Enjoy three acres of the loudest silence you’ll ever hear, broken only by the plaintive call of the curlew and the lapwing across the uplands. Get out there beneath the endless sky with the gas barbecue burning and feed it with meat from Cranston’s. Wrap up with sweet goodies from Bee Baked.
Switch off the lights and stay out on the terrace at night for some of Europe’s darkest skies and watch the Milky Way, Orion’s Belt and meteoroids burning up on their way through the Earth’s atmosphere whilst relaxing in the copper bath jacuzzi. Throw anoter log on the firepit.
There’s a sharp and invigorating contrast here between the rugged landscapes of the North Pennines and the luscious luxury of Watson Hall’s interiors. Wriggle out of your walking boots, get the fires lit, warm your toes and remember what it means to be together with family and friends without interruptions.
You’ll feel as grand as Lords and Ladies among the bespoke interior design and high-end fixtures and fittings, the velvet seating, the ornate cornicing, the cushions, the shutters and the exquisite period colours. But there’s fun here, too: get your cue chalked and spend an evening or two around the pool table.
Bring everyone together for movies, or even Minecraft. Two 65-inch TVs, in the living room and the games room, come with a full Sky package and a PlayStation console. When the credits have rolled, there’s still time to bust out the board games over drinks in the orangery bar with its own ice machine and drinks fridges, or send the troops off to bed with a piano ballad.
This is a spectacular, vaulted, skylit, handmade kitchen, open to the orangery with its chunky dining table the size of a small ship. Prepare your family meals on the designer range cooker and nine-burner gas hob and ditch your dirties in the two dishwashers. Or don’t. Call up Dineindulge and have an expert private chef do it all for you.
Enjoying the star treatment? Keep your feet up and call out for top takeaways from Star Anise Indian Restaurant, Lucky House Chinese, or fish and chips from Brampton Roosters. Eat on that Viking longship or head out for a barbecue on the terrace with meat from Cranston’s and goodies you’ll regret from Bee Baked.
Walk the fells, then pop in to the heart of Castle Carrock to the idyllic Duke of Cumberland, close by the old church and serving home-cooked bar food with European and Asian daily specials. Or, after a stroll round Talkin Tarn, The Blacksmith’s Arms will refuel you with light meals and bar snacks, or a full menu in the separate restaurant.
Get your glad rags on for the restaurant at Farlam Hall and tuck into Isle of Gigha halibut or roasted-red-pepper polenta cake, with a larder foraged from the land. Enjoy chicken breast with avocado or pork-and-apple burger with Stilton at The Queen Inn or keep things light with an afternoon tea at Lanercost Tea Room.
High up in England’s northern border country, home to the curlew, the lapwing and lots of sheepdogs usually called Meg, Watson Hall whispers you to sleep on Hypnos mattresses and Hypnos wool toppers. Accommodating ten adults and six children (or 16 adults with six in bunk beds), it’s a guestfest for all the best people in your life.
The master bedroom comes with a superking bed and luxury en-suite. Drape a lazy leg over the side of the freestanding copper bath. En-suite bedroom two gives you a kingsize bed with a showstopping rolltop bath sitting out on the balcony, and bedroom three is another kingsize en-suite with rolltop bathing.
Bedroom four comes with a kingsize and en-suite with separate toilet, while bedroom five sleeps six, dorm-style, with three bunk beds suitable for children or adults. Bedroom six on the ground floor has a kingsize bed with walk-in wetroom-style shower and separate toilet.
The motorways disappear and the smaller roads dovetail into charming Castle Carrock, in the shadow of Garth Head. It’s a place of red squirrels, a restored church and a leek club. Urban kids will love the pace of life and the sense of community. But they’ll be boggle-eyed at the sight of Watson Hall.
Bring the full family along. With the ability to accommodate 22, children won’t miss the folks, because they’ll all be here. They’ll also love the potential for mischief in the three bunk beds and the freestanding bath on the balcony of bedroom two. Don’t encourage them: that’s yours.
After you’ve discovered Hadrian’s Wall and lunched in the Duke Of Cumberland, come home to a roaring fire and Minecraft on the PlayStation, pool in the games room or a Sky film on the 65-inch TVs. Supper’s out on the terrace from the barbie. As darkness drops, enjoy the glittering galaxy before it disappears in four billion years’ time.
