham is on National Cycle Route 4, and we have secure storage for cycles.
Once we're up and running smoothly with our own delegates, Well House Manor will welcome weekend visitors to Melksham who are looking for a quiet base from which to explore Wiltshire and the surrounding counties. We're also planning to accept bookings from business visitors to other Melksham businesses who require such facilities as the business centre access we'll be providing. We'll not be looking for walkup trade, and our facilities won't be appropriate for budget bookings. We'll routinely let any room for single or double occupancy, but we won't have family rooms nor any facilities to accommodate families - that's just not our market and there are other places that can help you - we don't regard ourselves as competition to any other providers as we're offering a specialist and different product.
The contact number for Well House Manor will be 01225 709638 - that will reach our booking and administration desk. The number is already in service and manned from early in the morning to late at night. Faxes via our main fax number - 01225 707126. At this stage we can't be sure of opening dates and indeed it's possible that the whole project falls through if we don't get appropriate permissions, but I'm sufficiently confident that any issues that arise will be quickly resolved to be talking about it in detail.
Key features will include: