Many bed and breakfasts are marvellously run, with ultra-attentive hosts. What elevates Cawthorne House is its grade II listed Victorian stone building, tasteful interiors and stellar food — encompassing welcome canapés, brilliant breakfasts and even a seasonal sourdough school. It all comes courtesy of Pascal Watkins, the owner. His father, Denis, founded the pioneering Angel at Hetton, near Skipton, widely proclaimed as Britain’s first gastropub. These days Pascal is based further east in North Yorkshire, in the market town of Pickering, a short stroll away from where the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s steam trains trundle off towards Whitby.
Overall score 9/10
Main photo: Cawthorne House is a grade II listed Victorian stone building
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Rooms and suites
Score 9/10
All four bedrooms — two doubles and two superkings that can become twins; one on the ground floor and three upstairs — are spacious with good-sized showers in their en suites. The decor is crisp and uncluttered: white or lavender-shade walls, plump towels, elegant flowery fabrics, a table and chairs beside bay windows and, in one superking, a chaise longue. Expect to sleep as deeply as you have in weeks, courtesy of excellent mattresses, and to find fresh milk and homemade cookies waiting for you beside the tea tray.
Food and drink
Score 9/10
Pascal, who is passionate about baking, runs a sourdough school (for an additional charge) for up to four guests in his large kitchen on arrangement from October to April. You will be shown how best to knead and slap during the afternoon before cooking your loaf the next morning and taking it home to scoff. Some of Pascal’s own bread — best paired with his apricot jam — accompanies exceptional breakfasts, including fry-ups and veggie or vegan dishes such as chipotle baked beans on toast. Most ingredients are diligently sourced locally, with the sausages and bacon having each triumphed in taste tests involving Pascal’s wife, Sarah, and two young sons. Setting a decadent tone are the canapés — perhaps sun-dried tomato and chorizo pinwheels or mini blue cheese soufflés — and glasses of fizz brought to your bedroom shortly after check-in.
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What else is there?
Score N/A
There’s a rear flagged garden with flowering plants and seats for an alfresco drink when the North Yorkshire weather allows.
Where is it?
Score 9/10
Pickering’s charms range from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, which runs for 24 miles to Whitby between late March and early November, to wonderfully preserved medieval murals in its parish church. A 13th-century motte-and-bailey castle towers above, while the romantic, refined Willowgate Bistro leads the bijou restaurant scene around Market Place (two courses £44; willowgatebistro.co.uk). Pickering is just south of the North York Moors National Park, putting hikes to pretty valleys or wild uplands in reach. Also within a 40-minute drive are the Star Inn at Harome, a Michelin-starred pub; Dalby Forest’s mountain-bike trails; the sandy shore at Filey (named as one of our 50 best UK beaches for 2023); Rievaulx Abbey’s ruins and York. The closest mainline rail station is at Malton, with buses to Pickering taking roughly 20 minutes.
Price B&B doubles from £110; two-night minimum stay
Restaurant N
Family-friendly N
Dog-friendly N
Accessible N
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