Blackaddie House

The River Nith ripples past the garden of Jane and Ian McAndrew’s old manse and gastronomic destination, in a rolling landscape with views to the Lowther hills. Bedrooms are ‘kept to a high standard’. A self-contained suite has French doors to a riverside patio. Dual-aspect Grouse has a large four-poster, a spa bath and rainfall shower. All rooms have home-made shortbread, tablet, Scottish mineral water and fresh fruit. ‘Our room was spacious, newly decorated, with a vast, most comfortable bed,’ readers write. ‘The staff are attentive and helpful.’ But it is Ian McAndrew’s cooking that is acclaimed above all. ‘From the salmon-and-cucumber mousse appetiser, it was obvious we were in for an absolute treat.’ A nightly-changing menu, with either/or choices, might include pan-roast cod fillet on smoked haddock chowder; the tasting menu, seared loin of roe deer, eryngii mushroom, duxelles, buttered cabbage and roast shallot. ‘Even the onion ice cream palate-cleanser really hit the mark.’ If you visit, do send us your own report from the world’s oldest post office. (DCM, MA, PK)