760 acres of peace and quiet in the Scottish Borders, with only eagles, ospreys and falcons for company
Get lost in the scenery at Talla Farm.


The temptation to run away from it all is never that far away. Every monday morning, that alarm goes off, your freedom is rescinded, and the urge to vanish can overwhelm. How did we get here? Who gazed upon the great glories of our natural world: the trees, the oceans, the soaring eagles and the leaping salmon and decided that the best use of our time was meetings on Zoom?
We should find whoever that person is and hold them responsible. I imagine they will be difficult to find, if not already dead. In the absence of finding the root of the evil, perhaps it is more sensible to find some medicine to treat it. Medicine such as a 762 acre estate in the Scottish Borders, perhaps.
Something like Talla Farm should do. It’s near Tweedsmuir, and you can buy a four-bedroom farmhouse and all that land for offers over £1.1 million from Galbraith. You could wake up on a Monday morning and be among the salmons and the eagles. You’ll probably still have to do emails and the like, but at least you’ll have something nice to look at.
Situated on the edge of the Talla Reservoir, the farm enjoys a secluded position and pretty delicious views all around. There are lots of things to see and to do, such as golf, walking, mountain biking and splashing about in a reservoir.
The farmhouse itself is a relatively plain blank canvas of four bedrooms. It has plenty of space and all the modern comforts and conveniences you could need. There is no point over-indulging on the interiors in a place such as this, because, look outside.
Outbuildings include a sheep/store shed, dog kennels and a large yard. There is scope to develop all of these, with the necessary consents. As for the land, there is 760 acres of that, which is made up of a mix of in-bye pasture, hill ground and broadleaved woodland. There are, according to the agents, black grouse, golden eagles, osprey and peregrine falcons to look at. Heaven.
Situation-wise, Tweedsmuir is four miles away, Broughton is 12 miles to the north and Edinburgh is 40 miles away. The property is offered as a whole or in three lots.
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James Fisher is the Deputy Digital Editor of Country Life. He writes about property, travel, motoring and things that upset him. He lives in London.
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