Ardtornish Newsletter No. 9: November 2010


www.ardtornish.co.uk	November 2010

THE AUTUMN 2010 ARDTORNISH NEWSLETTER

Ardtornish features on BBC Radio 4

Fly agaric - three in a row

Badger set atop the Achranich cliffs

Grey Seal Pup

Ardtornish dressed for a party

Loch Aline from Ardtornish House

Hello from Ardtornish

We’ve had another busy year at Ardtornish – with the next set to be even more so. The Tearnait hydro scheme, on track and under budget, should be humming discretely early in the second quarter of next year, and by the time most of our visitors return we may have another under construction in the Rannoch valley. Summer 2011 should see the first new houses rising in the intentional community at Achabeag. More on each will appear on the website as things happen.

Last spring we caught the eye of the BBC radio outdoors programme Open Country, and their Moira Hickey and Helen Mark came to record here earlier in the month. The resulting programme about Ardtornish will go out on Radio Four on Saturday November 27th at 0605, and again at 1500 on December 2nd. Please do listen in (and if you’re a Facebooker, post your comments on the Ardtornish Estate page).

Meanwhile this mailing brings snippets on MacI’s plans for improving our holiday properties this winter, and the results of our end-of-visit surveys. Many regular visitors comment on the friendships they’ve made within the community of Ardtornish – so we’re delighted to bring news of a landmark birthday for our longest-standing local stalwart, Chubby Ives (over eighty birthday cards to date, and still counting).

Below you’ll also see our regular update on the Whitehouse restaurant (which, by using almost exclusively Ardtornish farm meat this year, has helped our rejuvenated venison, beef and lamb marketing get off to a flying start); and from Alan, we have another enthusing update on bird sitings in the area.

I’ve been out too, as usual, enjoying the wildlife on some spectacular autumn days – like this triumvirate of perfect fly agaric toadstools on the garden’s lower lawn. New to me was the freshly-dug badger set atop the Achranich cliffs above the old boathouse – as was this heart-melting grey seal pup spotted on a lazy autumn sail to a nearby but remote rocky Hebridean beach.

If you share our passion for the natural history of this area, please keep an eye on our website. And thank you for being part of the community of Ardtornish: among our favourite animals, it’s not just the wild ones that make Ardtornish an exceptional place to be.

Hugh Raven

Christmas & New Year availability

Christmas is a time for giving, so at Ardtornish we're offering you 15% off the normal rental price of all of our properties during the Christmas week. Full details can be found here: www.ardtornish.co.uk/Pages/CHRISTMAS_BREAKS.asp

We also have availability in Craigendarroch 1, Craigendarroch 2 & Castle Cottage for the New Year week, which includes an invite to celebrate Hogmany at a traditional Ceilidh held in the main hall of Ardtornish House, so remember to pack your dancing shoes!

For more information on the Christmas and New Year weeks please contact me by telephone +44 (0) 1967 421 288 or by email: stay@ardtornish.co.uk

Thank you all

Many thanks to all our guests during 2010. We hope all who stayed with us or just passed through had the relaxing, memorable experience that is the hallmark of an Ardtornish holiday.

Unlike many other West Highland holiday businesses, we take bookings throughout the winter – including for Christmas and New Year. Perhaps we’ll see you for your winter getaway.

And the winner is....

We’re happy to announce the winner of this year’s guest survey prize draw - Ian Williamson from Southampton. Ian wins a special Whitehouse hamper filled with sumptuous local goodies.

We’ll run the competition again for 2011, but are going to resume the paper-based surveys left in each property – as many guests seem to prefer it, and we may get a larger response by including all guests, rather than only the person on whose e-mail address we took the booking.

The information gathered is hugely important to us, clearly highlighting areas where we’re meeting expectations, and those where we’re not. Here are the overall 2010 results:

Fly agaric toadstools in Autumn

Ardtornish House across Loch Aline*

Ardtornish House, welcoming at dusk*

Christmas at Ardtornish...
... bring your dancing shoes!

