Doonbank Cottage's Bothy - self catering accommodation

14/08/2024

Just heading off to the Apiary as part of our last 'wonderful world of the honey bee' experiences for 2024. But we have put the dates up now for 2025. So, if you're looking to get ahead of the game in terms of presents - whether birthday, Christmas or just a special treat, then why not pop over and grab a voucher, which are valid for 12 months. Just visit: https://doonbankcottage.co.uk/the-wonderful-world-of-honey-bees/

15/07/2024

A peaceful day at Doonbank clearing more Laurel near the apiary - with appropriate supervision!

10/07/2024

We do enjoy dog sitting for guests. Dylan is enjoying the attention. Check out our dog services at https://doonbankcottage.co.uk/dog-services-that-we-offer/

29/06/2024

Even Jorgie likes watching the bees! If would like to know more about the wonderful world of honeybees and beekeeping, why not head over to our website and book up - wwww.doonbankcottage.co.uk

27/05/2024

A great weekend's training at Dumfries House,and learning from expert beekeepers and the Scottish Beekeeping Association. All helps in our knowledge and delivery of our 'wonderful world of honey bees' experience.

20/05/2024

We still have a few vacancies on our Sat 1st June 'Wonderful world of the Honey Bee' experience. If you're looking for something a little different, why not book up now - or maybe you're looking for the quirky birthday pressie.

If you are looking for something alternative to do, why no come and enjoy our three hour 'wonderful world of honey bees' experience in Ayr

12/05/2024

A lovely day out.....

The weather has started to brighten up and get warmer as we head into summer, why not spend the day taking a wonderful boat trip to the fantastic Island of Ailsa Craig, Ailsa Craig trips run every day whilst weather allows and are on the day weather dependent, to enquire about trips to Ailsa Craig and angling trips, availability and/or book call the skipper Mark McCrindle on 07773794358 or email [email protected]

You are unable to book Ailsa Craig or Fishing trips via this page or via fb messaging, bookings or trio enquiries must be made with Mark via phone or email. we suggest giving him a call in the 1st instance to enquire or book your trip. Dogs are allowed on the boat & on the island & must be kept on the lead at all times, different length of trips are available to facilitate more time on the island, just ask when enquiring.

07/05/2024

Why not book a break at Doonbank and double up with an exclusive Guided Tour of Culzean Gardens, a 20 minute drive from us.

Tuesday 21st May 2024🌸

From Culzean Garden team: "Please join us and spend the day with the National Trust for Scotland’s Simon Jones, Gardens & Designed Landscapes Manager and Iain Govan, Head of Gardens and Grounds at Culzean Castle, in collaboration with Scotland’s Gardens Scheme"

Please find more information on the link below -
Culzean Gardens Guided Tour

Scotland's Gardens Scheme opens gardens for charity raising funds through garden gate tickets, plant sales and teas. Beautiful Scottish secret gardens to visit and explore. Open gardens throughout Scotland.

23/04/2024

View of our new Tawny Owl nest box as viewed from the bothy. Too late for this year, but fingers crossed for next year and hopefully a real treat for guests.

17/03/2024

A lovely mild day and the Bees are very happy to be out and about collecting early pollen. A sure sign that the Queen has survived the winter and is now laying again. Check out our website at www.doonbankcottage.co.uk to find out how you can get up close and personal with the Bees!

24/01/2024

I know it's very sad to get excited about, but Chris is hopping around in delight as he opened our parcel from Soak & Sleep this morning containg a super dooper mattress topper and 500 thread Egyptian cotton duvets, sheets and pillow cases for Bothy guests.. Zzzzzzzzźzzz on!!

20/01/2024

Well a good trip out this morning to 'The White Company' to buy some lovely Egyptian cotton towels. The bath sheets are lovely, large and very soft, which we hope guests will appreciate.

24/10/2023

Lovely to see a Sparrowhawk outside the window this morning at Doonbank. Such
pretty raptors.

10/07/2023

Coming to Doonbank? Why not take a trip over, and around Ailsa Craig https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=667789612056340&id=100064759204496

Ailsa Craig trips run every day whilst weather allows and are on the day weather dependent, to enquire about trips to Ailsa Craig and angling trips, availability and/or book call the skipper Mark McCrindle on 07773794358 or email [email protected]

You are sadly unable to book via this page, booking must be made with Mark via phone or email. we suggest giving him a call in the 1st instance to enquire or book your trip.

