THE day we spoke John Varney had been out digging in the garden of his ‘very special place’.

It’s not an activity you equate with most 80-year-olds but John describes himself as ‘youthful and vigorous’ and more like a 50-year-old with no desire to put his feet up – yet.

Over the past quarter century, the former architect has built up High Trenhouse, on Malham Moor, into a leading management training centre and retreat used by many top UK and international businesses.

It’s a far cry from when John paid £12,000 for a derelict farmstead in 1976 and left the rat race in the Thames Valley to move back north and live the ‘Good Life’. He never dreamt of turning it into a haven for corporate clients, enabling them to use the peace and tranquility to develop strategy.

“It was a lifestyle choice. We knew we wanted to live on the edge of somewhere and considered several locations, such as the Welsh Borders and the Dales, which I knew as I was brought up in Knaresborough and York. It costs £12,000 to do up a bedroom these days.

“We originally planned a five-year project never thinking it would still be work in progress 40 years later,” said John.

The remote property required a massive overhaul to make it habitable. Arriving with his then wife and children – and a tent to live on-site during renovation – it was a major lifestyle change from running an architectural practice in Kingston-upon-Thames.

John originally operated High Trenhouse as a working community, with a vision of providing a centre for educational and disadvantaged groups.

Self-sufficiency was the name of the game in the early days. John and the family had a herd of six cattle with two milking cows from which they started a small dairy business producing in-demand Malhamdale cheese, cheesecake and Jersey ice-cream.

A diverse cross section of people, including troubled adolescents, learned through being forced to work together to help each other live during their stay at High Trenhouse.

The dwelling was originally built as a lodge for Fountains Abbey, at a time when much of the land on Malham Moor was owned by the monastic estates. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, the Malham Moor estate changed hands several times until it was eventually acquired by Thomas Lister, the first Lord Ribblesdale, in the mid 1700s. It was sold to businessman James Morrison in 1852 and inherited by his son, Walter.

While visiting Walter Morrison in 1858, author Charles Kingsley used nearby Malham Tarn as the inspiration for the novel “The Water-Babies”. When Walter Morrison died in 1921, High Trenhouse and several other farms entered independent ownership while the Tarn House estate was eventually gifted to the National Trust.

High Trenhouse was a thousand acre sheep farm until 1976 when the land was divided and the house acquired by John Varney.

While working with dysfunctional young people was rewarding and successful, it did not generate sufficient income to sustain it, so the emphasis of High Trenhouse changed.

John began to attract management groups by providing an environment ideal for ‘blue sky thinking’, exploring ideas and developing talent.

In 1990 he founded the Centre for Management Creativity with the aid of long term friend and new partner, Dutch-born Bernadette Schutte.

The High Trenhouse operation is 80 per cent corporate and the remainder leisure clients. It caters for around 75 companies a year and enjoys 60 per cent repeat business. The centre employs 12 full and part-time staff.

The client list is a role call of leading local, national and international businesses and organisations. Yorkshire Bank, Yorkshire Water, Bradford Council , Skipton Building Society, Hallmark Cards, Damart Thermawear, NG Bailey and organisations such as Airedale NHS Trust and Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust are among locally based clients.

But its clientele stretches far beyond local boundaries. The list reads like a Who’sWho of the world’s top companies such as Reuters, BT, Halifax, Shell, Prudential, Scottish Amicable, Bayer Co-op, TNT and Sony Europe.

Of those returning often Recess College, in London, which specialises in leadership for senior executives and professionals, books every year for a 10-day stay.

When it’s not booked up by companies, High Trenhouse is used by recreational and leisure groups, including photographers, artists and quilters.

The premises have developed to suit the clientele. The cowsheds and dormitories of the early days have been transformed through continued investment into comfortable en-suite bedrooms and conference facilities.

Guests are no longer invited to help with milking cows, gardening or building work, instead being able to focus on their creative thinking in comfort. When not busy in the meeting rooms, visitors can unwind in the sauna or relax in the gardens.

John developed Logo Visual Thinking, which has become internationally recognised as a technique for brainstorming ideas, using hexagonal shapes to illustrate connections and flow of thought between team members. He has also published books and other papers, as well as leading seminars on engagement and strategy.

In 2007 High Trenhouse was the first Craven business to be awarded the Excellence Through People certificate of best employment practice by the British Hospitality Association. It was measured against five key performance indicators aimed at delivering top class service through a motivated and skilled workforce:

Bernadette Schutte, managing director, said: “We were delighted to be the first business in Craven to receive this prestigious hospitality award, which recognised us as one of the industry’s five star employers.”

While still fully active, John is keen to find someone to build on his work and take the High Trenhouse venture forward. The business and premises are ‘informally’ for sale. If the right buyer with the right offer emerged then he would sell – but the place is not being actively marketed.

“I took an opportunity for a lifestyle change and what we do here can help others to change theirs. Financial reward has never been the driving force. Rather, my motive has been to develop a project and achieve a vision of using these surroundings and tranquil location to help people’s creative juices .

“It’s a very special place and our life over the past years has been very fulfilling, for us, and hopefully for our clients,” said John.