Flower and Produce Show
Last weekend was one of the most anticipated events in the village calendar; the annual Flower and Produce Show. It is held in Appleton's village hall and is open to residents from our village along with those from Lastingham, Spaunton, and Hutton Le Hole. We know we...
What’s on in August
It feels as if everything steps up another gear in August with masses on all over the North York Moors and at the coast. During the school holidays, there are lots of activities for children run at the visitor centres in Sutton Bank and Danby. It’s also a wonderful...
Things to do when it rains
When we have so much beautiful green countryside, you have to take it on the chin that it will sometimes rain. We can’t promise wall to wall sunshine and blue skies. But we can promise that you won’t run out of things to do in the Long Barn and in the North York Moors...
Being Sustainable
We are privileged to live in the North York Moors National Park. Living and supporting sustainable tourism in the local area is very important to us. We are constantly reviewing what we do and how we can be more sustainable, whilst providing a high-quality guest...
5 pubs, 2 cafés and an ice cream shop
We have always loved a good circular walk, especially one with a pub part way round. By happy serendipity, the Long Barn is well positioned with beautiful walks from the door all which can involve a visit to a pub, café or ice cream shops. Here is our round up of...
The Coast – 6 reasons to visit
The North York Moors is stunning and known for its breathtaking landscapes, charming villages, and historic sites. Its rolling hills and picturesque countryside often steal the spotlight. Look east and you’ll find that its coast is equally enticing. Offering a unique...
Self-catering breakfast for a large group
We’ve cooked a fair few breakfast over the years, and appreciate it can be daunting scaling up a breakfast for a large group. Especially if you are staying away with 14 people in the Long Barn. Here are our 10 tips for making it as stress free as possible: 1. Plan...
What’s on in July
As we head into the summer, and the school holidays, there is more and more to do in the North York Moors. Here’s our round up of the best events in July. The summer months are full of local events and activities, especially as the schools break up for the summer...
The West Barn
We first blogged about the West Barn in 2020, describing it as the “best kept secret” of the Long Barn. We believe it was built before the Long Barn. If you look up at the beams you can see that some are reclaimed beams from even older buildings. If you book the Long...
What’s on in June
We thought we’d do a round up of what’s on in the remainder of June in the North York Moors. At the moment the weather is spectacular, and fingers crossed with be beautiful for some time to come. So this blog is being written in the garden, soaking up the rays. We...
D Day – 10 years on
6 June 2013 marks a special date for us. It’s the day that we packed up all our worldly goods. The day we headed over to Appleton Le Moors and moved into Town End Farm. After 20 years living in Harrogate, and 30+ years working in the corporate world, it was the start...
Shop Local
We believe in supporting local business and try to make it as easy as possible for guests to ‘shop local’ wherever possible. We appreciate that many guests will choose to organise one big supermarket shop when staying at the Long Barn. However, there are some great...
BBQ Season
As you can imagine, the Long Barn BBQ gets a lot of use. It’s set up ready to go all year round; we’ve had guests using it in February. When renovating the barn, we wanted to have a space outside that was easy to cater in. We were inspired by the wonderful outside...
Saying thank you with brownies
If you've stayed at the Long Barn you'll know that just before you leave, we drop off a little treat for the journey home. Our original aim was to keep this a surprise. However, so many guests have said how much they love the brownies, its no longer a secret...We've...
A new bathroom
One of the improvements we've wanted to do for some time was to improve the Long Barns accessibility by changing a bathroom. 3 of our bathrooms have walk in showers, but all are on the first floor. The remaining bathrooms have showers over the bath to give guests a...
What’s on in May
This year sees a terrific calendar of events on in the North York Moors. It really feels as if life is returning to pre pandemic activities when a lot of traditional events were cancelled. The North York Moors have a fantastic web site featuring many events that is...
No short straw bedroom
We are still scarred from our first ever skiing trip. As the last couple to arrive, we got the final bedroom aka the broom cupboard. Although that description is generous. We also remember self-catering holidays away with a group of friends. One couple were always the...
The Long Barn dining room
The dining room in the Long Barn looks very different to the space when we bought Town End Farm. It was originally single height with a bedroom over it. It had a staircase, but at the opposite end to the kitchen. So the room felt small and pokey. In fact we were...
A new “Katering” option
We're always on the look out for new caterers for guests. The joy of self catering in the Long Barn is that you have lots of choice. You can cook a delicious meal in the luxury kitchen. Or book in at our local pub just minutes walk from the door. You can also book a...
6 reasons we love the North York Moors
When we were first looking to set up our own business, our original search area was huge. Living in Harrogate meant that we began looking at the Yorkshire Dales, South Lakes and the North York Moors. We were looking for a very specific size of property. Ideally a...
