We started off by planning the route and then looked for accommodation near
the designated stopping point for each day.
Apart from the night of our wedding anniversary, we didn't splash out,
but we didn't do it on a budget either.
The most expensive night was at Gretna Green, which did seem to be an
expensive place to stay, probably because of the wedding business.
We stayed at quite a variety of places, from hotels to pubs with rooms to
small B&Bs. Where possible we
arranged to eat at the place we were staying, which I would recommend as it's
much easier and you don't spend any time looking for somewhere to eat or
travelling to your designated dinner spot.
This is important at the end of a tiring day. If you're staying somewhere that doesn't have
a bar, I would advise if possible asking your hosts to put a bottle of water
(or the cyclist's favoured drink) in the fridge so he/she can have an ice cold
drink when they arrive. Obviously this
doesn't apply if you're doing LEJOG in winter!
When searching for somewhere to stay, we started with www.sawdays.co.uk
which has never let us down. Where this
didn't yield anywhere within a suitable distance of the stopping point, we put
the postcode of the stopping point into www.tripadvisor.co.uk and chose the place with
the best reviews. This strategy seemed
to work pretty well as we only ended up with one place that was below par, and
that was because almost every hotel and B&B in the Glasgow area was fully
booked due to the Commonwealth Games.
On our return journey, we knew we wanted to stay at the Peacock, so we
worked backwards from there choosing places to stay which would give us a
manageable drive each day.
So without further ado, here is a list of all the places we stayed and ate.
The Land's End Hotel
It does what it says on the tin - it's a hotel, it's at Land's End. The restaurant tries to be more fancy than it
really is, but the panoramic views of the sea more than make up for this. You'll definitely meet other end-to-enders
which creates a great atmosphere at the start, and it means the hotel staff
don't bat an eyelid at people taking bikes into the rooms.
The White Hart, Okehampton
This is an old coaching inn, so an interesting place to stay, although not
good if you have any mobility problems as there are a lot of narrow corridors
and stairs. The rooms are bit small, and
the shower was like being out in the rain on a warm day, but the food was
excellent and the staff took my dietary requirements completely in their
stride. There was a good breakfast with
plenty of choice of hot food. We were
allowed to keep the bike in the laundry room overnight.
The Bowl, Almondsbury
An extremely picturesque pub with nicely decorated rooms, clean and
modern. The food was good traditional
pub fare and although the waitress didn't know what gluten was, I was able to
choose something suitable. Service was a
touch slow, which can be frustrating when one is feeling fractious after a long
and tiring day. The carpet in the room
was a dark colour, so the bike stayed with us that night.
The Corbet Arms, Uffington
Do not be fooled by the uninspiring website - this place is much better in
the flesh. The highlight is the terrace
at the back where you can eat outdoors while looking out over the meadows and
down to the river. There is plenty of
choice on the menu and the service was good.
The car park is huge and the rooms immaculate. The only downside was the somewhat sniffy
attitude of the staff member who we asked about storage for the bike, she
wouldn't allow us to put it in the room but didn't provide a secure
alternative. The bike came in the room
on the dust sheet we brought for the purpose.
Middle Holly Cottage, Forton
This is also better than it looks on the website. The decor is lovely and the owners very
welcoming. Little touches like a mini
fridge with fresh milk and homemade chocolates in it, were much
appreciated. At breakfast we had eggs
laid by the hens who roam around in the garden, which was delightful. The owners let us keep the bike in the locked
garage overnight.
Dinner wasn't available here so we ate at The New Holly.
This place is walking distance from Middle Holly Cottage, although take
care as some of the walk is along a narrow country road with no footpath. The food was good, and the portions were
huge. The only downside was the lack of
proper decaf coffee - "you can't have an espresso, our decaf is
instant". Really.
Anvil View Guest House, Gretna Green
A comfortable place to stay. The
owners were very friendly and welcoming and gave us a good breakfast. They were also very accommodating about the
bike, which spent the night in the shed.
Dinner wasn't available here so we ate at Smiths Hotel which is
about five minutes' walk up the road.
This place self describes as a boutique hotel. It isn't.
However it's perfectly adequate if you just want a meal at the end of
the day and can cope with dining surrounded by brides and grooms. There is a restaurant and a bar, we ate in
the bar which was fine and had a very wide choice of food.
The Milton Inn, Dumbarton
This place is grim and the decor in the rooms is awful. Now I've got that out the way I can also tell
you that the staff are extremely friendly, fun and helpful, and the restaurant
has a huge choice of cheap yet good quality food. If you can set aside your aesthetic
sensibilities, it'a great place to
stay. Oh - and the upside of dreadful
decor? No worries about bringing the
bike indoors.
The Lime Tree, Fort William
This place self describes as a boutique hotel, and it truly is. Our room was cosy and beautifully decorated,
and there is even a small art gallery attached to the hotel. There are three comfortable public areas
where you can read, relax or work on the laptop, which is very welcome when
it's raining and you don't necessarily want to sit in your room all
afternoon. As the dinner was quite
elaborate I had e-mailed ahead with my dietary requirements and they made a big
effort to make sure everything was ok for me.
