Sue Fox takes the muddy route to a luxurious North Yorkshire bed and breakfast retreat

JANE Harper is a very busy person.

She’s a mum to two teenage boys and wife and assistant to accountant Phil. She is on the board of governors of a North Yorkshire primary school, helps with Riding for the Disabled and loves nothing better than organising huge family gatherings, tennis get-togethers and shooting parties.

She also finds plenty of time to run a fabulous B&B at their home, High Park Farm, Kirkbymoorside, where she takes it upon herself to make her guests feel absolutely at home from the minute they arrive.

Jane and Phil are waiting to welcome us after we take a muddy route to their farmhouse, having failed to take note of the clear instructions that would have followed a wellsurfaced track.

Tea and home-made brownies with fresh raspberries are set out for us in the guests’ cosy sitting room, complete with its log-burning fire and mementoes of family travels in countries including India and China.

Everywhere, the scent of hyacinths is heavenly as Jane likes to plant up bowls of bulbs so they flower in succession. Even though it’s early in the year, the garden is already providing the snowdrops and aconites that fill vases in every room.

“Everything I plant can be picked for the house,” says Jane.

Her attention to detail is evident throughout.

We are staying in the Scott suite, named after her family, who were shipbuilders on the Clyde, and on a table next to the four-poster bed are books, including one about the Scotts and a novel set in North Yorkshire.

There is a bowl of fresh fruit and a selection of teas and coffees and the bathroom has a wide choice of soaps and luxury bath products.

A second suite, which has particularly dramatic views over the Vale of Pickering and the Howardian Hills, is named after Phil’s family, the Reckitts, of Reckitt and Colman mustard fame.

High Park is also home to The Escape, a selfcatering, one-bedroom apartment with a 30ftlong open-plan living room and folding glass doors that lead out onto a private patio and more stunning views. The accommodation can be adapted to take a maximum of four.

Outside, the grounds include a treehouse, vegetable garden, tennis court and tree-lined areas and Jane is already busy creating a coppice and preparing to plant fruit trees. With her Scots blood and Phil’s Yorkshire roots, they are determined to run the business with a wastenot, want-not ethos.

When they moved to the farm eight years ago, the couple planned their grand design to be as flexible as possible so that family groups can dine together in their beautiful conservatory or dining room, cater for themselves in a specially-built large kitchen or enjoy Jane’s lovely meals, prepared in an enormous island kitchen, which is perfect for looking after guests.

During our stay, Jane serves a superb dinner, starting with smoked salmon canapes, then a prawn and egg mousse that is so good that I beg for the recipe. It is followed by chicken in wine and mint and a pudding of death by chocolate and home-made lemon curd ice cream. And just in case there are any spare corners, we can choose from a selection of locally- sourced cheeses with oatcakes. High Park Farm does not have a drinks licence, but guests are welcome to take along their own choice of wine. The atmosphere is relaxed and convivial as our hosts join us for an after-dinner drink and chat about their time at High Park, which is part of Phil’s family’s estate.

Today, the guest rooms are impeccable, but it has been quite a journey for the couple, who had to cope with a lack of heating, the chaos of building work and plenty of mud before the B&B took shape. “We only had enough hot water to fill one bath... for a family of four,” laughs Jane. Nowadays, a green and efficient bio-mass boiler supplies all the heating needs and keeps the farmhouse toasty warm.

After such a lovely meal, we decline the invitation of a huge breakfast the next morning, but a relaxing night’s sleep seems to revive our appetites and it’s easy to give in to a feast of fresh fruit, home-made preserves and toast and Phil’s first-class scrambled eggs with bacon and tomatoes.

Jane’s great invention of an “I wish I had some more of that” plate means that we can always help ourselves to an extra portion and nothing is wasted.

Sadly, it’s soon time to leave. But first we sign the visitors’ book and browse through the pages of compliments. “I haven’t had one guest I wouldn’t want to welcome back,” says Jane.

And we, too, get the feeling that we arrived as guests, but are leaving as friends.

  • High Park Farm, Kirkbymoorside. North Yorkshire, YO62 7HS. Call 07792-229330, visit highparkfarm.co.uk or email jane@highparkfarm.co.uk

Luxury bed and breakfasts

High Park Farm is one of the properties on the Quintessential Bed at Breakfast website (quintessentialbedandbreakfast.co.uk), a hand-picked collection of beautiful private homes in wonderful surroundings offering five-star luxury bed and breakfast accommodation. They include gorgeous English country houses, stylish and contemporary rural retreats, stunning coastal properties, quintessential English cottages and chic, boutique homes in glorious countryside.