DAVID Craggs is a happy man. It is more than six months since he bought Beamish Hall, but the small army of workmen he employs has completed the first phase in its renovation.

Mr Craggs purchased the medieval stately home, near Stanley, County Durham, for an undisclosed, seven-figure sum last year.

The entrepreneur originally planned to turn the Grade II-listed building into luxury flats. But he recognised its potential as a hotel and set out to make it one of the best in the region.

"It has turned out even better than we had hoped," he said.

Large areas of the mansion, the former headquarters of the National Coal Board, were in a dilapidated state and required a major overhaul.

Once fully operational, the hotel and its 24-acre estate will employ more than 100 people.

Mr Craggs is forecasting that turnover for its first full year, starting this May, will reach £1m.

He has 13 staff on the payroll and is taking on another seven this month.

A total of 60 bedrooms are being refurbished in three phases.

The first phase has seen 13 bedrooms completed, along with the re-opening of the Victorian winter gardens.

Those bedrooms, now open, are already almost fully booked this year, generating substantial revenue. Another seven rooms will be finished by June.

A further 20 will come on stream before Christmas, with the remaining 20 or so to be opened next year.

Mr Craggs has more than 100 bookings through to the end of December, for weddings and conferences.

Last week, the winter gardens played host to the North-East Research and Development Awards.

"It is nice to see money coming in," said Mr Craggs. "It has all been going out for the last six months and now that investment is starting to pay off.

"The bedrooms are fully booked for every function we have."

The winter gardens were built by the Shafto family, descendants of the "Bonny

Bobby Shafto" made famous in the folk song.

The coal barons acquired the hall through marriage in 1884 and commissioned the gardens about 20 years later.

Its arching glass roof was widely admired, but could not withstand the North-East weather.

After particularly heavy blizzards in the winter of 1942, the roof collapsed under the weight of the snow and the building was abandoned, shut off from the rest of the house.

It lay in ruins until the Shaftos' tenure at Beamish Hall came to an end in 1952, when death duties forced them to sell up.

The National Coal Board set up its headquarters at the hall in 1953, and replaced the roof on the winter gardens, but made alterations and used it as offices.

The coal board moved out in 1967 and in 1970, part of the hall was converted into a residential college for Durham County Council.

Part of the grounds were made available as an open-air museum, which eventually became Beam-ish Museum.

Rosemary Allen, senior keeper at the museum's regional resource centre, which is opposite the hall, said: "We think the winter gardens was built about 1908 or 1909.

"It had a superb roof and terrazzo floor. We understand that the roof fell in during the winter of 1942, after a particularly heavy fall of snow.

"It must have been wonderful and it would be lovely to see it back as it was."

Mr Craggs got hold of early pictures from when the gardens were in their prime and has tried to recreate them, although the glass roof has not been replaced.

Unexpected discoveries when the floor was restored were two mosaics at the entrances, including one of the Shafto family crest.

"They had lain covered up for in excess of 50 years, so it was a nice find," said Mr Craggs.

The Shafto theme runs through the hotel, with a carpet bearing the family crest in the bedrooms.

The previous owner, Holt Castle Enterprises, opened the hall as a wedding and conference venue in 2000, but never made the huge investment needed to restore the building fully.

"It was always going to be a two to three-year programme, but we are well ahead of ourselves," said Mr Craggs. "It will be another 18 months before we complete."

Work is under way on new kitchens and a second restaurant, the Eden, which will seat 100 people, to open this spring."

Published: 15/03/2005