Supermodels bathed topless by his pool, Bjork held a party there and he once turned away Take That.

These are just some of the more notable claims to fame notched up by music guru Bob Birthwright. But now Bob is finally turning his back on the glamorous world of the music business in return for some peace and quiet.

The 52-year-old has just put his luxury recording studios in the Sussex

countryside on the market for £1 million plus. Stanbridge Farm Studios, Handcross, near Haywards Heath, is based in a 500-year-old farmhouse set in 15 acres and has played host to stars including Phil Collins, Duran Duran and Morrissey.

But now Bob says the time has now come to take a back seat. He said: "This is our 13th year here. I was talking to my accountant when he said 'Of course, the music business is a young man's industry' and I'm not a young man anymore. I've had a lifetime's worth of excitement, but it's a 24-hour job, seven days a week.

"I've met some fantastic people from Phil Collins to Princess Stephanie of Monaco. A few years ago she formed a band and went on tour. I guess if you want to be a pop star and you've got her sort of money, you can give it a go."

Bob started in the music business back in the sixties when he performed with his band Voyd at London venues like The Marquee and Hammersmith Palais. He moved into the electronic manufacturing side of the industry before taking over at Stanbridge in 1987.

Bob said: "Originally, we carried on with the manufacturing side but then we kept getting calls from bands wanting to come to the studios. Duran Duran spent four months here and when we did our sums, we realised we'd be stupid to carry on shipping out electronic parts."

The studio's client-list reads like a Who's Who of the pop and rock world. Status Quo, Art Garfunkel, Big Country, Squeeze, Lloyd Cole, The Cure, AC/DC, Culture Club, Finlay Quaye, The Mission, 911 and Echo and the Bunnymen have all chosen Stanbridge to record their work.

And it's not only the mainstream market who come to Sussex - cutting edge bands including Tricky, Black Grape, The Charlatans, Ash, Massive Attack and the Beta Band have all spent time at the farm.

Bob said: "Take That spent a month here two years running. They wanted to come back for a third year but we were full. My nine-year-old son Jack takes it all in his stride. Take That taught him how to do back spins but I don't think his school friends believed him when he told them who had taught him to dance!"

Friends

Brighton-based bands such as James, Primal Scream and Gene are also regulars at the studios and many stars have become friends of the family.

Bob said: "Tim, the singer with James, has a son who is a similar age to Jack so they always play together when he's here. And when Bjork was here it was her son's birthday and she arranged a bus to bring all his friends down from London for a party in the back garden. When Duran Duran were here, their guitarist had a young son and we all played silly games. So there was Simon Le Bon running up and down my front lawn in an egg and spoon race!

The studios have a heated swimming pool in the grounds, a hot tub, a games room, two cottages and 11 bedrooms altogether.

Bob said: "It's very different to being in the city. The bands that come here don't want a five-star hotel, they want to get away from all that. Half of the UK's music industry has moved to Brighton and the A23 to London and the airports run past our front gate. We try not to court publicity too much to protect privacy and because we don't want groupies turning up or fans coming along just to stare."

Some of the local residents are somewhat taken aback by the onslaught of world-famous pop stars. Bob said: "When Duran Duran were here, John Taylor had a supermodel Danish girlfriend and Yasmin Le Bon is one of the world's top models. They were sunbathing topless by the edge of the pool and I'd employed two local farmers to come in and do some work for me. They didn't know where to look. Afterwards I said to them 'I bet you don't come across sights like that very often round here!'

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.