Advantages: yummy, reminds me of home
Disadvantages: not really available outside of Dumfries and galloway

...There was once upon a time in Britain before confectionary became corporate and the hegemony of Nestlé, Mars and Cadburythat each town and area had their own local specialty of sweets. Berwick had its Cockles, Devon its fudge, Edinburgh its rock and Kendal its famous Mint Cake. In my native Dumfriesshire, the local specialty was and still is Moffat Toffee. Moffat is a small town about 20 miles from Dumfries and is just off the M74 motorway. Once it was a spa resort but is now a busy stop-off point for coach tours heading north to Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands. It is also famous for its sweet shop the Moffat Toffee shop. A family owned business that has been making this local delicacy to a secret recipe since the early nineteenth century. The shop has always been a family business started by Janet Cook Johnstone, now owned... Read review

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Advantages: Friendly market town with lots to do
Disadvantages: No buzzing night-life (not necesarily a disadvantage)

...A brazen ram dominates the high street of Moffat, a pretty market town in Southern Scotland. But Moffat’s heritage goes much further than its agricultural roots: A Victorian spa town; a stop over for Robbie Burns; a once thriving mill industry; a centre of religious conflict and spectacular scenery, this tiny town (population 2,500) is packed full of things for visitors to do. Yet, Moffat feels as unlike a tourist trap as it could. Our four day stay was too short to enjoy all Moffat’s delights, not least of which is the amazing countryside which is generously peppered with walks from the short and easy to the long and challenging. (There is even a Walking Festival every October.) A fifty pence leaflet from the local Tourist Information Centre is enough to tempt you into your walking boots. As well as remarkable scenery en route... Read review

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Advantages: Makes all saddles comfortable for rider, improving stability and position.
Disadvantages: Quite expensive. hair and bits stick

...The Heather Moffat Seat Saver is a suede covered squashy pad to cover the top part of your saddle. It is held in place by straps under the saddle and fits any saddle. The pad lies flat when put on unlike synthetic fur pads, which tend to rise up and down with the rider when new. Available from saddlers and mail order in brown and black priced between £35 and £45. However the quality is excellent. I bought one several months ago to use with a cheap saddle which fits my young, odd- shaped horse well but has a slippery seat. I have been delighted by it as is once in the saddle you are placed in the correct position and seem almost glued there. As this is used on a nervous, at times stroppy thoroughbred I have found it has boosted my morale as well as bolstering my behind. The comfort level of this saddle went from 0-60 in the 2... Read review

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Advantages: -
Disadvantages: -

...In a time pre-dating the Romans, Britain and Ireland was inhabited by a race of people that are known to history as the Celts. Gradually displaced by the incursions of Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans, these people were either intergrated or marginalised by the later cultures and became only a shadow of their former self. We hear some much about Celtic heritage, but who were they and what remains of them today? On the Atlantic borders there is still whisper of them, Cornwall, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the English west coast all contain evidence for these people, and Alistair Moffat has set out to find out about these people in The Sea Kingdoms. One of the reasons that these people are so hard to trace is that subsequent invaders have either converted them or changed their virtues to vices and encouraged their downfall. The advent... Read review

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