Barnet's Bakery, Crail

If you are touring around Fife you might also like to try some of the delicious cakes and breads baked by Fisher & Donaldson’s bakery – based in Cupar, but with a branch in St Andrews too. They are currently launching a Bread Club, which means that even after you have gone home you can re-live the tastes and smells of their delicious loaves.

Our family favourite is the famous Fisher & Donaldson’s Fudge Doughnut – so much so that we ordered a giant birthday cake sized one for a family celebration.

Fudge Doughnut Birthday Cake

It will be easier to unify the ‘look and feel’ of the Sandcastle Cottage website with the 2crail.com website if I use stylesheets based on the same layout, but using different colours and backgrounds.

So first step is to download the basics of a stylesheet which I like, then work on it to change the colours and so on. I’ve found some coding on a website which gives me the basics – good to credit another blogger!

First step is to create the stylesheet, then change the colours to match the existing stylesheets for the 2crail.com website.

At the start of the 2009 season, it’s lovely to reflect upon what wonderful holidays our visitors had at Sandcastle Cottage in 2008. I’m sitting poring over the Visitors’ Book and feeling very happy that all the hard work which we’ve carried out at the cottage over the last few years means that our visitors are pleased when they arrive at Sandcastle Cottage and find that it’s even better.

During 2008 we had a number of guests (most of whom had stayed before) telephone us during their holidays to say that they wanted to come back in 2009. This was wonderful, and means that we start 2009 with only one week available during the summer holidays.

But I’m going to let you into a secret – Crail is a fantastic destination at any time of year. We go there ourselves as much as we can during the winter, spring and late autumn. We revel in the fact that although it might be blowing a gale outside, as soon as we get the heating on and light the fire, we’re cosy inside. We head along to see Ronnie or Keith at Penman’s butchers, then work out what we’re going to have for our evening meal. A quick visit to First Fruits and we’ve enough fresh vegetables for a pot of soup. The Co-op has improved a lot with more Fair Trade and Organic offerings, so we might even buy muffins or croissants for breakfast too. With the provisioning sorted, it’s wellies on and off to the beach. Winter weather brings stormy seas and washes up plenty of wood for our foraging and building activities on Roome Bay sands. Or a walk round the village, or a circular walk out by Wormistoun is enough activity to merit the soup! Oh, I can’t wait to get up to Crail again!

Don’t leave it too long before you book to find out what it’s like for yourself: www.sandcastle-cottage.co.uk has all the details.

Visitors’ Book extracts 2008

Lovely to return to this very comfortable and cosy home from home to not only have the ability to see our daughter (1st year at St Andrews), but have her spend evenings/overnight with us – long chats over dinner, games of scrabble, tec. Wonderful autumnal weather. Walked from Crail to Pittenweem (and back)… observed owls and sparrow hawk hunting. Hope to return again soon. Many thanks. Gopsill Family October 2008

Great Cottage! Plenty of room and HUGE back garden! Lots of surrounding areas in Crail. Enjoyed Fishery Museum and had a great walk at the coastal walk. What a GREAT cottage! The Mitchells say thank you! The Mitchell Family October 2008

What a fanstasic find! Stumbled upon this gorgeous cottage whilst mucking around on the internet one afternoon. Every eventuality has been considered by the owners and this has to be the best equipped holiday home we have ever rented. Comfortable, cosy,clean and fresh. The perfect base for our short break. Carial and the surrounding area are beautiful. Just wish our break was longer. Hope to return again! Many thanks! The Fisher Family October 2008

A well-equipped, comfortable spacious cottage for all the family. Brief weekend to blow out the cobwebs! Enjoyed the weather, the fab little beaches for ‘little adventures’, ‘little cliff walks’ with pram and Granny! The local fish and chips were good and local shop had anything we needed! Bonus experience seeing live pirates in costume at Anstruther – a bit too much with the re-enactment and the hanging!! (Pirate day at Anstruther Fisheries Museum). All in all a relaxing weekend, just what we needed! Paton Family October 2008

Lovely, comfortable, comfy, well equipped cottage. Enjoyed our few days revisiting Fife. We visited St Andrews, Cupar, Anstruther as well as having walks around Crail. Eating places we would recommend are Cafe Moka in Cupar (giant scones and muffins), Zizzi’s in St Andrews and the Cheese Factory in Pittenweem. Nice relaxing time had by all. Brisbane Family October 2008

