Town End Farm

01/11/2024

Lovely to welcome back Wellness Space for one of their fabulous yoga retreats.

They always seem to manage to pick the best weekends for weather.

Happy Friday everyone!

🧘🍁🍂🧘☀️

31/10/2024

Happy Halloween everyone.

Pumpkins ready. Sweets ready.

What could possibly go wrong?

🎃🕷️💀👻

30/10/2024

29/10/2024

Recently, we’ve stayed in several very different self-catering cottages in Croatia and the UK. Being self-catering guests ourselves, really makes us appraise what it’s like to be in the shoes of our guests.

Here are three things that have struck us:

1. Finding the perfect place was difficult, and a leap of faith. We looked for a 5 ensuite bedroom holiday cottage to meet up with friends for a reunion. We wanted it walkable to a pub, with space to gather in and similar sized bedrooms. It made us realise (again) how stressful it is to be the person booking a place. And how lacking in transparency lots of places are. Places with every bedroom with an ensuite weren’t common. And if they were ensuite, at least one of the bedrooms was single beds or bunk beds.

With a lot of places, we had to become detectives and check the small print. Few gave an option to speak to the owners to check it out. Lots had social media that was out of date, and didn’t really give a feel of the place.

So we’re updating our web site, and reiterating to all who enquire, that we are happy to answer any questions over the phone. Plus look out for more videos on our social media that will show the look and feel of the Long Barn. If you are thinking of booking, give us a call. We are also very happy to show prospective guests around the barn if it’s empty. Just call us first to arrange a visit.

2. The welcome we got varied hugely. We think this starts from booking (especially when booking for a big group that you feel responsible for) We were surprised how much reassurance we wanted, and just a helpful friendly email from the owner made a difference. Few of the places we booked did this. We aim to email out to guests 3 times between booking and their stay. We also welcome guests to the Long Barn and give a quick tour. We live next door, and whilst guests will then rarely see us (unless they have an issue or visit the pub) we think that a personal welcome is important.

Part of our ethos at the Long Barn is a welcome basket of home-made treats and local goodies. Many places (especially in the UK) have made the decision to stop supplying these. We respectfully disagree and believe these touches make a difference. So, we’ll keep baking and supplying a generous choice of local produce. Plus a pint of fresh milk for that all-important cuppa when you arrive.

We’ve been inspired by one helpful host who had the best instructions to find their apartment in Split. Without which, we’d have wandered for hours. So we’ll be reviewing ours in our digital guide to make sure it’s as clear as possible.

3. The reality versus the online description. Most times this was pretty good, in fact in some of the places, the reality was way more than we’d expected. But for some, it was a disappointment.

Thumbs down to the place who provided 2 dishwasher tabs for a weekend stay or the place where there wasn’t enough seating for the number of people staying. And a big thumbs up to a fabulous place in Croatia that had the most wonderful undersold views and location. Along with crisp white bed linen and the most comfortable of beds.

Please get in touch with any comments or suggestions about the Long Barn if you’ve stayed with us or are thinking about booking.

28/10/2024

At this time of year, the skies from the Long Barn can look pretty spectacular.

And tonight’s is changing every minute.

🌅 North York Moors National Park

25/10/2024

Autumn colours in the courtyard.

Happy Friday everyone.

🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂

23/10/2024

Beware….

At any time of day, there could be free roaming sheep in our village….

🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑

22/10/2024

Whilst we moved furniture and cleaned today, the wonderful Dan cleared two of the Long Barn beds out for planting.

Planted 10 years ago, it’s time to replant (After some further weeding out of the dreaded couch grass)

Watch this space. 🌱🌿🍃

21/10/2024

It’s been a busy day at the Long Barn.

Two bedrooms getting lovely new wool carpets.

We’ve now got to move all the furniture back in.

One bedroom done, one to go!

20/10/2024

We’ve been busy today at the Long Barn….

It’s going to be a very busy day tomorrow…

Any guesses?

19/10/2024

We have lots of “multigen” groups stay at the Long Barn.

In fact we has our very own multigenerational group of our own family stay last weekend.

We agree with Tim Dowling’s 6 tips.

We’d add our own tip 7….book the Long Barn as it’s the perfect space for spending time away with family. ❤️❤️

If you want your family to behave, make sure you invite friends, too – and other ways to ensure your group holiday doesn’t feel like you’re herding cats

18/10/2024

We recently stayed away self catering and found just two tabs for the whole weekend. Not happy. ☹️

Not only will you find two dishwashers in the Long Barn.

You will also find plenty of dishwasher tabs - more than enough for your stay.

Plus we fill both dishwashers up with rinse aid and salt at every changeover.

Happy Friday!

17/10/2024

Did you know that the Long Barn iPad not only has our digital guide and plays music from Spotify to the Sonos system?

It also has Readly on it so you can access lots of magazines during your stay.

For traditionalists, you’ll also find a little library of paperbacks in the West Barn. And lots of copies of Yorkshire Life in the living room.

Hopefully, something for everyone.

