The Bears Barn - for two adults, non-smokers only, sorry no children or pets.

The barn was originally owned by a vicar in Hartington but he was moved south a few years ago and only used to visit occasionally (we were told by someone in the village). When we first visited it, it hadn't been occupied for a while, and many generations of creepy-crawlies had made it their home. The stairs that you can see on the drawing to the left lead up to the bedroom and the boys often sit on the balcony blowing bubbles.

We aren't sure how old the building is. We know it was converted in the late 1980's because the vicar bought it from new from the builders. From the look of the tiles on the roof, we would estimate it to be around the mid to late 1800's. Click here to see a picture of the barn in 1918.

The barn is a mixture of new and old inside. The beams in the living room and bedroom are original, the rest is a more modern design and the kitchen was installed by us just after we bought the barn. Heating is by storage heaters running on the heatwise tariff, which means it gets three top-ups over each 24 hour cycle.

The four poster doubles as a trampoline quite happily and the view to the rear looks out onto a farm. The lounge has a colour TV and DVD and the kitchen now sports a dishwasher.

Mobile phone coverage:

These are the ones we have actually tested, as opposed to what the mobile phone companies say.

Vodafone: No. They claim limited coverage but there is no signal anywhere in the village.

O2: Yes. A strong signal throughout the village and in the barn.

Orange: Limited. No signal in the village, but you do get a signal standing by the back window in the bedroom! So, if you leave your phone on the window sill while you're in the barn, you can stay in touch.

Click here to read some comments from our visitors book.

Click here to check availability and prices.