Blog

It was once described as ‘the eighth wonder of the world’ and rolling up the hotel driveway, passing it’s beautifully manicured golf courses, it’s hard not to be impressed by the scale and presence of Gleneagles. Of course it’s fame and prestige precede it, yet to be absolutely honest, my happiest memories of Gleneagles were attending a number of Scottish farm weddings here in the late seventies and early eighties which were great social events. It’s massive sprung dance floor, has also left and indelible impression in my mind and which I seem to recall being particularly well received by gently mannered, yet boistrous Scottish farmers who loved dancing the night away to the ‘Duke of Perth’, ‘Military Two Step’ and ‘Strip The Willows’ as...

Graeme MacDonald is a man on mission! It has been suggested by many that he is Perthshire’s most enthusiastic and committed local food advocate while others have counseled that he is also one of the county’s most committed green exponents. The truth, I suspect, is he embraces these titles with a knowing smile as responds to next matter on his busy agenda. Graeme is the manager of Duchally Country Estate which sits amidst 27 verdant acres, of glorious tree heaven, a couple of miles from the A9 near Auchterarder. I met him on the last day of an extended film recee for a project commissioned by Perth and Kinross Council and the Green Tourism Business Scheme. He is an eloquent, articulate and enthusiastic individual who believes in getting the very best out of...

You know, it’s true – first impressions do tend to stick. Although I never saw it with my own eyes, Robert Combs, assistant engineer at The Crieff Hydro Hotel, created an amazing picture for me; describing how a professional diviner was engaged by the hotel to locate a  productive fresh water spring on in its grounds, to supplement the existing – and costly – metered supply. With an imaginary hazel twitch in his hands, he began animatedly striding across the wet lawns, enacting how the said water prophet, criss-crossed over the entire estate, stooping and bending to place brightly coloured flags in the ground – like fluttering totems – as his magical wand wavered earthwards, bowing and dipping like a mating crane, at the source of...