Couldn’t believe our luck with the weather! It was so nice all the way her and on Monday, as the sun was still shining, we decided to find out about the boat trips to the Isle of May as we missed out on a previous visit. Conveniently the boat sailing was ‘billed’ as 12-30 pm on the Tuesday. Next day was also warm and sunny so we had a delightful visit to the Island and even saw a ‘pod’ of dolphins on the way over which caused some excitement! Fish and Chips at Anstruther rounded off our day. Spent a day in Dundee – my home town. Discovery Point is worth a visit. Captain Scott’s ship “Discovery” is alongside and is very interesting. Driving up to the top of the “Law” for wonderful views including fife, St Andrews and all round.
The small town of Ceres is worth a visit. Take the Cupar road out of Crail. Ceres lies about 2 miles south of Cupar. We though it was quite a unique little place, while so near to Cupar. Just after entering the town (Cupar) from Ceres you will find FISHER AND DONALDSON’S BAKERY and tea room on the right. It’s an Alladin’s cave of gorgeous, mouthwatering cakes, pies, tarts, scones, shortbread etc. – treat yourself!!
We have had a great time here. You must be pleased with your home here – so comfortable and cosy – someone has taken a great deal of thought and trouble with it!! Perhaps another time! Many thanks. Philpot/Partridge Family September 2008

Another wonderful holiday in this lovely cottage! Wather not too bad, quite warm and sunny at times. This is a perfect place for small children with the play park and beach just down the hill. Our son has been walking for a few months and loved doing the “castle walk”. We did a bit of the coastal path up to Fife Ness – not advisable with a pram, but well worth it when we got there. All in all a lovely relaxed holiday in the perfect cottage in a beautiful place – couldn’t ask for more. Hope to be back! Thanks! Currie Family September 2008

A wonderful cottage in a super town! I used to spend chilhood holidays at Largo and Elie so the East Neuk has a special place, not only in my heart but also now in my family’s. The weather has actually been good – beach and garden bmost days. Hopefully we’ll be back next year! All the very best to the ‘next’…. Waddell Family September 2008

Great cottage, beatuiful garden, terrible weather! Our 3rd stay in Crail and still finding new places to visit in the area: St Andrews Botanic Garden, The Pettigrew-Bell Museum, also Dundee for rainy day attractions – DRA, Sensations, Verdant Works. Of course lots of rock-pooling, paddling and ambles round the harbour. If you fancy a day in Edinburgh, think about cathcing the train from Leuchars – stress free. Left the timetable. Go off-peak and the kids go free – bargain. Ziggys – top burgers and music to suit m-m-m-my generation! Back next year. Downie Family August 2008

Our 5th year at Sandcastle Cottage and we love the new kitchen and hallway. Some horrendous weather – even the native Scotsman in the family admitted it was bad! Two lovely sunny days spent at West Sands, St Andrews – body boarding and also lots of fun catching crabs and building dams at Roome Bay. Zizzi’s in St Andrews was good for a family meal – beware the giant garlic breads, definitely for sharing! The fish and chips from Borellis (Crail) was really nice! I really enjoyed bodyboarding at West Sands! We also caught the train from North Queensferry into Edinburgh which was fun! It has been another great year at Sandcastle Cottage! Wheater Family August 2008

Another holiday of lovely memories in Crail. Weather started well so we spent lots of time at Roome Bay, on the beach and guddling in the rock pools. Then the haar rolled in but didn’t spoil our fun. The girls enjoyed lots to see and do in the Crail Festival. Been swimming Roome Bay and at St Andrews pool. Our daughter went out early one moring to spot dolphins but didn’t see any – spotted a couple of otters on the rocks, though. None of us want to leave….. Annan Family July 2008

Another fantastic holiday – number 4! Only one rainy day so we did get pretty muddy at the Mega-Maze at Cairnie! Managed all our favourite spots including Craigtoun Park, the swimming pool at St Andrews, the Deer Centre, not forgetting th swing park and beach on many occasions – lots of hermit crabs this year! The house looks fantistic and the kitchen is a massive improvement – lovely! I loved the Happy Gang Video & the Giggles, especially Spatz getting spatted with the cream cake. We had a great time sepecially when we had Irn Bru sorbet. Stewart Family July 2008

