FAQs

Writers’ Retreat FAQs

We have never seen midges here. We are very close to the river so you’d think we would, but we have a very strong team of swallows (the day squad) and bats (the night shift) who keep our midge population very low. The swallows raise chicks in our garden every year and they are constantly hunting – it makes for a midge-free area and a spectacular sight while you drink your coffee on the deck. We’ve not seen midges in wider D&G either – even when camping in summer, right by the loch.

It is a place to write – in peace and quiet, surrounded by beautiful scenery. You can come by yourself, or with friends. And you can use our self-catering accommodation or we can cater or you. A couple of times a year, we run taught retreats where activities and classes are laid on for your stay.

The start and finish time of our courses is very loose in order to accommodate the fact that people may be travelling long distances to get here. The ‘official’ time to start on a Monday would be about 3pm if there were one, and the official finish time on a Saturday might fall around 11am.

We don’t take dogs on courses – except assistance dogs, of course, who are most welcome. If you want to rent the cottage as a personal retreat, or with a couple of other writers, you are very welcome to bring well-behaved dogs. The garden is secure and the walks around here are fantastic.

Absolutely. Please talk to us if you are vegan or gluten-free. If you are a coeliac, it is important to know that our gluten-free food is prepared in the same kitchen as food with gluten. The kitchen in the cottage is cleaned extremely thoroughly with this in mind, if you would prefer to be self-catering. Our standard catering is vegetarian or pescatarian (and extremely delicious).

The main front door of the cottage has two small steps but we can give you a key to the house which affords step-free access into the cottage (via its service door).

There is a large amount of parking outside the cottage and on the other side of Bridge Road (20 metres away). There is also parking for three cars, by arrangement, at the back of the cottage on our drive.

At the moment, we are making bookings by phone or email. This is just until we get established, know more about our customers and market, and put an automated booking service on the website. Feel free to call or email anytime (07811338871 or info@writesouthwestscotland.com).

Absolutely, but would you give us a bit of (vague) warning, just so we know how many people are on site for insurance purposes.

We are set up for this eventuality. We have an en-suite room in the house that we can add to your booking, and close links with two B&B providers only a few hundred metres away if you need further bedrooms. Our kitchen diner has a 2m oak table which will seat eight easily and the outside decking is 20 sqm: plenty big enough for you all to sit and have drinks or a barbeque, while you watch the evening swallows.

We can lock your bikes in our garage and give you a key. We absolutely encourage the use of bikes to get around – but highly recommend that you stay off the A75 with them. There are plenty of cycle routes that avoid it and you can get all the way from us to Dumfries without touching it once.

There are pubs in Castle Douglas, three miles away, and a pub in Crossmichael – a fabulous short & flat bike ride away. We have an honesty bar in the cottage kitchen with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. If you would prefer for those not to be there, please let us know and we are very happy to remove them in advance of your stay.

Yes, unless you specifically want to share them with someone else. We do have one twin room which can be a shared room, by arrangement, and therefore cheaper for a taught course.

If your question isn’t here, please drop us a line and we’ll do our best to answer.