My fiancee and I stayed at Press Mains for Valentine’s Day. The idea had been to get away from it all and spend some quality time together. We had visions of a roaring log fire, a four poster bed and some bracing walks on the beach. As we drove north up the motorway we wondered if that was too much to expect. After all, we’d just put a pin in the map to decide the area we would like to visit and from there we googled to find a cottage. There is often a big difference between what you imagine you are getting and what you actually do get.

Well, the fact is that Press Mains did not meet our expectations. It surpassed them. Yes, we had the log fire and the four poster. We also managed to walk along the coast at St Abbs admiring the dramatic coastline and on another day went down the coast to Cheswick beach just south of Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland. Here we found miles and miles of white sands with not a single other person on it. But more than that – when we arrived the cottage was immaculately clean and wonderfully warm. There were also fresh eggs from the hens. John the farmer and Craig the manager were friendly and helpful. We had everything we needed but above all we had peace and quiet.

The farm is in a lovely valley, surrounded by fields and trees. You’re just off the A1 but it’s impossible to know it’s there. Apart from the walks we only really went out to eat. We were pleasantly surprised by the choice of places to go. We ate at the Craw Inn, Auchencrow one night and sat by another roaring log fire while we ate some seriously good food. In Berwick there is a great little micro brewery in Bridge Street where the locals are very friendly and the Indian restaurant opposite is open til late which was a good thing as we’d stayed at the micro brewery much longer than we’d intended!

It’s quite special visiting somewhere in the winter months. It’s beautiful but not crowded with people – although I’m not sure Berwickshire is ever really that crowded! There was something lovely about sitting in our cosy warm cottage while the wind whistled outside.

Lexi, Southampton