A NORTH Yorkshire tourist attraction, famed for its natural beauty and home cooking, has been put up for sale.

How Stean Gorge, seven miles from Pateley Bridge, in Nidderdale, has gone on the market because Howard Stevenson and his wife, Pamela, who have run it for the past 30 years, are retiring.

How Stean is nicknamed Yorkshire's Little Switzerland because of its idyllic setting.

More than 22,000 people visited the gorge last year, and many more are regulars at the restaurant which has won a reputation for its home cooking.

Mr Stevenson's home-made fare has become a Nidderdale institution.

His bilberry pies and pavlovas top the list of favourites, along with apple pies and ginger sponge cakes.

Mr Stevenson, 68, believes the secret of the restaurant's success has been down to his insistence on preparing English food.

"Everything is straightforward, nothing fancy. There's no a la carte menu, with fancy names. You can read and understand everything on the menu."

How Stean is famous for its dramatic limestone cleft, up to 80ft deep in places.

The gorge also features How Stean Tunnel and Tom Taylor's Cave, the latter named after a highway man who stalked the Nidderdale countryside more than a century ago.

The five acre site has just gone on the market and includes a gift shop, car park, farmhouse and cottage with additional land if needed.

Mr Stevenson said the family would miss living there. "I've never lived in such a beautiful place before. And the gorge can be such a dramatic place," said Mr Stevenson.