Summer News!
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Spring News!
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Pub Recommendation – The Stag Inn, Dufton |
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Visit England Rose 2023 Award
We are absolutely delighted to announce that we have won a coveted Visit England Rose 2023 Award.
The Rose award has been running for 6 years now and highlights businesses that provide visitors with unique experiences and the warmest of welcomes. The award is made to only 100 hospitality businesses each year, and is nominated by Visit England quality scheme assessors, based on their feedback, as well as guest reviews.
The fact that it is a recognition of the experience we give our guests is extremely satisfying to us. We have always tried to champion the Eden Valley as a quiet, but beautiful, corner of Cumbria, and we have always made decisions with our guest at the heart of what we do. We have met many lovely guests along the way, many of whom have returned several times to enjoy what Dufton, and the Eden Valley have to offer. In many ways it is through their support and enjoyment, and ultimately their reviews of their experience with us, that has given us the confidence in what we do – and this is absolutely the icing on the cake.
EV Charging
EV Charging at Shepherds View
EV charging Unit
We are delighted to announce that we have added an ICS charging unit as an additional service for any guests wishing to travel to us in their EV car.
The charger is suitable for all EV cars, but guests will still need to bring their own Type 2 cable. Access to the unit is easy and is via a QR code located on the front, which then allows guests to pay for charging.
Our starting price for charging is set at 40p per kWh, but we do reserve the right to alter this according to the price of electricity operating at the time.
So no more searching around Cumbria for the nearest charging unit, or worrying if you will make it back. Charge over night and spend more time enjoying your holiday.
We look forward to welcoming you and your EV car in the very near future!
What’s your favourite time of year?
January & February
Snowy winter peaks
There is no better time of year for enjoying quality ‘me’ time than the early months of the year. Often there can be snow on the hills, making the views from the feature window of Shepherds View spectacular, with crystal clear mornings and dark nights for star gazing.
You don’t need to make any excuses to cosy up in front of the log fire in one of our complimentary dressing gowns, enjoy the underfloor heating, or luxuriate in the jacuzzi bath. With Netflix on the TV for binge episodes of your favourite show ‘staying in’ can really be the new ‘going out’! And should you venture out, then in early February Dufton Ghyll has wonderful embankments of snowdrops on display.
March & April
As the clocks march forward enjoy more of the above, but with the added fun of the Spring lambs arriving in the field below you. It’s the reason we called the barn Shepherds View, and many a guest has whiled away the hours watching them skip and play.
Dalemain Mansion, near Ullswater, hosts the world famous marmalade festival on 22nd celebrating all things marmalade, and on 23rd the Cumbria Classic motor show.
May
Bluebells in Dufton Ghyll
With Summer around the corner the bluebells appear in the Ghyll, or you can take our guided walk to the spectacular display at Flakebridge Woods – one of our favourite walks to do. If you are lucky you can see the native Red Squirrels at play, sometimes a woodpecker, or even a deer.
On 12th & 14th Brougham Hall, near Penrith, is running its 1940s wartime weekend event. Free to enter, you can park in Penrith and travel on a Cumbria Classic Coach to the venue and enjoy military vehicles, wartime displays, period fashions and food and dancing.
June
On 4th June Hutton in the Forest holds one of its Classic Cars events. A great place to visit anyway at this time of year, enjoy the historic house, walled gardens and woodland walks – this is the perfect venue.
25th June is the Ullswater Country Fair. Held in Patterdale, in the shadow of the Helvellyn range, this is a traditional country show that showcases the rich heritage of the Lake District, including traditional sports and crafts.
July
Pot Fest at Hutton in the Forest
From the 4th and then weekly on every Tuesday throughout July & August – take a Fish & Chips supper cruise with Ullswater Steamers – a perfect combination of the stunning scenery of the Ullswater Valley and a quintessential British supper! Perfection!
The 15th marks the first of the fantastic local Agricultural Shows to visit – Penrith Show. These shows always provide tremendous entertainment with ringside attractions, livestock competitions, and rural crafts on display.
On 22nd and 23rd Dufton Village Hall becomes the centre for artistic talent with Art in the Hills – now a popular annual art exhibition this is a showcase for some of the talented professional and amateur local artists from the Eden – our guests in 2022 couldn’t resist buying some of the art so beware – this is a great show!
Back to Hutton in the Forest for Potfest on 28th to 30th. This flagship event showcases the best work from over 90 selected artists and is a must for all ceramic fans – don’t forget your credit card!
August
3 great Agricultural shows to visit
The Fellside Royal
on 10th Appleby, 26th right here in Dufton for the Fellside Royal (including the Dufton Fell Race), and finally on 31stCrosby Ravensworth.
