January 2011

Award-winning Winteringham Fields to create 18 new jobs

A £1.6 MILLION investment has been announced to bring more rich and famous guests to Winteringham Fields.

The expansion of what many see as North Lincolnshire's top restaurant and hotel would also create 18 new jobs to add to the present 38-strong staff.

Owner of the 23-year-old venue and head chef, Colin McGurran, paid £1.25 million for the business in 2005. Now he is seeking planning approval to build a luxury spa and add four more guest suites, bringing the total to 15.

Father of three Mr McGurran, 33, said: "The new facilities will greatly improve the experience of guests visiting North Lincolnshire and add to the value of their stay."

Guests who have paid a minimum of £225 each for a night's stay at the restaurant include actors like Nigel Havers and music stars like Robbie Williams, Sir Elton John and David Bowie.

VIPs have arrived in private helicopters from as far afield as Ireland, Scotland and Holland – sometimes just to pop in for lunch.

Mr McGurran said his latest investment would take his spending since he arrived in Winteringham to more than £3.3 million.

In 2006, he saved the adjoining village store and post office from closure.

He bought the business for £200,000, renamed it The Fields and saved eight jobs.

Since then he has also bought nine houses in the village to house his employees.

Mr McGurran said the spa, to be built in a former stable, would include a swimming pool, measuring 10 metres by four and half metres, a sauna, gymnasium, treatment and changing rooms and a hot tub.

Guests would be able to use all the facilities free of charge, but massages would cost £60 a time.

He said: "The four extra suites will be created in a barn that is the oldest building in the village, dating back to the 1600s.

"The barns, complete with the original oak beams, will be restored to their former glory and have a view over-looking the river."

In a further venture the entrepreneurial chef is to lease eight acres of land from neighbouring farmer Alan Smith to grow his own vegetables and herbs.

In a bid to become totally self-sufficient, the Fields already breeds its own lambs and chickens on a two-acre site and the staff bake all the bread.

And even more tourists could be tempted to visit North Lincolnshire if Mr McGurran's plans to introduce foraging for food expeditions for paying guests takes off.

Heritage trail takes in area of wildlife

Yorkshire Post 11th January 2011

By Alexandra Wood
A new heritage trail exploring the history behind an area rich in wildlife has been launched on the south bank of the Humber.

In the 19th and 20th centuries the area was dominated by industries, but these have now all but disappeared and the area has returned to being a haven for wildlife.

The western end of the trail, which is split into two sections, starts at Burton upon Stather – which was used secretly during the Second World War for testing amphibious tanks in preparation for an assault to cross the Rhine in Nazi-occupied Europe.

It wends its way along the bank, taking in the Far Ings National Nature Reserve, where the open water reedbeds and meadows of the reserve were originally formed by the tile and cement industry.

At the industry's height in the late 1800s, hundreds of men were employed to dig the clay by hand. The tile yards were abandoned in the 1950s, leaving the pits to fill naturally with water.

The reedbeds are now a stronghold for one of Britain's rarest birds, the bittern.

The trail ends at Waters' Edge Visitor Centre, which was officially opened by the Countess of Wessex in July 2006.

Seven information panels have been installed at key locations.

Packs of self-guided walk leaflets are available from tourist information centres and attractions across the region, and can be downloaded from www.south-humber-collection.org.

Walkers can choose between an eight-mile stretch between Burton upon Stather and Winteringham, taking in Alkborough and Whitton or a shorter 4.5-mile route from South Ferriby to Barton-upon- Humber, going through Far Ings and ending at the Waters' Edge Country Park.

The trail is the result of a collaboration between North Lincolnshire Council and the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the South Humber Wildlife & People Project