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...
Spring is coming and the wild garlic is on its way.
We deliberately chose one of our favourite woodland walks today to see if we could spot the first signs of spring. We weren’t disappointed. This circular walk is about 5 miles long; the route snakes down through woodland at the back of the village, across the valley...
Winter Wonderland
We have to admit that we love it when it snows here. It feels quite magical and gives a different perspective on our favourite walks. The snow this week was the most we’ve had for some time and combined with bright blue skies and sunshine, it reminded us of skiing...
Making Marmalade
Apparently, marmalade is the new “thing” to make as part of lockdown 3.0, succeeding sourdough and the infamous banana bread. We’ve been making marmalade every year since we opened the Long Barn. Jackie loves marmalade whilst it’s Ian’s nemesis. So, this annual task...
Christmas traditions
This year more than ever, making Christmas feel as special as we can, given the restrictions of meeting up with family and friends, feels important. Apparently, sales of Christmas trees are up 30% at the moment along with fairy lights and baubles, so clearly many of...
What makes The North York Moors special?
This week was the 68th birthday of the North York Moors National Park – and since lockdown, we’ve never appreciated living in a national park more. Now we have to be honest here. Before we moved from Harrogate to Appleton Le Moors, the national park we spent most time...
Stir up Sunday
Today is “Stir up Sunday” and is apparently the traditional day to make your Christmas Pudding. It was started in Victorian times as a tradition when families would get together to get their fruit puddings stirred up, steamed and stored ahead of Christmas. It’s not...
Roost Coffee
We passionately believe in supporting local businesses as much as we can from using their produce/services to promoting them to Long Barn guests. We love great coffee, and part of the Long Barn offer was to have a Sage Bean to Cup coffee machine in the kitchen....
Lastingham circular walk
Lockdown has made us appreciate even more the walks that are on our doorstep. This week, whilst the USA was in turmoil, and our next 4 weeks of lockdown were imminent, we escaped to another great walk we’ve recently reacquainted ourselves with. It starts from...
The Rollercoaster Continues
As we all head into another lockdown, looking ahead to the next few months is challenging to say the least. The Long Barn has effectively been closed since the introduction of the rule of 6 and is now formally closed until the national lock down is eased. The positive...
The Florist North Yorkshire
We like to support local businesses and this has become even more of a focus since COVID 19 hit. We believe we are so lucky that we have fantastic producers and small businesses close by and we want to support as many as we can to make sure they are all here for...
Eta, our biomass boiler
One of our favourite parts of Autumn is a bracing walk and then returning home to a toasty house to warm up, lighting a fire, and hunkering down. And with everything that’s happening in the world at the moment, we suspect that similar nesting instincts will be keeping...