Bonnie Borders

BRITAIN is a very bottom-heavy sort of a place. The bulk of our population is squeezed into the island's lower half. One pleasure of a trip to Scotland is the dawning realisation that glorious empty spaces seem to go on forever, a feeling you would never have in the south or the English midlands.

This sensation creeps up on you in Northumberland, the nearest thing that England has to a last great wilderness. It prepares you for Scotland's splendid Borders: high, rolling country with good, and blissfully quiet, roads.

Heading north might not seem the logical move around the darkest time of the year, with the light fading fast in mid-afternoon, but the town of Peebles proved a marvellous place for my wife Kay and me to recharge our batteries just before Christmas.

We stayed at Castle Venlaw Hotel, an 18th Century country castle in the Scottish baronial style, which wouldn't look out of place in northern France. Castle Venlaw, set in four acres of woodland grounds overlooking Peebles, has been run by owners John and Shirley Sloggie since 1997.

The hotel's 12 elegant bedrooms include a four-poster room and, at the top of the tower, a family suite. All the rooms are named after a malt whisky. It's a reminder, if one were needed, to try one or two nips in the hotel's oak panelled library bar and lounge, where a glowing log fire is always on the go.

The fine menu, combining tradition with head chef Andrew McQueen's flair for innovation, might loosely be termed modern Scottish. Dinner menu starters included pan fried breast of pigeon with pear tempura and gazpacho dressing, and baked brie with apple and walnut compote.

Main courses included duck and chicken with spring onion mash and fried green beans with sweet and sour sauce, and pan-fried sea bass accompanied by spinach, mustard Welsh rarebit and basmati rice.

Everything was presented with great panache and evening meals were preceded by complementary canapes and appetisers. Service was discreet and attentive - the perfect combination.

And the simple things were done well, too. The great British breakfast of eggs, bacon (really good, and fried), mushroom, sausages and tomatoes was cooked to perfection.

Much of Scotland isn't traditionally a great place for the beer drinker, although things have improved a little in recent years with a growing number of micro-breweries. However, Peebles is close to the only British brewery which still ferments all its ale in oak vats.

The 18th Century brewery at Traquair House is in one wing of a 1,000-year-old castle which is also Scotland's oldest inhabited house. Bottled beers from Traquair House are available at Castle Venlaw and the introduction of the brewery's draught beers in the hotel, which is being considered, would be most welcome.

Peebles itself is an attractive place on the River Tweed, with a handsome, broad main street and some good independent shops. The town could be a fine bolt-hole during the Edinburgh Festival when the capital is heaving with visitors. Peebles and Edinburgh are only 22 miles apart and there's a regular bus service.

Among Peebles' more arcane attractions is a small, award-winning Cornice Museum. This recreates a busy plasterer's workshop from around 1900 and is jam-packed with thousands of cornices and plaster decorations which hang from the ceilings and are stacked against the walls. Wellies and an apron can be provided for the practically minded who fancy trying their hand at plasterwork.

You can't expect miracles from the Scottish weather in December - mind you, you can't in midsummer - but we got lucky with a couple of crisp and sunny, albeit very cold, days. The Borders is fine walking country and you can pick up leaflets with suggested itineraries in the town's tourist office. Those empty roads make it an excellent area for cycling and there is a 90-mile Tweed Cycleway to follow.

All the local attractions, such as museums, castles and historic houses including Traquair are open again after Easter and popular activity holidays include golf, riding, mountain biking and, of course, angling: the importance of the River Tweed for fishing is reflected in the town's coat of arms which feature three salmons, one swimming up river to spawn and two heading downstream.

- Castle Venlaw Hotel is offering a Yorkshire Special of £65 dinner, bed and breakfast per person per night until April 17. Book on 01721 720383 or visit the website www.venlaw.co.uk.

Updated: 09:53 Saturday, January 18, 2003