John Hobbs discovers how a family from Zimbabwe is helping to put the Scottish town of Moffat on the tourist map

VISITORS to Scotland can perhaps be excused for taking only a casual glance at the road signs to Moffat as they travel north on their way to the Highlands.

And, despite being a frequent traveller over the border, I can confess to being one of them - until being invited to take a break there as part of the Winter White campaign organised by VisitScotland.

What emerged was a winter wonderland, full of lochs and glens, a waterfall cascading 200 feet down a mountain ravine, an abundance of wildlife. And, more importantly, a lifestyle which has remained largely untouched by commercialism for generations.

This area of lowland Scotland, taking in the towns of Melrose, Selkirk and Moffat, can offer as much, if not more, as its much higher-profile Highlands cousin.

And most of it can be reached by visitors from the North-East within two hours.

A three-night stay at the Buccleuch Arms Hotel in Moffat, an elegant Georgian coaching inn dating back to 1760, proved to be a revelation.

Its dramatic facade dominates the town's High Street, which happily still retains mainly independent shops.

Butchers and bakers and the famous Moffat toffee shop are surrounded by antique shops and others selling predominately Scottish food and clothes.

Not a sniff of a supermaket here, apart from a small Co-op.

Tourism, with a fine balance of hotel, pub and B&B accommodation, is ticking over nicely. It has also been given a welcome boost by an extensive renovation programme carried out at the Buccleuch Arms by its owner, Dave Smith, and his family.

Mr Smith, a bustling, 50-year-old, who had owned a chain of music outlets in Harare, Zimbabwe, landed on UK shores four years ago virtually penniless. He had little idea of what he wanted to do, but both his sons, Clint and Lawrence, had worked in hotels in South Africa and Clint's wife, Lara, had trained as a chef in a leading Cape Town hotel.

So they started looking for a hotel.

"We came to Scotland, because so many business people like me from Zimbabwe tend to be looking at the south of England," said Mr Smith, a former international rugby player.

"We looked at 62 hotels throughout the whole of Scotland before we came across the Buccleuch Arms. It was terribly rundown, but I managed to get a loan from the bank and take on the lease.

"We were given seven years by the bankers to turn the business around.

But it would be fair to say we had a team from hell, and managed to do the job in just two years," said Mr Smith, who has spent more than £200,000 refurbishing the hotel and the pub next door which he also now owns.

THE result has been a dramatic turnaround in the standard of food and service at the Buccleuch Arms.

"We have gone that extra mile to ensure most of our food is locally sourced,"

said Mr Smith.

That's highlighted by most of the meat served to guests coming from Buccleuch Heritage Foods at Castle Douglas.

Then there is wild boar from the Boars of Beauly, Inverness, magnificent marmalades and jams, from Isabella's Preserves, Aberdeen, and the mustards are from Uncle Roy's Comestible Concoctions, in Moffat itself.

The hotel even has its own filtering system to provide eco-friendly bottled water.

With a wine list chosen by Mr Smith, dinner at the Buccleuch, in a diningroom boasting a blazing log fire, is a memorable experience.

My choice on the first night - smoked goose with a redcurrant petite salade, then a perfectly grilled rib-eye steak with Bucc n' Roy mustard and finally toasted almond pannacotta with a mocha sauce - proved only the start of better things to come.

The breakfasts proved equally superb, with my wife, Tricia, declaring a competition- winning porridge, laced with liquor and topped with marshmallows, somewhat different, but still delicious.

Dinner also took on a new dimension with classic and popular music performed by former Glasgow Herald and Daily Telegraph journalist Joan Bailey, 70, on the Celtic harp.

Evidence that the family from Zimbabwe has successfully carved an important niche in the Scottish hotel and food industry can be seen by the acclaim they have received not just from tourists, but also the folk of Moffat itself.

"I think this is best explained," says Mr Smith, "that today we have virtually the same 24 local staff we took on four years ago - that's a zero turnover."

After a long and sometimes eventful journey out of the Africa, Dave Smith has finally found a new life as a hotel entrepreneur in Moffat, Scotland.

TRAVEL FACTS

John and Tricia Hobbs stayed at the Buccleuch Arms Hotel, Moffat, as part of VisitScotland's Winter White in Scotland promotion, which offers three nights for £99 at various hotels and guesthouses across the country.

Details of the promotion, which ends on March 20, are available at visitscotland.com/white or call 0845-22-55-121.

The Buccleuch Arms Hotel, in High Street, Moffat, is open all year and has 18 en-suite rooms and all-day dining. Children and pets are welcome. For bookings and more information visit www.buccleucharmshotel.com or call 01683-220003.

Sites worth a visit near Moffat include the Grey Mare's Tail nature reserve, the home of wild goats, abundant birdlife and a spectacular 200ft-high waterfall, the fifth highest in the UK. www.nts.org.uk Tibbie Shiels Inn, on the banks of St Mary's Loch, takes its name from landlady Isabella "Tibbie" Shiels, who, after being widowed with six children in 1824, ran the pub until her death at 95 in 1878. Famous visitors include Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stephenson. www.tibbieshielsinn.com

10:27am Saturday 23rd February 2008

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