Anyone who’s spoken to me for more than 10 minutes will be able to tell you that I absolutely love Northumberland. It’s one of my all time favourite dog friendly holiday destinations – it’s really got it all. Golden sandy beaches, miles of forest tracks, millennia of history and stunning countryside, there’s so much to see and do that we keep coming back. We were thrilled when Danielle from Copper Beech Cottages invited us to spend a weekend at Fairway View Cottage, one of a collection of beautifully appointed holiday cottages on the outskirts of Rothbury in Coquetdale. I’ll tell you more about our stay in this blog post, and if you fancy a stay you can use the code Happy10 to save 10% on all bookings arriving between now and 31st December 2023: any arrival day, any duration, any cottage.
We drove up after work on an absolutely beautiful Friday evening. The drive was straight forward, up the A1 to Rothbury and then a 15 minute drive to the cottages. As soon as we opened the front door I was blown away by the standard of the accommodation: inside the cottage was spacious and well equipped with everything we needed, with the added bonus of being beautifully decorated. Fairway View Cottage comfortably sleeps six, with a large kingsize bedroom and two other bedrooms which can be made up either as a twin or as a king size. And don’t get me started on the swanky bathrooms! Outside each cottage has its own enclosed garden, including a decking area with outdoor furniture to sit and enjoy the fabulous views over the golf course to Rothbury.
Having arrived at tea time, and having given no thought to what we’d eat when we arrived, we decided to walk into Rothbury for tea. There is a public footpath which runs across the golf course which we used to walk down to the town. All together it’s a little over a mile and took us about 25 minutes. There’s plenty of choice in Rothbury, but we all know that there’s nothing to do but have fish and chips on a Friday! We headed to the local chippy and enjoyed our fish and chips on one of the benches on the green – it was such a beautiful evening and the perfect way to start off our weekend.
After stocking up on some essentials from the Co-op, we enjoyed another walk back through the golf course to return to the cottage. On arrival, we loaded up Netflix on the TV and had a chilled out film night while we were deciding what to do the next day. We were able to leave the French windows open to let the dogs decide if they wanted to enjoy the nice weather outside or chill out inside with us.
The Saturday of our visit was another spectacular day. With temperatures set to climb, we decided to get out early to beat the heat and climb up to a local view point, before returning to the car through a forest in order to keep the dogs cool. Our walk took us to the Drake Stone, a huge sandstone boulder which overlooks the Coquetdale countryside from the edges of Harbottle Woods. Weighing a cool 2,000 tonnes, it’s quite a sight! The views up here are lovely and Sam enjoyed trying his hand at bouldering (although he didn’t get very far). It’s said that druids used to think the stone had magical healing powers, but these days I think it’s mostly seen as an interesting landmark.
The route we used was the shorter version of this walk from the Northumberland National Park website. The beginning of the walk heads steadily uphill through heather moorland until you reach the stone, before walking along the shore of Harbottle Lake to then enter Harbottle Forest. The forest here was extensively damaged during storm Arwen, so it was great to see the trails back open (although we didn’t see another soul on our walk, despite it being a sunny Saturday in June!).
From Harbottle, we drove over the the Running Fox in Longframlington for a late brunch. I really like the cafe here and we’ve visited a few times – always for breakfast, next time I want to try their lunch menu! The garden area is the perfect place to enjoy your meal, a proper little sun trap and well sheltered from the wind. We like the table at the back, which has enough space for us to sit there with the dogs without being too close to the other tables. I had the scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toast, while Sam had an enormous bacon butty and a croissant – I had to enlist help from Sam and the dogs to finish mine as the portions are huge!
After a leisurely brunch, there was still plenty of sunshine left to enjoy. Again keeping the dogs in mind, we decided to head for the coast where it’s usually a bit cooler. Plus, no trip to Northumberland is complete without a trip to the county’s fantastic coastline. Thinking it might be busy, we picked Druridge Bay, a seven mile sweep of soft golden sand which is big enough that even when the crowds are out, you still end up with plenty of space to yourself. When we arrived at around 1pm, the car park was nearly full and I was prepared to battle our way to the water’s edge. Turned out, most people had gone to the playground in the country park and the beach was almost empty. It always blows my mind when the beach is like this.
We spent around 90 minutes meandering up and down the beach – it was the perfect choice on such a warm afternoon, with the beach being noticeably cooler. There were a few families close to the dunes, but the majority of the beach was just empty space with the odd dog walker here and there enjoying the afternoon. Remarkably, everyone’s dogs were well behaved and stuck to their own areas, with the ‘don’t worry they’re friendly’ brigade clearly being elsewhere on this occasion!
When the dogs had worn themselves out, we headed back to Copper Beech Cottages for another chilled afternoon – the cottages are so nice that it’s a pleasure sitting in. We debated walking down to Rothbury for tea again, but in the end decided to make use of the dining room and to eat in. The kitchen actually has pans big enough to cook in (a rare treat in a holiday cottage!) so we made the most of it and had a nice summery stir fry.
All too soon, Sunday morning rolled around and we were saying goodbye to our lovely cottage – we will be back for sure. Before driving home though we had a quick walk in the Simonside Hills – one of my favourite places and just a 10 minute drive from the cottage. You could actually walk here from Copper Beech Cottages (it would be a circular of about seven and a half miles), but we opted to drive to keep the route shorter with the temperature being on the warm side.
Simonside is a popular spot, but we got there early and there were only a few other cars in the car park. About the same time that we arrived, a highly unexpected rain shower also arrived, so we sat in the car for 10 minutes until it eased off before setting out. Rather than a circular route, this time we just did an out and back walk up to Dove Crag, one of the main viewpoints on the ridge. On the way up it’s a steady climb on a good clear path, and we had it mostly to ourselves. We didn’t quite get the views on this occasion, but we did get some very atmospheric low cloud! I love how the same view can be totally different depending on the weather and the time of year you visit.
Dog friendly rating – 5/5. Copper Beech Cottages are the perfect choice if you’re looking for a dog friendly holiday. Not only are they in a cracking spot in Northumberland, itself an amazing choice for a dog friendly holiday, the cottages themselves have everything you could need or want in a dog friendly accommodation. The big thing is the enclosed garden: it’s something which is often advertised on an accommodation page, and when we arrive I find that my definition of ‘secure and enclosed’ is very different to the advertisement. We tested this extensively over the weekend and the fencing here was Merry-proof – the highest commendation I could give! I did move one of the garden chairs to block the small gap under the gate just in case he could wriggle through, but he didn’t attempt it and I think I might be a bit paranoid after his many escape attempts over the years. Inside, it was fantastic to have enough space for both us and the dogs without us tripping over them constantly, and the laminate floors made a quick whiz round with the hoover much quicker and easier than a carpet.
We’re back at home now and I’m already thinking about when we can fit in a return visit to Copper Beech Cottages – it really is in a fantastic location for exploring Northumberland, and is great value for the accommodation on offer. Don’t forget that you can use code Happy10 to save 10% on your booking if you’re arriving before the end of December 2023!
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