Newcastleton Cycling Festival 2012

31 Dec 2011

Plans are welll underway for our inaurgural village cycling festival; March 31st – April 9th 2012.
There will be sportifs of varying duration through establshed and new routes. A sprint up the Langholm hill – definitely not for the faint hearted! An urban village race designed for all ages and abilities run outs to the 7stanes at Newcastleton and further afield. It culminates in the 24hours of Exposure enduance race which sets off from Douglas Square at noon on Saturday April 7th followed by an afternoon of frivolitites hosted by our own common riders. Will be a week to remember.

Gemima's back

19 May 2011

She has been sitting for weeks now and we are eagerly awaiting the hatching of her brood. At least this year she will be able to keep them all safe in the duck house.

Badger watch at Priest Hill

16 Apr 2011

Delighted to say that our guests have recently visited the badget sett at the hide in Newcastleotn forest and had a lovely time watching them sniffle and shuffle and tumble and play.
If you’d like to see them then go up before dusk and settle quietly in the hide, wait til the sun dips and then hold your breath. IF they dont sense you, they will appear little by little and play and romp for hours. A delight to behold. BE quick becuase as the grass grows it limits the views.

Dalkeith House - open for business

16 Apr 2011

Finally we are able to announce our new venture is now taking bookings. Dalkeith House is located in the heart of Newcastleton village so once you’ve parked your car and unloaded you have no need to get in it again! Everything you could possible want for a short break is on your doorstep; pubs hotels serving food and open all year, cafes, river side walks, golf, 7stanes mountain biking.

Once you’ve unpacked we’d be surprised if you want to venture out as the house has it all – beautiful bedrooms with sumptuous linens and fluffy towels, bags of room to spread out and relax; formal dining, family dining, large well equipped kitchen,reception area and hall leading to french doors onto a large patio, drawing room and TV room packed with state of the art entertainmnet and on top of that we are pet friendly AND ther is free WIFI in all rooms!

Osprey watch and duckhouses at Yethouse

21 Jul 2010

Delighted to see that the Ospreys have returned to Kielder Water. A fantastic acheivement, well done to all the rangers who have worked so hard for this to have happened. They must be very chuffed, particularly as the birds raised three chicks last year – we hope that they are as successful this year. We will take a short drive to Kielder this weekend and check out the web cam. Its early days but it will be fun to watch developments.

Gemima and Puddleduck, our two mallard ducks are struggling to keep their nesting sorted! They have returned to Yethouse for a third year to nest and raise their chicks on Johnny’s pond. She successfully reared 12 last year and 6 the year before. Trouble is that twice she has settled and laid eggs and twice the stoat has found them and eaten them all.

We invested in a duck house – not one of the posh variety – just and bog standard floating platform with a roof over it – and set it on the pond 2 weeks ago. so far, both Gemima and Puddleduck have paddled round it and admired it from afar but they have not ventured on to it long enough to check it out. Bread enticements dont seem to be working either, any suggestiongs as to how we encourage them to nest in this safer environment would be gratefully recieved.

Gemima and the other gang!

08 Jun 2010

Hi all

Been frantic following the 24H. Loads of great feedback and already confirmed for 2011 so that has made all the efforts worth while. Rock UK did sterling work and really showcased the village and the community brilliantly. We had a grand time.

Since then we’ve had a few guests who have lapped up the fabulous weather and really enjoyed the great outdoors. One of them, we shall call him W to ensure his anonymity, cycled the complete circuit of Kielder Water and Forest Park trails. That is somewhere between 27 and 28 miles. What makes this all the more remarkable is that W is only aged 7. Yep, amazing. He is a remarkable little chap who loves his wheels. We presented him with a certificate to commemorate his achievement. He loved it.

Pleased to announce that Gemima finally settled in the new duck house. We knew because one side was dipping quite low in the water, but after a balancing act and some polystyrene we have got her level again. Not sure what the egg count is but at least they are safe from the stoat.

Wet and wild today on the hillside but still glorious. The fields are full of wild flowers, hares, deer and birds. The chorus of noise, if you just stop a while and listen, is amazing. You should be here to enjoy it!

24Hour Solo at Newcastleton

22 May 2010

WOW what a scorcher, as I write it is 27degrees at 4.30pm in the afternoon. The Liddesdale Hills are a magnificent backdrop to the inaugural 24hour solo mountain bike challenge that commenced at noon today in Newcastleton.

Eighty-four lads and lassies have been going for nearly 5 hours in this heat and I bet they are welcoming the shade of the forests once they reach that part of the trail. The going is tough and very challenging, not all will complete but the enthusiasm and excitement at the outset of the challenge was palpable.

The Holm gave them all a rousing send off from Douglas Square, with pipes and fiddles playing and flags flying. Not sure what the competitors thought of our common riders but it was a colourful sight as they led them away up the hill to the start of the course.

On behalf of the Newcastleton Business Forum and the community we thank the organisers, sponsors and competitors and hope they had a great time. We do really appreciate the efforts of you all to come and help raise our profile, thank you and haste ye back next year.

Apart from the excitement of the 24H there has been other less frantic activities at Yethouse….Gemima and Puddleduck seem to have found a new nesting site – but we haven’t found it yet. She now clambers up on to the platform of the duck house to retrieve her bread, but not adopted it as home yet.

A pheasant has decided that the spring heather is protective enough for her nest so she has plonked down next to the pond; the hedgehog found the peanut stash we keep in the garage for the birds and the starlings have settled in the dove cote. Most comical watching them nest building trying to get a straight twig into a round hole!

The weather is definitely turning to summer so check out the availability and book a week or a short break – you will leave rested and recharged.