Cormiston Farm

Cormiston farm is located near the town of Biggar in the Lowlands of Scotland and the main house is a gorgeous Georgian house that has undergone several updates over its life. Our room had a magnificent four poster, king size bed and wonderful floor to ceiling windows looking out over the front and beyond to a farmers field filled like with sheep. The house has been lovingly restored and the surrounding farm buildings are slowly being revamped; the large barn is in the process of being converted into a reception hall and the work to date is stellar with wonderful wooden floors and rafters.

While it is a B&B, the proprietor also offers dinner sourced locally and/or from his own garden. We had dinner both nights at Cormiston, with lamb the first night and trout the second. Both dinners were excellent and our host, Richard, is not only a great cook but also a lovely and good natured person in general. Staying at Cormiston farm was really lovely and the rural setting, with accompanying silence, was a lovely change after the bustle of the two previous evenings.

We visited nearby New Lanark while staying at Cormiston which is a UNESCO world heritage site. New Lanark was built in the late 18th century as a mill (ie cloth producing) "town" by Robert Owen, a forward thinking man for his time who insisted on schooling for the children of his workers, clean housing and a very progressive (for the time) work schedule of 10.5 hours per day, six days a week in the mill. While his contemporary 1 percenters thought he was crazy, the mill still made him a very rich man and was active well into the 20th century!

He tried to replicate the same concept in the USA at New Haven but his dream failed and much of his fortune was consumed with this endeavour. Later in life he still campaigned for greater worker's rights and many of his ideas were legislated some sixty or so years after he proposed them. For a cynic like Christos, the story of a progressive capitalist from 200 years ago was a bit of an inspiration .... While at New Lanark we did a little shopping. Christos bought a lovely scarf and Lisa a sweater, as well as some balls of wool, from New Lanark.

Our other great joy at Cormiston was the local Galliforme ... A pheasant that Christos named "Philibert The Pleasant Pheasant". According to Richard he had been roosting nearby for the last six weeks or so and we managed to see him twice while there. While pheasants are hunted (after August 12), Richard indicated that Phil was too large and thus would not be tasty. This coupled with the amicable feelings the family had towards him ensured that he was safe on the grounds of Cormiston farm!

After two lovely nights at Cormiston farm, it was time to move on to our next destination, Windlestraw Lodge near Peebles.