On 20th Dalemain once again hosts the Cumbria Classic motor show.
September
This is the month for the famous Dufton Beer Festival at the Stag Inn. Dates to be confirmed but normally the second Fri/Sat/Sun of September. Cracking beer, cider and live music, and a short stagger home!
October
With the nights starting to draw in then the log burner comes into its own again in the barn.
As the clocks change Penrith holds its now iconic Winter Droving, a unique celebration steeped in tradition. Over the weekend of 28th the town has a celebration of light, fire and rural life, with masked street processions and street stalls with food, drink and giftware. Not to be missed!
November & December
The year ends the same way it started with lazy days and time to relax.
Romantic breaks
When will you choose to visit?
Escape to the charming village of Dufton in rural Cumbria
Dufton Village
Seeking relaxation and a reset in nature for your next holiday? Then look no further than the beautiful village of Dufton in the Eden Valley.
Shepherds View is an award winning 5 Star Gold holiday cottage for couples set on the edge of the village, so that you can enjoy peace and seclusion, whilst at the same time being a few steps away from all that the village location has to offer.
Dufton itself is a typically attractive Eden fell side village with a layout of houses, back lanes and crofts set around a green. Its name is probably Anglo Saxon meaning ‘settlement where the doves are kept’, and despite a lead mining history, sheep farming remains the dominant industry. The village nestles in the shadow of the Pennines, 3 miles from the traditional market town of Appleby with its array of local grocery stores & tea shops, and Norman Castle.
Rural Dufton life
Sunset at Shepherds View
At Dufton Barn Holidays we feel a holiday should be about the experience you have as much as the quality of the cottage you stay in – after all experiences are what memories are made of.
With a breath-taking view you look out of the feature window toward Cross Fell, the highest point of the Pennines. In the Spring enjoy the sight of the lambs cavorting in the field below, or fabulous sunsets setting across the high fells throughout the year. As well as all the detail that makes up this 5 star property, including underfloor heating and a jacuzzi bath, we provide a luxury hamper of carefully selected Cumbrian products to excite your tastebuds.
High Cup Nick
View from Dufton Pike
To help you explore the village and the surrounding area you can enjoy using over 15 personalised walks from the doorstep, of differing abilities, including the magnificent High Cup Nick and nearby Dufton Pike. Or you can choose to explore the beautiful woodland of Dufton Ghyll, with its gurgling streams and plethora of wild-life including Red Squirrels and occasional deer, blanketed in snowdrops in February and bluebells in the Spring. If you have brought your bicycles then meander along quiet country lanes with magnificent vistas all around you.
Bluebells in Dufton Ghyll
Wild flower meadows
If you’re in the mood for a treat then take a 2 minute stroll to the Stag Inn to enjoy a refreshing ale in the beer garden overlooking the Pike, or a deliciously wholesome meal in their restaurant, and in the Spring and Summer months enjoy a snack at the Post Box Pantry Café, all of course with a warm Cumbrian welcome.
However you choose to spend your holiday we are certain you will leave more refreshed and relaxed than when you came, and with many happy memories of this beautiful area to take away.
Cumbria Tourism Awards 2022
2022 has been a momentous year for us. Back in March we entered Dufton Barn Holidays into the Cumbria Tourism Awards for 2022 and were absolutely delighted to be short-listed for Self-Catering Accommodation 2022. It is always a highly competitive category due to the variety of accommodation available across Cumbria and so it was a real privilege to be one of four businesses up for the award.
Following the judge visit in April, where our business was scrutinised from top to bottom, we then had to wait for the prestigious black-tie event at the Castle Green Hotel in Kendal on the 6th July. After the last couple of years it was great fun to dress up in black tie and ball gown and meet up with all the other high quality competitors across 15 different Tourism categories. A really supportive group of people at the top of their professional game, and a spectacular occasion for all present after 3 years absence due to Covid.
It is fair to say that you enter an award in hope rather than with expectation, and so we were absolutely stunned to hear our name called out as winners in our category. It is without doubt the pinnacle of our professional hospitality career and we were delighted to win as representatives of the beautiful Eden Valley, and made even more special as the award was sponsored by Out of Eden. It is still sinking in a month later, and we will be proud of this achievement for years to come.
We started out on this journey in October 2017 when we started the construction of Shepherds View and we have always made decisions with our guest at the heart of what we do. We have met many lovely guests along the way, many of whom have returned several times to enjoy what Shepherds View, Dufton, and the Eden Valley have to offer. In many ways it is through their support and enjoyment, and ultimately their reviews of their experience with us, that has given us the confidence in what we do – and this is absolutely the icing on the cake.