The cottage is the best one we’ve ever rented in Crail. Everything we needed is here. Our grandchildren loved the cottage and suggested we phone the owners and offer to buy the place for next week so we could extend our holiday…
Ideal places for kids – Allanhill Farm – superb strawberries. Built-up haystacks for kids to jump around. Craigtoun Park another winner. Weather was so so but didn’t stop us having a great time. Graham Family July 2008

This is our sixth year in Crail and once again we have had a great time. The weather has been fantastic and we have enjoyed doing some of the coastal walks. We would really recommend The Doll’s House and the Grill House Restaurants in St Andrews. (by Jenny aged 10) P.S. We love the kitchen. Anderson Family July 2008

Enjoyed another great holiday at Sandcastle Cottage. Weather was lovely and we packed so much into our stay here. Cottage is very well equipped with absolutely everything we needed. Love the new kitchen. Hope to visit again. Our visits this year included St Andrews, Hill of Tarvit (where the cook made a pancake for Caitlin), Anstruther for fish and chips, the Secret Bunkerr, Craigtoun Park (Caitlin did not want to leave) and several visits to Kingsbarns beach. We also enjoyed a lovely meal at the handy Golf Hotel. We are now going home to Bishopbriggs with happy memories. Pollock Family June 2008

Annie nearly exploded with joy when she saw Sandcastle Cottage!! She ran into every corner saying “It’s the nicest cottage in the world!” We have had a wonderful time in beautiful weather! As both Paul and I are Biologists we loved the rock pools at Kingsbarns and I gave lectures on the names of seaweeds!! Our best find was a Pipe Fish which amazed us by swimming like an arrow with no sign that muscles were contracting! Then, guess what! We watched a pod of dolphins in the bay! How good does it get?
Flying kites next day at St Andrews! Lunch at The Glass House which was great! We had the balcony table in the sun. The queue at The Anstruther Bish Bar sent us straight to “the other one”!! Fife Ness! Never seen such amazing rock formations! The wild flowers were amazing! At Fife Ness family swam in wet suits in gorgeous big rock pools – and saw more dolphins! (The were going to the Isle of May – but boat was full!). Thank you Susan and Sandy for all the care you take to make holidays special. Walton Family June 2008

We were here last year in May. We said we would be back and we are. Katie talked about Sandcastle Cottage all year – it was such a happy memory for her. This year wee sister Megan and Cousin Finlay were more able to join in the fun so will have even more happy memories. Our visit to the lovely Tentsmuir Forest and beach was great. The sun shone all day on Wednesday at Elie (everyone was in the water, except Grandpa!) and we had a great dinner in the Ship Inn. On Thursday we went to The Cheese Farm (above Anstruther). unfortunately no cheese was being made that day but we thoroughly recommend their Butterpat Cafe. No fish suppers at Anstruther for us this year, but the local Chippie (Borellas) was every bit as good, fishy suppers at the start and tasty pizzas at the end. We would also recommend The Dolls House Restaurant in St Andrews – quality food and child friendly. Three cheers for Crail and the East Neuk! Jones Family May 2008

Our second visit to Sandcastle Cottage (same week in 2005). Crail every bit as good as we remembered; girls enjoyed clambering over the rockpools at Roome Bay, Sensations Science Museum in Dundee and ice creams on the beach at Anstruther. Managed to visit all the East Neuk villages this time round and, of course, St Andrews.
Weather not kind enough for BBQs. Taylor Family May 2008

Had a great week again. Love the refurbishments you have done. Played golf at Anstruther, Charleton and Cupar. Weather was very kind to us – didn’t see any rain all week. Spent a couple of late afternoons/early evenings in the garden. BBQ’d 3 times. Crail is lovely. PS Great meat from Penmans. The Lucks May 2008

