For more than a century, the Baldry family’s ancient farmhouse has stood in this remote, ‘very special setting’, where the ‘fantastic views’ reach over the garden and the sheep-dotted fields to the fells beyond. For more than a century, too, the family has greeted guests with ‘a welcoming fire in one of the lounges, and an even more welcoming pot of tea’. ‘Unashamedly old-fashioned’, it is not to all tastes – some visitors rue the inflexible mealtimes and ‘historic bedrooms’ – but loyal supporters champion the traditional atmosphere and the nostalgia that infuses it all. ‘Thoroughly cosseting, it’s like staying at one’s granny’s house as a child,’ a Guide inspector says. ‘It certainly is a time warp, from the fringed lampshades and collection of glass bowls to the selection of dishes at dinner. But there’s not a trace of dowdiness – everything is displayed and done with care and pride.’ Morning tea is brought to the bedroom before the gong announcing the buffet breakfast; in the evening, a gong again heralds the single dinner sitting. In between, there are rural walks, steamer cruises and good, old-fashioned chats over a fireside scone or two.