OLD farm buildings are getting a new lease of life as low-cost tourist accommodation.

There are now four camping barns run by the Youth Hostel Association in Ryedale and the North York Moors National Park - at Cliff Farm, Sinnington, Broadgate Farm, Westerdale, Park Farm, Kildale, and Oak House Farm, Farndale.

Oak House Farm last week staged an open day to show off its facilities. It is run by David Mead, who quit the rat race of travelling between Brighton and London, working as an insurance broker, to move with his wife Pip to the farm, deep in the panoramic beauty spot of Farndale.

The camping barn idea has developed because the organisation felt its traditional hostels in landmark houses were becoming expensive, said David.

Camping barns provide accommodation which lies between the traditional hostel and tent camping, he explained.

Like many tourist attractions in North Yorkshire, the YHA's operations were hard hit by the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001.

However, Oak House's 300-year-old restored barn can be as well-used for weekends in January and February as in the rest of the year.

"Skiers will often book if there is sufficient snow in Farndale," said David.

Oak House is still a working farm, with its 42 acres used mainly for sheep. Its attraction to tourists seeking cheap accommodation is its close proximity to the coast-to-coast walking route from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay, the Cleveland Way and the Lyke Wake Walk.

"We are seeing more old cow sheds and granaries converted into bunk barn accommodation, with the decline in farming," said David. Oak House's barn can accommodate 12 people, and its facilities include a wood-burning stove, large kitchen and sitting room, with showers and toilets in an adjoining building.

"We are providing for a need and at the same time giving a new lease of life to these old buildings, many of which have become redundant."

The barns are regularly used for "hen parties" and by cycling and walking groups. "The problem is a lot of people don't know about the camping barns," said David.

The barns have become known as "stone tents," says David. "Some are old cattle byres, corn stores, hay barns or traditional field barns, but all set in the countryside, in many cases in spectacular scenery such as Farndale."

The YHS says: "They are a unique and highly memorable way of enjoying some of the best scenery around at a price that can't be beaten."

Many of the barns are in national parks, and the YHA now has plans to open another at Goathland. The accommodation costs from £4 per person a night.

Updated: 14:26 Wednesday, June 04, 2003