When I think there can be nothing new under the sun, a bed and breakfast comes up with a first. “Welcome Sally!” is chalked on a blackboard propped in the farmyard. A clever way of saying, “Please park here.”
This organic dairy farm lies at the southern end of the limestone plateau of the Peak District, near the confluence of the rivers Dove and Manifold, the Dove forming the county boundary between Staffordshire and Derbyshire. Ignoramus that I am, I didn’t realise part of the Peak District is in Staffordshire – but artist Sue Prince, who runs Beechenhill Farm with farmer husband Terry, soon puts me right on that score. (Due to a postcode anomaly, the Post Office puts Beechenhill Farm in Derbyshire but it is actually in Staffordshire.)
We’ve spent far more time on the motorway this Friday night than anticipated, and are spectacularly late. Swiftly taking us up to a large room above the guest sitting room, Sue gives my bloke directions to the pub where we’re booked in for dinner.
We hit the road again. Here it is, The George at Alstonefield. Phew – they’ve kept our table. Within minutes of sitting down in this lovely old pub, we are at one with the world. The main reason is a pear poached with a hint of saffron and stuffed with a creamy Stilton mousse, which we share as a starter. Space prevents me waxing lyrical about Tissington sausages, chicken Kiev, or the subtle rough-luxe interior, because I am reserving column inches for the next instalment of our evening.
This time we appreciate the velvety blackness that stretches beyond the reach of the car headlights. Back at Beechenhill Farm, Sue urges us to use our reserved slot in the outdoor hot tub. Do I really have to go outside in the freezing cold in a bathing costume? Can’t we switch our slot to morning?
“Come on – it’ll be great,” says my bloke. We change, sling on the big bathrobes in our room and, feeling slightly silly, follow Sue through the night-shrouded garden.
She shows us a secluded little stone bothy beside the tub, in which she has put candles, a basket containing a bottle of fizz, chocolates and folded towels beside a pot-bellied Scandinavian wood stove which is chucking out heat, then leaves us to it. We dump robes in the “love cave” and race outside. Splash. We’re in.
All things being eco here, the tub is wood-fired. None of that frightful buzzing these things normally make, just woodsmoke wafting deliciously past our nostrils. We float, beneath a clear starry sky, a slight breeze kissing our shoulders. There’s no sound but the occasional rustle of nocturnal wildlife. Getting out into frosty night air is a shock, but what a wonderful evening this has turned out to be. We are so chilled when we go back indoors, we can barely speak.
Our quarters, a family room with a double and a single, is a rustic blend of pine and wicker, with a crewel-work panel on the wall and shutters at the mullioned window. We have little packets of locally made biscuits, a small flat-screen telly and eco-toiletries in the tiny shower room. Simple, comfy farm B&B – what makes it special is the sybaritic surprise at the bottom of the garden, the gastropub close by and, in the morning, the simply stunning location which daylight reveals beyond our window.
• Ilam, Ashbourne (01335 310274, beechenhill.co.uk). £40pp per night B&B; two nights minimum; closes between December and March but self-catering available year-round in converted outbuildings. The George at Alstonefield (01335 310205, thegeorgeatalstonefield.com); main courses around £10-£16. Further information: enjoystaffordshire.com.
LOCAL TIPS ON WHAT TO DO IN THE AREA
An afternoon out
From Beechenhill Farm you can walk down the valley to Ilam, a tiny village (just 90 residents) on the Staffordshire-Derbyshire border, now mostly belonging to the National Trust. In 1839, the owner of Ilam Hall, one Jesse Watts Russell, having rebuilt the hall to his own specifications, moved the village and rebuilt it out of sight, to improve his view. Ilam nestles between the Dovedale gorge and the Manifold valley. “Was you ever in Dovedale?” Lord Byron wrote to a friend when he visited. “I assure you there are things in Derbyshire as noble as in Greece or Switzerland.”
