Sheriff Lodge

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Sheriff Lodge, a non-smoking establishment, is situated on a hill and offers spectacular views over to the hills opposite towards Riber Castle. Parts of this beautiful building date back to 1754 and it stands in the heart of the Derbyshire Dales, making it an ideal base for exploring the Peak District National Park and surrounding countryside with its numerous attractions

In a former life it was a hotel, and those of you that remember wonderful, restful, stays within its walls will not be disappointed by a visit to its present incarnation as an equally well appointed Guest House

Sheriff Lodge offers unrivalled luxury and is a perfect place to celebrate that special occasion or just to have a relaxing holiday.

We currently hold awards from the English Tourist Council that give an indication of the standard of rooms and service that you should expect when you visit.  Each year, since we bought Sheriff Lodge, we have made improvements that have resulted in ever increasing accolades. We now hold a coveted and, we think, deserved, Gold Award

We Accept all major Credit and Debit cards and we also accept charge cards such as American Express, (although AmEx does incur an administration charge of £4.00 per transaction)
Cheques are also welcome accompanied by a valid cheque guarantee card.
...and last but by no means least we also welcome cash

Special Offers & Packages

Sheriff Lodge itself is one big Special Offer, but to further enhance your stay with us we have arranged several offers & packages

Three Nights for the Price of Two
Throughout January each year we offer a three night stay for the price of two. This offer applies to weekdays and weekends

Feeling Romantic...?
...or are you simply looking for a complete weekend package?

Sheriff Lodge has formed a link with one of Matlock's best restaurants - Stones.
For one price you get a two night stay (including breakfast) a bottle of Champagne - or wine if you'd prefer, together with a box of locally made (Simon Dunn of Matlock Bath) chocolates. You will also be treated to a two-course meal at G&T's. We can arrange this meal to take place on either of the two nights. Just call and we will arrange it all
The complete package comes to £235.00p

Room Details

The Drawing Room

Feel free to relax in the spacious surroundings of our Drawing Room. Here you will find daily newspapers, books and music to help you relax whilst you are with us.

Tucked away in the corner of the room is a refrigerator which contains orange juice and bottled water - still and sparkling. These items are complimentary - so please help yourself.

Sheriff Lodge is now a BYO property - so Bring Your Own wine and champagne and we will gladly chill it for you and provide you with an ice bucket should you require it.

The Bedrooms

Each of our beautifully set-out rooms, all of which have views across the valley towards Riber Castle, have their own separate en-suite facilities and you have the choice of twin or double rooms with either bath or shower. The showers all feature 'Power Shower' facilities.

In addition each of the rooms has a television and DVD player (with a selection of DVD's in the Drawing Room for your use). The televisions have the added feature of being able to tune into the closed circuit television camera permanently pointed at the car park.

To round off the individuality of each of the rooms they each have their own work of art specifically tied in to the identity of the room.

The Mousehole
The first of our first floor rooms, The Mousehole is beautifully decorated and appointed, having twin beds and en-suite shower facilities.
Watch out for our mouse—you might see him disappearing into the skirting board!

The Dray
This is the home of our very friendly squirrel. Fortunately he doesn't take up much space and he more than welcomes friendly guests. The Dray is also a twin-bedded room but this one has the addition of a luxurious bath in its separate en-suite. If, however, you still like the convenience of a shower this is also provided.
Both of the beds in this room are seven feet long - when they are zipped & locked to make a double it is seven feet long by six feet six inches wide

The Loft
In your lofty perch on our second floor you have spectacular views across the Derwent Valley.
The Loft is Sheriff Lodge's Owlery. Look out for his portrait above the doorway. The Loft has an en-suite shower room.

The Nest
The Nest is also situated up on the second floor. The Nest houses a little family of blue tits lovingly painted high up on the wall above the window. It also has a separate bathroom with power shower over.
The bed in this room is also seven feet long - a total of thirty five square feet of luxury!

Family Rooms
Each of our rooms can also accommodate an extra, folding, single bed (with full thickness mattress) and a cot.

Prices & Availability

Double Occupancy

1 night - £39.50per person per night - £79 for the stay
2 nights - £39.50 per person per night - £158 for the stay
3 nights - £37.50 per person per night - £225 for the stay
4 nights or more - £36.00 per person per night - £288 for a four night stay.

Single Occupancy of a Double or Twin Room

1 night - £59 per person per night - £59 for the stay
2 nights - £59 per person per night - £118 for the stay
3 nights - £55 per person per night - £165 for the stay
4 nights or more - £52 per person per night - £208 for the stay


If you would like to check on our availability please click here to be taken to the Peak District Data Management Website

Attractions

As there is simply so much on offer here in Derbyshire this page is filled with links to other sites that offer greater detail than can be captured on these few pages.

