Ask the family ...
Jean and Lorraine Allanson are the proud proprietors of Rains Farm Holidays. The business has been fully operational since the five cottages were converted from redundant farm buildings - though a lot of work went on before then. And a great deal of refurbishment and updating has taken place since.
We thought visitors to the site would be interested to know how they approach providing hospitality for guests at Rains Farm Holidays, so we asked Jean and Lorraine if they would answer a few questions about their experiences. Thankfully they agreed!
What would you say is most important about running a holiday accommodation business?
Jean - That’s quite simple. You have to do everything you can to make sure that your guests are never disappointed. The property always has to be at its best. The interiors have to be maintained to a very high standard. Everything you provide - whether it’s furniture for the cottages or food for B&B guests - has to be of the best quality. And of course you really have to look after everyone who visits. In that way people can see that you care, and will keep on coming back again and again.
So you have people who have come back year after year?
Jean - Yes! Many have become close friends. Of course, we respect people’s privacy - and some people prefer to keep themselves to themselves. But we are always happy to help where we can and do everything we can to make our visitors’ stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
This is a remarkable holiday location - have you always lived at Rains Farm?
Jean - It’s now over 45 years. My husband began working on the farm in 1959, and then in 1974 became a tenant farmer. He ran the farm for another 16 years before we were eventually able to buy the farm in 1990. Lorraine and one of her brothers were born here, so she has lived here most of her life. She eventually became my husband’s right-hand woman.
You must have seen a lot of changes even during your lifetime Lorraine?
Lorraine - I certainly have! Even during the time when were farming, things changed a lot. They were still using a horse for farm work when Dad came here to work. By the time he came to Rains Farm he’d been involved in another farm where they’d been bringing in mechanisation, so he was able to do the same here.
During my time working on the farm we always had small tractors and machinery compared to modern day equipment. Our combine harvester only had a 10 foot cut - how things have changed today! At that time we used to maintain everything ourselves - it was a case of make do and mend. I can remember pulling wild oats out from amongst the crop - the sharp stalks of the Barley really stuck into your thighs.
Even driving a tractor wasn’t much easier. There were no climate-controlled vehicles like you get today. The tractor had an open top and you were lucky if you had a hat and a handkerchief to protect you. Whatever wasn’t covered by them came home black with all the dust.
Presumably you helped a lot Lorraine, being brought up on a farm?
Jean - Lorraine used to help my husband at lambing time from being very small and always had a flock of orphaned lambs to bottle-feed.
Lorraine - There was always something to do and animals to look after. We had sheep, pigs, chickens and a single cow for our milk. Even before I went out to school I used to help Dad shepherd the sheep, moving them about between different parts of the turnip and swede fields and moving the fences. In the summer everyone had to get involved!
We used to help shovel grain and stack bales, and with 120 acres that were eventually mostly wheat and barley, there was a lot of grain to shovel and a lot of bales to stack! At first we only lived a short cycle-ride down the road from the school at Yedingham, (where, incidentally, there were only two teachers and 25 pupils in the whole school!), so we were back on the farm again soon after.
I’ve always loved animals, but most of them were not there to be pets - they were our living. But Dad was into sheepdog trials (one year he won at Thornton le Dale Show) and then there were the puppies …! Then of course there was Tigger. One day dad went out to buy a car and came back with a cat! He was a cute little creature, but as Mum said, you can’t get to work on a cat!
So how did Rains Farm move from agriculture into accommodation?
Jean - Well, it was by stages really. I was made redundant when I was a ‘dinner lady’ nearly 25 years ago. I started selling cakes and eggs at the gate to bring in a little extra. After a while I started offering teas outside in the summer, and eventually we converted a room in the older part of the house into a tearoom. We only offered light teas at first, but it developed into Sunday lunches. Half of the house had not been occupied for 25 years, so we renovated it and created bed and breakfast accommodation.
At that time we only had a shared bathroom, but now all our rooms are en-suite. Sadly my husband passed away only a few years after we bought the farm, which led us to the decision to create holiday accommodation. The next-door farmer bought the dutch barn and the shed that covered the ‘fold yard’ (which is now the courtyard). We sold off some of the fields so we had the money to redevelop the outbuildings into holiday cottages. They received the Ryedale Good Design and Construction Award the year after opening.
The full story of the conversion is available in more detail in another feature, but it seems to me that you’re quite a busy business-woman?
Jean - Well, my father was a businessman - a merchant down near Hull - so I suppose it rubbed off on me to some extent. But it’s mainly just a matter of hard work - and taking the opportunities at just the right time, when they come up.
Lorraine, I believe you’re now an important driving force for the future of the business now. Has this business experience rubbed off on you as well?
Lorraine - Certainly! Mum is right - a lot of it is down to hard graft. You’re looking after people morning, noon and night for several months of the year, so it can be demanding. Then there are a lot of regulations to keep on top of today - courses to attend, inspections to prepare for, repairs to organise, the gardens to maintain. So it doesn’t stop even out of season.
Jean - Then we’re heavily into recycling foil, cans, bottles, newspapers - everything that can be recycled to help the environment for the future generations. We also compost all the vegetable peelings.
Lorraine - … And keen old gardeners get repotted ... you’re a keen gardener aren’t you Mum?
One important question remains. The farm is called Rains Farm - is that an indicator of the prevailing weather?
Lorraine - Not at all. It was named after a previous owner of the Farm in the 17th Century called Jamese Raines. So the farm was probably spelt with an ‘e’ at that time. Over the years this was probably dropped as the result of a clerical error. So it’s not related to the weather! In any case, it’s always bright and sunny and scorching hot here - all year round!
Although we pressed Lorraine several times, she was reluctant to provide any documentary evidence to support her last sweeping allegation, and we detected that although it was generally a good indicator, perhaps her tongue had been a little in her cheek!
Last two photographs above: 1. Sunrise from Rains Farm, photographed by our guest Damien Dyer (© Damien Dyer 2003). 2. Guests drop in for a few days - Thanks to them we can show you our Aerial photos of the Farm!
Use the menu system to explore our cottages and B & B accommodation, as well as articles about the history of the farm and its transformation.