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Newsletter

From time to time we send out our e-newsletter. It is the best way to find out about what is happening at Eastside and any offers or late availability.

Don’t worry we don't share your information with anyone else and you can unsubscribe at any time.

 
View Farm Blog

Welcome to Eastside Farm Cottages…

Welcome to Eastside Farm Cottages…

...a working Scottish hill sheep farm

...a working Scottish hill sheep farm

...in the Pentland Hills Regional Park

...in the Pentland Hills Regional Park

...explore the hills near Edinburgh

...explore the hills near Edinburgh

...with fantastic views and exquisite details

...with fantastic views and exquisite details

See farming life in action…

See farming life in action…

...or just watch an amazing sunset

...or just watch an amazing sunset

Eastside - A hill sheep farm near Edinburgh

Seasonal Farm

Farm photo gallery

Webcam

Farm & Cottages Blog


Featured sections

Seasonal Farm

Seasonal Farm

Seasonal Farm

For an idea of farm life throughout the seasons take a look at our online book.

Come to Eastside Farm Cottages and watch farming life in action. The farming year begins and ends in Autumn.  Follow the farmer throughout the year tending the sheep and what you might see during your stay at Eastside.


Our Web-cam

View our web-cam

Our Web-cam

Check out the farm right now with our web-cam!

We have recently invested in a high quality web cam which is set to steam an image every minute. Hopefully as useful to those walking the hills as to those planning to visit the farm cottages on holiday. We hope in the next few months to compile a gallery of the best images from the camera and perhaps make them into a few short films of some really spectacular days at Eastside. Watch this space...


Farm Cottages

The pages mentioned above all relate to Eastside farm in general but if you'd like to stay on the farm then we have three lovely holiday cottages for you to rent. Just click the links below to our farm cottages and it will take you the right part of the website.


Farm Cottages

Stable

Steading

Byre


What's happening?

Heather burning

12.04.12

The hills on Eastside are mainly heather hills and it is a good food supply both for sheep and wildlife and especially black and red grouse. When the heather gets… more

Planting new woodlands

12.01.12

Alexander Cowan was the first of the Cowan family to plant trees at Eastside in 1850- a mix of Scots Pine and Larch - some of which are still in… more

Tupping time on the farm

19.12.11

Autumn is the time our ewes or female sheep on the farm are in season - meaning that they're receptive to a potential mate.  At this time we… more

Eastside Steading and Stable Christmas Photos

19.12.11

This year, as with every year we've decorated the cottages beautifully for Christmas. Our photographer Michael Rummey has returned to photograph the Steading cottage, sleeping 4 and the Stable… more

Visit the farm blog

Farm picture gallery

A ewe seeks some shade with her lamb on a hot day in spring A ewe with her 2 week old twins on the Blackhill A cheeky lamb! Orphaned lambs drinking from a feeder in the shed Orphaned lambs feeding from the milk bucket Orphaned lambs playing in their enclosure Lambing at Eastside is timed for the Spring grass Late lambing means the ewes should have the Spring grass A lamb suckles milk from its mother The shepherd checks the flock at a distance The shepherd checks the sheep twice a day at lambing time A ewe with twins on the hill The track to Eastside in the Spring Blackface ewes are very good mothers Some lambs are orphaned and need special care The orphans get trained to feed until we find them a mother Two friends The swallows start to arrive and build their nests Jumping for joy! Twins playing outside the cottages Cotton Grass flowers on the hills in spring The Eastside boundary wall or "march" in late evening golden light The nearby village of Carlops with a good local pub A ewe and her twins is kept in for observation A new born lamb - curious of the camera! Beech trees at the bottom of the farm track in winter We're prepared and can look the sheep even if the snow is really heavy! Tups coming in for a rest in January after the tupping season. The farm steading in a blizzard Archie greets us on our way to the farm steading Looking down the valley into the farm steading from the top of the Kipps. The ewes are put back to the hill for winter They easily find food and shelter even in the harshest conditions on the hill Misty the working collie having had some fun in the snow Christmas at Eastside Cottages looking out to the West Kipp beyond A view of the farm steading looking up at the Kipps A wintery view of the front of the farm house with the Kipps in the background An intrepid walker makes it to the top of the Kipps in the snow The line of beech trees skirting the base of the Blackhill The beech tree lined road up to Eastside in the snow The ewes stay in family groups and keep to their hefts A tree in the old wood on Braid Law Grasses at the top of the old drove road The path to Balerno at Cap Law looking onto the East Kipp Red sky at night - shepherd's delight! Showing the Eastside farmstead in autumn and the surrounding fields looking to Cap Law and Braid Law We time the "tupping" carefully so that ewe's lamb in Late Spring Ewes are gathered and separated from the hogs before the tups are put out The ewes are then brought into the fields, like this one on the Blackhill to meet the "boys" The tups are put out into fields with the ewes in November A tup's amorous advances on a ewe! The track to Eastside in the autumn Male blackface sheep or "tup" A stone wall or "dyke" at Eastside in the Autumn A lovely combination of textures and colours can be seen in the Autumn Sunset over the Kipps at Eastside with gathered sheep returning home Early morning light on the Eastside road in Autumn A stone wall on the Kitchen Moss looking down the Gutterford burn onto Spittal 200 year old walls are maintained as farm boundaries A tup having some rest time in the shed The handling pens at Westside in autumn A ewe waits patiently in the handling pens Every family has a black sheep Sorting 5 year old ewes Ewes being vaccinated against disease A view from the West Kipp onto the farm steading Tups get their horns polished before the sale Buying tups at a Blackface tup auction Two new tups go back to Eastside The farm house and cottages in Autumn Looking North East from the Kipps towards the Flotterstone Glen A ewe and lamb on the Kipps in summer looking towards Edinburgh in the background From the Kipps looking towards Scald Law The hill pasture supports a diverse range of wild flowers and grasses Wild flowers in the meadow in summer Harebells flower and the Wild Thyme and Heather come into bloom From the wild flower meadow looking towards the farm steading The ewes and lambs are gathered into the handling pens for clipping and marking The ewes and rams are sorted clipped and returned to the hill Gill - one of our enthusiastic working collie dogs! The sheep are sheared or "clipped" at this time of year Shearing is a highly skilled job that requires keeping the sheep moving and comfortable Eastside wool is coarse but perfect for carpets Marking is when the lambs are marked and counted Marking is when the shepherd knows for sure how successful the lambing has been The lambs are now almost the size of their mothers The orphan lambs have also grown well After marking the sheep return to the hill for the rest of the summer It is not always sunny at Eastside, but the light can be spectacular Over the years we have planted many mixed species shelter belts on the farm We just recently planted a few more to hopefully help the endangered Black Grouse population Our two resident chickens enjoy the summer a lot more than the winter months Henrietta is a Gold Lace Orpington and Talulla is a Speckled Sussex A view from the top of the Kipps looking due East down the Pentland range

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