Highland holiday cottage

Attractive, traditional coach house in one of the prettiest glens in the Scottish Highlands

Splashes of yellow in birch and chestnut join orange and red rowan berries to herald the start of Autumn as we wind along the River Conon and through the pretty Scatwell Estate towards our Highland holday home. Around one last bend and there it is, surrounded by deciduous woodland and overlooking a lawn with a delightful pond - an attractive, traditional coach house built of natural stone punctuated with warm, red sandstone facings, at the same time elegant and homely.

The house sits in an enormous, wild garden at the end of a five mile track so we are guaranteed peace and quiet while we are here as well as plenty of interesting walks right from the door and the chance of spotting all kinds of wild creatures such as red squrrels, hedgehogs and woodpeckers, who love the untamed, undisturbed environs.

Inside, we find a perfect mix of tradtitional and contemporary. Original fireplaces and exposed stone sit well with the modern furniture and subtle decor while neutral tartans add a touch of Scottish chic. I especially love the raised fireplace which has been built into the kitchen wall and which somehow has a rather Scandinavian flavour to it. A hamper of local goodies starts us off foodwise and a good collection of cookery books is helpful in planning shopping and menus for the week. I'm a real ale fan so am pleased to try out the samples of local beer that have been thoughfully left for us, including the intriguingly named 'Hibernator' stout from the recently opened Black Isle Brewery, which I'm assured goes really well with cheesecake!

The living room is a spacious and comfortable place to sit, with lovely views of the garden and estate, a large fireplace for a good, crackling log fire and a collection of books and films to chose from for time spent relaxing indoors after a hearty meal. Because we're here in the 'season of mists and mellow fruitfulness', we've had plenty of those - I think this will be remembered as the holiday of the puddings! - and although we've done our best to walk it all off with some absolutely glorious walks, we always seem to come back laden with more wild fruits to make yet another delicious pudding.

I'm not a munro bagger by any stretch of the imagination, but the strikingly shaped and widely visible Ben Wyvis kept beckoning so we decided to pack a substantial picnic, answer the call and hike the nine miles round trip to get the view from the top. We were certainly rewarded with a fantastic view as well as being thoroughly worn out by the time we got home. A visit to the honesty bar and an indulgent soak in a lovely candlelit bath, followed by an evening by the fire with a movie ended a perfect day.

Upstairs to a luxuriously comfortable bed, crisp white sheets, cosy warm duvet and peaceful, undisturbed sleep. Heaven!