The Old Vicarage is at the heart of the pretty village of Lydbury North in the South West Shropshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There is a small community shop and an excellent local pub in the village and the lovely small town of Bishop’s Castle is only 5kms away. There are many local walks and we also offer easy access to long distance paths such as Offa’s Dyke and many National Trust and English Heritage properties and gardens.

My first career was in the Royal Navy where I specialised as a submarine navigator. It was here that I met Rita as her father was commander of the submarine base at HMS Dolphin in Gosport. We then had 9 years in the Diplomatic Service working in London, Kenya and the Yemen Arab Republic. It was there that I learned Arabic and became interested in language teaching which had been Rita’s specialisation since university. We moved to Lydbury North in 1985 and have been running a small residential language centre since then. Mostly we have been training business and professional students in English as an international language. With the changes in the world market for English language training and our wish for a change of professional emphasis, we are now able to start letting our very comfortable and well equipped accommodation to people eager to enjoy everything that this beautiful and historic part of the country has to offer. We live and work in the main building but are sometimes out for the day or evening. Each apartment is totally self-contained but we are usually around if anyone needs assistance.

Lydbury North is a small, friendly village set in the rolling hills of South West Shropshire - an Area of Outstanding natural beauty. It is an ideal area for walking and cycling. There are several small, friendly attractive country towns in the area as well as many National Trust and English Heritage properties. There is a small community shop, church, school and pub in the village and a much larger selection of all of these in Bishop's Castle - 5 kms away. Private transport is essential for getting around the area. We can arrange transport, at cost, from Craven Arms station. There is no bus service in the village of Lydbury North but there is a limited bus service in Bishop's castle, 5 kms away, which connects with train, bus and coach services in Shrewsbury.