Autumn winter 2023 newsletter

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Newsletter

Autumn/Winter 2023 www.atholl-estates.co.uk

Godchildren of Bertie

Welcome It has been an incredibly busy summer, so a huge thank you to all. With visitor numbers, including many from America, almost back at pre covid levels we have been flat out. This issue is a great moment to take stock of not just what has happened but also some big changes in personnel. Laura McDonald has come in as Head of Rural and Conservation to replace Julian who has, after 12 years on Atholl, gone on to manage the estate at Glenfalloch where we wish him all the best. And we also say a very fond farewell to Angus after 17 short years. A really massive thank you to Angus who has been here at every drain burst, collapsed roof and any other disaster. Angus and his team, time and time again, have gone beyond the call of duty, more on Angus later.

With Glen Glack, Tulliemet House and Charlottefield all in full swing, we are pleased to welcome Stephanie Hand to the team to head up the holiday lodges.

The lodges have all received significant investment in recent years and we are really proud of the offering at ‘Stay on Atholl.’

The castle and estate remain an extremely busy and fun place to be throughout the year and I hope this newsletter will give you a flavour of what has been going on and what we are planning. As ever for a more long-term perspective on what the estate is planning there is always the Forward Plan to refer to.

Have a very happy Christmas, Bertie Troughton, Resident Trustee

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News in Brief Playground at Blair Castle This winter will see the creation of an improved adventure playground behind The Cannon, with more rope walkways and all building materials being wood, we hope it will have a fortified natural feel. Reminding our adventurous visitors that in the run up to Culloden, Blair Castle was the last castle to be held under siege in the UK. Foraging Our relationship with chief forager Tamara Colchester at PlantListening continues and we were delighted she was able to host a full foraging retreat at Glen Glack this year, as well as her very well-attended days at the castle. These are really educational days and yet manage to be both spiritual and hilarious at the same time.

Regenerative Farming Sheep have been removed from Glen Tilt as part of the regenerative farming plan model and also to reduce grazing pressure in the glen. It will be interesting to see in the coming years if we see a greater rate of riparian tree growth along the river now the sheep are out of the glen.

Glamping at Blair Castle Caravan Park The caravan park will welcome four brand new mega glamping pods in Spring 2024.

Complete with kitchens, bathrooms and a private decking, they’ll be a great addition to our holiday accommodation offering.

50th Glenfiddich Piping Competition In October, the annual Glenfiddich piping competition returned to Blair Castle for their 50th year. Ten of the world’s best competing solo pipers take to the stage for a day of piobaireachds and MSRs infront of a sell-out crowd. It’s a fantastic event as the sound of pipes fill the ballroom.

Haughend Proposal Consultation continues with Dunkeld community for the desire for more housing in the area. The proposal for Haughend development would see 65 houses with 35% of them being affordable. Further details including the architecture by Page Park and consultation survey can be accessed through the following link: www.pagepark.co.uk/hello/haughend

Glenfiddich Piping

Dunkeld consultation

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News from

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Whisky discovery Over the last year we have been keeping a bit of a secret. In the run up to last Christmas, in a back cellar of the castle, Bertie decided to open one of the dusty greeny-blue bottles purporting to be whisky from 1833. To our surprise it was delicious and soon the bottle began to be passed around; Keren the archivist, Jack and Connel from Wasted Degrees, Ian Maclure from Whisky Auctioneer, Angus Macraild and Charlie Maclean the world famous whisky tasters and many others.

Keren began to dig around in the archives and supporting evidence was found that backed up the carbon dating and composition testing that was being undertaken by both Glasgow and Edinburgh University. So, it was in October of this year that we were able to announce that Blair Castle is the home to the worlds oldest known whisky and 24 of the bottles have been auctioned off. Excitingly some of the remaining bottles will make up a new exhibition in the castle so we will be able to tell the story of this whisky and its production to visitors when the season starts in March.

Coronation medal for the Atholl Highlanders The Atholl Highlanders were honored to lead the parade down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh following King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s Service of Worship in St Giles Cathedral, shortly after their Coronation in Westminster Abbey. It was an extremely great honour and the King was kind enough to give those parading a couple of bottles of Hollyrood whisky which were enjoyed on the bus home. By the time the bus reached Dunkeld some of the singing was, if not at its best, was at its most enthusiastic.

However the delight of the Highlanders did not end there as in October those who paraded in Edinburgh were invited to Balmoral to receive a Coronotion medal. A huge thanks to RSM Graham Jack who did so much to organise both the Highlanders and coordinate with the Palace.

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The centenary of Duchess Kitty, MP The 6th December 2023 marked 100 years since Katharine, 8th Duchess of Atholl (Kitty) was elected to parliament, the first Scottish woman member of parliament.

Elected to the constituency of Kinross and West Perthshire, she won by the narrowest of margins (150 votes) her supporters were so happy that her acceptance speech couldn’t be heard over the cheering and applause. Within a year she was appointed as the Minister of Education, the first woman to hold a ministerial position. Kitty held her ministerial post until 1929 and the Kinross and West Perthshire seat until 1938. A Point of Order – when the Duchess of Atholl set a new ‘fashion’ while attending the Standing Committee of the House of Commons, of which she was a member, when she wished to raise a point regarding the Shop’s Bill. The Duchess was NOT wearing a hat and was warned her point wouldn’t be heard until she was properly attired, ‘Give me a hat please, quickly’ said Kitty to the public gallery a mans felt grey hat was quickly handed to her. She placed it on her head and continued with her point, before handing the hat back. This incident is so indicative of Kitty’s no nonsense personality particularly when it came to politics.

Jenny Adin-Chrisite embroidery Jenny Adin-Chrisite, renowned and talented embroider, ran 2 courses this autumn using the castle ballroom as a base to study and create some exquisite pieces of embroidery. One piece in particular designed by Jenny was inspired by Lady Evelyn Stewart Murray, daughter of 7th Duke and Duchess of Atholl. The Lady Evelyn Purse features fine embroidered white work incorporating tiny seed pearls. Lady Evelyn was also a talented embroider and her collection of embroidery is exceptional, some of her pieces are on display in the castle and the British coat embroidered by her is quite exceptional.

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A new look for the Horse Trials It has been ten years since the site layout in the fields had a major redesign and nine years since the website was refreshed. In those intervening years the event has grown with the addition of new competitions and a marked increase in spectator expectations.

This autumn, the horse trials team are working with the estate’s marketing department to bring the horse trials website more in line with the Atholl Estates and Blair Castle website. The layout and navigation will be more similar to the estate’s website, while maintaining the recognisable horse trials branding with Defender and the leaping horses on the logo. New photographs were taken at the 2023 event to ensure that the imagery on the site is fresh and contemporary.

The layout in the field is more complex than it may appear on the surface. There are several principles that we want to abide by to ensure that the site works for everyone.

We aim to avoid dead ends in pedestrian walkways, so that spectators naturally flow around the trade stands and arenas. As far as possible, trade stands are planned to face arenas, to entice visitors to pass them as they watch the competitions and thus avoid dead areas. The expansion of the food and drink offering also needs a larger space and more seating. A critical consideration, for everyone’s safety, the access for the horses in and out of the arenas should be as short as possible and we aim to minimise the number of points where horses and spectators cross each other’s paths.

All of this combines with a need to ensure that vehicles can access all areas of the site, even in a wet year like 2023.

We look forward to unveiling the new developments for the horse trials in due course and welcoming everyone back for the 2024 event. The box office will open for early bird bookings in December.

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News from

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Storm Babet In October, it was with concern the Forestry Team closely watched the unfolding weather warnings for Storm Babet. Storms at this time of year do generally cause damage with falling trees and floods causing roads to be washed out, so we had the team on standby for repairs and contractors ready to come in with machinery.

The Storm didn’t disappoint with exceptional rainfall to parts of Scotland with 150 to 200mm falling in the wettest areas and the Met Office issuing two red warnings for rain. This coincided with some very strong winds, gusting at over 58mph for a sustained period. Across the country Storm Babet resulted in the most severe and widespread disruptive weather impacts of 2023 so far. On Atholl, the impacts were less but still significant. In Blair Atholl a number of trees came down over estate roads and public roads, but were quickly cleared up by estate staff with all departments working together to keep roads open. The Blairucahdair road was closed overnight due to large fallen trees which were too dangerous to tackle without specialist heavy machinery.

The Woodend road at Blair Atholl was completely washed out making it impassable to any type of 4x4. A landslide above Leathad Mor Wood in Glen Tilt brought hundreds of tonnes of mud and silt into a timber harvesting site, closing the road until machinery could clear the track.

The further south on the estate the more impacts of rain were felt with the old A9 Rotmell road being closed due to a bridge being undermined making it unsafe to use, and a landslide covering the road. This road will be closed until Christmas to allow for repairs to be undertaken. At Tulliemet, several large trees came down, with one very large Silver Fir closing the road between Tulliemet House and Blairinrash. Fortunately, forestry contractors were quickly able to remove the main stem, however the full clear up of branches and debris will take a long time.

Most of the impacts of the Storm have now been rectified, with some work still continuing. Whilst there was damage it was gratifying to see all estate staff from all teams rally around to help with the clean-up operations. No trees came down on buildings and all the Lime Trees on the front avenue suffered no damage which is rewarding as it shows the extensive work on crow reducing them earlier in the year was certainly worth it. We are not looking forward to the next storm of the year!

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A fond farewell to Angus The Atholl Estates Works Manager is responsible for the function of all buildings and infrastructure through his team and a brigade of local contractors. As a result, most people who live or work on the estates will know Angus but not everyone will be aware that his time in that role draws to a close at the end of December.

Angus joined Atholl in August 2005, coming to us from a similar role in the NHS, looking after a hospital campus in Aberdeen. Over the eighteen years since then, apart from a year’s tour of duty in Afghanistan as a reservist with the Royal Air Force Regiment in 2007, Angus has served the estates and its community with a calm and consistent commitment that flows from his personality of integrity and accountability.

Those with a good memory will recall that the building stock Angus took over in 2005 was a lot less watertight than it is now, albeit Angus would be the first to admit there is much more to be done.

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He should hand over the baton knowing that he has played a significant and positive role in the long history of this place, improving the built estate and the lives of those who live here.

Angus has also been a valued member of the senior management team, considered in his views and always approaching discussions from a constructive perspective. In a crisis, he was always the first to volunteer his service, leading his team from the front.

Further, in a crisis, Angus was very much the person you wanted by your side.

Thank you Angus, and best wishes for your next adventure.

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Glen Fender, Dalnamein and Balgowan woodland projects It is an extremely exciting time in Atholl Forestry just now with three major woodland expansion schemes currently on the go. Not since the mid 90’s has there been as much new woodland being planted on Atholl as there is just now.

Since the 17th century, Atholl Estates have played a prominent role in the history and development of forestry in Scotland. The legacy of the Fourth Duke of Atholl, and the strong tradition of woodland management since then, has produced some of the finest mixed woodlands in the country.

The estate is now embarking on a new chapter of woodland expansion that will have a strong focus on ecological restoration, native species and habitat creation, as well as commercial opportunities by growing timber.

The vision for the woodland creation projects is to create a restored landscape of new native woodland, scrub and open habitats, which will provide opportunities for wildlife to thrive, improve the condition of the soils and water courses and sequester carbon. Glenfender and Dalnamein focus on native woodland while Balgowan has more broadleaf woodland with commercial potential, as well as commercial spruce and native broadleaves.

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Glen Fender and Balgowan are well underway with the fencing and ground preparation due to complete by Christmas 2023, and planting planned for January / February 2024.

Dalnamein is still in the planning stages but ground works should start in Spring 2024.

In Fender, over 550,000 native trees will be planted across 445 hectares of land over the next two years. In Dalnamein almost 800,000 trees will be planted and another 200,000 at Balgowan.

In Glen Fender and Dalnamein, the planting has been designed to create a mosaic of native woodland habitats alongside other open habitats, such as mire and calcareous grassland. A wide range of native tree species including birch, Scots pine, rowan, oak, aspen, hazel and willow will create a varied habitat transitions across the site, developing a naturalistic treeline on the hill sides.

At Balgowan, a more commercial approach has been taken to maximise the potential of the fantastic soils, with commercial pine, cherry, Aspen, sycamore, oak and birch being planted as well as Norway spruce and large areas of native broadleaves.

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Farm tours Over the last year Hugh, our farm manager, has visited and attended several events and farms to share and gain knowledge. This is an invaluable way of seeing and speaking to others about our and their practices in regenerative farming. It allows like minded farmers to be in the same room, bouncing ideas around, speaking of what works for them and may work for others and can build confidence in those ideas!

Sharing knowledge in farming is key to moving the industry forward.

Volunteering on the estate The monthly volunteer sessions continue with a good core of participants returning each month. We’ve tackled rhododendron clearance, path work and bracken bashing at various areas across the estate. Dates for next year’s sessions will go live soon.

We always have a hot drink and cake which is a highlight! Following our September session, where we cleared paths and weeded tree cages in Diana’s Grove, we were welcomed into the castle where the group enjoyed learning more about the estate’s history. Of course more coffee and cake was enjoyed at the restaurant. Thanks to the castle team for hosting us.

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Head of Rural & Conservation After 12 years we said a very fond farewell to Julian Clarke who had held the position of Head of Rural and Enterprise. We had a lovely send off in the castle and it was no surprise there was a big turn out to send him on his way to Glenfalloch where Julian has become the estate manager. A really good promotion and one where we hope all his experience of transitioning farms to regenerative farming practices, woodland creation and peatland restoration will come in handy.

With so much of the Head of Rural now having a conservation focus we added this to the job description and were delighted to be able to recruit Laura Mcdonald into the role. Laura and her husband, Robin, moved into Drummin the night of Storm Babet and were immediately trapped in by fallen trees, however neighbours Tom and May brought them up some dinner and since then it’s been full steam ahead. Laura has a huge role in getting to know all the tenants, houses, farms, beats and many conservation projects on going throughout the estate but with her wealth of experience from the Duchy of Lancaster where she was an estates director we have every confidence she will take it in her stride.

