News and media
Sanctuary for rural business
25th November, 2008 – Northern Echo
Win a Natural Retreats family break to the Yorkshire Dales
November 19th, 2008 - Sheffield Star & Doncaster Star
Welcome to eco-chic territory
9th November, 2008 – Sunday Express
Have a Swale of a time in Yorkshire’s Dales
November 2, 2008 – The Independent on Sunday
Sanctuary for rural business
25th November, 2008 – Northern Echo
Rural business units in an idyllic location are available to let at The Sanctuary, Natural Retreats, Aislabeck Plantation, Hurgill Road, Richmond, North Yorkshire.
Located within a few minutes drive of the historic Georgian market town, the property forms part of a unique development of luxury homes providing accommodation for holiday breaks.
The commercial space is within the Sanctuary building which is presently under construction and is being developed as a main reception and meeting area for guests.
The layout design and fittings will be of a high-quality contemporary nature in keeping with the development. The building incorporates three separate rooms which are available to let and there will be communal kitchen and toilet facilities.
The detached former barn area is situated close to the entrance of the development with ample parking facilities. The building is situated at the highest point of the development allowing tenants uninterrupted views of the Dales.
The open-plan layout provides a reception area for tenants’ clients and the three vacant rooms will be accessed by the main reception area. The developer will work with the prospective tenants to fit the rooms out to their specific requirements.
The units have a rent of £12 per square foot, exclusive, plus service charge estimated at 10% of the rent. Further details are available from Carver Commercial of St Cuthbert’s Way, Darlington.
Win a Natural Retreats family break to the Yorkshire Dales
November 19th, 2008 - Sheffield Star & Doncaster Star
Enjoy the British countryside at its best in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, staying in luxurious three-bedroom Natural Retreats eco-friendly residence for three nights.
Set in the heart of some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK, Natural Retreats offers idyllic breaks in contemporary timber residences. With 54 acres of woodland and meadows, there’s plenty to do, from scenic walks to cycling and you’ll see some incredible wildlife in this stunning rural setting.
Every detail of the award-winning development has been carefully planned to ensure a positive impact on the environment. You’ll get free logs from the company’s own managed sources for your wood burner and the water for drinking and showering is from a natural spring.
The residences themselves are made of sustainable timber complete with solar glazing and run on renewable energy – so you don’t have to feel guilty about the flat-screen TV or the dishwasher.
Take a short stroll along the coastal path and you’ll find yourself in the quaint historic market town of Richmond, where you can visit the Norman Castle, Easby Abbey and the Millgate Gardens. There’s a lively market every Saturday as well as regular farmers’ markets and craft fairs.
For your chance to win this fantastic prize simply enter our free prize draw by text or post…
Welcome to eco-chic territory
9th November, 2008 – Sunday Express
It was dark as my wife Caroline and I drove into the grounds of our weekend retreat in the Yorkshire Dales. Dozens of rabbits bobbed in front of the headlights as we wound our way up the hill. It wasn’t until the next morning, as the mist lifted in front of the windows of our timber cottage, that we realised what an idyllic spot we were staying in. All we could see were forested hills and patchwork fields stretching into the distance.
This weekend home for us, as well as my brother Leon and his fiancée Jill, was an eco-friendly cottage built with sustainable wood in a 54-acre private valley. It had an entire front wall of solar glazing and a sedum “living plant-based” roof. The 19-lodge site is the first of 14 planned within, or close to, Britain’s national parks by Natural Retreats, a new travel company that aims to combine eco-friendly buildings with luxurious interiors. Three more site are planned to open late next year in the Lake District, Snowdonia and North York Moors.
Natural Retreats has certainly been true to its word on the luxury front. The interior of our timber cottage wouldn’t look out of place in a trendy city loft apartment. It had a large, open-plan living area, wood floors, stylish cream sofas, a log-burning stove and a widescreen TV. Each of the three bedrooms comes with its own sleek wet room lined with mosaic tiles. Large French doors open on to a large decked terrace with a table that’s perfect for alfresco dining.
We didn’t have to worry about bringing our own breakfast as each cabin is supplied with a posh hamper full of local produce including muesli, bread, milk, butter and eggs and a big slab of Wensleydale cheese. We also had tea, Fair Trade coffee, organic orange juice and a bottle of organic sauvignon blanc.
After a hearty breakfast we were keen to get outdoors. We walked for 20 minutes along a country lane towards Richmond. The first thing you see as you approach the town is the magnificent castle clinging to a precipice above the River Swale. Built in 1071 to repel the troublesome Scots, it’s one if the oldest Norman forts. We could almost smell the history as we walked around the keep’s 11ft-thick walls.
Richmond was the epicentre of Yorkshire sheep farming in the 1800s and has the largest cobblestone marketplace in the country, backed by Georgian buildings, hidden alleys and gardens. It was here that we found a great delicatessen at Ken Warne Grocers. A friendly man names George told us the secrets to creating the optimum French onion soup as we sampled some delicious Swaledale cheeses, including a strong goat’s cheese.
We returned to our pad in time to watch the afternoon light fade through our giant looking glass to the Dales. As the skies turned dark we lit the fire, curled up on the sofas and uncorked the organic wine. Bliss.
