AS foot and mouth gradually becomes a bad memory rather than a living nightmare, one farm is proving that there is a brighter future for the region's rural industry.

Scaife Hall Farm, at Blubberhouses, near Otley provides a model for recovering agriculture businesses.

The hill farm is fully operational, with 500 sheep and 70 head of cattle, but also runs a successful Bed and Breakfast as people slowly return to the countryside.

The farmhouse, owned by Chris and Christine Ryder, accommodates a total of six people in its three guest rooms.

Bookings are on the increase this year and Christine, who takes responsibility for the B&B side of the business, thinks this will continue.

"There is confidence now that people are ready to get back into the countryside, and with all the international problems some people are reluctant to fly abroad."

Christine now believes both sides of the business will now be able to grow along with the post-Foot and Mouth rural economy.

"Foot and Mouth was a problem and it was horrible, but we have to move forward."

Scaife Hall did fall victim to the upheaval the epidemic caused last year, closing for three weeks last Easter.

But the Ryders were determined to reopen as soon as possible.

"We just decided we had to open up again and have some normality.

"We were quite fortunate that we did get some business. Further up in the Dales they were shut for ages."

The farm's geographical position was important for maintaining bookings throughout the crisis.

Christine said: "Because we have Harrogate and Leeds close by the area offers more than just farming based attractions."

Diversification is championed as the best way to avoid being caught up in what the Countryside Alliance has called farming's worst crisis since the war.

Farming incomes have dropped 90% since 1995 and over 40,000 farmers and farm workers have left the industry in the past two years.

Thus, farmland is being converted for all manner of uses.

Where once cattle grazed peacefully, acres of the Britain's countryside now play host to paintball fights, 4x4 driving courses, llama trekking and water sports, while farmhouses and barns are often converted for office and industrial space.

However, the Ryders did not move into the hospitality trade as a response to recent developments. They recognised their farm's potential as a tourist attraction over 12 years ago.

The idea of turning their picturesque farm into a Bed and Breakfast dawned on them when they first moved in to the large property.

Christine said: "When we moved here the farm was very run down.

"We needed to spend a lot of money to do up the house, but this represented an opportunity to have the house working for us."

The additional income meant Christine didn't have to go to work and could be there to help her husband Chris on the farm.

It sounds simple, but Christine wasn't always confident it would work: "To begin with, the idea of doing it terrified the life out of me."

They take bookings all year round. Their philosophy is that they are on the farm anyway, so it makes sense to have paying guests.

"There are nearly always strangers in the house, but we now receive lots of repeat bookings.," she said.

"These regulars are now more like friends anyway.

"The house is split into two so we do get some privacy. The guests have their own sitting room and en suite bathrooms."

Christine is now the vice chairman of Farm Stay UK, a co-operative scheme which represents around 1,000 farms offering B&B, self-catering, bunk houses, caravans and camping.

Their major selling point is to welcome people into a different world - to let them experience country life with real country people.

Farm Stay UK's guide book for the public called 'Stay on a Farm', shows the farming accommodation available in Britain.

It has been distributed through British Tourist offices overseas, and Scaife Hall has subsequently had one or two bookings from abroad.

There was also recent promotion by the four northern English tourism boards in Amsterdam.

Christine said the response was encouraging: "There was lots of interest from the Dutch.

"They were saying that they had missed coming to England last year but they would be coming back this time."

So once the Bed and Breakfast is booked up for the entire year, will the Ryders be creating a third strand to their business?

"We have considered all sorts of other diversification, but what we do at the moment keeps us very busy.

"We would rather just keep doing what we do now well."

Scaife Hall Farm charges £25 per person per night based on two people sharing a double or twin room.

Its website address is www.scaifehallfarm.co.uk

The 'Stay on a Farm' brochure is available from the brochure hotline: 01271 336141, or visit www.farmstayuk.co.uk. It is available in many tourist information centres.