PART 1
SHIRLEY: Hello?
TOM: Oh hello. I was hoping to speak to Jack Fitzgerald about renting a cottage.
SHIRLEY: I’m his wife, Shirley, and we own the cottages together, so I’m sure I can help you.
TOM: Great. My name’s Tom. Some friends of ours rented Granary Cottage from you last year, and they thought it was great. So my wife and I are hoping to come in May for a week.
SHIRLEY: What date did you have in mind?
TOM: The week beginning the 14th, if possible.
SHIRLEY: I’ll just check … I’m sorry, Tom, it’s already booked that week. It’s free the week beginning the 28th, though, for seven nights. In fact, that’s the only time you could have it in May.
TOM: Oh. Well, we could manage that, I think. We’d just need to change a couple of things. How much would it cost?
SHIRLEY: That’s the beginning of high season, so it’d be £550 for the week.
TOM: Ah. That’s a bit more than we wanted to pay, I’m afraid. We’ve budgeted up to £500 for accommodation.
SHIRLEY: Well, we’ve just finished converting another building into a cottage, which we’re calling Chervil Cottage.
TOM: Sorry? What was that again?
SHIRLEY: Chervil. C-H-E-R-V for Victor I-L.
TOM: Oh, that’s a herb, isn’t it?
SHIRLEY: That’s right. It grows fairly wild around here. You could have that for the week you want for £480.
TOM: OK. So could you tell me something about it, please?
SHIRLEY: Of course. The building was built as a garage. It’s a little smaller than Granary Cottage.
TOM: So that must sleep two people, as well?
SHIRLEY: That’s right. There’s a double bedroom.
TOM: Does it have a garden?
SHIRLEY: Yes, you get to it from the living room through French doors, and we provide two deckchairs. We hope to build a patio in the near future, but I wouldn’t like to guarantee it’ll be finished by May.
TOM: OK.
SHIRLEY: The front door opens onto the old farmyard, and parking isn’t a problem – there’s plenty of room at the front for that. There are some trees and potted plants there.
TOM: What about facilities in the cottage? It has standard things like a cooker and fridge, I presume.
SHIRLEY: In the kitchen area there’s a fridge-freezer and we’ve just put in an electric cooker.
TOM: Is there a washing machine?
SHIRLEY: Yes. There’s also a TV in the living room, which plays DVDs too. The bathroom is too small for a bath, so there’s a shower instead. I think a lot of people prefer that nowadays, anyway.
TOM: It’s more environmentally friendly, isn’t it? Unless you spend half the day in it!
SHIRLEY: Exactly.
TOM: What about heating? It sometimes gets quite cool at that time of year.
SHIRLEY: There’s central heating, and if you want to light a fire, there’s a stove. We can provide all the wood you need for it. It smells so much nicer than coal, and it makes the room very cosy – we’ve got one in our own house.
TOM: That sounds very pleasant. Perhaps we should come in the winter, to make the most of it!
SHIRLEY: Yes, we find we don’t want to go out when we’ve got the fire burning. There are some attractive views from the cottage, which I haven’t mentioned. There’s a famous stone bridge – it’s one of the oldest in the region, and you can see it from the living room. It isn’t far away. The bedroom window looks in the opposite direction, and has a lovely view of the hills and the monument at the top.
TOM: Well, that all sounds perfect. I’d like to book it, please. Would you want a deposit?
SHIRLEY: Yes, we ask for thirty percent to secure your booking, so that’ll be, um, £144.
TOM: And when would you like the rest of the money?
SHIRLEY: You’re coming in May, so the last day of March, please.
TOM: Fine.
SHIRLEY: Excellent. Could I just take your details …
To be continued…