Recommended by our friends – and not disappointed. We’ve had a lovely week’s holiday – the first with our new addition: if only he would sleep past 5 am!! Spent a sunny p.m. on Elie beach equipped with buckets and spade, another at Craigtoun Park – very quiet and joined by squirrels for our picnic! Enjoyed a swim at East Sands in St Andrews and the aquarium in North Queensferry was a hit with the boys. Final day on the wonderful beach at Tentsmuir. Thanks for a great week in such a lovely cottage – we never saw rain once! Adam Family May 2008

We had a very relaxing week in the cottage even though the weather was not very kind to us. We enjoyed all the home comforts and think the cottage is a great place to stay for a break. We would like to have enjoyed the garden more but the weather was too chilly/wet. Crail is a great place to come on holiday and we really liked the Pottery, the swing park and the locat shops. It’s also a great location for getting up to St Andrews (East Sands Leisure Centre for swimming is great) and all the lovely spots along the coast of the East Neuk. We had a nice lunch at the Grill House in St Andrews: great value, nice menu (including children’s) and good atmosphere. We very much hope to return again soon. Thans for a great stay. Rowan Family April 2008

We’re so pleased to be here at Sandcastle Cottage, enjoying all the beneifts of the new layout and the added light in the kitchen. It’s been a lovely, relaxing week. On Saturday we wandered round Crail, looking to find the best fresh produce at our two favourite shops – Penmans and First Fruits. Unfortunately we did a bit too much wandering and didn’t get to Penman’s until the afternoon – so had to settle for frozen chickens! We had guests from Edinburgh coming for dinner on Sunday, so we were glad to find that we could clean up a couple of the garden chairs to seat eight round our bit table.
We made many trips to Roome Bay on Sunday, enjoying building shelters from the wood we’d gathered on the beach and running inside to escape the occasional showers which soon blew over.
Monday was our “Visit Scotland” Grading visit, and we were pleased to attain our 4-star grading – we’d only been one point below it before, anway, but we decided it was worth having after all the effort we’ve put in over the years. It’s taken us 16 years to save up for the kitchen! After the grading visit we could relax…Tuesday we were so relaxed we did very little – a cycle for Sandy and Helen and some gardening for Sandy. Then a trip to Cambo to walk through the gardens and the woodland walk to the beach.
Wednesday: St Andrews for cycling Lade Braes, shopping (shoes, shoes…) and a trip to the cinema – burgers at Ziggy’s first. Thursday we decided to walk the coastal path from Crail to Anstruther with the goal of ice creams at the end. Alex’s first long walk so he had a double cone to celebrate (mint chocolate chip of course). Weather has been great – so all our rainy day activities have been missed – again! Friday brought a little drizzle so Sandy took Helen and Alex to the Secret Bunker: none of them enjoyed it. P.S. Trip on Saturday evening to see “The Guizzards” in “There Goes the Bride” was fun – meal in Byre Restaurant was passable. Friday evening: meal at the Marine Hotel was most enjoyable – our first time there for many years. Local produce and good value! Would have been better if there had been more customers.
McNaughton Family March/April 2008

Our visitors in 2007 have been happier than ever! It’s a delight to read their comments in our Visitors’ Book. But, they’ll be surprised when they come back to Sandcastle Cottage in 2008 to find that we’ve been busy over the winter with renovations, and we’re even better than before.

Why don’t you book your next holiday with us at Sandcastle Cottage, Crail?

Guest Book 2007

Staying at “Sandcastle Cottage” has given us the opportunity to explore an area that I visited over 40 years ago and have only briefly passed through on our way to see family in Tayside. This cottage is just ideal – not only its location in such a picturesque place as Crail, views of the Isle of May and the sunrise, but so cosy, comfortable, clean and well-equipped – a most welcome break before the winter and busy schedules. Thank you for your hard work in providing such a gem of a cottage. – Gopsill Family, October 2007

We love “Sandcastle Cottage”, and have had 5 wonderful days here. Crail is the perfect base – especially with Roome Bay & Park on the doorstep. We flew our kites on St Andrews West Sands and the gorgeous beach at Kingsbarns – which is great for rock pool exploring too. Can’t believe we were in the sea mid-October – fab! The cottage is everything we could’ve hoped for – clean, comfy and “home from home”. Thank you. We will be back. – Bottomley Family, October 2007

