Something that might interest Backpackers, walkers and tourists in general.

Lord Stones Café- The Backpackers Oasis

For anyone planning a visit to North Yorkshire, whether you are a walker, biker, cyclist, backpacker or just an ordinary tourist looking for something different, a visit to Lord Stones Café is a must.

To get to Lord Stones you need to take the B1257 road between Helmsley and Stokesley until you reach the village of ‘Chop Gate,’ pronounced ‘Chop Yat’ by the locals. About halfway through the village, if you are approaching from Helmsley, just past the little school on the left, there is a signpost on the right, before the War Memorial. A very sharp left turn takes you off into the hills up a single-track road.

The scenery is quite beautiful, but don’t take your eyes off the road for too long to admire it, the road is narrow and winding and you are quite likely to meet another car or a tractor around the next bend. About 3.3 miles along the road you will find a right turn down into the car park of the Lord Stones Café and Country Park.

The unusual aspect of the café is it’s location and outlook, situated on Carlton bank in an apparently isolated area, it is built directly into a hillside, with only the frontage showing. The café is inside the hill, there is seating for approximately 40 people inside and tables and benches outside for approximately 24. The café is open all year round except for Christmas day and New Years day. It has a welcoming fire on cold winter days.

It is especially popular with backpackers and walkers, there are numerous walks in the area. Also it is a favourite spot for bikers and cyclists as well as tourists in cars who have happened upon it. Local people also love the place. For backpackers there are also camping facilities nearby.

The food served is especially good, and there is quite an extensive menu from bacon and egg or sausage buns, large steaming bowls of delicious home-made soup served with a large buttered bap; to a large list of full meals. Including (but not restricted to) Roast of the day, Chefs Special, Fish and Chips and Salads. Desserts, cakes and scones, and ice cream are available and hot beverages made with their own spring water. The spring water is free, served chilled, on tap at the bar, where they also have draught beers from John Smiths, Kronenbourg and Beamish.

The ‘Country Park’ part sounds grand and at first glance, when you walk up the slope from the café, you might be forgiven for thinking you are looking at a golf course. It is a large area of private land with short walks ‘cut’ into it. On closer inspection you find the ground is quite soft and spongy, the grass is in short spiky uneven tufts and is speckled with tiny wild flowers. The ‘Lord Stone’ is quite prominent at the beginning of the walks, with rings carved into one side. There are small areas of shrubbery and young trees planted and a patch of mature trees ringed by Mountain Ash (Rowan). What looked like a bunker turned out to be a dried pond bed.

Following one of the pathways upwards to the top of the hill you find yourself looking out over the valley far below, stretching off to the horizon. Patchwork fields of varying shades of green and brown divided by the darker green of trees and hedgerows. Scattered farm dwellings and herds of cattle, and sheep looking like tiny cotton balls scattered across the fields. The sun glints off what appeared to be a stretch of water but turned out to be a collection of long glass roofed buildings, possibly a plant centre's greenhouses. (It was hazy the first time we saw this, but on the next occasion we had a bright, clear day and realised it  was not water at all.) Off into the distance, beyond a large city, the North Sea can be seen.

Off to the left above a patch of Pine forest, beside the road climbing Carlton Bank, a bird of prey hovers, seeking a meal, some poor unsuspecting bunny, bird or mouse. Too far away to identify without binoculars, but probably a Sparrow Hawk or a Kestrel. It is very quiet, just the occasional twitter of a bird or the sound of voices drifting up from walkers on the far side of a hill.

There is a pond below the café and a wild life area, and just outside there is a spring fed pool where visitors throw coins and make a wish. All the monies collected are given to charity.

Next year the owners are hoping to extend the café further back into the hillside and add changing rooms, drying rooms and showers for the backpackers and walkers. They also cater for parties and BBQ’s in the evenings at very reasonable rates.

It is a beautiful area to visit and once you have been, you will want to come back again and again. It was my husband’s birthday yesterday and we went out there for lunch, my third and his fourth visit, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

PS  I have been asked twice "what is a bap," well it is an extra large bread bun, much more substantial than your ordinary run-of-the-mill hamburger bun. If Lord Stones don't make their own, then you can guarantee it comes from a local bakery. They are generally round, sometimes oval, about the size of a teaplate. Like all home-made bread, they taste delicious. They also make smashing sandwiches with them.

Jackie S Brooks
18 July 2003