Tr avel report PEEBLES
ROBOT glides silently across the garden. Sleek, circular. About the size of a large toaster.
I glare at it over the top of my teacup, watching as it efficiently snubs out the rare strand of grass daring to peak out from the already smooth lawn.
Momentarily distracted, my eyes return to altogether more traditional setting of the breakfast room.
An elaborate fresco in the the Italian Baroque style adorns the ceiling and the broad, open windows are framed by luxurious heavy curtains.
The location - Cringletie House, a few miles outside Peebles - traces its history back to the 17th century and a line of amiable aristocrats who have cultivated the estate and its grounds over generations of custodianship.
Always slightly less famed than than Scotland’s Highlands, the Scottish Borders have a romance and a grandeur all their own.
Visitors have been making their way to this particular part of Scotland for sport, relaxation and the chance to escape the cruel demands of city living.
So it’s perhaps little surprise that this rather splendid country house has ended up as an impressive hotel after being sold off by the previous owners in 1962- a victim of the death duties which laid many stately homes low.
Its current owners have invested significant amounts in restoring and renovating the building and its gardens. But while boasting modern comforts (with Tesla charging points in the car park as well as the robot lawnmowers patrolling the gardens), the building retains much of its traditional appearance.
But while the furnishings and comfortable rooms are undoubtedly of a high standard, the atmosphere is not at all stuffy and, in fact, guests can feel quite at home browsing the public areas, lounge and drawing room (yes, there is a drawing room).
Alternatively borrow a brolly and a pair of wellies from the rack in the hall and go for a yomp through the home’s spacious grounds (or, if the weather is better, enjoy a game of croquet on the lawn).
The evening meal at the excellent restaurant proved a pleasant experience, with locally-sourced meat and fish prepared to a very high standard (and the three course dinner for £44, very competitively priced!) and the service friendly and relaxed.
Heading out for the day we were finally able to enjoy visiting Peebles itself, a charming town snuggled under hills of Scots pine and Douglas firs. Many businesses on its bustling high street are geared towards the many visitors who pass through the town and there are giftshops, art galleries and cafes a plenty. The town even boasts its own annual conker championships.
We spent quite a bit of time browsing in the Whitie’s book shop, an independent, family-run business with a selection of interesting fiction and crafts goods, and also in Priorsford Books, a quirky Aladdin’s cave of rare and antiquarian books.
But this being the Borders, the outdoors is always calling - with the whole area is famed for its sporting pursuits, with cycling perhaps amongst the most popular activities.
Over the years the hillside and forests in this part of Scotland have been transformed with cycling trails and infrastructure.
The Tweed Vale Forest Park, which stretches between Peebles, Galashiels and Hawick, is home to 7 Stanes cycling trails - a series of routes for seven forests across Scotland, maintained by the Forestry Commission Scotland
A short drive away from Peebles is Glentress, a playground for mountain and trail cyclists boasting some of the most adventurous routes that the country has to offer.
The award-winning centre has routes graded from beginners and family up to challenging black runs, where technical skills, excellent fitness and steady nerves are all required.
For those who don’t come armed with a bootful of bikes, there are bike facilities on site, with the rent of fully-equipped bikes starting from £25 a day.
There is an on-site cafe, shower facilities and an on-site nature area dedicated to the ospreys which flourish in this habitat.
The routes, which are also perfectly pleasant to walk, take in some of the area’s best hilltop views, through dense forest glades, dotted with old settlements and pre-historic ruins of towers and forts dating back to the area’s turbulent Iron Age.
For the more adventurous cyclist, the nearby Innerleithen park which includes four challenging downhill routes suited to more expert riders.
Even on a gloomy autumn’s morning, the overcast landscape doesn’t fail to inspire.
Driving through the area you are treated to the full spectrum of autumnal colours - starburst oranges and dusky ochres - spell out why this area has been so beloved by visitors over the centuries.
Walter Scott, the Bard of lowland Scotland and blockbusting novelist of the 19th century, grew up and lived in this region, with the Borders landscape and its people frequently depicted in his work.
Nearby in Melrose is Abbotsford, some 30 minutes from Peebles, the home that the writer built via a series of extensions. Perhaps the Georgian era’s equivalent of JK Rowling, Scott’s historical romances from Ivanhoe to Waverley to Rob