An author who loves the Lakes has won a competition organised by a top Windermere hotel.
Katharine Norbury was one of several hundred people who entered the online competition to win a free stay at the award-winning Cedar Manor.
Her name was pulled out of a hat by hotel owner Jonathan Kaye.
Katharine Norbury is an author, audio-book reader and regular contributor to the Guardian. After training as a film editor with the BBC she studied Creative Writing at UEA and has a PhD in creative and critical writing from the University of Huddersfield.
Katharine spent 20 years in the film and television industry before writing her first book The Fish Ladder: a Journey Upstream (2015) which combines travelogue, memoir and a celebration of the natural world. Said Jonathan: “Anyone who has read it will know that Katharine loves the Lake District, so we will be very pleased to welcome her here.”
Katharine Norbury. Photo by Robin Farquhar-Thomson
The Fish Ladder: a Journey Upstream, which was published to great critical acclaim in 2015, was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize 2016, longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2015, awarded the Telegraph Book of the Year 2015 and Katharine was selected as the Observer Rising Star in non-fiction for 2015. The book is now being developed into a feature film for which Katharine is writing the screenplay.
Katharine is currently working on an anthology of women’s writing about nature in the archipelago of Britain and Ireland, Women on Nature with Unbound and a second work of creative non-fiction about the idea of home.
The Cedar Manor has just been given the AA Gold award and five stars for their guest accommodation, along with a coveted breakfast award.
Based on the outskirts of Windermere, the Cedar Manor has ten luxurious rooms including a self-contained suite, and has won a host of top awards over the years since Jonathan and his wife Caroline took the helm. They have been prize winners for design, customer service, and green credentials, taking the sustainability award at the Cateys, the Oscars of the hospitality world.
Five stars means awareness of each guest’s needs with nothing being too much trouble. AA Gold Stars are awarded to the very best properties offering excellent levels of quality throughout and outstanding levels of hospitality and service.
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