Borrowmoss Bothy

A Charming Bothy in
Scotlands National Book Town

ABOUT

Welcome to our charming property which was originally converted into a holiday let in the 1990's from a 200 year old cow byre, but following our purchase, has been completely refurbished, transformed and completed to a high standard in January 2024!

Borrowmoss Bothy is a great place to relax, with its cosy layout and woodburning stove for rainy days to its enclosed peaceful garden with space and seating to wind down, relax and enjoy watching the sunsets.

Outdoor enthusiasts will love this cosy property, surrounded by beautiful scenery and a nature reserve on the doorstep. Situated on our small farm, we have horses, chickens, ducks, a couple of goats, dogs and 2 cats, all or any of which you are welcome to meet if you wish!

Situated just less than a mile outside Wigtown, its close enough to walk into the village along a single track road / cycle route or drive there in a few minutes.

Wigtown, Scotland's Book Town, is situated on the Machars peninsula in South West Scotland and in an ideal position for exploring the area's beauty and history, with lots of family-friendly interest and activities close at hand.

Wigtown is a small country town with an impressive Town Hall and as the title suggests it is the home of many book shops! Along with these is a good CoOp and Farm Shop for supplies, a cash machine, several nice gift shops to browse, along with a choise of local cafes, bar, restaurant and Fish & Chip shop.

Every Saturday between April and October a Farmers and Craft Market is held in the town square.

Newton Stewart, at only 6 miles away, provides a selection of independent shops, cafes, restaurants, super-markets, cinema and gym.

ACCOMMMODATION

Accommodation

Enjoy our lovely living/dining/kitchen area with cosy wood-burner and feature exposed roof beams, quirky bathroom, single bedroom swith 2 single beds and a large bedroom with king-sized bed.

OUR SERVICES

Welcome Pack

A generous welcome pack is provided free of charge. This can include essentials such as bread, milk, butter, jam (home-made if available!), cereals, eggs, tea, coffee and sugar.

If you are celebrating a special occasion, I can arrange a luxury hamper and / or flowers for your arrival. Please contact me for costs and details.

We also provide a basket of logs and lighters to get you going. Further bags of logs can be bought from us or in local garages.

Please note the property is metered so £1 coins will be required. The meter is preset with £10 to get you started.

Holidays with your Horses

Can't bare to leave your horses at home? Bring them with you! We have 2 seperate stables in their own block, away from our horses, for the sole use of visiting guests.

I offer Mon-Fri or Fri to Mon Natural Horsemanship packages with your horses. I cover problem solving, bond-building, rope work, Round-Pen training as well as an Introducation to Mindfulness with your horse and Horse Massage so you can both leave feeling relaxed!

There is some local hacking however we are only a short drive from the enormous Galloway Forrest , Kilsture Woods and the beautiful 8=mile long Sandhead beach which we can combine with your stay. Please email me at julie@help4horses.co.uk for full costs and details.

Free Wifi

We hope to have this service shortly, however phone signal in the area is generally good.

Horses (again!)

We operate a Not-For-Profit Therapeutic Horsemanship Centre (www.horses4help.org) from the premises. Please note that we do not provide riding lessons but we are happy to introduce you to our horses under our supervision if you wish and we do provide "Meet and Greet"sessions, Natural Horsemanship groundwork lessons and courses using our ponies as well as an Introduction to Mindfulness With Horses, why not try something new during your stay!

Garden

A private enlosed area is provided with seating and there is ample parking just inside our yard

Housekeeping

All bed linen and towels are provided and will be changed on a weekly basis if you are booked for 7 days or more. If you require a more frequent service this can be arranged for a charge. A full cleaning service will take place before your arrival but we ask that you please leave the property in the clean condition you found it. For small children a cot and highchair can be provided for use at your own risk.

Pets

Up to 2 well behaved, cat friendly, dogs are welcome at a cost of £15 per dog per week. Dogs also have a Welcome Pack with treats, towel, poo bags and spare bowl etc, just in case.

If you wish to let dogs on the couches please bring your own throws but we ask that you dont allow them on the bedding. You are welcolme to walk your dogs in the fields not occupied by the horses but dogs must be kept on a lead at all times on our property.

What We Don't Do:

We don't take bookings for active hunters or shooters.

Neighbouring holiday cottages have the full facilites available for these activities.

GALLERY

SEE & DO

JUST SOME OF THE THINGS TO DO DURING YOUR STAY!

Bladnoch

Wigtown lies less than 1 mile (2 kilometres) from Bladnoch, a village with Scotlands most Southernly distillery producing malt whisky of the same name. There is a visitos centre and cafe on site.

Local Nature Reserve

Wigtown Bay, meandering through a large area of salt marsh which has been designated as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR). Wigtown Bay is the largest LNR in Britain, and is home to a wealth of wildlife, particularly birds. Some people come to admire them from the comfort of the viewing hides situated near the harbour.

The first pair of ospreys to return to Galloway in over 100 years arrived in 2004.

Fishing Fans

The River Bladnoch can be fished for Atlantic salmon and has historically been well known as one of Scotland's finest rivers producing spring fish.

Golf Fans

Wigtown offers a pleasant 9 hole course that offers a good test of golf to players of all abilities.

Alternativily, the 'County' is one of the most popular holiday golf courses in South West Scotland, an 18-hole, true links course situated on the shores of Luce Bay.

Wigtown Book Festival

The annual Wigtown Book Festival offers more than 200 events for adults, children and young people including literature, music, film, theatre, arts and crafts. The festival takes place for 10 days each autumn and has welcomed speakers such as Ian Rankin, Clare Balding, Celia Imrie, John Simpson, Joanna Lumley, Douglas Hurd, Sally Magnusson, Richard Holloway, Mairi Hedderwick, Nick Sharratt and Cathy Cassidy.

For more information please visit the Festival website: www.wigtownbookfestival.com

Swimming

We are very lucky that our neighbours, only a short walk away, have a beautiful indoor, heated swimming pool which is available to hire (subject to time of year and availablilty)

Other Places of Interest:

Whithorn Trust & Priory
Eden Textile Studios
St Ninian’s Cave
Drumtroddan Standing Stones
Gem Rock Museum, Creetown
Galloway House Gardens & Beach
Crafty Gin Distillery
RSPB Crook of Baldoon , Wood of Cree
Wigtown Harbour Bird Hide
Torhouse Stone Circle
Sorbie Tower
Barsalloch Fort
Galloway Forest Red Deer Park
Kirroughtree 7 Stanes

The Martyrs Stake

To the east of Wigtown is The Martyrs' Stake, a monument marking the traditional site where the Wigtown Martyrs were drowned in the 17th century. Their graves are in the Parish Church cemetery. There is a small cell in the County Buildings in which they were imprisoned prior to their execution. This cell is all that remains of a much older building which was largely destroyed to make way for the County Buildings (built in 1862).

Walking Routes, Hikes and Trails in the Area

There are excellent local walks, hikes and bike routes in the area including:

Galloway Forrest

Rigg Bay and Cruggleton Castle, Garlieston

Merrick Hill

Cairnsmore Hill

Kilsture Forest

Around Newton Stewart, where we've got 103 cycle routes to explore.

We have space here to store bikes.

Staying here!

As well as enjoying the relaxing location, our dark skys provide fantastic star gazing opportunities (subject to weather), we also have an amazing range of wildlife and birds on our doorstep such as deer, buzzards, hawks, red kites and bats to nane a few!

We have provided lots more information in our Welsome Pack.