8. Exmoor swingers' parties

Neighbours complain of people 'spilling out into the gardens and pool' at hotel hosting 'group sex' parties
Proof positive that licensing hearings don't need to be dull

Originally published: April 23, 2019

Neighbours have complained of people "spilling out" of a Somerset hotel advertised as a venue for "group sex and swingers parties".
Croydon Hall in the tiny Exmoor National Park village of Rodhuish is the venue for members only 'Exclusively Silks' parties - described online as "intimate parties for classy, sophisticated couples and single ladies."

The venue's operator Allen McCloud has applied to the local council  to extend the time it can serve alcohol, as well as provide music and late night refreshment, from its current limit of midnight to 3am (except Sundays).

But more than a dozen neighbours have objected, saying the traffic and noise which the venue currently generates is ruining the quality of life.
The hotel is also being investigated by the national park authority for a possible planning permission breach.
Read the full story here.

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Licensing hearings are a double-edged sword: they can produce very lively and colourful stories based upon locals' reactions, but the locations they concern are often ones with limited online reach. I always make a point of pouring through agenda papers for all the councils I cover as soon as they are published, both to beat rivals to the punch in terms of any previews and to ensure we have time to find the best angle. Despite Exmoor being a challenging area for online content, this was simply too good to gloss over.

I put together the preview of the licensing hearing using comments published within the agenda papers, selecting those which were both eye-catching and addressed the main issues surrounding the licensee and premises in question. We had no images of the venue itself and I did not have the time to travel out to Rodhuish just to get the image - that would be both a waste of resources and risk our competitors breaking the story, so we proceeded with a stock image. The initial story was shared more than 100 times and was subsequently picked up by The Daily Telegraph (here).

I subsequently attended the hearing a week later, which produced a follow-up article which was also successful and shared nearly 200 times. In both cases I was careful to avoid the overly salacious, 'tabloid' line, focusing on the impact the venue and the council's decision would have on locals' lives rather than details of what may or may not have transpired there. We presented the article in a manner which was tasteful and informative but still engaging to our readership.