 |
 |
| www.ardtornish.co.uk | March
2009 |
 |
| THE SPRING 2009 ARDTORNISH NEWSLETTER | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What’s
new at Ardtornish for 2009? |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Well,
the calf is new and the lambs are new and very early for Ardtornish,
born in the middle of February. Our ewes don’t normally start
lambing until mid April and as it is still very cold in early March,
they are being kept indoors. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All
of our properties now have washing machines, several with built
in dryers, and all but the Boat House have digital televisions with
‘Freesat’. The Boat House position means that it neither
gets terrestrial nor satellite reception – though it did get
a new king size bed! |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Castle
Cottage is getting a makeover, both Craigendarrochs have had their
bathrooms renovated and new curtains, furniture and flooring in
various houses and apartments. We did intend renovating the bath
and shower rooms in Rose Cottage, but have decided to close it at
the end of this season and do a full renovation then. No point spending
money just now, just to rip it out at the end of the year. I hope
you approve of these improvements for 2009. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The
Website |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mark
Chester of Cabin Consultants has done an excellent job in restructuring
our website. It is now much easier to navigate, has more relevant
information, and is a much better-designed site to browse. For access
to our online Prices & Availability Page just email
us for details and we will send you the hyperlink. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The
new computerised booking system which has been running alongside
our old paper system will be fully operational for 2009; with apologies
to those few visitors who experienced difficulties during the changeover.
This will mean that we can offer you a much more efficient service
in handling your holiday bookings. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Whitehouse Restaurant 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As
I write we’re painting, scrubbing and getting ready for opening
on 3 April, with the arrival of our new chef, Carol Eagles.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We’re
delighted and excited Carol is joining us. She has huge experience
as a head chef, and has run her own renowned catering company, Skybluepink,
in Bristol for 8 years. She understands our ethos of using local
food and knows Ardtornish well. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We’re
also very pleased to feature in the Michelin guide again this year
(2009), and to be described as the best cheap place to eat in the
Highlands by Pete Irving’s Scotland the Best in 2008. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lesley
has built a bigger and better greenhouse, and, with Carol, is planning
what to grow. We have been working over-winter with our suppliers,
and for the first time Ardtornish Farm hopes to finish a Highlander
beef animal for us, t0 be sent to the Mull abattoir for dispatch
and butchering. Jamie Boult (Simon, the keeper, and Liz’s
son) was given some quails for Christmas – due to be laying
next month. We’ve quietly cornered the market in the eggs.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We’re
also trying a new supplier of crab from Mull. Amber Robertson, an
excellent Lochaline baker, will be making our cakes and scones this
year. If you need reviving with a light snack, the Whitehouse is
the place to come. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jane Stuart-Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Housing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The
attractions of Morvern are clear enough to those of us
who live here – and, evidently, to the thousands who visit
the peninsula each year. We’ve been fascinated to see how
many people also seem to want to move here. In recent years, enquiries
about housing – usually opportunities for new build, but also
about conversions and existing houses – have increased significantly. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We’ve
been in discussions with Highland Council for several years about
how best to respond. In conjunction with the Community Council,
we conducted a Planning for Real exercise and Housing Needs Survey,
and have held several local community meetings. There’s a
strong appetite in Morvern to improve housing for locals and to
attract new people with something to offer the local community. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
So
we’ve searched for an area to provide attractive house sites,
with good access, and minimal impact on the tranquillity and scenery
that we all value so highly. We think we’ve found it –
at Achabeg, along the Drimnin road alongside the Sound of Mull. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We’re
excited to be working with Roderick James Architects (http://www.rjarchitects.co.uk/)
on the masterplan, and expect to be submitting an outline planning
application for several new homes within the next few weeks. High
quality architecture and exceptional environmental performance are
non-negotiable from our point of view. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If
you love Morvern enough to want a house here, please get in touch
on hugh@ardtornish.co.uk |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hugh Raven | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ardtornish Hydro Developments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Here’s
a brief update to the hydro development report in the last newsletter.
We’ve got planning consent to build a new scheme from Tearnait
down to Strath Shuardail , and hope to get consent soon for the
upgrade of the existing Rannoch Scheme. A few hurdles remain to
be crossed (not least raising finance), and then we hope to start
construction this summer. The first job will be to repair the road
to Loch Tearnait. We’re afraid this might cause some short-term
inconvenience to walkers, but hope you feel, like us, that the long-term
benefits outweigh the temporary disruption. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If
you have concerns or questions on hydro, please call Angus in the
estate office (01967421288), or e-mail angus@ardtornish.co.uk |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Angus Robertson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spring
seems a bit early in the country this year, with Morvern no exception.
Whilst most of our summer migrants are still on their way, one or
two birds have started to arrive. Last weekend I came across three
greenshank feeding energetically on the tidal flats at the head
of Loch Aline. In some years we do see the odd solitary winter resident
but three very clean-looking birds feeding together suggests fresh
arrivals. Not seen again, they were most likely passage birds. Less
glamorous but none the less welcome is the ubiquitous meadow pipit,
eerily absent from the uplands in winter, reappearing on the flats
outside the house at Uileann. These busy little birds spend the
winter on the coast before returning to the moors in spring. Sea
eagles have started to move through in numbers. Mostly young birds,
they’ve been seen feeding on carrion in the Black and White
Glens. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
While
on eagles, the estate is involved in a feeding trial for the Golden
Eagle. The Clounlaid pair is being fed rabbits to see if it will
help improve breeding success: our eagles often hatch young which
then perish before fledging, probably due to the lack of small prey.
This is a partnership between Scottish Natural Heritage, professional
ornithologists from Natural Research, and Ardtornish estate. We
hope to report findings in future years. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alan Kennedy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Ardtornish Garden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Winter
of 2008/09 has seen Ian Lamb concentrate on improving paths - resurfacing
with chippings from the scrub he’s cleared, chiefly birch
seedlings and Rhododendron ponticum. Who knows how long
it will be before chippings sink into peat and mud, but for now
they make a fine surface. The path from the Oak Throne, sculpted
by Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley, eastwards towards a burn and
along to the Keeper’s Path is much improved. He has also made
steps of stone and wood from the Keeper’s Path to the Alpine
Meadow, and Neil Curtis’s help has re-hung the gate at the
bottom of the Back Drive and replaced the stobs. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
While
Ian has been digging and chipping, I’ve been busy writing
and co-ordinating the photographs that Ian and I have taken, making
them ready for the printer this year. The booklet will be sold in
the Ardtornish Information Centre. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In
February the main show of flowers has been the banks of snowdrops,
which first Caroline Harbison, and now Ian Lamb, have carefully
spread out from the original plantings. They are Galanthus nivalis
- a form that has grown in the garden for a hundred years. I’ve
recently added some Galanthus woronowii - with wider, greener
leaves. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Whenever
there are a few nights without frost the flowers of Rhododendron
rirei begin to open, followed by Rhododendron oreodoxa
and the deep crimson hybrid, ’Choremia’. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
February
half-term school holiday is a good time to visit the Ardtornish
garden. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Faith Raven, with photographs by Ian Lamb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
We look forward to welcoming you to Ardtornish,
whether for the first time or again as one of our many regulars. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Ardtornish Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|