16/10/2024

The North York Moors National Park: An International Dark Sky Reserve 🌌✨

As North York Moors National Park celebrate their fifth Dark Skies Fringe Festival, we’re proud to say that the North York Moors is an International Dark Sky Reserve. This means we’re one of the best places to experience the awe-inspiring beauty of the night sky, with minimal light pollution and a commitment to protecting our starry skies for future generations.

Visit from 25 October – 3 November for events celebrating the magic of the dark skies. From stargazing to astronomy talks, there are so many ways to connect with the cosmos! 🌠

All photos are from the Long Barn and Appleton other than the beautiful Ana Cross one courtesy of
📸 : Tony Marsh

15/10/2024

Take a peek at Bedroom 6. ❤️

13/10/2024

Today was a first. Foraging for mushrooms with Justin Jamieson on the moors and in the woods just minutes from Appleton.

We found a dozen edible mushrooms including the rare Penny Bun. It was fun, informative and so relaxing.

A fantastic few hours which we’ll be recommending to all Long Barn guests.

Let us know when you book, if this is an activity you’d like to do, and we’ll put you in touch with Justin.

🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫

12/10/2024

Apple pressing with friends today in the village.

Covered in pulp but great to get it all done.

And the juice tastes delicious.

🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏

11/10/2024

When you arrive at the Long Barn, you’ll find every en-suite stocked with lovely toiletries from The Bath House

All in stylish recyclable aluminium bottles.

And The Bath House offer all Long Barn guests a 10% discount.

10/10/2024

The Northern lights put in an appearance tonight.

Absolutely stunning in Appleton Le Moors.

First time we’ve ever seen these colours with the naked eye.

What a view from the Long Barn courtyard. ❤️

10/10/2024

Living in a dark skies area means we have been lucky enough to see the Aurora.

But we’ve never seen it from the Long Barn courtyard.

Although some guests did see it from here earlier this year.

Fingers crossed for tonight. We’ll keep you posted. 🤞

09/10/2024

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08/10/2024

Do you have a favourite village in North York Moors National Park?

One of the unique things about the North York Moors, is the very different characteristics of the villages and towns. It’s quite a headache for the National Park when agreeing what can and can’t be built in each one. But it is also what makes every single place unique.

Recently, the Park has been consulting with each village about what makes their village special. You can check out in our blog. There is a walk-through video of each village in the National Park including our very own Appleton Le Moors. See if you can spot Town End Farm at the very end.

We thought we’d feature our 5 favourite villages in this week’s blog. Obviously our very favourite village is Appleton Le Moors, which we’ve blogged about previously.

1. Hutton Le Hole
This village really is picture post card and of all of the five, has the most things to do in it. So it can get quite busy. The good news is that it is walkable from the Long Barn. If you decide to drive there, we recommend parking at the top of the village in the large car park on the right as you drive in from Appleton.
It’s home to the amazing Ryedale Folk Museum which is a great place to visit with kids young and old. There are several cafes along with a pub. Our favourite place for a coffee is The Old School House Deli and Bakery

2. Lastingham
The closest village to Appleton, this tucked away village is a great place to walk from up to Ana Cross. It has a beautiful Church St Mary’s with an undergrown crypt. Handily opposite is the excellent Blacksmith's Arms with hand pulled ales and great food. Lastingham Grange has also got a great reputation locally for it’s meals especially it’s afternoon tea. It’s a step back in time with old fashioned family service.

3. Rosedale Abbey
Rosedale Abbey is a beautiful drive north from us down the infamous Chimney Bank hill. It’s known to cyclists as “The Chain Breaker”.

Despite the name, there isn’t actually an Abbey in Rosedale although it does have a pretty church. It’s home to the wonderful Graze on The Green who serve the most delicious cakes. We also recommend their breakfasts. Just make sure you book ahead of you are in a group. It’s the starting point for the wonderful Hanging Stones Walk.

4. Goathland
Goathland is famous for featuring in Harry Potter and also the tv series Heartbeat. But it’s also home to a thriving community of people who live in the village. You can catch a steam train up to the village depending on the time of year. And it’s a great place to strike out on some beautiful walks including to the Mallyan Spout Waterfall. It’s home to the smallest pub in North Yorkshire, Birch Hall Inn Beckhole It’s also where the wonderful Homestead Kitchen Restaurant & Holiday Cottage, Goathland is. Peter and Cecilly run this fantastic restaurant which is also their home. Cecily grew up in Goathland and has lots of great recommendations of local places to visit.

5. Hawnby
Hawnby is a village owned by an estate, so it’s very pretty with a uniformity about all the little cottages, many of which are listed. It is on a steep bank and the views from there are quite beautiful. It’s the first official dark skies village in the North York Moors. The Owl is under new ownership and is having a few teething problems. Reviews about the food are still a little mixed. We hope that they get this back on track as it is a beautiful pub with probably one of the best views in the park.

Even as we review this list, we are thinking of some other lovely villages we've missed off. So watch this space for other favourites in future.

And let us know your favourite for possible inclusion.

Full blog with lots more links below ⬇️