We have enjoyed a very relaxing week at Sandcastle Cottage. It’s cosy, comfy and very well equipped – a holidy cottage with ‘en-suite’ is a big plus for a teenage family! Walks to the lighthouse, coffee and scones at Crail Harbour, delicious smoothies from the Juice Bar in St Andrews, friends in the cottage round the corner, have all made for a week of ‘happy memories’. Thank you! – Berry Family, October 2007

Coming back to the wife’s birth county. What a great place to stay. After touring and re-visiting old places it is a wonderful haven to retire to. It is great to relax and unwind. Just the tonic. Would thoroughly recommend a visit to anyone – the comfort and warmth cannot be faulted. – Joe & Brenda Dwyer (from Bega, NSW, Australia), September 2007

Lovely relaxing holiday with fine weather. The cottage is warm, comfortable and welcoming. The garden is beautiful and quiet. There is lots to see in the area and we recommend Kellie Castle and Cambo Gardens. Alan & Vivien Foulkes, September 2007

This has been a fantasitc first family holiday with our little baby boy. Weather terrific and Crail is just gorgeous. We can’t fault the cottage, very comfortable and well-equipped, and the garden has been a lovely place to sit in this glorious sunshine. The Crail Harbour Gallery Cafe does amazing coffee, cakes and panini and the service at The Honeypot was warm and very family friendly. We really do hope to be back sometime. Thank you! – Currie Family, September 2007

We have had a lovely holiday and the weather has been very good. The cottage is in an ideal location and we recommend Northpoint Café on North Street in St Andrews. A brilliant cottage and we hope to be back soon! – Stacey Family, August 2007

We have enjoyed a perfect family seaside holiday! Highlights have included: walking the Fife Coastal Path; spending a day building dams on Kingsbarns Beach; the Fisheries Museum at Anstruther followed by a visit to the famouse fish bar and the post-dinner crab catching resulted in a final night’s record of 30 crabs and 20 shrimp!! Sandcastle Cottage was a home from home and we’d love to come back! Phillips Family, August 2007

We have really enjoyed our holiday at Crail following one week at Oban. The cottage is really nice, the two children (4 and 1 1/2) enjoyed playing and running everywhere. We visited Crail of course, and its harbour, Anstruther, St Monans. We rode to Edinburgh, Glamis and Blair Castle. The Fife Coastal path is really pleasant. We will keep a wonderful memory of our visit to Scotland and your address in Crail. Hope we could come another time. – Enjalbert Family (from Toulouse, France), August 2007

This is our fourth year at Sandcastle Cottage, though it’s still as good as ever! The downstairs bathroom makeover is brilliant, and so was the weather. Lots of crabs on Roome Bay, and went fishing in harbour. Didn’t catch anything though! – Wheater Family, August 2007

We’ve enjoyed another lovely fortnight in Sandcastle Cottage, Crail. The weather has been very kind – we left the rain behind. The beach at Roome Bay kept the girls amused for hours. Craigtoun Park, St Andrews, is great value for a day out (£12 for a family of 4) and the re-vamped swing park met with the girls’ approval! Ate out locally and didn’t travel too far for entertainment. – Annan Family, July 2007

It was lovely to come back to Sandcastle Cottage where we had a most enjoyable week. The weather was warm, like the welcome. We loved Kingsbarns Beach best where we all swam as well as the St Andrews Pool. Kite flying, jigsaw puzzling, monopoly playing, ice-cream licking, cakes devouring, barbecue savouring, wave jumping, strawberry picking, book reading, fun having….lots… – Hunter Family, July 2007

We’ve enjoyed our fifth holiday in Crail. We really like this cottage. The weather has been mixed. But there is always lots to do. We hope to come back next year.
Anderson Family, July 2007

What a wonderful little cottage! Your photographs did not disappoint! This being our first trip to Scotland, we could not have chanced upon better accommodations. The children (and Dad too!) loved the proximity to the sea – perfect for our after dinner strolls. Regretfully, our schedule did not permit a thorough exploration of Crail and its environs, although we managed a visit to Anstruther Fish Bar for delicious fish ‘n chips. Of course, all this means is that we shall have to come back for another look-see!! Many thanks. – Cole Family (from Ottowa, Ontario, Canada), June 2007

