Small steps towards perfection up on the Moors

Having joined the Bell End Farm staff to earn a little more money as a part-time housekeeper for two days a week, Tracy’s mind was far from idle as she was doing everyday tasks like ironing bed linen.

She was constantly thinking of ways in which she believed she could make the Bondholders’ experience even better at this site of just 11 properties, which lies in a deep cleft in the moorland half a mile from the village of Rosedale Abbey.

Just three years later, following the retirement of the previous site manager, the much-loved Margaret Agar, Tracy now has a firm hold on the reins and is looking to take one of the Bond’s smallest but most consistently popular sites forward.

She is a firm believer that small tweaks can often make a big difference to Bondholders’ holidays, one example being the weekly organised walk led by Christine, her deputy, and the only other full-time member of staff at Bell End Farm.

“We used to organise coffee and biscuits for the walkers when they returned, but I love cooking so I started offering home-made soup and a roll instead. It just makes it that bit more special,” says Tracy.

She is also a firm believer that her time as a housekeeper there has allowed her to see first-hand all the jobs that need to be done on site so that when she took over as manager back in December she knew what was needed.

“As the manager you really have to multi-task at a small site like this and that is no bad thing because you know what all the jobs involve,” she says. “You know how long each job should take and the qualities needed by a member of staff to do them. I feel I have a close relationship not only with the staff but also the people who come to stay here. The site itself also has an effect on the local community as Bondholders go into the village to use the shops and pubs.”

Whisper it quietly but Tracy was actually born just outside Manchester and is a ‘red rose’ who has converted to white by marrying second husband Paul, a North Yorkshireman through and through.

In her younger days she went to agricultural college in Aberystwyth, north Wales, and has a 31-year-old son from her first marriage who lives on the Gower Peninsula.

After living in the Malton area, where their 17-year-old daughter Harriet still goes to school and Tracy managed the local Homestart charity, Tracy and Paul finally realised their dream of buying a farm five years ago – Low Bell End Farm, close to the HPB Rosedale site.

Now Tracy’s time is totally wrapped up in her manager’s job at Bell End Farm with any spare time taken up by being the farmer’s wife at Low Bell End Farm – but this is a lady who loves to be busy.

And those all-important evolutionary tweaks just keep on coming.

“I want to try to reintroduce the weekly Bondholders’ Dinners and I would also like to offer some sort of dog-sitting service so that people could go off on a shopping or sight-seeing trip knowing their pet is being well looked after,” she says.

“I’ve also bought a slow cooker for the site so that people can borrow it and prepare themselves a nice casserole, go out for the day and come back to a hot meal.”

Small Steps Towards Perfection Up On The Moors

Jane has been in post at the 11-unit site, which lies in a deep cleft in the moorland half a mile from the ancient village of Rosedale Abbey, since the middle of 2013. “Where did the time go?” she asks.

Jane, whose background is in healthcare, came to HPB in the time-honoured way – an advert in the local paper. “The advert,” she recalls, “was very ambiguous, but that’s what I liked about it. It was basically asking for a caring person with good interpersonal skills and a great sense of humour. I figured, that was me!”

Married with three daughters, Jane and husband Andy have spent the past 20-plus years doing up old houses – another useful qualification when looking after a venerable HPB home such as Bell End Farm. “It was that experience that steered me towards this job really, and I get to look after people at the same time,” she says. “It really is my dream job!”

As for the site, “I’m really enjoying the ongoing referbishment programme” says Jane. “It’s important to get the balance right though; the properties are filled with character and it's essential to keep that. I aim to offer Bondholders quality accommodation with a good old-fashioned personal touch.

The North York Moors is – or are – an area with many faces: at times wild and windswept, at others benign and friendly, but never less than beautiful. Bell End Farm sits right in the centre of the region. York and Ripon are within easy reach; Fountains Abbey is no more than 10 miles away, and Castle Howard (of Brideshead Revisited fame) less than 20; and Whitby and Scarborough await.

“But the Bondholders who come to Rosedale are not looking for too much in the way of organised activities,” Jane adds. “They want peace, quiet and a bit of pampering! But that is what's great about HPB – we have something for everyone.”