St Michael's Lodge in Hudswell, near Richmond is opening its doors as a new hostel for walkers and cyclists on Saturday.
Over the last 18 months, villagers and local tradespeople have worked hard to restore and repurpose their former parish church as a hostel for walkers and cyclists and the Rt Revd Anna Eltringham, Bishop of Ripon stopped off on pilgrimage walk to see work in progress.
Hudswell Community Charity acquired the redundant church from the Church Commissioners in 2023.
Since then they have raised almost £900,000 in grant aid to pay for the conversion work. The result has seen all the historic features of the building retained, while providing modern accommodation with six ensuite rooms, a resident’s lounge and dining area in the former chancel and kitchen in the former vestry.
Annie Sumner, one of the Charity Trustees, explained that “We were very keen that when guests entered the building from the porch, they would be able to see right through to large East Window and up to the wooden ceiling, so the open design and the use of a lot of glass has enabled us to achieve this. 
Martin Booth, another trustee added “We wanted to preserve our parish church and keep it accessible and in the ownership of the local community. To achieve this, we needed to give it a new use that would generate an income so that we could maintain the building and we also wanted it to be an asset to the village that would support our other community owned businesses - the George and Dragon pub and the Little Shop. We are sure that St Michael’s Lodge will fulfil this dream.”
Julian Norton, the “Yorkshire Vet” from the Chanel 5 series, will officially open the Lodge at an event between 2pm and 4pm on Saturday, May 24. Everyone who has supported the project and all Hudswell villagers have been invited to attend. There will be guided tours of the Lodge, a barbeque and other refreshments. The next day will see the first paying quests staying at the Lodge. For more information or to book a room, call 07521 158338 or visit stmichaelslodge.com.