The next morning we were eager to explore the National Park. Despite booking mountain bikes, which were waiting for us at our cottage, we decided to take a walk along the nearby River Swale. Grouse and pheasant pecked at the ground as we followed the footpath up the valley passing the occasional York stone house. From the summit the lush green dales stretched for miles in every direction.
Later that day we enjoyed an excellent pint of Black Sheep ale in the garden of The Buck in Richmond while the girls found some bargains including a vintage cake stand at Me & Mi, a cute interiors shop. After stocking up on fruit cake and chocolate tart, we walked back to our chic retreat where we tucked into the treats on the veranda. That night we drove back into Richmond for dinner at the Frenchgate Hotel. We had a glass of champagne in a cosy drawing room before sharing the dining room with some theatregoers fresh from a performance at the town’s Georgian theatre. The menu was full of local produce and great value. We enjoyed gazpacho, duck liver pate, Yorkshire lamb Wellington and roasted cod fillet, plus a stunning sticky date-and-walnut pudding and passion fruit soufflé to finish.
Back at our cottage, we were so relaxed we felt as if we had been there for a week. The winning formula of stylish accommodation and natural beauty was just the ticket for the perfect short break.
Have a Swale of a time in Yorkshire’s Dales
November 2, 2008 – The Independent on Sunday
Walk one of Yorkshire’s most dynamic waterways, says Mark Rowe
The Yorkshire Dales can be rugged with hills that clamber steeply out of its secluded valleys. But it is the rivers that really grind out these dales and this walk tracks one of the most dynamic waterways in the region, the River Swale. Beginning in Richmond, it takes in a superb valley walk before returning to town along a path high above the River Swale as it goes eastwards from its Pennine watershed to the River Ouse and the North Sea.
This walk was suggested by John Deighton, who is involved in the Richmond Walking and Book festival. Begin in Richmond’s cobbled Market Place, where you need to find Friars Wynd, a narrow lane that passes through a postern gate, a remaining part of the town wall, and emerges by the Theatre Royal.
Cross the road and go up the steps to the tourist office and enter Friary Garden. Pass through the gardens with the remains of the 13th century Franciscan friary on your left, and leave via the far right-hand gate by the well. Continue across the roundabout and Quakers Lane to climb the steps to a snicket (a narrow pedestrian way). Continue uphill to emerge at Green Howards Road. Below you can see Richmond Castle. Turn left for around 20 yards, cross the road and go through a narrow stile in the drystone wall.
Head half –left across the field, picking up the waymarkers as you cross two fields, before arriving at the old racecourse, now a public common. To the east, the view extends to the North Yorkshire Moors. Turn left and head west for three-quarters of a mile towards a large ruined grandstand. From the grandstand head north, following the clear track through a gap in the wall and walk through a small plantation and through a gate. Bear left and, with the wall on the left, follow the waymarked footpath up and then down into the Coalsgarth Valley.
This is an enchanting stretch, as the valley slowly comes into view, dotted with ruined cottages, drystone walls and lime kilns and flanked with woodland. Follow the waymarks along the bottom of the valley – passing through two gates – until you reach its head where you cross a stile on to a bridleway. Turn right to cross the stream and another stile. Climb the hill to reach a gate. Bear left in front of the gate, following the tracks as it arcs back through coniferous woodland.
Follow the path through the forest. After three-quarters of a mile you reach a road, where you turn right, then cross a ladder stile on the left a few yards along the road. Follow the beaten track over the moor to a fence and gate where Swaledale is laid out in front of you. This spot is known as Willance’s Leap, after Robert Willance, a draper who tumbled off his horse here in mist in 1606. The horse was killed and Willance tucked his broken leg inside the horse’s body to keep it warm overnight. The monuments here mark the final two strides of the horse. The view is striking, with Hag Wood covering the far side of the dale dominated by the moors.
Return through the gate and turn right, heading east along Whitcliffe Scar. Keeping the wall and escarpment on your right, follow the waymarked path. After the double ladder stile, head for the far left-hand corner of the field to the two-step double stile. Follow the main track, with more sweeping views of Swaledale, as it waves between hawthorn bushes and gorse, with Richmond spread out in the valley.
Just after the gorse bushes, bear right downhill to a stile at High Leases farm, Over the stile, turn left and follow the road past a small holiday cottage on your right, along with a Richmond boundary stone and a dedication to Alfred Wainwright, whose coast-to-coast routes passes through here. Just beyond the dip, pass through the kissing gate into Westfield. Head south for about 150 yards and then turn left (east) to follow the contour along Westfield, through a coppice and emerge through a kissing gate on to the Westfield road. Walk down the road and across Reeth Road to enter the cobbled street of Newbiggin, then re-enter the Market Place via Finkle Street.
Distance: seven miles
Time: between three and three-and-a-half hours
OS Map: OS explorer 304, Darlington and Richmond. Mark Rowe stayed at Natural Retreats (naturalretreats.com) near Richmond, which offers two-nights stays in a chalet sleeping up to six people from £325.
How to get there
The nearest train station to Richmond is at Darlington, which is served by Cross Country trains. Buses run frequently between Darlington rail station and Richmond.