Augill Castle, in the Upper Eden Valley stands in open country little changed for centuries The castle's backdrop are the dramatic North Pennines with gardens opening out to views of the nearby Yorkshire Dales and the Lakeland fells beyond.

Built in 1841 as a Victorian gentleman's country residence, the castle has all the fairytale romance of a turreted hideaway. Augill Castle is not just a hotel but a country house in its truest sense. Wendy and Simon together with their young family do all they can to ensure their guests leave feeling that they have stayed with friends.

In the Music Room guests enjoy a genuine sense of family living surrounded by family antiques and paraphernalia. Throughout the house are old books and photographs together with reminders of Wendy's African childhood. The castle is licensed and the drawing room doubles as a relaxed bar.

Breakfast and dinner are eaten around the twelve foot table in the Gothic blue dining room where evening meals can be truly memorable occasions especially when the house is full.

Traditionally reared lamb, beef and pork, supplied directly from the farm just a mile away, as well as Yorkshire cheeses and locally grown fruit and vegetables always feature on Simon and Wendy's innovative dinner menus. Cumberland sausages and award winning bacon, together with locally baked bread and freshly laid free range eggs from a neighbouring farm are breakfast staples.

The ten guest bedrooms, all with their own bathrooms have been individually designed and decorated by Simon & Wendy. Three bedrooms feature four poster beds and others have antique wrought iron or French sleigh beds. Most are king or super king-size and several can be made in to twins. Polished oak floors, antique rugs, your own turrets, antique baths big enough for two and the distant smell of wood smoke will all conspire to elaborate the fantasy.

A few minutes walk across pasture and meadows to the west stands Brough Castle, built by the Norman's on the site of a Roman Fort. A ten minute drive takes you across the border into the Yorkshire Dales.

The Lake District, Hadrian's Wall and some of the finest castles and country houses anywhere in Britain are an easy day trip, with the historic cities of Durham, Carlisle, Lancaster and York an hours drive or less.