Good location from which to attend all the ceremonies of Graduation week at St Andrews. Had a great time and have successfully launched another MA into the whirlpool of working life! Comfortable place to stay and pleasant neighbours. – Briggs Family, June 2007

Enjoyed a relaxing week in this lovely cottage. Weather was not very good but there is so much to do and see, we were out every day. Hope to come again (with better weather), but now we are off home to Bishopbriggs. – Pollock Family, July 2007

At first when I heard we were going to stay in a little cottage in Scotland for my birthday, I dreaded it – but Sandcastle Cottage is wicked! – Lily (12) May 2007

My first time in Scotland!! At last, came up for the Edinburgh Marathon – what a lovely surprise Crail came to be! in fact when running and chatting to fellow Scottish runners – all very impressed in our choice of Crail. We LOVE it here! Although weather not been great, have explored coastal pathway (towards Anstruther); had fish ‘n’ chips there – only to realise in wrong shop and ‘The Anstruther Fish Bar’ was further on – (!). Nevertheless, a good fish supper! Also been to Secret Bunker, St Andrews (Doll’s House for lunch – good food, service, etc – and even the children behaved). Rome Bay and local shops (wonderful butcher – great steak for Marathon recovery!) – Would love to return. Lovely Cottage. Hamilton Family, May 2007

We have had a wonderful time at Sandcastle Cottage. The sun has shone all week and we think Crail is terrific. We have made sadcastles, paddled in the sea, guddled in rock pools and had fun on the swings. We have had lots of picnics on the beach with family who are staying in their caravan at St Monans. We have had fish ‘n’ chips at Anstruther and a good lunch at friendly Littlejohns in St Andrews. We played hide and seek in the lovely garden and we sang happy songs all week. We will be back. – Jones Family, May 2007

On the first day, we walked along the path opposite, to Crail Harbour where we met an elderly gentleman who was sitting outside his house enjoying the morning sunshine. He invited us in, showed us around the house and garden, then entertained us with stories galore! The following day, we met a lady in Anstruther who invited us back to her home, showed us around, gave us a glass of wine, then amused us with tales of her experiences as a B&B lady! We’ve met so many friendly folk – just like they are in Northumberland! The cottage is simply perfect and we will recommend it, and you, to others. Thank you. - J Robson, May 2007 (owner of Belle Vue, Hexham, Northumberland)

The house was great again, as it has been since 1999. The weather was brilliant this time and a lot of time was spent in the garden. The neighbours were very friendly and helped when rounding up stray tennis balls. We tried out some new facilities like the tennis courts in Anstruther and the swimming pool in St Andrews. Looking forward to coming back this time next year. – Rory (12) – April 2007 We also visited the Ship Inn in Elie (again) for fantastic fish & chips. Bought a new picture from the Crail Gallery – we now have quite a collection of our own in London! Love the new bathroom! – Horne Family, April 2007

We had a fantastic holiday at Sandcastle Cottage. We went to Craigtoun Park. We flew our kite at Elie Beach and spent lots of time at the playpark at the Beach. Mum and Dad had a great time too. Sandcastle Cottage is very cosy and comfortable and is in the perfect spot for a relaxing family holiday. We will definitely return. – Kane Family, April 2007

Great place to stay, Crail is as nice if not better than Brittany for scenery!! Hope to be back this summer for another relaxing break! – Anderson Family, February 2007

We’re closing at the end of October 2008 to allow for essential maintenance to Sandcastle Cottage, and to renew the kitchen fitments and equipment which although still functional, do not match the higher standards which we are striving to attain for our guests at the Cottage.

Our loyal band of local tradesmen will be employed again this winter carrying out the work.

We’ll try to post regular updates as work progresses.

First priority is to call a site meeting with our Joiner, and project manager, Mr Sandy Syme from St Monans, our architect, Doug Carrie from Crail and our structural engineer, Brian Saddler of Beech Construction at Chance Inn.

When we get all of them together we’ll do some investigation in the dining room/kitchen to see about the possibility of removing the archway which divides these two rooms.

If we can’t use the space ‘liberated’ by removing the archway, then we’ll have to look at blocking up the kitchen doorway and making a new doorway to the dining/kitchen in the centre of the dining area wall.