You can walk and enjoy the gorgeous parkland, the hall, the woodland walks, St Bertram’s Bridge, the National Trust shop and the Manifold Tearoom. Ilam Church has some extraordinary features. The Chantry chapel, built in 1820, takes its name from the sculptor of the fine marble statue depicting estate owner David Pike Watts, father-in-law of the above-mentioned Jesse, on his deathbed, surrounded by his grieving daughter and grandchildren.
Then there’s the 18m-long folk art painting of the history of Ilam (it’s the Staffordshire Bayeux) created by the 12 members of Ilam Art Club in 2008. It will be displayed in Ilam church from 29 May-2 June. As yet it has no permanent home but we are working on it.
Ilam is one mile from Beechenhill.
Sue Prince, organic farmer, artist and owner of Beechenhill Farm
A shopping spree
The town of Leek has some stunning Victorian architecture and decorative facades. William Morris had a long association: his silks were dyed here. The town is peppered with huge old mill buildings, most of which have been converted to enormous shops full of antiques and collectables. I recommend a whole day for browsing.
At Period Features (17 Broad Street), for example, you can buy loads of things you thought were long gone – strange and practical period hardware, lovely enamelware, Bakelite sockets, hand-made soaps, pegs, jugs, an assortment of garden stuff and more.
Don’t miss the Leek Oatcake Shop (2 Haywood Street, 01538 387556). They only sell traditional Staffordshire oatcakes, which are a bit like pancakes. I always have the bacon and cheese ones.
Leek is 12 miles from Beechenhill Farm.
SP
Lunch and a pint
The Rose and Crown in Middle Mayfield (01335 342498) is a friendly and relaxed place with super food from lots of local suppliers: meat from Denstone Hall Farm Shop , pheasant from the local shoot at Dydon Wood and venison from Cannock Chase – an area of outstanding natural beauty and another fantastic place to visit, where you can hire bikes or organise horse riding from the visitor centre. My favourite dishes include Denstone Hall gammon and the homemade gooseberry crumble.
The Rose and Crown is five miles from Beechenhill Farm.
SP
A walk
Most visitors stagger from Dovedale’s car park to the famous stepping stones, the more observant ones spotting the white-throated dipper, looking for prey below the bubbling waters of the Dove. But it’s worth venturing further, through the heart of this newly recognised national nature reserve, past the evocatively named landmark rocks (Dove Holes, Reynard’s Cave, Tissington Spires, Lover’s Leap) ending with an ice-cream from the tiny shop in the village of Milldale. From Beechenhill you can access the Staffordshire Moorlands Way on foot, via Staffordshire Wildlife Trust’s Castern Wood, a diverse site of woodland, scrub and grassland, , and return along Dovedale.
The main Dovedale car park is two miles from Beechenhill Farm.
Guy Corbett-Marshall, chief executive of Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
A bike ride
The Manifold Track, with its two cycle hire businesses, starts in the village of Waterhouses, beside Staffordshire Wildlife Trust’s Brown End Quarry nature reserve, and follows the Hamps and Manifold valleys for six miles to Hulme End. The valleys’ ash woodlands are internationally important for the variety of their wildlife, and the wild flowers are stunning in spring and summer. Recharge with tea and cake at the Wetton Mill tearooms, or go the extra two miles to the Manifold Inn (01298 84537). Take heart: it’s slightly downhill on the way back to Waterhouses.
The Manifold Track is five miles from Beechenhill Farm.
GCM
One for the kids
Step back int time on a steam-powered trip on the Churnet Valley Railway . From the beautifully restored station at Froghall, there’s a great return journey to Cheddleton, a scenic village with a flint mill and museum, and a Grade II Victorian station. If you don’t want to take
the train both ways, buy a one-way ticket to the picturesque hamlet of Consall, sample the Black Lion’s finest ales and then walk back along the Caldon Canal towpath, enjoying the birdsong in mile after mile of stunning oak woodlands, which include an RSPB reserve.
Could this wonderful valley really have been at the heart of the Industrial Revolution? For history buffs, there are still lots of clues to show that life here was quite different 200 years ago, including the remains of iron works, ironstone workings and lime kilns.
Froghall is 10 miles from Beechenhill Farm.
GCM
