The Bothy, Auchencastle

25/03/2025

There are so many fabulous cafes, restaurants, bakeries, the deli, the chocolate shop, the toffee shop… in Moffat. Sarah understands this is the only way you can give all these amazing local businesses the support they deserve!! 😍😂😍😂

14/03/2025

Many people come to The Bothy, Auchencastle to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or even to get married - so exciting!
If you would like a special photo as a gift, or just to remember your stay at The Bothy, I highly recommend Jonathan Cosens. His studio is just 10 minutes drive away, in Moffat. Or he can even be enticed out of his studio, perhaps with cheese or chocolate?

26/02/2025

There are so many events in Moffat throughout the year. here are just a few of them. Look out also for the Classic Car Rally, the Rugby 10's, Gala week, Moffat Show... sometimes it is difficult to find a date in the Moffat calendar when a new event doesn't clash with an established one!
Do message me directly if the Airbnb diary doesn't look available for a date you want to book, there may be a bit of wiggle room 😉

05/02/2025

This menu looks amazing! Stilton and broccoli souffle with handmade rosemary and sea salt focaccia? That's not what you usually find on the "value" menu in a restaurant. 2 courses for £25 or 3 courses for £30, and the food, service and decor at Brodies are 11/10. I think you deserve a treat after January dragged on for so many years, don't you?

Just finalising our latest £25 for 2 courses menu. Exceptional value.

28/01/2025

I love the fact that Moffat has a nursery in the heart of the community. The crocodiles of hi-viz children snaking around the town are adorable. We could take tips from where they visit - apparently the smell from the Moffat Toffee kitchen is amazing!

Today we went to say goodbye to our much-loved oak tree that came down in the storm on Friday, narrowly missing the pavilion.
We watched from a distance to see what was going on, then we asked if we could come and count the rings to see how old it was; we counted in rings of 20 up to 120 years old!
We talked about how the tree was even older than our 100 years old old grand-friends at Bankfoot!
We looked at the roots and then talked about oak trees giving us acorns and we thought we could maybe plant some acorns to replace the old oak tree.
All in all we had a hands on practical experience where we learnt so much!
We love getting out and about in our environment, learning as we go!

27/01/2025

Good motivation to come over to The Bothy for a mid week break - you deserve it! How long has January been going on for? Surely it must be over soon! 😂

24/01/2025

Wanlockhead is half an hours drive from The Bothy. It is an intriguing place, with the highest pub in Scotland, a lead mining museum, the world gold panning championships, a landscape and scattering of cottages up and down hillsides that reminds me of Greenland, and this walk on the Southern Uplands Way from today’s Times:

Walk of the week: up from Wanlockhead, Scotland’s highest village

A lofty route along the Southern Upland Way in the Lowther Hills with breathtaking views. A 20-carat gold nugget was found here in 2015. Will you be lucky too?

20/01/2025

The Bothy has been welcoming guests every night so far in 2025! Most people are just coming for a short break to recharge the batteries after the chaos of Christmas and Hogmanay, some are celebrating birthdays. It is lovely to snuggle on the sofa in front of the wood-burning stove and watch a film. Below are some of my favourites - what would you choose? I’d love to get your recommendations 😊 Thank you!
P.S. the only nights not booked in January 2025 are 21st and 22nd. Fancy a last minute break?

18/01/2025

Sending a HUGE thank you to Lewis Cochran (plumber) for coming out on a Saturday evening to fix The Bothy boiler. Getting rather a lot of 5 star reviews (231 so far) is a team effort, it wouldn’t happen without great tradesmen helping me out.
Lewis brought spare boiler innards with him this evening so he could be sure to get the boiler going straight away, he’ll be back later this week to do a permanent repair. It’s that sort of ingenuity and thoughtfulness that makes the difference!

14/01/2025

These rather special dates in the Moffat Calendar - if you are planning a visit to The Bothy in 2025 and haven’t picked your dates yet, do consider these weekends. I’ll add some photos of previous years so you can see how much fun we all have 😁 (Moffat Promotions Group events are always free admission and family friendly ✔️)

13/01/2025

The Moffat Rammy is a free, informal acoustic music weekend in venues across Moffat. I’ve heard the musicians that play in The Proudfoot Indoor Sports & Social Club bar every Thursday evening, so talented! Violin, guitar, voice, all gently interweaving with no conductor or director required. The Rammy is like the regular Thursday at Thd Proudfoot but over a whole weekend and at multiple venues with even more musicians.
The Bothy is available (so far) the weekend of Yhe Rammy.

11/01/2025

Sunrise at The Bothy this morning. I was in my way to fill the bird feeder, honestly! Please don’t report me for cruelty to nuthatches 😢

04/01/2025

Now I’m not saying you should choose the location of your next short break based on ice-cream, but just saying that you did… doesn’t this Cranachan inspired gelato look amazing?! Whisky, raspberries, cream and toasted oats 😍😘😍
A Crolla & Sons are in Lochmaben, half an hour drive from The Bothy, Auchencastle.
In case you need more reasons than ice-cream (err?!) to visit Lochmaben, it has 5 lochs with a yacht club and fishing, and occasionally curling in a hard Winter, beautiful walks, an 18 hole golf course and a very weird road lay out - be prepared to give way to oncoming traffic at the tight corner.
Have a look at the A Crolla page - what is your favourite ice-cream flavour?

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Cranachan Gelato🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

With Hogmanay just round the corner we thought we’d bring back out a Scottish favourite.

A whisky and double cream gelato, honey roasted oat and raspberry variegato rippled throughout to give our take on a Scottish classic. Perfect to celebrate this time of year 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎊

24/12/2024

Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2025 to all Bothy customers past, present and future! Christmas wishes also to the fabulous tradesmen who keep those little improvements coming, month after month: Ross Currie Electrician, Lewis Cochrane Plumber, David Templeton - Professional Painter and Decorator, The Nithsdale Stove Centre, Surface Repairs Scotland, Barry McMullan Joiner, and last but most definitely not least, the lovely and hard-working women at Laundry Room in Moffat who provide all the clean bedding and towels, on time, every time.
Merry Christmas from The Bothy!

23/12/2024

The Anchor Hotel, Kippford is an hour’s drive from the Bothy, but it is a great pub - perfect location, great food, lovely staff. In winter it is cosy by the fire and in summer you can sit outside with a long cold drink and watch the birds and boats on the water.
On your way to / from Kippford you can stop at one of 2 children’s play centre farms, Dalscone or Mabie’s, and Kilnford farm shop and fabulous restaurant. In Dumfries centre you can walk along the river Nith, maybe even see the otters or the tidal bore.

You can imagine our absolute delight when we were contacted by The Guardian to say we were going to feature on their readers TOP 10 PUBS 🥳🥳🥳🥳

Huge thanks as always to the whole team that make The Anchor so AMAZING!!!⚓️

17/12/2024

Last minute cancellation means The Bothy is available over Christmas, from 23rd to 29th December.
Two double bedrooms plus travel cot if required (and high chair, baby monitor, etc.) Dog friendly, large gardens, wood burning stove, well-equipped kitchen and just 4 minutes off the motorway, 7 minutes from the gorgeous town of Moffat - independent shops, great bars and restaurants, (many dog-friendly), fabulous play park for children, walks, distillery with tours…
** Please share 😘, thank you!! **

https://www.airbnb.com/l/fws7uCZN