Ardtornish in the Autumn

The Estate in Winter*

The Whitehouse - simple Scottish seafood

Chubby Ives celebrates 90 years

We’re very pleased to see this endorsement of the hard work of our cleaning staff, who do an excellent job under pressure on a Saturday morning. We also received many additional guest comments, which give us more specific details about likes and dislikes. These are all considered as we prepare our winter work schedule – which this year includes:

	• Replacing the sauna unit in the Billiard Room Flat
	• Painting all rooms and upgrading carpets in Achranich Annexe
	• Installing free Wi-Fi in Ardtornish House
	• Improving facilities in the Garden Flat wet room for less able users
	• Offering a lending library to all guests via the Information Centre

2011 Booking information

We’re taking bookings for 2011, and as usual will try our best to match regular guests with their favoured weeks and properties (though as we get busier, it does become ever harder to do). Please book early if you can. Up to date prices and availability will be online within the next week or so. (Only people who are on our mailing list are given access to our exclusive online availability page, please email us if you would like to join the mailing list at: stay@ardtornish.co.uk)

When on the site, you’ll see a growing series of new pictures, commissioned from expert local photographer Ann Weir (who you may have met in the Whitehouse). We’re absolutely delighted with the images she’s produced – and as you’ll see, as well as being a first-rate photographer, she has a wonderful eye for detail.

MacI

Winter Thrushes and Waxwings

Autumn is generally a time of departure: most summer migrants are well away to winter quarters, and the uplands are largely still and devoid of birds. Not so recently. The return of winter thrushes and a huge influx of waxwings have brought teaming and chattering seasonal cheer into Ardtornish birdlife.

The redwings were first to arrive. I see them flitting about in small groups close to the road up the White Glen, or sitting on the wires at Uileann. A mixed group of redwings and fieldfares has been hammering the rowanberries on the lone tree below the houses on the Uileann burn. A large flock of fieldfares, over a hundred strong, have been feeding on the Uladail flats, grubbing about in the short grass in that characteristic hopping fashion thrushes have.

Waxwings were piling in to the country in the last days of October, and spreading west in unusually large numbers. An enquiry from a visitor to the gardens about the lovely bright crested birds swirling excitedly around the berry trees was followed by sightings all down the loch and in the village. To see such large numbers of this stunning bird in the west, and so early in the season, is a marvellous treat for us all.

Alan Kennedy

News from the Whitehouse

We closed at the end of October, but are always happy to open up for a large party or come to you and cater in the comfort of your cottage or flat. Don’t forget our delicious frozen meals for sale in the information centre – which we can leave in your accommodation on your arrival: local fish pie, Ardtornish beef and Kelpie ale stew, and Ardtornish venison casserole with our rowan jelly.

Rachel is busy making her delicious elderberry cordial to put in our hampers – following up on our first venture into the hamper market last Chrismas, which was such a success we’ll repeat it this year.

Please look at our website to see what’s in them. Hoping to hear from you…

Jane Stuart-Smith

Chubby Ives

A great event this autumn was the 90th birthday of Chubby Ives. Chubby has lived here since he was eight years old, and his remarkable memory has allowed us to record exactly who lived in all the houses on Ardtorish estate since the early 1930s.

He began his working life with the Forestry Commission, and then became a shepherd for Ardtornish Farm. He took over the hirsel formerly run by his father-in-law, Donald Cameron, at Old Ardtornish, and then after many years in charge of sheep and cattle, he moved to being gardener and caretaker for Ardtornish House and its grounds. These he improved a great deal, not retiring until he was in his eighties. He continues as a focal point for a huge circle of local and visiting friends in his sitting room at Castle Cottage.

Faith Raven

Footnote

The record of occupancy of Ardtornish houses over the years has been written up in Exploring Morvern, Volume 2, recently published by Morvern Heritage Society – and available for £14.00 including post and packing from Mrs Cruikshank at Shian, Lochaline, Morvern, Argyll, PA80 5XT or from the Ardtornish Estate Office on 01967 421288, or by email: stay@ardtornish.co.uk

Ardtornish Estate Office, Morvern, by Oban, Argyll, Scotland, PA80 5UZ

Tel: +44 (0) 1967 421 288 | Fax: +44 (0) 1967 421 221
Email: stay@ardtornish.co.uk