Tinsmith’s House, Aylsham, Norfolk: B&B review

I had no intention of getting out of bed, until I smelt the bacon. Happily cocooned in a soft white mound of duvet and pillows, I’d been delayed not just by my cotton burrow but by two intriguing works of art on the opposite wall. I was trying to figure out the meaning of the sombre pair of black, speckled panels – by the Norwegian artist Mette Stausland – when the aroma wafted into my bedroom. The curious crayon drawings were just the latest objects to catch my eye in Tinsmith’s House, an extraordinary B&B that opened this summer in the historic heart of Aylsham in Norfolk, halfway between Norwich and Cromer. A former tinsmith’s workshop (Bernard Matthews is said to have commissioned his first turkey feeders from here), it’s home to a remarkable collection of art and design gathered over the past 30 years by the current owners, Paul Vater and Paul Barratt.