Sustainable Tourism – Going green in the Eden Valley
We know that holidays can take an Eco toll on our planet, especially when you add in the impact of jet travel. Here at Dufton Barn Holidays we want to try and do as much as we can to make your stay as green as possible. We know we aren’t perfect, and we are always looking at ways to improve, but we want to give our guests the best chance of reducing their carbon footprint, whilst at the same time making the most of their holiday.
Understandably, due to our rural location, many of our guests arrive by car, and if you do, once here, you actually don’t have to use your car again until you leave. We have a pub and café in the village, and a bakery just over a mile away in nearby Long Marton. Most of the big supermarkets will deliver your on-line shop to the village, and you can even arrange with local newsagent, Dents of Appleby, to have your favourite newspaper delivered to the village bus stop for you to walk up and collect at your leisure.
The area is a walking and cycling idyll. Here you can cycle along quiet country lanes or for the more adventurous attempt iconic cycling routes like Great Dunn Fell, the UK’s Mont Ventoux, or cycle up Hartside Pass to Alston, both with stunning views over the Eden Valley. For those that love to walk we have provided enough self-guided walks from the doorstep to fill your week twice over, including the famous High Cup Nick and the ever-present Dufton Pike. In fact, this area is in the North Pennines AONB and so we have plenty of stunning scenery where you can enjoy the local fauna and flora including deer, red squirrels, wild flowers and varied bird life.
If you do want to leave your car at home, then Dufton is a mere 3 mile taxi ride from Appleby station on the Settle Carlisle line with connections to both the East and West Coast mainlines. The village is also a key staging point on the Pennine Way National Trail if you choose to arrive by foot!
Both properties were originally constructed in 1882 of thick local sandstone, which makes them warmer in winter and cooler in summer (these Cumbrians knew what they were doing). However, whilst we were renovating, we took the trouble to ensure that both had fully insulated walls and roof-space with 100mm boarding. The electricity we use comes from 100% renewable sources, and both properties have showers to make our water usage more sustainable. We have a log burner in each and the logs we use are supplied from locally grown wood that is harvested through sustainable management of local woodlands.
The welcome pack we provide in Shepherds View is made up exclusively of Cumbrian produced goods including half of the products from within a radius of 3 miles of the property. We provide coffee pods and Cumbrian Tea bags that are compostable and we offer guests the ability to recycle plastic, paper, glass and cans, as well as providing a kitchen compost bin.
We hate plastic waste so we have tried to reduce our single use plastics in the bathroom with refillable products from the Bath House (Sedbergh, Cumbria) as well as providing milk in reusable glass bottles. We do all our own laundry on site on an Eco Wash and air-dry whenever the weather allows. We also use Eco cleaning products wherever possible.
For the future? We still have a long way to go and we are always looking to make a greater contribution, but we hope that we play some small part in offering a more sustainable holiday.
We are pleased to introduce…The Pennine Potting Shed!
After 6 months of blood, sweat and tears (mainly by the builders!) we are delighted to be opening our second addition to the Dufton Barn Holidays portfolio. The Pennine Potting Shed is exactly what it says…a converted potting shed in the corner of our garden. It’s a perfect place to stay to explore the beautiful Eden Valley, or to rest up for the night when walking the Pennine Way as, of course, Dufton is a key staging point on this iconic national trail.
The project started back in November and we were excited to be working with the same builders that developed Shepherds View – Parkin Bell of Warcop. Different building, different challenges, with a lot to fit into a small space, but PB as always were up for the job, and as always had plenty of great suggestions as the work went on. Needless to say the original concept differed quite considerably to the finished article, but in a good way!
We started by extending the potting shed by 1.5m to give us extra living space. This meant that the whole of the roof needed to be re-slated, and properly insulated, but we were able to reuse most of the original slates on one side. Then the stone that we removed from the feature window in Shepherds View was used to dress the new extension. The floor and walls were properly insulated as well, and the original flags were then used outside in the private garden. We’ve also reused and reconditioned an old log burner, the original doors, and an old fire mantel. If you want to see how you will have to come and stay!
In the end we have created accommodation that we believe is a little bit quirky compared to other options on the Pennine Way and still delivers a great experience.
The Potting Shed sleeps up to 3 people and 1 dog. We’ve put in a reinforced adult bunk bed and an additional sofa bed. Guests also have a cooking area with a double hob, a fridge and a combi microwave. 