So this is what we need to discuss with the above gentlemen at the earliest possible opportunity.

Rats! Just when I thought my new website which I’d designed specificially for short breaks was going to be ready and open for business, I’m confounded by the size of the block for an ad in Google Adwords – their spec for the URL length says it has to be less than 35 characters long!

So: http://www.short-breaks-near-st-andrews.2crail.com won’t be any good. Back to the drawing board….

Next thing to try – a short ad on Google. So sign up for a Google Adwords account, and get the (golf) ball rolling. It’s the Dunhill Cup 5-8 October at St Andrews, so it should still be possible to pick up a rental for some short breaks around then.

Put £10 per month into my Adwords account. I don’t know if this is too stingy, but I don’t want to run up huge bills doing this until I feel much more comfortable with the idea.

short breaks near st andrews – great idea for a blog.

Sometimes I drift around with ideas circling in my head, but I don’t get focused and concentrate on the task in hand. This happens a lot!

There are always practical things needing done and taking up time, and weeks can go by where I spend time washing, ironing, supermarket shopping, tidying, reading, cleaning the flat, attending two different book groups, supervising homework, shuttling children around, planning how to occupy the next school holiday, walking with my walking friends, swimming with my swimming friend, organising the group of Edinburgh Self-Caterers to which I belong, thinking up ideas for the group of Crail Self-Caterers – oh and so many things which divert attention from my small business. And of course when other people for whom I’ve done websites like Lorna, or Jan or Matt and Sally ask for changes or amendments, then I of course rush to help them first because they’re my customers. So my websites get neglected, and my marketing suffers.

Then one day last week, a chance correspondence with a fellow member of the ASSC, John Winkler leads to an exciting exchange of views and tactics. John’s been very active in encouraging members of the ASSC to exchange links to each other’s websites. I’d added two lists of links to the Sandcastle Cottage and Sandcastle-in-the-City websites which John was having difficulty finding in his constant quest to ensure that those of us who’d said we’d participate actually did so. He’d e-mailed me to ask me where I’d hidden them and I’d been a bit short with him in my reply – sorry John! However, it led to him asking me ‘how’s business?’. An innocent enough question. I hope he doesn’t now regret asking it.

John owns a holiday cottage in Scotland too: Bayview – a holiday cottage on a lochside near Glencoe. He is very active in marketing it and using the power of the internet to attract visitors from all over the world to visit Kentallen.

He’s been working on building links in to his website from many other sites, and says that he’s currently got 182 links in Google, 232 in MSN, and 131 in Yahoo.

You can check how many links your website has by typing link:www.sandcastleholidays.co.uk into Google (or the other ones) Search (of course you use your own URL). But I didn’t find much that way, and preferred to click on the Advanced Search tab on Google, and search for the phrase www.sandcastleholidays.co.uk which gave me some hope that we at least had some links somewhere! I need to spend a bit of time now checking how my websites fare with this. I’ll post the results as another blog.

Spent some time yesterday morning checking out some key word searches for other operators who are offering short breaks or self-catering near St Andrews.

Did the search on Google, and picked out a few sites from their first 10 returned where I thought it might be useful to look more closely at the sites and examine their tactics, keywords, descriptions, etc.

Keyword Search: short breaks near St Andrews
Returned these sites of interest:
www.Scotland-holiday-cottage.com
http://www.standrewsalbany.co.uk/fife.html
http://www.braeside-standrews.co.uk/links2.htm
http://www.rufflets.co.uk/short_breaks/

Keyword Search: self catering near st andrews
Returned these sites of interest:
http://www.coastal-life.com/st_monans/
http://www.woodlandholidays.co.uk/
http://www.castawaycottage.co.uk/

Keyword Search: short break self catering near st andrews
Returned these sites of interest:
http://www.eastneukescapes.com/Pages/Prices.shtml
http://www.scotland-inverness.co.uk/standrews.htm

To take a look at the keywords for each of these sites I have to use Mozilla Firefox as my browser, because it allows you to View – Page Source and look at the coding which has been used to create each page.
I’ve kept an Excel spreadsheet containing the keywords and descriptions for these sites, which I’ll refer to later when I am ready to develop my own site.