21/06/2023

As a partner in the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Nectar Network(led by Lynne Bates), we were delighted to welcome a 12 person volunteer team to work in our woodland garden yesterday. After setting moth traps the night before as part of a survey, Tom and Gill Smart (SWT Reserves Manager) gave us a talk and moth identification session.

We then split into teams with one team continuing our mission to clear Rhododendron and Laurel from the garden to provide a more useful and diverse habitat for wildlife and pollinators, whilst another group carried out a biological survey along with maintenance management on one of our wildflower meadows. It was then a real pleasure to provide them all with a curry lunch and have a bit of a blether. A huge thanks to all the volunteers and Lynne Bates and Gill Smart as we got a huge amount of work done.
We will make our findings available to guests in the Bothy.

27/05/2023

Lovely weather for our second 'wonderful world of the honeybee' experience this year. Great participants and lots of fun. Interested? Checkout our site at: https://doonbankcottage.co.uk/the-wonderful-world-of-honey-bees/

25/05/2023

This time of year is exceptionally good at Doonbank with the birdsong and the wonderful fresh greens of the trees and shrubs, alongside a wide range of plants and flowers across our woodland garden - including our wildflower meadow areas.

If you do like birdsong, but are not great at identifying birds, we thoroughly recommend that you download an app onto your phone called 'Merlin' - bird ID. It's really good at picking up multiple birdsong and will enhance your experience when staying at Doonbank. Here's a video showing some of its features.

Want to learn more about eBird? Take the free online course: https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/product/ebird-essentials/ The Merlin Bird ID app is often the ...

27/02/2023

Well not a bad view of the aurora borealis from Ayr last night. (photo via: Kristen Ruckledge)

31/01/2023

26/01/2023

A delightful morning out with the Ayrshire Coastal Path team putting up new post markers. With views like this only 3 minutes drive from Doonbank, we are just so lucky.

10/09/2022

Well it's that time of year again and we have now published our 'Wonderfull world of the honey bee' experience dates for 2023 . Yes it's early, but just imagine having all your Christmas presents done and dusted by October!! Happy days eh 🙂 Find out more at: https://doonbankcottage.co.uk/the-wonderful-world-of-honey-bees/

10/09/2022

Well it's that time of year again and we have now published our 'Wonderfull world of the honey bee' experience dates for 2023 . Yes it's early, but just imagine having all your Christmas presents done and dusted by October!! Happy days eh :) Find out more at: https://doonbankcottage.co.uk/the-wonderful-world-of-honey-bees/

09/08/2022

Well the weather is delightful and down the garden in our Apiary, the bees are having a wonderful time bringing in nectar and pollen. The pollen colour range at the moment is lovely, from bright green to red, and made shades of yellow and buff/beige. A good month for bees :)

25/06/2022

Hiking down to the apiary for a live hive inspection. Another great honey bee experience.....

11/06/2022

Great 'Wonderful world of the Honey Bee' experience today. The weather was great and despite a pityful weather forecast, the rain held off. Participants really switched on and they also made some fabulous beeswax candles. If you're interested for either yourself, or as a birthday, Christmas or even father's day pressie, have a nosey at: https://doonbankcottage.co.uk/the-wonderful-world-of-honey-bees/

06/06/2022

So after spending an hour with the bees, it's time for some lunch. Amazing that Brodie isn't concerned about the chickens at all - and vice versa. No barking; no chasing; no stalking. He is interested, but no more. 10/10 Brodie, you're doing brilliantly at 19 weeks :)

27/05/2022

So today's learning for Brodie was 'new environments'. This involved sitting with him in the boot of the car watching out, allowing him to watch, hear and smell lots of new things, along with constant positive assurance to build his confidence. As you can see, he was very absorbed, as supermarket car parks are a great learning resource for new guide dog puppies as there is just so much happening.

17/05/2022

Week 17 and Brodie's first walk through the garlic in the garden. All very exciting stuff!

15/05/2022

Turn your sound on! One of our resident Tawny owls making a right racket on top of the bothy roof. (but delightful to both hear and see)

15/05/2022

Free ranging is just the best!!!