There is also a wet room with a toilet and walk in shower. Boots can be dried on a dedicated boot warmer, and clothes hung up on a Victorian drier above the log burner. Outside there is a private garden where guests can enjoy the warm Cumbrian evenings – hopefully!
In addition, we are offering a breakfast option by way of a continental breakfast, with enough food to make up a packed lunch for the long walk ahead. As a final touch guests can choose treats from the Tuck Box that is under the bed, because you can never have enough chocolate…or crisps…or nuts!
We hope you enjoy your stay and happy walking!
Kirkby Stephen – a Town of many surprises, and Parrots!
The vibrant market town of Kirkby Stephen lies in the beautiful Upper Eden on the eastern borders of Cumbria, in what was historically part of Westmorland. The town was the first in Cumbria to receive the ‘Walkers are Welcome’ award and was also a previous winner of the prestigious title of Calor “English Village of the Year”. As you would expect there are numerous pubs and cafes to visit, as well as galleries and craft shops, and there is still a regular thriving animal market. If you are lucky you might also see one of the parrots belonging to a local conservation charity flying about the town.
Less known to the casual tourist is that the Parish Church houses one of only 2 surviving Loki Stones in Europe, Loki being a Norse God. In addition, if you like your historical transport then you are well served in Kirkby Stephen. Cumbria Classic Coaches run 3 regular routes during the summer months, the Stainmore Railway Company are a must for any railway enthusiasts. Of course Kirkby Stephen is also one of the stops on the Settle to Carlisle line.
You are also only a short drive from the famous Tan Hill Inn, the highest pub in England. Often snowed in due to its location, check the weather forecast if you are not wanting to enjoy an extended lock in.
Walks, Poets and Monuments
The Coast to Coast walk runs through the town and, when travelling East, heads up to Nine Standards Rigg, 
which is the highest point on the skyline at 650m. At the top you will find the stone cairns that make up this striking and popular landmark. They vary in height between 2 & 4 metres and due to frequent rebuilds because of the weather can number anything from 7 to 10 pillars. It is not known who or why they were built, but there are historical records suggesting that they were around at least 500 years ago. This is well worth a walk up, and is not for the faint hearted, but the reward is a superb panoramic view across the Upper Eden.
Across the valley stands Wild Boar Fell with its characteristic profile that can be seen from Dufton Pike. Another challenging walk this is also supposed to be the place where the last boar was killed in England in 1409.
If you are looking for something more sedate and inspirational then the Poetry Path may be for you. Starting from Bollom Lane off Nateby Road the short circular walk along either side of the river Eden has 12 poems carved on blocks of stone addressing the hill farmers relationship to the Upper Eden Valley.
Heading out to the west of Kirkby Stephen another option for a gentle stroll is Smardale Gill and viaduct. The walk here has been made accessible and goes across the top of the iconic viaduct. For great photos you can walk down the left hand side, returning across the viaduct, to make a short circular walk of 3 miles or so.
Source of the Eden
A little further south into Mallerstang can be found the source of the river Eden which flows from here along its 81 mile course to the Solway Firth. It is the only river in England that flows North and has clearly had a huge impact on the landscape it flows through. There is a nice circular walk that takes in the impressive Hells Gill and part of Lady Anne’s Way, before reaching the first of 10 carved stone sculptures that are sited along the length of the Eden – this one is ‘Water Cut’ and stands at a high point along the valley and offers a dramatic photo opportunity with the Upper Eden as a backdrop.
History & Ice Cream
Brough Castle is one of several castles located across the Eden and is located at Church Brough, just north of Kirkby Stephen. Dating from around 1200 it is free to enter and is starkly impressive on a ridge commanding Stainmore Pass, and if you arrived in the area from the East along the A66 you will almost certainly have seen it as you drove through. More comfortable living was added by the Clifford family only to be accidentally burnt following a ‘great Christmas party’ in 1521. Like so many castles in the region it was restored by Lady Anne Clifford in the 17th Century. Equally as impressive is the Ice Cream parlour and tea rooms that can be found next to the castle. The ice cream is all homemade and is a great reward for a day out in this area!
There is also a nod to the legend of King Arthur in the area. Heading out south along the Natebyroad from Kirkby Stephen you will come across Pendragon Castle. Again, no more than a ruin, but nevertheless still fun to explore this castle which is reputed to have been founded by Uther Pendragon, King Arthur’s father.
Latest News
Summer News!June 1, 2024 - 10:12 am
Spring News!February 21, 2024 - 4:47 pm
Visit England Rose 2023 AwardSeptember 8, 2023 - 11:10 am
EV ChargingApril 17, 2023 - 8:46 pm