The links are as diverse as possible from local authority travel planners to where hire a pony for the day. If on you surfing travels you come across a site that would benefit from inclusion here then please let us know and we'll add it in

All that you need to do is click any of the links below.

Stately Homes
Chatsworth House
Haddon Hall
Kedleston Hall
Hardwick Hall
Wingfield Manor

Restaurants
G&Ts Restaurant
The Strand
The Country Cottage
Fischers Restaurant - recently (February 2005) featured in The Daily Telegraph as one of the top 25 restaurants in the country
Rendezvous - Cafe Bar

Hire Facilities
Bakewell Cycle Hire
Matlock Farm Park - Riding & Trekking

Other Attractions
The Heights of Abraham - cable car and showcaves
Victorian Photographic Museum
Peak Rail - Steam Railway
Gulliver's Kingdom - Theme park for 2-13 year olds
The Fishpond - excellent local music venue - Friday nights a speciality
Crich Tramway Museum

The birthplace of the Industrial Revolution - Arkwrights Mills
Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site

A little further afield - 40 minutes drive - Alton Towers

Planning your journey
Derbyshire Journey Planner
National Rail Enquiries
East Midlands Airport parking guide.

Many more links will follow in the next few days

Things to do

Well where do we start?  Sheriff Lodge is situated in the Heart of the Derbyshire Dales at the southern end of the Peak District National Park (the second most visited National Park in the world - outside of Mount Fuji in Japan)

This means that there is so much to do around here you'll need weeks to do it all - we've been here years and still haven't seen it all

Chatsworth House
A stunning stately home occupied buy the Duke & Duchess of Devonshire - less than 15 minutes away. You'll need a weekend to do it justice. The house is amazing but in addition there is a vast estate to explore, a top notch Garden Centre, an appetite stimulating Farm Shop - like Fortnum & Mason on speed - and a children's play area with working farm and adventure playground

Haddon Hall
An ancient house relatively untouched since Henry VIII's day. Set in beautiful surroundings it is less than ten minutes away from our front door.
The highlight is a glorious 14th Century Banqueting Hall complete with minstrels' gallery but there is also a fine oak panelled room with miniature portraits of Henry VII and his Queen, a Tudor period Long Gallery (from which Dorothy Vernon is said to have eloped with her lover, Lord Edward Manners), and some fine gardens

Walking and Hiking
Sheriff Lodge is in a prime position to enable all you walkers out there - from long distance specialists to short pub strollers - to take real advantage of the Dark and the White Peaks.
We have several walks that you can do right from our front door - or, with a little driving, or judicious use of the public transport system that we have in Derbyshire - you can take advantage of a superb 25 mile White Peak Challenge developed by John Merrill.
Sheriff Lodge is also amply supplied with maps, guides and even waterproofs.
If you come back wet then we can get all your gear dried in our drying room!
This Spring (2005) sees the first Peak District Walking Festival with events to suit everyone

About Us

Kate a former Nursing Sister (of 25 years standing), Alan, a serving Fire Officer, and Gemma, their daughter, bought Sheriff Lodge in 2001 and since then have worked hard to improve every aspect of the service, decor and little extras that have resulted in year on year improvements, to push this little slice of bed &breakfast luxury into Gold Award Territory.

We still plan to continue this programme of improvement and will soon have all of our rooms with beds that are seven feet long.

Currently two of our rooms have such beds - The Dray - when zipped and locked together makes a bed that is seven feet long by six feet six inches wide!

Our Breakfast(s)
The improvements that we have made also include changes to the good old full English.
When Kate, Alan & Gemma took over at Sheriff Lodge that is just exactly what you got - the full English. This has now developed into a restaurant style menu from which you can now order just exactly what you'd like on your plate - from a croissant to a full Derbyshire breakfast - which includes local, free-range eggs, Derbyshire oatcakes (a flat soft pancake made, naturally, with oats) and fresh, homemade bread with flour from Caudwells Mill
Alan also has a penchant for 'Eggs Benedict' - just ask!
In addition we also pride ourselves on providing breakfast for those that have other dietary requirements - with meat free sausages, and, if you let us know in advance, gluten free fresh loaf. Our vegetarian breakfast has more on the plate than a 'carnivore's' breakfast

Contact Us

There are numerous ways that you can get in touch with Kate & Alan at Sheriff Lodge - any one of which will result in a prompt response and, where appropriate, a quick and efficient confirmation of booking, information on the surrounding attractions and sample menus from the restaurants and eating venues in our vicinity


Our address is featured at the foot of all our web pages but for ease of cut & paste...

