The Bothy, Auchencastle

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

13/12/2024

Huge thank you to David Templeton and Mikey for fitting in a complete redecorate of The Bothy, Auchencastle between guests 😮. They started at 11am on Monday and finished mid morning on Thursday. And they voluntarily vacuumed the floors, without being asked!
Please only assess the fabulousness of the paintwork in these photos, it was the fastest bed-making and curtain hanging ever, and now I look back at the photos I can see 100 things I need to pull straight and tidy up 🙄.
I would definitely recommend David, especially to anyone with a hospitality business, he was great. The finish in all rooms is very neat, he did inside the airing cupboard and wardrobe without prompting and did an amazing job on the ugly electrics board. It will be hidden inside a cupboard soon, I promise!

10/12/2024

The Bothy, Auchencastle is booked this Hogmanay (New Year) but if you are looking for a lovely place to stay in Moffat…

02/12/2024

Another fascinating place to visit during your stay at The Bothy

On This Day (1st December) in 1916, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's newspaper article about Moorside (which was a codename for H.M. Factory Gretna) was published in the Annandale Observer.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described the process in the article as "the nitro-glycerine on the one side and the gun-cotton on the other are kneaded together into a sort of devil's porridge" with munition workers stirring it in large nitrating pans or, as he puts it "those smiling khaki-clad girls who are swirling the stuff round in their hands would be blown to atoms in an instant if certain very small changes occurred."

In this article he coined the phrase "devil's porridge," which is were we get our name from at The Devil's Porridge Museum!

Why not come and visit us to learn more about the amazing story of H.M. Factory Gretna? We're closed for the festive season from 9th December 2024 (re-opening on the 6th January 2025), so be sure to visit before then!

22/11/2024

The free Moffat Christmas Lights Festival on the last Sunday of November each year is so much fun! Around 50 stalls of local producers and crafters, with some local community groups too, and a fairground, children’s entertainers, a fabulous raffle, Santa abseiling down the church tower then doing a “meet n greet” all down the High Street… and so much more!
See you there!!

The Christmas Festival Elves had a meeting this evening to discuss plans in case the weather isn’t great on Sunday.
We have a plan 😁. The event will not be cancelled, so dig out your Christmas Jumper, a spangly bobble hat and a stylish bag-for-life for all your Christmas Shopping!! Thank you for shopping local and supporting local producers and crafters.

Please keep an eye on this page for the latest news of any changes to publicised plans, and share them with people not on Facebook. There will be signs and marshals on the day to help everyone.

12/11/2024

Amazing discovery! There are actually 3 castles near The Bothy!! (Perhaps, just maybe, other people already knew about the third castle before this week, but I didn’t 🙄) Thank you to Matt the archaeologist!
When medieval feudalism arrived in Scotland after 1066, the new lords first built timber forts on earth mounds (known as mottes), and then built stone castles. The motte and bailey at Garpol Water (in the bend in the road) was probably built in the early 12th century. This is about 10-15 minutes walk from The Bothy. Auchen Castle (5-10 minutes walk from the Bothy) was then built in the middle of the 13th century. The castle was remodelled as an artillery fortification in the 15th or 16th centuries, with earth heaped against the outer walls. The hole outside the walls with the vaulted tunnel dates from this period – it’s a concealed emplacement for artillery and light arms. A third castle was completed in 1849 and is now home to the Auchen Castle Hotel wedding venue. (5 minutes walk, in the other direction, from The Bothy) These drone photos were taken by archaeologist Matt when he stayed in The Bothy with his dog Dougal. Visiting Auchen Castle is a great local walk for folk staying in The Bothy!

The best way to find out about local archaeology is https://pastmap.org.uk/map

Zoom into the area you are interested in and switch on the 'Canmore' layer.

