Plans approved to turn old railway carriage near Tweedbank into holiday home

Those plans were put in by holiday let business bosses Pete and Posy Maitland-Carew to add to the two properties they already rent out to holidaymakers at Faldonside, near Boleside, south of Tweedbank.

They have been granted approval by Scottish Borders Council planners to revamp an old railway carriage standing on land south west of Faldonside Farmhouse.

The carriage hasn’t moved from its current home, off the B6360 Lindean-Leaderfoot road, since its purchase following the closure in 1969 of the Waverley Route it used to run on, having been used for storage in the meanwhile.

It has been standing empty for the last few years but is said still to be structurally sound and to retain many of its original fittings and features.

The conversion work planned will see a flat-roofed, single-storey sleeping pod and link added to form a holiday home also featuring an outdoor terrace and car-port.

A spokesperson for Selkirk’s Stuart Davidson Architecture, acting as agent for the applicants, said: “The farm is still fully functioning, with the fields now let on long-term grazing lets, with the proposed site nestled into the corner of a sheep-grazing field which, in turn, has no impact on the usability and functioning of this area.

“It is proposed to relocate the position of the carriage to an even more discreet position behind a wall, which will ensure that the additional bedroom and entrance structure has no additional impact on the surroundings.

“The focus of the overall development is to retain the carriage as the primary structure and the new pod structure to be subservient to this, all low impact and simple in design.

“It is proposed to upgrade the external boarding with reclaimed timber. Internally, it will be insulated and finished to a luxury standard to provide a contemporary rustic style.

“The new-build element of the entrance area and bedroom pod will be formed from a single-skin, highly-insulated timber structure utilising high-performance, ecologically-sound materials and variable airtightness layers to control the ambient temperature and air quality within the overall building.

“It is proposed to locate the full structure on low-impact pads to ensure there is little impact on the surrounding land and, if required, it could be reversible in the future.”