Farm And House In Harmony

Mere Brook House at Thornton Hough on the Wirral is a rural retreat with a difference.

- Martin Pilkington

IN 2004 Lorna Tyson was made an MBE for services to rural enterprises in the Northwest, in particular for her pioneering work helping farmers. Her expertise helped many farmers face the big task of diversifying, developing innovative products and finding smarter ways to connect with their markets - something of a necessity in challenging times.

When four years later she retired after over 30 years at Myerscough College, Lorna decided to use that experience to set up a business that would work in tandem with the farm her husband, Donald, runs near Thornton Hough. Perhaps unsurprisingly it has proved hugely successful.

The couple bought the substantial Mere Brook House, set in four acres of grounds, a mile from the farm they lease from Lord Leverhulme, and set about turning it into a high-end B&B, though it’s much more than that, Lorna tells me.

‘It’s run in close conjunction with the farm, and a lot of what we do here is influenced by us being farmers, though my husband’s not just a farmer, he’s also a beekeeper with 40 hives spread over the two properties,’ says Lorna. ‘We grow a lot of vegetables, there are orchards here and at the farm, so we have the apples pressed at Dunham Massey to make juice bottled with our own labels, and last year we got some made into cider. We make all our chutneys and jams and honey, stew and freeze plums to use over the winter, buy our milk and cream from Bates the company that processes all our milk...’