A former corporate high-flyer, Edwina Sorkin, owner of Cheskin House, has lived all over the world. Such is the lure of the Eden Valley, however, that she chose this quiet corner of eastern Cumbria to settle and open a B&B. Sitting in her Italianate conservatory, the garden set up for summer barbecues and the Howgill Fells framed in the distance, it's not hard to see what drew Sorkin to this 270-year-old farmhouse in Newbiggin-on-Lune, six miles from Kirkby Stephen.
The wider Eden Valley is a world away from the tourist traps of the Lakes further west. It is a lovely borderland, where craggy fells melt into Yorkshire's voluptuous dales, and the pace of life steadfastly sedate.
A Slow Food adherent, Edwina is passionate about local produce, be it Herdwick lamb or hill-bred Dexter beef. Among other items, breakfast runs to stewed rhubarb with cinnamon yoghurt and even chocolate banana bread (big up here, apparently), on top of a first-rate fry-up that included duck egg, hand-churned butter and proper, traditional bacon.
"Everything," she enthuses, "is from literally down the road."
From welcome tea and cake to the truffles by your bed, no one leaves Cheskin House hungry. Edwina also provides evening meals. On this visit, the dishes were (for me) a little dated. For instance, a main of marginally overcooked lamb with various Mediterranean-style vegetables was pleasant but rather underdeveloped as a dish, lacking distinct dimensions of flavour. Ultimately, £35 for canapes, four set courses and coffee, felt a shade expensive, but Edwina's chicken liver pâté was terrific. She also introduced me to an awesome cheese (Bishopdale, a cheddar with a tangy, almost Parmesan-like finish) and I wolfed down a dessert of poached pears with blueberries and vanilla cream, which I thought I'd hate. Eating in, you can also drink from Edwina's wine cellar: mark-ups are modest, around £5, and she carries many interesting, non-supermarket wines, including one from Lebanese producer Chateau Musar.
A racy gallery of Herb Ritts prints apart, the house and its two guest rooms, called Sancerre and Champagne, are decorated in a refined, classically elegant style, with the bathrooms – Sancerre's is all pale yellow wooden panelling, slate floor and rough stone window sills – providing a contemporary edge.
The detail (leaf tea, homemade cookies, novel Pure Lakes toiletries) is unusually good, and any minor irritations (no teaspoons, textured velvet clothes hangers, a rather low-hanging mini chandelier), are forgotten as you settle into the serious bed, with its 400-thread Egyptian cotton linen, down pillows and duvet, or revive yourself in the super-powerful shower. I arrive exhausted. But I leave rested, refreshed and well-fed.
• Accommodation was provided by Cheskin House. Travel between Manchester and Kirkby Stephen provided by Northern Rail (northernrail.org). Information on Cumbria: golakes.co.uk
