A COUPLE believe they are making 'local history' as they offer the first civil wedding ceremony in Sedbergh since the early '80s.

Liz and Nigel Close run the holiday accommodation Howgills Barn and on May 20, will play host to the nuptials.

"My understanding is that when our SLDC council offices closed in 1982/3 they would have been possibly the last time a ceremony has been held in Sedbergh other than possibly at Sedbergh School which no longer is registered for that purpose either," Mr Close said.

Howgills Barn is now the only civil wedding venue in Sedbergh and even more special is that the first wedding to take place will be the one of the couple's own daughter.

Stephanie Jane Close, who now lives in Leeds, will be marrying her fiancé Mathew Baldwin at Howgills Barn.

"I had wondered about registering for hosting civil wedding ceremonies some time ago and I guess it clinched it when my daughter wished to marry 'from home'," Mr Close said.

The barn was once a humble hay store and cattle byre for Castlehaw Farm but was rescued from 'rack and ruin' some 20 years ago.

"My wife Liz and I have owned Castlehaw Farm since I bought it prior to auction in September 1986," Mr Close explained. "The farmer was retiring and we carried out a total renovation on the historic and Grade II listed 1701 farmhouse which took nearly a year-and-a-half before we moved into it with our three children at the time in August 1988."

The couple completed work on Howgills Barn in 2006 and it now accommodates up to 35 people in eight en-suite bedrooms.

Mr Close said that the venue had already hosted numerous receptions where the wedding either took place in the local church or elsewhere in the country.

"Our first daughter got married in the local church in 2008 and their's was the second wedding reception here after which we must have had a further dozen at least," he said.

"So, yes, Stephanie's wishes have opened the door to another business opportunity as we already have the second 'full onsite civil wedding ceremony' booked for September when the daughter of the Sedbergh Art Gallery owners - Jim & Theresa Roberts - is holding the ceremony here and bringing in some 80 people for a long weekend."