We arrived at Press Mains in mid-August and, having realised how easy it would be to get to Edinburgh, decided that we should visit the Festival. So we drove to Berwick station (which took about 15 minutes) and left the car there. In fifty minutes we were at Waverley Station in the heart of Edinburgh. In one direction was Princes Street, the New Town and all the shops. In the other was the Old Town and the Fringe Festival. It was great not to think about parking – everything is just a few minutes’ walk away.

My wife and I headed through the winding streets of the Old Town which were full of people in brightly coloured clothes handing out flyers, singing songs and generally trying to encourage people to come and see their shows. We had made the decision to come on impulse so hadn’t booked anything and just wandered round for a while taking this in. After a sit down and a strong cup of coffee we decided on three shows which were at convenient times. One was awful, one was entertaining and the third was fabulous. I’m told that is pretty much what is to be expected!

The whole day out was fantastic fun. We felt we saw Edinburgh at its best – full of people and colour and music. It almost felt like a medieval town with all the activity in the streets and I’d definitely recommend visiting Edinburgh to anyone. The train really does take the strain and it’s such a beautiful cosmopolitan city. Next time we are determined to take in the Tattoo, which runs every evening at Edinburgh Castle through the Festival. We met some people from Vancouver in our travels who had been the night before and said it was just breathtaking.

At the end of a long day it was great to return to the peace and quiet of The Bothy. We sat in the sunshine in our own little garden watching the swallows swooping across the valley and listening to the distant sound of the combine harvester. It felt like we’d come home!

By Tim R, Stafford