Sunday dinner at Spring House Farm Shop, near Northallerton

But we do all love going out for the Sunday best, don’t we? Why is Sabbath lunch out so popular?

In this house it’s a lifetime of preparing the Full Monty for a big family, all the prep, the peeling, chopping, par-boiling, mixing, basting, the hot kitchen, and (certainly in the days before the dishwasher) all that washing up that makes Sunday lunch out particularly appealing.

So, if you can find somewhere that provides that authentic, home-produced, just-like-mother-made experience but without all the kitchen trauma (even if that’s only loading the dishwasher) it’s got to be a winner.

We think we’ve found what might be the closest thing to a home-made Sunday dinner (not lunch, please note) at Spring House Farm Shop.

Of course, it’s not home-made in the strictest sense of that phrase.

It’s produced in a commercial kitchen with a five star hygiene certificate courtesy of all that – very important, we know – corporate hygiene malarkey.

But you can see the staff working in there. In a trendier place they would call it an open kitchen, I guess. You can see the rolled-up sleeves, the steam and the sweat (well, not too much sweat to be fair – but it is clear they are working hard) as your roast, multiple veg and Yorkshire pud is being prepared as you sit in the modestly-sized dining area, the sense of anticipation enhanced by those unmistakeable aromas of Sunday flowing through.

Those of you with good memories may recall that we have been to the farm shop beside the A684 between the Scruton turn-off and Leeming Bar before.

Most recently, it was to pick up a Sunday lunch in the days of a Covid-19 lockdown. Very good it was too.

You may also be aware that Spring House changed hands last year, the Gatenby family taking the place of Neil Hellawell and Judith Carling last autumn.

Not much, superficially, has changed beyond a coat of paint and new windows. The same shop and kitchen team have been retained and the shop still stocks a range of locally-produced goodies that are difficult to walk past on the way to the café without a purchase. What is that saying about never going shopping when you are hungry?

The shop stock includes the peerless roulades and pavlova bases which have always been popular. Why would anyone make their own when you can buy these and make them the centrepiece of your posh dinner party and pass them off as your own? Of course, that has never happened in the Warne household, you understand. Ever.

Anyone would certainly be proud to pass off a Spring House Sunday lunch as home-made. And if you had the chutzpah to do that, they do a handy takeaway service.

But we were very happy to make the trip out.

I had beef, Sylva had pork. Both top notch.

I have a problem with beef served anything other than rare – this wasn’t – but I freely acknowledge that is not acceptable to everyone and a small operation like Spring House can’t realistically pander to every customer’s particular whim.

But what I could expect was meat that was tender and flavoursome and this was all of that.

Sylvia’s pork (shoulder I think) was similar, fattier than some might like but as I frequently bore friends and acquaintances by repeating the mantra: fat equals flavour.

Everything else on the plate was up to scratch. Roast potatoes with a decent crunch to them, Yorkshire puddings of a decent size, crispy on top and fluffy below, and proper gravy.

The veg were a medley of winter root seasonality – leeks, swede, turnip and carrots – and none of that broccoli, mange tout nonsense (well nonsense for February at any rate).

We finished with a shared dessert of ginger sponge pudding – another winter’s day classic, the warming ginger, the light and fluffy sponge and lashings of custard. That’s lashings as in the Enid Blyton/Billy Bunter sense of the word. If it doesn’t mean anything to you, find someone who was born before 1970 to explain.

With a couple of soft drinks (an alcohol licence application at Spring House is pending) the bill came to just under £40.

Spring House Farm Shop

Northallerton Road, Scruton DL7 9LG

Tel: 01677 4222212

Open 9am-4pm (last meal orders 3pm) seven days a week

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 9 Service 8 Surroundings 8 Value 9