No trouble at the mill

When Jane and Neil McNair hatched a plan to escape to the country they didn’t have the Yorkshire Dales in mind.

After years of living and working in London, Neil, who ran a building company, and Jane, who managed a veterinary practice, considered Dorset, Devon or Cornwall,

But their best laid plans were torn up after they succumbed to the charms of a magical property in a magnificent location that was miles from their initial search area.

Low Mill in Bainbridge, between Hawes and Leyburn, has its own waterwheel and all the original workings and although it was in a sorry state, it was love at first sight for the McNairs.

“We came up to Hawes for a weekend break last June. I’d never even been to Yorkshire before that. I saw the mill advertised in an estate agent’s window and thought it looked like a French farmhouse. Jane rolled her eyes when I got the details and suggested we view it,” says Neil.

“It had been empty for three years. There was no glass in the windows and the rooms were full of leaves. It was cold, dark and damp but we loved it.”

The late 18th century corn mill had been converted into a home in 1979 by Dr Christopher Cole, a character who made dolls’ houses. He had done a great job but the accommodation needed a lot of work to make it habitable once again. Within a week Jane and Neil had put in an offer, had it accepted and put their home in Muswell Hill on the market.

Although they had experience renovating London townhouses, they had never tackled anything like Low Mill before. “Neil was excited by the challenge and we started making plans for the building,” says Jane. “We also wanted to make a living, so we decided that running it as a guest house was the best idea even though we had never done anything like before either.”

The couple gave up their life and work in London moved up to Bainbridge a year ago and set to work with help from a team of local tradespeople.

Neil, a carpenter, did a lot of the work helped by Jane and it took them 11 months and £275,000 to complete the project. They started by stripping back the interior and ripping out everything from ceilings downwards, as well as re-plumbing, re-wiring and insulating the three-foot thick walls. New oak windows were installed and Neil made shutters for them.

They lived in two rooms and cooked in a kitchen that had two cupboards, a sink and no lights. “It was absolutely freezing last winter too and we had very little heat. Our old lurcher dog suffered most. We had to put him in three coats to keep him warm,” says Jane.

The McNairs retained all the period features, including the range which was moved from the kitchen to the sitting room and created new stairs and three luxurious letting rooms plus their own separate accommodation in the loft.

The wheels and grindstones are still in situ in the sitting room and in one of the guest bedrooms, while the main water wheel, which dates from the mid 1800s, is in the basement alongside the River Bain. It still turns, though Neil is replacing the spokes and the backboard.

It’s an impressive focal point in the property, which has just opened as a guest house and has been awarded five star B&B status from Visit England. The McNairs attention to detail and the décor earned top marks from the assessors. The furnishings are a mix of the old, the new and the quirky.

Although they brought some furniture from their previous home, including two leatherette G Plan chairs, which have been reupholstered in Sanderson fabric, they supplemented it with some interesting finds from Tennants auction house in Leyburn.

Tennants yielded Edwardian and Victorian furniture, paintings, taxidermy, the porcelain leopards guarding the grinders in the sitting room and the bulldog on the fireplace in a guest bedroom that also boasts a free-standing copper bath.

Dr Cole’s signs that once hung on the gate are now on the walls inside as a tribute to his contribution in restoring the mill.

“He did a great job but we’ve taken it a stage further,” says Neil, who has no regrets about his spur of the moment decision to buy Low Mill. “I wouldn’t go back to London for anything. The only regret I have is leaving behind West Ham, where I was a season ticket holder.”

Low Mill, Bainbridge, www.lowmillguesthouse.co.uk, 01969 650553.

Jane and Neil’s useful contacts

Architect: David Ward, Leyburn, tel: 01969 622046.

Electrician: Mark Alder, Bainbridge, tel: 0781 754 5161.

plumbing: AD Plumbing, Catterick Village, tel: 0780 587 7794.

Plasterer: Mick Thomas, Richmond, tel: 0774 025 7448.

Joinery: A Moffitt, Bellerby, 01969 623501.

Decorating: Steve Raw, Hawes, tel: 0777 919 2050.

General Building work: C Macey, Richmond, tel: 0781 114 6487.

Fabrics: Milners of Leyburn, tel: 01969 623780.

Furniture: Tennants Auction House, Leyburn, tel: 01969 623780.