The Dairy Holiday Cottage
This is our first building through the gate, it sleeps 4 in two sumptuous super king or single bedrooms. There is a small flight of three steps up or down to each bedroom otherwise this cottage is all on one level. Each bedroom has its own bathroom, one with a bath and shower, one with a walk in shower. There is a large well equipped kitchen with an electric eyelevel oven, microwave, separate hob, dishwasher, full height fridge freezer and island dining area for good old fashioned quality family time meals. The full height exposed beams in the ceiling give a traditional and airy feel to the living room that has big comfy sofas with plenty of cushions and throws, a large smart TV and log burning stove to keep it warm and comfortable all year round. Underfloor heating kept at an ambient temperature warms the rooms perfectly and since is powered by a ground heat source pump reduces our carbon footprint quite substantially.
Lots of well placed, USB charging points and free WIFI, come as standard. The generous TV hosts free-sat channels and can show your amazon prime or Netflix if so required. We don’t have a landline on the farm as such however we find that we can obtain a mobile phone signal using the ‘WIFI calling’ function on your smart phone completely reliably when inside. Occasionally the weather affects our signal but somehow it’s not something that we worry too much about.
We have tried to ensure that adequate space has been made around the cottage to enable less mobile among us to navigate fairly easily, though as an old building wheelchairs are not easily maneuvered. As a family with a daughter on the Autistic spectrum we are very sensitive to sensory issues and have tried to ensure that sensory overload is kept to a minimum, hopefully you will find our cottages calming and peaceful.
Linen and Towels Supplied
Dog Friendly
Firewood & Kindling
Wi Fi
Tea, Coffee & Sugar
Each cottage is supplied with crisp white bed linen, plenty of luxurious fluffy towels, all your kitchen basics – tea towels, condiments, washing up liquid and dishwasher tablets , hand soap, tea, coffee and sugar, firewood and kindling, there is also baby equipment and dog baskets available to borrow if you don’t have room in the car .
Outside you have your own designated parking spaces, a private paved seating area with fire-pit, sofas and an uninterrupted view of the hills, stocked wood-store, outside taps and a bike store with washing area for your pooch, pedals or wellies.
We are a dog friendly holiday destination , but ask that pets are not kept in the bedrooms so that future guests with possible allergies are not affected. We have a 2 dog limit to each property and ask a minimal £20 per week per pet.
All three cottages are available to rent individually or as a group of two or all three combined we are perfect for a family get together or reunion. Note that there are no interconnecting doors between each building and changeover days for each cottage are different.
Getting Involved
As a working farm we have livestock and machinery that need to be respected, any larger than normal scale movements of either will be outlined to you on your arrival and all will be kept to the farm side of the development where possible. Further guidance on walking in the countryside can be found on the NFU website.
Health and safety
We are a rural destination and so as well as the benefits of the peace and quiet, amazing wildlife to see and lovely walking opportunities we are also a fair distance from the Hospital and nearest A&E (about an hour) so we ask all our guests to bear this in mind if they have medical conditions that may need fast assistance.
As a working farm we have livestock and machinery that need to be respected, any larger than normal scale movements of either will be outlined to you on your arrival and all will be kept to the farm side of the development where possible. Further guidance on walking in the countryside can be found here
https://www.nfuonline.com/stay-safe-in-the-countryside-this-easter/
The farm has a Lochen (small loch or large pond ) in one of our lower fields , it is approx. 50m x 30m and around 2m deep in the middle, it has a fence and a gate protecting it from our livestock and keeping our younger non swimmer visitors from being tempted. We would ask all adults to keep any younger family members or non-swimmers from visiting the Lochen unless accompanied by a responsible adult ( that can swim) and that the island is left in peace unvisited as we have ground nesting birdlife that we would prefer to be left undisturbed.
The fields are divided up with either dykes or stock-fencing and sometimes both. Neither of which should ever be climbed over as the dykes (dry stone walls) are typical Galloway granite build and like a huge very heavy game of ‘Kerplunk’ !The stock fencing is usually topped with a line of electric fence wire to keep the sheep from jumping over to new grass and no-one wants to test that out (it’s a pulse not a constant so not lethal but is a little uncomfortable).
The land as you would expect is uneven with watercourses running through it so staying on the paths and tracks is advisable to keep slips trips and falls to a minimum.
Please follow the countryside code and leave gates as you find them, and enjoy your surroundings.
Essentials
We can provide a welcome hamper of the initial basics for when you arrive but a general food shop before you arrive is wise as our nearest supermarket or high street is Castle douglas ( 30 mins drive) however Gatehouse (15mins drive) has a spar and general store with post office so replenishing bread and milk is not too much drama. Both Kircudbright and Castle Douglas have a great high street with good quality butchers, greengrocers and bakeries to choose from allowing you to shop local and improve your food miles. We try to support our local producers wherever possible especially when the quality and value is so good.
