“Property is located in the rural side of Northumberland near Coldstream.”
The back is a very beautiful view of a hill littered with sheeps. It is so calm and serene when you sit outside on the garden. They have a well manicured lawn with a summer house that you can sit in and just have a read. However, I would not read there in the afternoon because it faces the sun so it gets really hot and bright. Next to it is the owners allotment. There is also a small patch for flowered garden with a little garden gazebo with plastic chairs and table. We had a lovely dinner here one evening.
Inside, there are 3 bedrooms. One is upstairs in the attic with twin beds. Unfortunately, it was too warm so we did not stay there. The room has only one single attic window which does not give enough sunlight nor breeze.
Downstairs, there are two bedrooms. One with a double bed & another with a twin bed. The beds were all clean with fresh linen and sheets. They are comfortable to sleep in. Each room has its own wooden dressing table. I think the owner wants to make sure that the wood doesn’t get chipped or ruined (which is fair enough) so they had placed plastic trays around. These trays are in the bedrooms and the toilet.
There are instructions to remove all linens after your stay and put them inside laundry bags that they have provided.
The bedroom with the double bed is situated awkwardly looking out onto the parking bay of the cottage. So everyday when I woke up and open the window curtains, the first thing that I see is our car which is funny in a way. The car park is an off road parking bay next to the entrance of the cottage.
The bedrooms are slightly dark due to having only one window each. Not a lot of natural light going in.
There is a central heating but we did not need to use that. Besides that, two of the rooms have fans provided and a little portable heater. The fan is a very old electric tower fan but still functions although the oscillation button doesn’t work anymore.
The downside of the cottage is having only one bathroom/toilet. There are only 4 of us on this holiday but it takes us a long time to come out of the house due to waiting for the each one of us to finish in the bathroom. The cottage can sleep 6 people but I would not advice having more than 4 people due to this.
The bathroom has a bathtub and an electric shower. The owner had provided a LOT of cleaning supplies inside the bathroom.
There is a kitchen with electric hobs and small oven. Easy to work out. The owners have provided us with a pint of milk, cheese and biscuits on our arrival on the first day.
The property has a fridge freezer, electric kettle, microwave and air fryer. They also have adequate amount of pots and pans for cooking. They have plenty of plates, cups, saucers and cutleries. A load of choping boards in the kitchen!
We had a well behaved, rarely barks puppy with us on our holiday. Dogs (well behaved) are not allowed on the beds, upstairs or on top of sofa’s and furniture.
The living room has a wide tv with freeview and wifi. Be aware that the wifi only works in the living room, kitchen and bedroom downstairs with the twin beds. It does NOT reach the double bedroom and the twin upstairs. It also is unable to reach the gardens. Had to make do with the 4G but even that barely works inside the double bedroom. I think this has to do with the thick walls of the cottage. I checked the speed of their wifi and it is 60Mbps for downloads and 29Mbps for uploads. The owner may need to think of having a Wifi mesh to make sure that the whole cottage and garden has coverage. Kids nowadays likes to have their gadgets.
The village does not have any shops nor restaurants. The nearest shop is about 5-10 min drive from the cottage.
There are a lot of beautiful and interesting historical sites around. We’ve been to castles, abbeys and a cruise on a boat to see grey seals. Unfortunately, we were not able to see puffins but we were told that their numbers have gone up and they are largely around in the months of March-June.
There are also a lot of restaurants in Northumberland that caters for dogs. But they only serve food during lunch and dinner time. Only drinks in between.
Nearby interesting places are Ford and Etal. Nice places. They have a mini train that goes between these two.
Never forget to go the the Holy Island where Lindisfarne Abbey is. Find times for low tide for safe crossing on their website. There is also the Bamburgh Castle and the Dryburgh Abbey nearby. Melrose, Warkworth and Jedburgh are also two interesting places to go to. Don’t miss the Muse of Nature, tomb of Sir William Scott, house of Mary Queen of Scots, Jedburgh Jail.
All in all, a very good holiday with the family. The owners are lovely and have checked on us twice (arrival and before departing) but they live nearby so if needed they are easy to get hold of.
Thank you for your review.
We are very pleased you enjoyed your holiday in beautiful Northumberland along with the bottle of wine and locally made cheese and biscuits we provided
Our orchard and gardens are close so if we are working in them, guests can always have a chat and ask for advice. You may even get some fresh eggs, veg and fruit. There are sheep in our fields so dogs and small children should always be attended to while they are playing in the paddock.
Property Owner