!"#$%##&'()$# I honestly have to pinch myself when I open my back door Image: Newburgh beach makes Sarah star jump for joy.!"!!!"#$%&&'#()'*+,"$%"-. 050-055_sf11.indd 50 20/09/2017 17:07:42
"#$#%!&#'( Return of the Mack Diversification is as key to Sarah Mack as it is to her Aberdeenshire home, where the television presenter and journalist is growing her family business!"#$%&sarah MACK '()*+%!ANGUS BLACKBURN Igrew up in Glasgow and admit that I was slightly concerned about the shift to Aberdeenshire and the countryside. I loved growing up in Glasgow, I love the architecture, seeing people and the access to everything that living in the city centre brings. I m just inherently nosey. But Aberdeenshire is really special. It s often overlooked, I think because it s out in the north-east corner and it s not somewhere people travel through to get anywhere, but I honestly have to pinch myself when I open my back door because of the breathtaking view across to Bennachie. When I first moved to Oldmeldrum my husband and I lived in a little cottage on Barra Farm. The Stephens had been tenants on the Barra farm-!!!"#$%&&'#()'*+,"$%"-.!" 050-055_sf11.indd 51 20/09/2017 17:08:02
!"#$%##&'()$#!"#$%&'!($ &)*+!$ &)",-""#(./," Planted in 1935, the maze in Hazlehead Park is Scotlandís oldest. Aberdeen Harbour Board, established in 1136, is Britainí s oldest business. Bram Stoker stayed near Slains Castle in 1895 and it is believed that the building was the inspiration for Dracula. A chair shaped stone in Oldmeldrum is said to be where Robert the Bruce watched the Battle of Barra unfold. There are more than 30 places called Aberdeen throughout the world. There are over 300 castles in Aberdeenshire. Waterloo Bridge and the terraces of the Houses of Parliament are built of granite from Aberdeenshire. Union Street in Aberdeen is named to commemorate the union of Britain and Ireland. In the late 19th century Aberdeen was the British centre for envelope production. The Brig oí Balgownie is Scotlandí s oldest medieval bridge, dating from 1286. It took over 40 years to build. Main Image: Hanging out by the antique petrol pump at Tarves Heritage Centre. Top Right: Enjoying a coffee at Formartineís cafe near Haddo House.Formatives Cafe!"!!!"#$%&&'#()'*+,"$%"-. 050-055_sf11.indd 52 20/09/2017 17:09:16
!"#"$%&"'( land for more than a century. Many estates were forced to sell off pockets of land and farms, so my father-in-law was given the opportunity to buy the castle and farm. We inherited the land and property when he retired, developing our cattle and sheep farm, diversified into soft fruit production. Our most recent projects include renovating the buildings in the grounds of Barra Castle which now accommodate our farm shop, luxury holiday lodges and a very special barn venue for weddings and parties. It s many people s dream to own a castle, but we inherited a house that hadn t been touched for more than a hundred years, so it was fairly decrepit. The Castle is an A-listed building, just like Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle, so as you can imagine there have been speed bumps in the renovation process. It s been a seven-year challenge, but we ve worked with some fantastic local companies. Every builder and tradesman who has been involved has been a local. I really wanted to make a family home, to refresh it and inject some life into it. We have four young boys and here at Barra Castle they have the garden to play in, and the woods and surrounding fields. I consider Aberdeenshire a fantastic place to raise children. Maybe outdoorsy is not the best way to describe us because we re not out rock climbing every weekend, but we are a very active family and so far our children don t have tablets or devices. My husband is very anti the idea. He sends the boys out to go and make dens in the woods or walk up hills. We re so lucky to have fantastic walks on our doorstep, and bike trails and the Cairngorms are not too far away. We spend a great deal of time as a family on Newburgh beach, which tends to be fairly quiet and we often have it to ourselves. We have a couple of farm dogs that we take with us and the kids love jumping around in the dunes. It s a special place for us. We often walk up Barra Hill which is on our farm. There s also an amazing view from the top of Bennachie which is a good walk if you ve not got much time or if you have younger kids with you. It s only an hour up and an hour back down. When you live in the country you always have to travel, but there s a wide variety of places to go in and around Oldmeldrum. We ve got some really great farm shops and good quality cafes. Formartine s cafe, on the boundary of the Haddo Estate, is only about ten minutes away. Over the years working in television I have been lucky enough to criss-cross the country and travel to the various corners of Scotland. It s many people s dream to own a castle, but we inherited a house that hadn t been touched for more than 100 years!!!"#$%&&'#()'*+,"$%"-.!" 050-055_sf11.indd 53 20/09/2017 17:09:41
