Half Moon Properties
Some stories start with a grand plan. This one started with a hunch. In the mid-1970s, Sandra Burnett and her husband, Clifford, bought part of Half Moon Yard on Westgate to house their business, Dalesman Tailors — and accidentally kick-started a quiet regeneration.
Piece by piece, they added to the portfolio, taking on the rest of the derelict but historic buildings behind what was the old Half Moon pub — a site dating to the 1750s (with a “drinking house” said to be there as early as the 11th century). In 1977 they moved in with their then one-year-old daughter, Katie, and set about the slow craft of bringing the yard back to life: repointing here, re-roofing there, and creating shops, flats and offices designed to be let and loved.
Fast-forward some 50 years and Half Moon Yard is buzzing. At its heart you’ll find Courtyard Planters — the nursery, garden centre and gardening school run by a now-grown-up Katie and her husband, Tom.
The converted farm buildings also house five thriving businesses:
• Held in Light — the studio of intuitive practitioner Samantha Bridge
• Wharfedale Psychology & Psychotherapy Practice
• Pine Craft — purveyors of pine furnishings
• The Lounge at Arundel Travel — a breakout zone for the popular Boroughgate agents
• Twenty Watt — makers and restorers of contemporary drum lampshades
Through it all, Sandra and Katie have kept the same family aim: keep these characterful buildings in active use, well looked after, and very much part of Otley’s everyday life. From derelict to destination — that’s Half Moon Yard in a nutshell.
- Listing ID: 5123