A well-deserved pre-season break?

This diary is coming to you from a beach, following a delightful, relaxed lunch. Clear blue skies are overhead - and it's nearly at freezing point.

We are taking a four-day break in Cumbria prior to the festive onslaught affectionately known as December. This takes the form of a house-swap with my parents - we get a picturesque view of the Kent Estuary, they get the opportunity to hone their bartending skills to perfection - not their idea of a good break, but greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, not everybody feels we should take holidays. Customers arriving at the pub this week, without booking and walking past the sign in the porch apologising for our being unable to offer food for a few days, have been aggrieved. We do let as many people as possible know that we will be away, but somebody always takes exception.

We are expecting to be busier than ever in December - bookings are well up on last year and there is little space left. Christmas Day bookings were so abundant that we have decided to close the bar to drinkers and turn the area into an extension of the restaurant. This may offend some, but we have very few of our locals out for a drink on Christmas Day, the majority of drinkers being strangers to us. In contrast, many of the lunch bookings are regulars or repeat bookings from last year.

We have finally succeeded, after more than a few hitches, in completing the restructure of our borrowing. Incorrect redemption statements at the outset meant that we have been unable to completely repay all of our initial loans, but most of them are now settled and we have made a considerable saving on our repayments.

There is some disappointment that we failed to retain our entry in the Good Pub Guide's Lucky Dip section. We feel that we are still improving what we do and, while we have not been visited by inspectors - and we haven't courted publicity - we feel that we can compete with many pubs and restaurants getting rave reviews.

Our inclusion did not generate a massive amount of business, but it still leaves a feeling of failure to lose the entry. Still, if I look at matters realistically, guide entries do not guarantee a successful business - I'll settle for a full December.

Ian Vipond is chef-patron of the New Inn, a free house pub in Hunton on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales