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Our Story

Based in Birstwith near Harrogate North Yorkshire our family is made up of Jonny & Sasha, our 3 children Charlotte, Fraser & Sophie and our menagerie of animals Pugalier  Ella-Boo & Giant Schnauzer Zena-Doo, barn cat Doris, Highland Cattle Ziggy & Mars Bar and more recently Alpacas George, Louie & Albie.

Jonny, Charlotte & Fraser love motorsport and can regularly be found racing their cars round an Autograss track.
Jonny has raced since he was a young lad and is a complete petrol head.

Sasha & Sophie are more into dancing. Sasha danced from a young age and still loves it.

We are a hard working team who love our holidays, and frequently visit Port Andratx in Majorca.

Our Journey

The initial idea for Haystacks Country Retreats came about during lockdown 2020 when Jonny & Sasha were both working from home and on a sunny evening would sit and enjoy the tranquillity and surroundings of our lovely home with a gin & tonic. This little routine soon became our escape from the numerous Teams calls and home schooling that had become our new working day, and led us to think about how we could share the experience with similar people who would appreciate a relaxing retreat from their busy every day life.

So, we began researching how we could offer a retreat site and what facilities we could provide whilst being considerate to our fellow villagers, wildlife and countryside.

Towards the end of 2020 Jonny sold the remaining shares in the successful Beaucare Medical Company he had set up 28 years ago (from his mums shed, with £300 borrowed from her) and Sasha took redundancy from a 32 year career at Skipton Building Society.

It felt as though the stars were aligning and the sunny G&T lockdown dream that was Haystacks Country Retreats started to become a reality.

Then the hard work really began with lots to be learnt, challenges to overcome and both exciting and daunting decisions to be made.

During the summer of 2021 Woodland Champions Club, an exempted organisation, granted Haystacks Country Retreats with a certificate which allowed us to crack on with our vision of locally made Shepherds Huts on the old Nidd Valley railway line in our woodland. 

We worked closely with Oli (olivershuts.co.uk) who handcrafted us two beautiful huts to our personal specification.

In Summer 2024, we introduced The Moorhouse Bothy to Haystacks, a larger hut in comparison to our already-existing Shepherd’s Huts. We wanted a hut that still had a cosy feel but with more space and a more luxurious feel. It would also be our first completely pet-free accommodation, something we looked to acquire after listening to feedback from our guests.

In Spring 2025, we are excited to introduce a second Bothy, which will be dog-friendly.