Wild Daffodils
One of the first signs of spring that we look forward to are the wild daffodils appearing in the woods. The place that is best known locally for its daffodils is Farndale. In March and April, thousands of people visit the famous "Daffodil Walk" along the River Dove,...
The perfect “car free”spring weekend
Inspired by the Travel sections in newspaper Sunday Supplements, here is our suggestion for a weekend at the Long Barn. We appreciate that organising a big group isn't easy. We hope these suggestions help you narrow down the options. Here are our ideas for a weekend...
The magic of a traybake
We love cooking and pretty much cook from scratch every day. With so much amazing produce on our doorstep, it seems mad not to. When we have time and are in the mood, we will happily spend time making something fancy. By that we mean making our own pasta from scratch,...
Celebrations at the Long Barn
Since opening in 2015, we've lost count of the number of big celebrations that have taken place at the Long Barn. There have been lots of birthdays with a "0" in them . As well as anniversaries and reunions. We've had visitors here in their nineties and some just a...
Curry Delivery
We have to come clean….we are recommending a non local supplier for the first time ever. We lived for many years in Leeds and tasted the best ever curries in Bradford. The North York Moors is a wonderful place to live with many fabulous places to eat. Sadly...
Dogs Welcome
Dogs are very welcome at the Long Barn. We appreciate that your dogs are part of the family and many guests want to bring their four-legged friend away with them. Self catering holidays are perfect for dogs and their human familes. The North York Moors is a perfect...
The Homestead Kitchen
The Homestead Kitchen opened in November 2021 and from the start had rave reviews from customers and local food critics. It's in the middle of the picturesque village of Goathland, serving relaxed fine dining food. The Homestead is owned by Peter and Cecily; Peter is...
Insider secret……Hanging stones
"Hanging Stones will be both discreet and dramatic. Visible to those who know it is there and hidden to those that don't. It will be so rooted in what is already there that it would be difficult to say where the work begins or ends." Andy Goldsworthy 2018...
Ryedale Folk Museum
When out on a favourite bike ride, one of our not so guilty pleasures is to buy an ice-cream in Hutton Le Hole. All are delicious but we recommend the salt caramel and clotted cream/blackcurrant combo. We're embarrassed to admit that whilst we've walked past Ryedale...
Graze on the Green
We take our cake very seriously in North Yorkshire. There are some epic bakers in our village and the cake categories at the annual village produce show are always hotly contested. Unsurprisingly, there are many excellent places for eating cake in the North York...
Welcome Hamper Recipes
We make as many of the goodies that go into our guest welcome hamper as we can; in fact, the only things which we don’t make are the Extra Virgin Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil and the Roost coffee beans. We’re not quite at their level of expertise… The most popular recipe we...
Roe Deer
It always feels special on our walks when we spot a roe deer, and we’re seeing more of them than ever before around Appleton. It’s probably due to us walking more due to lockdown, and also there being fewer people around. The best time to see roe deer is usually early...
Cycling friendly
Over the last few years, we’ve fallen in love with cycling all over again. Quiet roads and bridleways, beautiful scenery and cycling friendly places to stop off for a bite to eat, the North York Moors is a fantastic place to explore on a bike. We have to admit, that...
Bempton Cliffs
Bempton Cliffs made it into our top 5 things to do on the Yorkshire coast when we blogged about it in September last year. We’ve not been back there for many months for obvious reason, so as things are beginning to unlock, we decided to go this weekend, and were...
Wild Garlic
We love exploring the woods near Appleton at this time of year. Just 10 minutes’ walk from us, every day during spring reveals something new flowering on the woodland floor. Before the leaves begin to appear on the trees, and the leaf canopy fills, it’s a wonderful...
Cooking breakfast for a gathering
Breakfasts are one of those meals that can make your stay away even more special but can sometimes be underestimated when scaling up to cooking for a big group. Some planning ahead can make all the difference. Our 10 tips for the perfect cooked breakfast are:- Split...
Florian Poirot
It’s really important to us to support local businesses and also encourage Long Barn guests to do the same. Now more than ever, local businesses need our custom. In this week’s blog, we’d like to introduce you to Florian Poirot. With a name like Florian Poirot, you...
Sunday lunch
There is something about a lovely Sunday lunch, and the good news is there are lots of options when you stay in the Long Barn. Sunday lunch is something that every pub and many restaurants pride themselves in serving. We may be biased, but we think the generous nature...
Cooking food for big groups: the curry option
Last year as we unlocked briefly for the summer, we blogged about our Top Ten Tips for the perfect stay away with friends and family. Tip number 5 was “Food - keep it simple”. As we all start to dare to anticipate being able to meet up with friends and family,...
Ian’s bread making journey (or how bread saved our lives)
In every Long Barn welcome hamper is a homemade loaf of bread that Ian has made for guests. It really is delicious, especially since we now use a local flour made by Yorkshire Organic Millers, less than 2 miles away. But there is a story behind this bread which...