From The Glasgow Evening Times April 21st 2007
I DON’T know about you, but for me a holiday doesn’t really start until base camp has been established. That can mean some anxious moments when heading to a place for the first time, but our family Easter break was a winner right from the start. We had booked a week with Hoseasons Country Cottages and thanks to their excellent website we could see exactly where we were going to stay well ahead of arrival. Hoseasons have an impressive 1600 cottages on their books across the whole of Britain and Ireland, but we opted for a real taste of historic Scotland – a category B listed cottage in the Borders town of Lauder.
Dunbrodies, our base for the week, had featured in the Scottish Civic Trust Buildings at Risk register and was shown on national TV in an attempt to find a restoring owner. The property was bought in 1999 and thanks to the hard work of Maggi and Tony Kirkland it is everything you could want from a holiday cottage in which Olde Worlde merges seamlessly with all mod cons.
Records trace the house back to 1764 so it’s like taking a step back in time as you pass through to the sitting room with its original exposed beams, hob-grate open fire and wood panelled box bed – which is one of just six remaining in Scotland. Flagstones with underfloor heating run through to the large modern dining kitchen which opens on to a private walled garden. To the antique charm the owners have added top spec mod cons so we quickly settled in to our five-star holiday home from home.
Lauder is an ancient royal burgh and still preserves its original medieval form of a single main street and two back lanes so it’s a pretty easy place to get your bearings. Once we were finished exploring the cottage it was time to march down the High Street and head for the Black Bull Inn to see if it lived up to its reputation as a top gastro pub. I had read plenty of good things about the Black Bull, including a rave review in our sister paper the Sunday Herald and was not disappointed. We had booked and it proved a wise decision as even early on a Saturday night the tables were filling up fast with hungry folk looking for traditional pub grub choices with an extra special twist. The food was good, the ale was real and the kids were welcome until 8 o’clock – all in all a great way to start a holiday.
Although it is only 70 miles from Glasgow, Lauder occupies a different landscape. It sits on the A68 south of Edinburgh on the edge of the Lammermuir hills and on the Southern Upland Way. The many castles, ruined abbeys and stately homes illustrate the region’s exciting and often bloody past. The main attraction in Lauder itself is Thirlestane, which rates as one of the oldest and finest castles in Scotland. It dates back more than 700 years and comes complete with a Bonnie Prince Charlie connection, tales of a ghostly duke, 13-ft thick defensive walls and stunning state rooms. For the kids, there is an adventure playground and a unique collection of historic toys to see in the old family nurseries where there is a dressing-up chest and the chance to grab some memorable photos.
Thirlstane whetted our appetite for touring stately homes and a quick look at the Visit Scotland website confirmed a week wouldn’t be enough to see everything the area has to offer. We had to pick our targets carefully but were very happy to visit historic Jedburgh, charming Melrose, and thriving Kelso. While ancient abbey ruins form the focal point for all three towns each has its own distinctive character. Floors Castle, near Kelso, is massive and breathtaking with perfectly manicured gardens – but more importantly offers the best-ever strawberry tarts in The Terrace Café.
The region’s history is rich with the tales of the Border Reivers – the bandit raiders who rampaged down to England throughout the Middle Ages. So we decided to do some reiving for ourselves, although the only loot we pillaged was some plastic buckets and spades in Berwick-upon-Tweed. From that point on the kids were in beach mode so it was lucky for us the tide was out at the causeway over to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. An afternoon pottering about on the sandy flats turning over rocks looking for stranded sea life was a real tonic for the whole family. Setting off from Lauder in another direction we headed north and into East Lothian, pausing in Haddington, before moving on for a picnic on the dunes at Gullane where we counted our blessings for taking a holiday in Scotland during the nearest thing to an Easter heat wave for years.
A charming traditional 18th Century stone cottage, newly renovated to a very high standard, with 3 bedrooms, 2 bath/shower rooms, and sleeping up to six adults. The cottage is B-listed with many original features, a modern well-equipped kitchen and a sunny private walled garden.
Lauder has several pubs, restaurants and shops all a short walk from the cottage. Lauder is an excellent base for exploring the Scottish Borders and is only 25 miles from Edinburgh - Scotland's capital city.
The cottage is available all year round for weekly holiday lets, from Saturday to Saturday.
Gas Hob. Electric Oven. Microwave. Larder Fridge. Freezer. Washing Machine. Dishwasher. Tumble Dryer. Colour TV, DVD player. Stereo radio/CD/MP3 player. Coal/log fires. Payphone. Cot/High chair. Iron and ironing board. Charcoal barbecue. Garden seats/chairs. Heating is by gas boiler/radiators/underfloor heating. Gas & Electricity included in price. All bedding, linen and towels provided. Children welcome. No pets. No smoking inside cottage. Sleeps 6 adults.
The front door opens to a small lobby. To the left is a bedroom with an open fire, and two single beds. This room has an internal door to a shower room with fittings for the infirm. As it is on the ground floor, this room is suitable for an infirm person or couple. To the right of the lobby is a large hall. Here, there is a second access to the shower room, which, therefore, can be arranged as ensuite to the bedroom or for general use. The hall also has a staircase to the first floor, and access to the sitting room.The sitting room used to be a single-room cottage and it has the original exposed beams, solid fuel range and built-in furniture including a 'Box Bed'. This can be used as a single bed. The room also has a large sofa. The sitting room has open-plan access to the large modern kitchen/dining room, with sliding doors which open onto the patio and garden.
Upstairs are two modern bedrooms with coomed ceilings. One has a king-size double bed, the other has two single beds. A further folding bed is available. Also, there is a modern bathroom with a shower over the bath. As a modern gas boiler is fitted, the showers are under mains pressure - very invigorating!
The cottage was probably built in the first half of the 18th century. The first reference we have is in a deed dated 1764 in which John Allison transfers ownership to his grandson, also John Allison. At that time the cottage was a two-room dwelling, a one-room dwelling and a byre which housed the cows and calfs of the cottage dwellers. At some point (at least 100 years ago) the two dwellings were combined into one, but the byre remained untouched.
The built-in furniture, while original, is probably not as old as the cottage itself. The box bed used to have two sliding panels which completely shut off the bed from the rest of the room. These were removed some time ago, probably around the time, 150 years ago, when such arrangements were banned by the public health authorities, as likely to encourage the spread of tuberculosis. The box bed is one of about six which still survive in Scotland, and is the main reason, along with the original hob grate, why the building is listed.
When we purchased the cottage in 1999 it was nearly derelict. The main changes were to convert the byre to a kitchen, and open up its walls to provide the sliding doors to the garden, and access to the sitting room. We also renewed the floor in the sitting room and kitchen, providing new flagstones and underfloor heating. This was to preserve the 'old-world' atmosphere. As far as possible, we have preserved all the original features, such as doors, fireplaces, etc. The staircase is new, although in a traditional style. Upstairs, apart from modernisation, the main job was to open up the previously unused space above the sitting room, to provide the twin bedroom. The bath/shower rooms are both as modern as possible!
Welcome to LauderDunbrodies Cottage43 West High Street, Lauder, Borders, Scotland, UK |