Idyllic Yorkshire Dales cottage with a curious name
The inside story
THIS DETACHED cottage is an idyllic spot by a stream on the edge of Askrigg. It comes with almost an acre of garden and overlooks open countryside.
The source of its name is unknown, although it is shown as Dog Kennel Cottage on old maps and deeds.
Nigel Roberts, whose late parents bought the cottage from the railway board in 1978, says: “I think it must have been the site of dog kennels but whether that was before or during the years it was a railwayman’s cottage is not known.”
The house was empty for most of the 1970s until Dick and Margery Roberts bought it after
RARE BEAUTY: Mr Roberts’ retirement as a bank manager with the Midland in Leeds.
They got planning permission to modernise and extend the property, creating a much larger, three bedroom house with garage and workshop.
It was cleverly designed so that all the main rooms have windows overlooking the garden and the breathtaking Wensleydale countryside beyond.
Nigel says: “My parents were not only very keen gardeners, but also amateur natural historians and and botanists, whose greatest desire was to create a garden from scratch. The long strip where the railway line used to be was still covered with track and ballast when they bought it. My father purchased a ride on rotavator as the only non backbreaking way of breaking up this material. It also enabled him to turn over the soil beneath and create a cultivable and fertile garden.”
The couple landscaped, made footpaths and planted rare species of trees, shrubs and flowers. They also made a vegetable garden and an orchard.
“They had five sons, including me, nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren who could play endless games of hide and seek in the garden,” says Nigel. “It was a lovely family home and we brothers have had so many good times there. We will all be sad to see the house pass out of the Roberts’ family.”
The house, which is in need of some updating, has a kitchen, cloakroom, large living/dining room and a conservatory on the ground floor. On the first floor, there are three bedrooms and a bathroom. The cottage also has a garage and workshop.The family has a record of the garden plants, which they can pass onto the new owners.
Contact: Robin Jessop, Leyburn, tel: 01969 622800, www.robinjessop.co.uk.