 Cedar Lodge Koi
Caistor Road
Holton-le-Moor
Lincolnshire LN7 6AH
Telephone number: 01673 828811
Opening hours: March–October: Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10am – 6pm, Sunday 12 noon – 6pm Tuesday and Wednesday Closed. Winter: weekends 10am - 4pm, and weekdays by appointment.
Email: koi@cedarlodgekoi.co.uk
Website: www.cedarlodgekoi.co.uk
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 Cedar Lodge Koi opened its doors to the public almost four years ago and much has gone on in the hobby since then – not all of it good. When Anne Read and partner Peter Kennington made the leap from keen hobbyists to full-time Koi dealers, the Niigata earthquake was a nightmare still waiting to happen and the trade, although fully aware of KHV, had yet to pull together to minimise its impact. If the couple had been blessed with second sight, would they still have gone ahead? Knowing Anne, and sensing the steel behind Peter’s natural affability, the answer has to be yes.
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 A man’s world
Cleethorpes-born Anne Read hardly took the traditional route into the Koi business. She trained as a beauty therapist when she was younger, but by the time she met Peter Kennington 12 years ago she’d dropped out of the rat race and was working as a barmaid. Her only interest in fish lay in catching them. She’d infiltrated the male-dominated world of match angling and would often beat the boys at their own game on the banks of the River Witham or beside the local drains. Peter, however, was a keen Koi keeper and, in turn, Anne caught the Koi bug. They finally set up home in Grimsby, built a 7,500-gallon pond and became active members of the BKKS North Lincolnshire Section.
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 Renovation time
Cedar Lodge Koi came about in response to local demand, specifically for a reliable supply of good pond-building materials in North Lincolnshire. For five years the would-be Koi dealers searched for a suitable property and eventually came across a two-acre site on the main A46 Grimsby trunk road close to the hamlet of Holton-le-Moor. First impressions were favourable – there was limitless space, a roomy bungalow and two barns crying out for conversion. “That said, the site had previously been a pig and chicken farm and later became a store for agricultural machinery,” said Anne. “We had our work cut out.”
Nevertheless, just seven weeks after they moved into the bungalow, Cedar Lodge Koi was up and running. Anne and Peter reconstructed the entire back wall of a 3,000ft2 sales barn, repaired a slipped roof and fitted out the premises with the help of willing Section members. “Dave Scriven, of the Filter Factory in Barnsley, supplied the vats, Selective Koi Sales Ltd supplied the fish and much of the food, and Evolution Aqua supplied the filters,” said Peter.
“I would have liked to install gravity-fed filtration, but I broke several diamond blades on the concrete floors and had to abandon the idea!”
Cedar Lodge Koi were hot on quarantine from the start, and in May last year their 3,000-gallon indoor holding facility was upgraded to a 25ft x 22ft polytunnel well away from the barn and offering full biosecurity. Inside is a 3,500-gallon circular vat and three 800-gallon vats; they’re all filtered by Nexus Eazy Pods. “Nothing comes out or goes in for six weeks until the Koi are declared clean,” said Anne. “We keep them at 23–26˚C for three weeks, then use our on-site spring water to drop the temperature to 15˚C for a day or two before bringing it up again.”
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 Japanese and British
These days, some of the stocks are sourced from the Essex-based Koi Company or through Ornafish, while others are shipped from Japan.
Typically, Cedar Lodge will have around 400 small Koi for sale, as well as 120 in the 8–10in class and some choice ‘biggies’ like a 32in Yamabuki Ogon and Anne’s current personal favourite Buddy – a 22in Budo Goromo which she openly admits is not priced to attract impulse buyers! Anne and Peter can specify the breeders of their Japanese imports and favour Matsunosuke, Marudoh (excellent Chagoi), Isa Showa, Sakasume and Kawakami (for the smaller fish).
But don’t expect to be able to buy Koi all year round. “We put the heating on in our sales vats in October and that’s it until the end of April,” said Anne. “We will, of course, reserve fish for customers, and most Koi keepers understand that it’s not fair to move fish in winter.”
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 The arty type
The shop floor easily accommodates a 2,200-gallon vat, four at 500 gallons and three at 300 gallons “for the babies”. There’s ample room for food, filters, medication displays, all the pipework a pond builder is ever likely to need and a counter with novelty goods such as Koi mugs, teddy bears and place mats – not to mention Anne’s own paintings. It’s at Koi shows where you are most likely to meet this versatile lady in her role as an artist. Self-taught, her ‘Union Jack’ medley of Koi formed the front cover of the 2004 National Show programme, and the original was raffled for charity for £650. This year she is working on a new full collection of paintings, all originals with no prints, so if you fancy a true one off original koi painting give her a call.
The will to succeed
Anne, in particular, has certainly got some strong views – especially on filtration. With six years’ experience of Evolution Aqua’s range and the Kaldnes K1 media, she reckons she’s found a way to fast-track the maturation process, but is keeping the secret close to her chest. A clue may lie in its static use to take out solids, and the phenomenal growth rate of the Koi in quarantine – but you’ll have to piece the puzzle together for yourselves. I asked Anne and Peter if they’d achieved what they set out to do at Cedar Lodge Koi, and how they saw the future of the trade in general. “We sell dry goods over our secure Internet site but that’s not our main vehicle,” said Peter. “60% of our turnover comes from fish, which need housing and feeding. We have overheads, and it’s very tough trying to stay competitive with those Internet traders who have none. The Internet is a ball breaker for people like us,” Anne said. “The KHV virus is still a threat but our customers know we don’t just go through the motions with biosecurity – we walk the walk.”
“This is a big site, and we’re working on making it family-friendly so people can enjoy a full day out here. For example, they are now breeding new varieties of small parrotlets such as Pennents, Ring Necks and Kakariki's. There’s always something extra you can do.”
As I left, Anne was perched on the roof of the former quarantine area wielding a nail gun – this corner of the barn is being converted into a display area for the new parrotlets flights. She’ll definitely turn her hand to anything, and it’s exactly this sort of determination that will see the couple through where many others fail. I think Cedar Lodge Koi has a bright future ahead. N
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