And try to get a hold of 'Eastern Dumfriesshire: an archaeological landscape' (RCAHMS 1997)

https://www.auchencastle.co.uk

09/11/2024

This Remembrance Day I’m remembering the young people who fought for our rights and privileges today. D-Day veteran John Robert’s signed up at just 13 years old! He must have seen and heard some dreadful things during the war.
Thank you everyone who has served or is serving in our armed forces - who knows what our lives would be like without your dedication?

Please join us in wishing D-Day veteran John Roberts a very happy 100th birthday 🎉

Born in India, John joined the Royal Navy at just 13 years old, studying at Dartmouth Royal Naval College.

On D-Day John was a Sub-Lieutenant on HMS Serapis - a minesweeper warship that defended Normandy against enemy ships and aircraft for over two weeks.

This June we are looking forward to marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day with Normandy veterans like John with a series of events in both France and the UK.

06/11/2024

Exciting news: Lost Shore Inland Surf Resort opens on 11th November! It is 1 hour 16 minutes drive (according to the all-knowing Google Maps) from The Bothy, so easily done in a day trip.
You can hire wetsuits that have been tested especially to check they will keep you warm in the Scottish climate. The venue has been designed with accessibility and environmental awareness as top priorities. And also good catering - you know that is always on my mind!!
https://www.lostshore.com/

01/11/2024

News update: I've signed up to be a Community Leader (Scotland) on Airbnb. I'm hoping this means I'll learn from other hosts in Scotland some hints and tips on improving guests' experience in The Bothy. I also want to find out how to use the Airbnb software better, to make it as easy as possible for people to visualise The Bothy before they book. I'd love to host people who want to stay in the beautiful Scottish countryside, with wildlife and woodland and the wood-burning stove. But equally, I need to ensure guests know that The Bothy isn't just round the corner from bars and casinos and Harvey Nichols, and they need to book somewhere a bit closer to Edinburgh if that is their top priority.

I'm going to volunteer to lead Airbnb Host events, share useful materials with other Airbnb hosts and connect the Airbnb Host community. In exchange, I may receive perks from Airbnb like recognition as a leader on the platform, exclusive access to events and workshops and exclusive content to share with Host club members. (Can you guess that the Airbnb lawyers wrote that?!) They've also mentioned branded Airbnb pens and key rings, I'll update you all is these arrive. SO exciting!!

17/10/2024

If you are staying at The Bothy on a Wednesday I highly recommend this offer! Claudio’s food is delicious 😋 Look out for a similar offer from Jan to March, they *may* have it on then too 🤞🏻

🇮🇹🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

It’s coming into the winter months and that can only mean 2 things🤩🤩

From November we will be closed on Monday and Tuesday evenings but half price pasta and pizza is back on Wednesday evenings🍝🍕

Call 01683220958 to book your table🤩🤩

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24/09/2024

Special Offer:
October / November / December 2024, subject to availability.
Direct bookings only.
£100 for the first night then £75 for each further night of your stay - no booking fees, cleaning fees, pet fees...

The Bothy has 2 double bedrooms, a well-equipped kitchen fitted in 2023, a wood burning stove, large gardens, books, smart TV, a very popular bird-feeder, travel cot & high chair...

See the information and photos on the Airbnb listing below:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/672917067280441579?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=8a92b2e1-2ea4-4f15-8ada-56dac6fa92e9

21/09/2024

The Annandale Arms Hotel has new owners. The refurbishments look great and the menus look delicious. Perhaps book a table when you next visit The Bothy?

18/09/2024

A distillery with homemade cakes? Let’s go!

06/07/2024

If you can’t make it to a Speyside distillery, why not visit a nearby distillery? And those fancy distilleries up north don’t have Goosegog Liqueur! Mmmm

There are ongoing road works on the Old Carlisle Road, but the distillery is fully accessible!

We are open for tours and tastings daily. You can also pick up a bottle or stay for some refreshments.

Opening Hours:
Monday-Saturday 10am to 5pm
Sunday 12pm to 4 pm

Tours run at 1:30 and 3:00, available for booking online.

Hope to see you soon!

02/07/2024