Rural life around Loch Ness

Living the Rural Life in Loch Ness

by Janice Hopper

Loch Ness is naturally beautiful but there are unexpected farming links along the way. Search out Highland cattle, goats milk treats, farmyard glamping and luxury country hotels.

Goat-ally Brilliant

En route to our Nessie-friendly accommodation we stopped at the Lyne Mhor Croft. Run by Jane Mason, Lyne Mhor welcomes families (for free) and introduces them to livestock. After all the privations of lockdown Jane wished to encourage little ones to get up close and personal with creatures great and small. Visitors meet rare Oxford Sandy and Black pigs, Texel cross sheep and a host of fowl, but the highlight are the goats.

Jane has twelve Toggenburg cross goats including two that are milked twice a day, and Jane creates goats milk soap on site. The soaps are moulded into delicate, pretty shapes, and as well as looking attractive they’re apparently good for sensitive skin and psoriasis. In terms of produce, a mix of pork, lamb and goat’s meat is available to purchase, so stock up on food from a local producer with ridiculously low food miles.

Highland Coos

Highland cattle are always popular with tourists, and Loch Ness leaves visitors surprisingly spoiled for choice. The frst option is setting sail with Loch Ness by Jacobite from their Dochgarroch departure point. Here, three Highland cattle are grazing in the felds, awaiting visiting admirers. The animals were initially borrowed from Jonathan Coats at Cairnurenan on the Black Isle. This year Loch Ness by Jacobite bought the stotts who are just over a year old and sourced in Skye. The plan is to winter them just outside Inverness, and then return the animals to Dochgarroch ready for next season’s visitors.

A second option, on the southern side of the loch, is

Cameron’s Tea Room and

Farm Shop. Not only does it offer local produce and indulgent afternoon teas, there’s also a chance to admire Highland cattle in the felds nearby. It’s well situated for a walk to the scenic Falls of Foyers waterfall. The Camerons also offer holiday accommodation, with a smart barn conversion that sleeps six across three bedrooms, a spacious lounge with an open plan kitchen, and dining area with wood burning stove. It’s dog and family friendly too.

A third attraction with Highland coos is Loch Ness

Glamping and Apartments at Andersen Farmhouse.

Run by farming couple, Sonia and Graham, this rural escape offers a converted stables block for families, a ‘Posh Pad’ in the farmhouse including a private patio and fre pit/BBQ, plus six glamping pods called ‘Armadillas’. Glamping pods can vary hugely, but these ones offer a wet room with toilet, shower and wash basin, TV, wif, private BBQ/fre pit and access to two Finnish BBQ houses. Guests can meet, feed and potentially groom livestock that include Highland cattle, Shetland sheep, and horses, set within ten ares of land. Extras include a games room, table tennis, trampoline, sauna, and continental or cooked breakfasts delivered to the door. Salad from the farm garden and fresh organic meat can also be purchased for a taste of the country.

Get Active & Get Sightseeing

Loch Ness is part of the natural boundary of the Great Glen and the Caledonian Canal that splits Scotland in two, and the land around this iconic stretch of water has been valued and fought over for centuries. Sites such as Urquhart Castle’s atmospheric ruins demonstrate how armies destroyed great buildings while fghting over territory here. For something more active, equestrian tourists can enjoy a hack from Drummond Farm in Dores. Experienced riders can book rides and lessons, either

privately or in small groups. Dores is also home to one of the few native juniper crops in Britain. Loch Ness Spirits has combined this precious natural resource with a private water source to create gins that offer a combination of the loch and the land. The distillers have also created a new absinthe recipe, featuring aniseed, wormwood and fennel, but this is the frst absinthe to contain Scottish Wormwood, grown by the Loch Ness Spirits team.

To immerse yourself in nature, walk or cycle the Loch Ness 360 Trail. It cuts through farm land and estates, as well as offering historic pitstops and great views of the loch. And be sure to stop at the Suidhe Viewpoint to truly appreciate the scale and majesty of the land here.

Finally, head back into town, to Fort Augustus, for a dash of engineering prowess. Farming is often as much about logistics as it is about produce. The fnest crops in the land need to be readily transported to market, to new customers and to expectant clients. The Caledonian Canal arguably enabled and connected rural communities. People and goods could now be transported through Scotland, from Inverness to Fort William and beyond, rather than having to sail around the coast, or cross country by land. Drop by the Caledonian Canal Centre in Fort Augustus to discover more, and to enjoy the café’s light bites in a scenic setting. Be sure to watch Thomas Telford’s engineering in action, as the locks open and close, lifting boats up and down the water. Take time to drop by Fort Augustus’ Clansmen Centre to discover the details of rural clan life in Highland Scotland.

Rest Your Head

The accommodation in the area offers rich pickings and variety. For a sumptuous childfree escape sweep your partner away to Foyers Lodge with its blissful views over Loch Ness. An inn at Foyers was frst built in the mid 1600s, used mainly by cattle drovers moving livestock to and from the markets in the south. Today it’s a chic, dramatic boutique hotel, ideal for a romantic retreat.

Alternatively, the Whitebridge Hotel offers welcoming family friendly accommodation, a smart restaurant with a strong menu, a cosy rustic bar, and traditional after dinner games to play in the lounge. This long established Highland hotel was built in 1899 on the site of a King’s House (a hostelry used by soldiers stationed in a specifc area). This King’s House was used by the soldiers of General Wade, and building roads was one of the troops’ duties - guests can still see the original bridge built here in the 18th century. The hotel is formerly an old hunting lodge and fshing hotel with quirky relics of its history dotted around the building.

Overall Loch Ness is a monumental escape and a scenic wonder. A place where people work the land, yet Loch Ness retains an untamed wild quality that draws tourists from around the world.

Find out more at:-

Visit Inverness Loch Ness - visitinvernesslochness.com Lyne Mhor Croft - lynemhorcroft.co.uk Loch Ness by Jacobite - jacobite.co.uk Cameron’s Tea Room - lochnesscottage.com Urquhart Castle - historicenvironment.scot/visit-aplace/places/urquhart-castle Loch Ness Glamping - lochnessglamping.co.uk Loch Ness Spirits - wearelochness.com Clansmen Centre - clansmancentre.uk Dores Horse Riding - lochnessriding.co.uk Loch Ness 360 Trail - lochness360.com Caledonian Canal Centre - scottishcanals.co.uk/ destinations/fort-augustus/ caledonian-canal-centre Foyers Lodge - foyerslodge. co.uk Whitebridge Hotel - whitebridgehotel.co.uk

Urquhart Castle