A fabulous rural holiday retreat that is ideal for families can be found in Scaurbank Cottage, a detached house tucked away down a short drive with easy access to a wide range of outdoor activities, near the village of Thornhill (3 miles) in Dumfries and Galloway.

What was an old cow shed dating back to 1820 has been transformed into a comfy, cosy base for getting out exploring. Those preferring to relax in the warm will find the wood-burning stove in the charming sitting room particularly enticing and a door opens up to the courtyard allowing the sunlight to flood in. The kitchen and dining are combined in a very spacious, partly double height room that encourages meals to be eaten together whilst swapping highlights from the day’s agenda of activities.

A landing runs the full length of the house upstairs with the bedrooms off it at either end. Both of the well presented bedrooms have the added advantage of having their own en suite shower room and, as the house is set into the bank at the rear, they also have doors providing direct access to the garden (one step down).

Parking is behind the owner’s house with pathways that lead to the cottage’s separate, gated garden. The flat, gravelled path is great for transporting luggage or for those with limited mobility or there are rough steps down to the courtyard seating and barbeque.

The terraced, grassed garden is a haven for wildlife with deer and squirrels often popping by. Lots of birds will keep ‘twitchers’ occupied and the courtyard is a peaceful, idyllic spot to listen to them singing away in the trees. The River Scour runs down a steep bank beyond the garden so care should be taken. Interestingly, one of the nearby houses is where blacksmith Kirkpatrick Macmillan invented the first pedal driven bicycle.