Barwhillanty Blog… Festive reflections

The festive season is upon us again and the wet weather brings an opportunity for reflection on another year gone by. Let me mull over some highlights and happenings with a glass of mulled wine…

Here at Barwhillanty Estate, we are blessed with a team that shares our values of sustainability, community and responsibility, whilst striving to be progressive in our practices. We were honoured to be featured on the renowned French television show, Echappées Belles, to speak about our roles as custodians of the land here in beautiful South West Scotland and show them the what we do and how we do it differently, respecting tradition whilst embracing innovation.

Watch the full episode here.

From our farming perspective, we are proud to see our lamb reaching the shelves of high end supermarkets, thanks to Tim, our farm manager. We are also proud to be supplying our fine quality venison to Thwaites; the family brewing and hospitality business, forming part of the story and connection to Barwhillanty Estate; the original home to Daniel Thwaites. So if you are not already holidaying here in Dumfries and Galloway, take a look at some of the fabulous Thwaites inns and hotels all over the UK and give the venison a try!

We are pleased to have hosted several gundog training days over the past year, leading up to Open Gundog Championships that took place earlier this month. It was wonderful to see such a crowd and display of excellent gundog handling. Thanks to David, our gamekeeper, for organising such successful events.

This year we also completed a biodiversity audit and are delighted to see our land management reflecting a mosaic of habitats, supporting great diversity of wildlife. We are passionate about conservation and it is reassuring to see that our practices align with the sustainability of an array of species. We are always looking at more ways to improve our practices and are currently looking into the impact of soil structure on farming and producing high nutrient value produce. A fascinating field (to fork!).

Fortuitously, the sun was shining on us for both our wellness events this year; Radiance festival and The Retreat. Radiance is our celebration of nature with the opening of the gardens, alongside yoga taster sessions. It was wonderful to see so many of you with us, enjoying some artisan wood fired pizzas in the Walled Garden. The Retreat welcomed a wonderful group from further afield to experience a weekend of nurture, nature and nourishment. We truly loved opening our hearts and our home to those that came and hope there was plenty of memorable magic.

Preparations are in place for more to come, with the creation of a unique venue in our Walled Garden to entice you into a calendar of exciting, bespoke events here at Barwhillanty Estate. Watch this space as our vision unfolds… meantime, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!