Breakfast was excellent and included croissants made on the
premises. The owner was a keen cyclist
so not only was the bike housed appropriately overnight, we also got the use of
some WD-40.
Knockbain House, Dingwall
This was one of the highlights of our trip.
The setting is truly beautiful and the house itself is lovely. If you get the double room it's huge and you
have plenty of space to spread out and relax.
There is also use of the very comfortable sitting room which has a floor
to ceiling window allowing you to look out over the colourful garden and the
hills beyond. The hosts were a delight,
a real pleasure to chat to and nothing was too much trouble. We even got separate dinners completely
unprompted - one for the person with dietary requirements and one for the
hungry cyclist. We ate redcurrants from
the garden. Even hot drinks after dinner
were tailored, with fresh coffee for Sean and a ginger infusion for me. As if this wasn't idyllic enough, our hosts
were kind enough to let me stay as long as I wanted the next day, so I had
plenty of opportunity to enjoy the house and gardens. Fantastic.
And the bike stayed in the garage overnight.
Thrumster Estate, Thrumster
This is a very interesting property as it was once a hunting lodge. If you like things modern and immaculate,
it's not for you, but it was a great experience. The hosts were very welcoming, a pleasure to
chat to and enthusiastic about Sean's cycling endeavours, and made a big effort
to meet my dietary requirements without making me feel like I was being
annoying. The setting for dinner was
sumptuous and there was also tea and cake for Sean on his arrival which I
thought was a very nice touch. No
worries about the bike, this place is so remote you could leave your car
outside unlocked, but it's also so huge there was no trouble popping it in an
annex where it would be entirely safe.
Moorfield House, Boat of Garten
We didn't spend much time here but our impressions were good. The whole place is immuculate, with
traditional tartan inspired decor. There
is a large, light sitting room where we were served tea with a slice of cake on
arrival. The only issue is places to eat
- the lack of which was highlighted while we were there as the most popular
restaurant was closed, meaning all the others (well, there were two) were
completely booked out. The owners were
very helpful in recommending a place in Avimore (below), where we drove, which is fine
unless you don't have a car. If we
hadn't we might have ended up eating the plants in the garden. The bike went in the garage.
The Cairngorm Hotel, Aviemore
Don't be put off when you enter through the bar area of this place and it's
a bit rough. The restaurant offers a
wide selection of cheap but good quality food, the service is friendly and
prompt and there's a great atmosphere due to it being packed full of all types
of people. Perhaps I had rose coloured
spectacles on because we'd just finished the ride, but I really enjoyed it.
Fairshaw Rigg, Hexham
The website advertises "a unique accommodation experience" and it
certainly is that - in a good way! The
USP is that it's also an alpaca farm, which means you get the entertainment
value of seeing the little chaps in the fields and sleeping under alpaca
duvets. In the morning there's homemade
bread and eggs from the hens which share the fields with the alpacas. The owners were clearly very proud of their
alpacas, which was great to see. We've
promised ourselves to come back here next year and visit Vindolanda. If you're staying here, you really need to
have a car, as there's nothing within walking distance. The bike went in the garage.
Carts Bog Inn, Langley
We went here on the recommendation of the owners, but ended up wishing we'd
gone into Hexham. There was a slightly
hostile atmosphere and the service was glacial.
Having said that, when the food arrived I had to grudgingly admit it was
good.
The Peacock, Rowsley
This place was, as the Americans would say, UH-MAY-ZING. As soon as you walk in you can tell it's a
classy joint. The decor in the rooms is
pure understated class. The food was out
of this world and there were even possets and so on inbetween courses to
cleanse the palate. The service was pure
professionalism. The only fly in the
ointment was that they charge extra for a cooked breakfast, which I think is a
bit cheeky, but unless you're a greedy hog like me you'll hardly need it as
there is a spread of really delicious items.
I'd got used to seeing the rather dreary individual Kellogg's boxes but
no - there were smoothies, pastries, and fresh strawberries. You can also go to Caudwell's Mill http://www.caudwellsmill.co.uk/
and Chatsworth Farm Shop http://www.chatsworth.org/plan-your-visit/shop-and-eat/chatsworth-estate-farm-shop
on the way back and fill the back of your car with goodies, which is extremely
pleasant. If you're looking for
somewhere to celebrate in style at the end of your LEJOG or, you just feel like
treating yourself, GO HERE! It's
imperative. Oh - and the bike went in
the garage, where it was probably sung to sleep by angels who fanned it with
peacock feathers.
Other places of note
Poppy's Cafe, Golspie - this is a charming little place with friendly
service, delicious coffee and cheerful decor.
They even have gluten free snacks and the loo was immaculate.
Fiddler's Cafe, Drumnadroicht - they do Illy coffee and there is a free car
park across the road. Yes, Londoners,
you read that right. A free car
park. Service is friendly and the loos
were good.
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