Kate, Alan & Gemma Richmond
Sheriff Lodge
Dimple Road
Matlock
Derbyshire
DE4 3JX

Our telephone number is
01629 760760
Any calls to this number will be picked up wherever we are - when we are not at Sheriff Lodge we use BT's Call Divert. If you are greeted with an answer-phone message it will be because we are currently on another call. If this happens please leave a message - we will instantly get back to you

To contact us by e-mail please click the link at the foot of this page

Cancellations and other policies

In line with all other accommodation providers Sheriff Lodge has its own policy associated with cancellation of a booking.

21 days prior to arrival: No Penalty
From the 20th day to the 10th day prior to arrival: 30% of the total cost of the stay
From the 9th day to the 4th day prior to arrival: 60% of the total cost of the stay
From the 3rd to the arrival day - and in the case of a no-show - 90% of the total cost of the stay
In the case of guests cutting short their stay with us after arrival: 90% of the total cost of the stay

It really is important that you consider this before you book with us. Without such a cancellation policy in place we simply would not be able to meet our, ever increasing, overheads. It is also important to remember that travel insurance is something that you would not dream of travelling abroad without - so please consider it at home.

In order to ensure that you can recoup the cost of a cancellation we have arranged a link with Travellers Protection Services Limited. All you need to do to get a quote and to secure cancellation insurance is to click here to be taken to their website.

Environmental Policy

Kate & Alan (well...Kate really) make a great effort to ensure that Sheriff Lodge's 'Environmental Footprint' is as small as possible.

In other words we recycle as much of the waste that we produce as possible. This includes paper, glass, cardboard and metal. In addition we have a compost heap for all the organic waste - this keeps our Edwardian Gentleman's Garden, at the front of the house, very well fed.

Each of the rooms has a Hippo fitted in the toilet cistern. This is aimed at reducing our water bills and the consumption of an increasingly pressurised resource.

Sheriff Lodge is also a large consumer of electricity and we would ask that, should you choose to stay with us, that you switch off any lights, wherever possible, when you are not in your room.

Disability Discrimination Act

We are making as many changes as possible to Sheriff Lodge to enable us to cater for guests that suffer from disabilities.
The very nature and layout of house make it impossible for us to provide wheelchair access to anywhere else other than the ground floor (when we provide meeting, conference and celebration facilities).
This does not and has not stopped us from examining in detail just what changes and enhancements we can make to make everyone's visit as enjoyable as possible. Don't forget though - you need to let us know your needs - we can't do anything if we don't know in advance.

Sight Impairment
Our breakfast menu is in large print and we have all our guest information available in large print as well. Alan is currently working on ways to make this website available as audio files.

Hearing Impairment
Safety of our guests is of paramount importance to us and we are examining ways, and equipment, to assist us in raising the alarm, should we, God forbid, ever have a fire.
If you would like to hear this website read out through your speakers then click here to visit the Natural Voice Reader website where you can download a free text to speech reader that will read the text on these pages

Arthritis Sufferers
We have invested in sure grip cutlery to assist those that may have grip problems.

Mobility Impairment
We have fitted one of our bathrooms (The Dray) with a grabrail over the bath, a removable seat for use under the shower, and steps to assist in getting in and out of the bath.

Further Improvements
We are always on the lookout for innovations that can help in improving any aspect of Sheriff Lodge. If you have any ideas that could help us in this then please don't hesitate to call.

Meetings, Celebrations and Conferences

Sheriff Lodge is, as we always say, much more than just a Bed & Breakfast.

In a former life it was a Johansens listed Hotel with a good standard restaurant.
This means that it still has facilities that allow us to provide an excellent standard of accommodation and catering for any style of meeting or celebration that you can think of.

We have already catered for the YHA (our next door neighbours - the National Headquarters that is, not the hostel), Derbyshire Police, Laser Rail and others.

We also cater for christenings, birthdays and funerals - you have the whole place to yourselves - no interruptions, and a very relaxed atmosphere

Meetings
The former restaurant (still with ladies & gents toilets attached) gives plenty of room to allow a full days meeting to take place. We utilise the Drawing Room as well so that you are provided with enough space to carry out your meeting - in whatever configuration suits you, form a conference style table to a lecture room. You can then marry this with a hot or cold buffet in the Drawing Room - enabling you to step out of the meeting environment for lunch.

Celebrations and Commemorations
We can cater for up to 40 guests with a hot or cold buffet - a sit down meal is rather more limited - we can cater for a maximum of 20 people with a menu that can be arranged to your satisfaction and specification - Kate is a vegetarian so is very familiar with catering for others that prefer to live this way and will do her level best to accommodate anyone's requirements.

We are very proud to have catered for a wedding celebration - from overnight guests to the reception and right through to an evening buffet - the guests commented on the 'luxury' of having the place completely to themselves. If you would like to enquire about this then please call.