Tranmire Cottage, Lastingham

31/08/2026

August Bank Holiday Monday is always marked by the Farndale Show, and what a delight it was again. Highlights include:

- The hobby horse racing (again)
- A knitted dissected rat…
- A tallest thistle competition… if only we’d known.

And much more from wonky veg to an incredible collection of walking sticks.

Henry has shown no interest in the Meaty Bubbles… so those will be going in the cottage to see if we can find a dog who obliges!

28/08/2026

Greg lives in Lastingham and swept our chimneys the other week. Here he is with Arthur Brown who lives locally and was famous for the song "FIRE" in 1968. With an important message for the North York Moors, even though we are set for a couple of days' rain. Class!

25/08/2026

A lovely write up of our church, a place where we’ve said farewell to fellow villagers, in John’s case sung with Moorland Voices on the North York Moors, listened to a lecture from the Archbishop of York, attended concerts, and taken visitors many times.

Visiting the local church may not be something you think to do on holiday, but this is one of the oldest and most historic in the country. They say it’s a “thin place”, close to what lies beyond this world, and we can certainly see why Sir John Betjeman was moved. Pevsner called it “unforgettable” too. So we do recommend you pop in!

Discover one of the most unforgettable, moving places in England -in Lastingham in the North York Moors, where one of England’s best known poets, Sir John Betjeman, declared the 11th century monastic church of St Mary to be the most moving place he’d visited.

From the outside the church seems quite humble but inside it’s home to one of the world’s oldest crypts dating back to the Norman era. It also happens to be the only crypt in England with a nave, a chancel in the form of an apse (a rounded end) and side aisles – it’s like a mini church in itself with huge pillars and three-foot thick walls, reached by going down a set of stairs from the nave.

The crypt was originally built to house the remains of St Cedd, a missionary from Lindisfarne who had founded a monastery on the site of the church. Shortly after attending a meeting at the Synod of Whitby where Celtic leaders had agreed to adopt the Roman calendar, St Cedd died of the plague.

In 1078 William the Conqueror granted a new church could be built at Lastingham and Benedictine monks from Whitby took the project on, building a crypt over the place where St Cedd was believed to have been buried. A decade later and the monks had left, deserting the unfinished church which lay derelict for another 140 years before finally becoming a parish church.

Step down into the crypt and you can see why Betjeman was so moved by it – with the calm and hushed atmosphere that surrounds ancient artefacts such as Saxon preaching crosses and the Celtic carved stones that would have formed part of St Cedd’s shrine.

Words by Amanda Brown
Image by Ebor Images/NYMNPA

19/08/2026

Yesterday John and Nadine had a go at a new activity available in the area - clay pigeon shooting. Simon Walker has set up The Moors Clay Shooting School based in Rosedale. We got a couple of hours worth of expert tuition and 25 shots each. Nadine managed to hit 9 (including her very first, what a fluke!) and John lost count but maybe got a couple fewer!

Highly recommended. In fact some guests got there before us and loved it too! Only runs until the end of August mind, and then will restart in February. £50 per person.

18/08/2026

A note from our last guests, appreciating the postcards we left them to send. As we say, nostalgic pleasure guaranteed for the recipient!

Book reviews? We’ve a dozen or so fiction books in the cottage which relate to Lastingham, nearby places, or the Moors in general. With a little explanation in each. For us getting to do more reading is something we look forward to on holiday and it’s always lovely to read a story set in the area. We also have addressed postage bags so you don’t need to leave a good book half read - just mail it back when you’re done.

(Yes, they’d accidentally taken one of the three front door keys - easily done, quickly found and returned, and not a problem!)

13/08/2026

In the first picture we’re sitting on the garden wall with the colander, waiting for the eclipse. Not realising that a) the paper needed to be further away from the colander and b) the beech tree was already casting hundreds of tiny eclipses onto the house. We got there in the end!

08/08/2026

Our Flower & Produce Show was held today. It covers the villages of Lastingham, Spaunton, Hutton le Hole and Appleton le Moors. For the first time in 15 years it took place in Lastingham & Spaunton Village Hall. Much effort from Nadine’s committee and many helpers to make the place look fantastic and make teas and cakes.

Despite much loss due to a late frost, and gardens then getting frazzled by the heat - nowhere near as bad as “down South” but still much warmer than usual - there were a very decent number of incredible entries.

Nadine was delighted to bring home two trophies. The Pat James Memorial Trophy goes to the best photo in the show - one she took of Moorland Voices Choir (including John) after a performance in Lastingham’s church. The other is the Hils Trafford Memorial Cup for the best fruit liqueur. Hils was landlady of the Blacksmith's Arms and sadly passed away just before we arrived in the village. Nadine’s entry was plum liqueur, made with last year’s produce from a tree in the grounds of the hall, plus sugar, vodka and a bit of brandy.

Much clearing up was done, and then a trip to the pub for a couple. Another wonderful day in this special village.

05/08/2026

We’ve had a couple of days at Pickering station. Before we moved up here we’d steward on trains pulled by Tornado. She’s the first steam locomotive built after the 1960s’ railway modernisation, during which all A1 class locos were scrapped. She’s amazing. Henry’s kennel name is Silverbriar Tornado after her. Anyway, she’s been having a couple of weeks at North Yorkshire Moors Railway so we’re were able to volunteer again - this time on the merchandise stall. If you’re in the area she’s around until Saturday 8th pulling two trains a day to Grosmont and back. The railway is always worth a visit though due to a main line steam ban it’s diesels up to Whitby at the moment

01/08/2026

Happy Yorkshire Day! After putting in our entry forms for the local Flower & Produce Show (next Saturday) we had a trip to Hovingham Market where a few Yorkshire roses were on display including these lovely ones in glass. It was tough getting Henry past some of the stalls…

Then onto a quartet of garden centres. At Castle howard Garden Centre we picked up a Susan Williams-Ellis rose - which is supposed to be the nearest thing to the Yorkshire rose. This will go well with the Yorkshire Lady that cottage changeover queen Max got Nadine for her birthday.

Then Daisy Garden Centre in Kirkbymoorside for plants to refurb our dehydrated hanging baskets. Onto Pickering to Steam and Moorland Garden Centre Pickering for compost and such like. A final pop next door to RV Roger Ltd. - Award-winning traditional garden centre and plant nursery. - one of the family used to live at Tranmire and we have several roses from them now including the Freddie Mercury. This time it was for a second attempt at Blue Wonder Catmint. The hens got to the first one within minutes of it going in, then a cat sat on it before the hens finished it off the next day. A barricade will be going up!!

Phew… time for a cup of, you guessed, Yorkshire Tea… before we start on the planting!

21/07/2026

You’ve probably heard of “Six Degrees of Separation”…. Stanley Milgram did the experiment in the 1960s, though nowadays it’s more often related to Kevin Bacon. Well we have to say our bath is overachieving on that front…. Just two degrees of separation from our new Prime Minister.

Yes it’s a bath with a backstory, being formerly owned by David Moyes. And here he is, when managing Everton the first time, with Andy Burnham.

We used to have a hen called Milgram but that’s a whole other story….

We still have availability w/c 21st and 28th August or 18th and 25th September if you’d like to get within 3 degrees of separation from the PM! Message for the best rates.