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Our commitment to the community Halloween This year, for the first time, staff from the estate put together a spooky Halloween lantern walk for local primary school children. With the support from the Estate Ranger, Castle Guides, Housekeeping, Archives, Gardening and Admin we thoroughly enjoyed hosting parents and children from Pitlochry, Logierait and Blair Atholl primary schools to a relatively scary walk around Hercules Gardens. With prizes for the best dressed year groups, everyone was treated to hot chocolate and spooky snacks afterwards and a lovely evening was enjoyed by all. With over 120 parents/children, and enquiries from other Primary Schools after the event and fabulous feedback we had, we are preparing ourselves for this to be a regular date in our diary!

Christmas at the Castle Our next date for everyone’s diary is the favourite ‘Christmas at the Castle Nativity’ play performed by the pupils at Blair Castle Primary school, who are returning to us on 12th December. Anyone who missed this last year is welcome, it is undoubtedly the finest way to end what has been an incredibly busy season, and we cannot wait to see the children back again this year.

Woodland Visits Pupils from Blair Atholl Nursery are regularly visiting a woodland site as part of their outdoor education. The estate is delighted to support them and the children are building confidence and resilience, being out in all weathers. Links between the estate and the community, in particular the next generation, are vital

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Tulliemet House & Charlottefield This year saw Bruar Construction busy across the estate, not only as lead contractor on the South End of the castle but also doing a full renovation of Tulliemet House and Charlottefield. Tulliemet is Jane’s home but available to lets when she is not there and has become the flagship property on the Tulliemet estate. As well as being beautifully done up and warm there is also a wood-fired sauna next to the swimming pond in the walled garden, a really magical place where Beatrix Potter stayed with her family in the 1870’s.

Charlottefield is smaller but equally secluded and beautifully renovated, it’s lucky it is as there is a wonderful outdoor bath where you can bathe under the stars. It’s been a busy year at the Tulliemet end of the estate with these upgrades and we are very lucky to have Graham and Yvonne Hunter who have taken on the mantle to look after the properties and head up the housekeeping team at that end of the estate.

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Staff News New Starts Stephanie Hand - Lodges Manager Laura Mcdonald - Head of Rural Stephen & Tamsin Oates - Castle Team Oliver Whyte - Woods Ranger Thomas Arthurs - Forest Lodge

Kristin Bergan - Glen Bruar Flora England - Forest Lodge Colin Farrell - West Hand Ben Linsdell - Properties

We have said goodbye to several of our team, who have moved on to new opportunities, and we wish them all the best and thank them for their hard work over their time at Atholl Estates.

Congratulations to Kerry Wilson & David on the birth of their baby girl, Hallie, on 12th July.

Deaths 4th May - Major John Bullough of Culcreuch MBE 11th May - Alastair Stephen, retired Atholl Highlander 6th June - Jim Hodge (sen), Atholl Estates Fencer 6th June - Bo Walker, Atholl Highlander Drum Major 24th June - Bobby Baird, Farm Manager Balachallan Farm 24th September - Liz Baird wife of Bobby 25th October - Meg Farron, partner to the late Jimmy Allan, Atholl Estates painter

Bobby and Elizabeth Baird For many years Bobby and Elizabeth lived at Balachallan Farm House, Bobby as farm manager for Captain Anderson and then, when Captain Anderson gave up the tenancy, he continued as farm manager for Sarah. He built up a fine herd of cattle and when the Milton of Tulliemet became vacant he took that on with the sheep. He was always ably supported by Elizabeth and popular with his team, who wouldn’t let him retire at 65 and persuaded him he could do the job until he was 70, he and Elizabeth then moved to Wester Tulliemet, remaining in the community where they were so well known and respected. Elizabeth survived Bobby by three months, after such a long and happy life together it was perhaps a blessing to be reunited so swiftly.

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Events 2024

Newsletter Team & Contributors

Spring Foraging

Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st April

Atholl Highlanders Parade Saturday 25th May

Atholl Gathering Sunday 26th May

Blair Castle International Horse Trials

Bertie Troughton Andrew Bruce Wootton Clem Urquhart Malcolm Whyte Julia Duncan Hugh Chamberlain Keren Guthrie Nicky Townshend Karen Drysdale

Thursday 22nd - Sunday 25th August

Contact Details Atholl Estates: 01796 481355 For information on Events taking place in 2024, please visit our website: atholl-estates.co.uk/events or scan the QR code below.

Blair Castle: 01796 481207 Blair Castle Caravan Park: 01796 481263 Lodges: 01796 481355 Ranger Service: 01796 481355 Blair Castle Horse Trials: 01796 481543

Download the the newsletter and register for our monthly e-newsletter with the latest events, special offers and news at: atholl-estates.co.uk

Websites

atholl-estates.co.uk blairhorsetrials.co.uk

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