!"#$%##&'()$# xge Top left: Sarah feeds the lambs with two of her children, Seb and Jamie. Top right: Rolling out the barrel at Glen Garioch Distillery. Above: Sarah with her husband and four sons on a family holiday in New Zealand. Along the way I have met some fascinating and inspiring people and it never ceases to amaze me how people make a living in so many ways, or how people are willing to open their doors and chat to us about their lives on camera. It was a real privilege to meet the people that I have met along the way. I almost fell into journalism as a career. I d love to say that it was something that I d always wanted to do, but I left university with a degree in politics and international relations, and very little idea of what I wanted to do with my life. I travelled for a few years, working my way around the world. When I came back a friend told me that the cable TV company she worked for was looking for trainees. I d done a bit of that sort of thing at university and so I went for it. I got a traineeship, or I made tea and coffee basically, and got into journalism through the back door and I ve learnt things as I ve gone along. I loved university, but I genuinely believe that it s not for everyone. I think we pressurise our children too much to go to college and university and I think, looking back, that I would have been better just to go straight into the workplace. Having married a farmer and worked with highly skilled tradesmen on all our renovation projects, I see the joy they get from doing what they love. On the other side of that I have friends who are behind a desk all day and I think you ve got to find what s right for you, because everyone is different. It s so hard to know at 17 years old what you want to do for the rest of your life and even harder not to just follow the crowd. I didn t have a clue what I wanted to do until!"!!!"#$%&&'#()'*+,"$%"-. 050-055_sf11.indd 54 20/09/2017 17:10:23
!"#"$%&"'(!"#$%!"#$% Sarah and David run the Barn @ Barra Castle, a stunning new wedding venue along with luxury lodges, a farmshop and Barra Berries fruit farm. Barra Castle Oldmeldrum Aberdeenshire AB51 0BB Tel: 07866 491508 www.barracastle. co.uk Fettercairn Distillery and Visitor Centre Tel: 01561 340205 www.whyteand mackay.com Braemar Lodge Tel: 01339 741627 www.braemarlodge. co.uk Deaní s Tel: 01466 792086 www.deans.co.uk Bogside Farm Shop Tel: 01261 821244 www.bogsidefarm shop.co.uk We have some fabulous food and drink producers right here on our doorstep I was 25-years-old and now, twenty years later, I realise that I m forging on with another aspect of my career in business. My husband manages our farm and I manage our wedding venue, lodge accommodation and farm shop. It s been a steep learning curve as I had no previous business experience the first time I opened a spreadsheet I broke out in a cold sweat. My side of the business focuses on delivering high-quality experience to customers. I m constantly researching new ideas to bring to our projects and I think that is reflected in the distinctive style of the lodges. You should see the loos in the barn! I m a great believer in buying local whenever I can so I make it a priority to establish relationships with local suppliers, selling their produce in our shop. I think we were the first place in Britain to use Unique machines from Australia to mix our fruit with locally produced ice cream. People come from far and wide to request their favourite combinations. I am optimistic about Aberdeenshire s future it is having a mini-revival now. For a long time oil and gas was the only show in town, but it s really suffered in the past few years. So now I think there s a real opportunity for the area to push itself in the destination tourism side of things. It doesn t need to reinvent itself, because all of the great things about the area have always been here, we just need to shout about it. In Scotland in general we always struggle to bang our own drum, but I think Aberdeenshire needs to do that now. It has so much to offer, there s so much to do here and we have some of the best food producers in Scotland. It s on the boundary of the Cairngorms National Park and has some great visitor attractions Aberdeenshire has more castles per acre than anywhere else in Britain. It s time to make sure that Aberdeenshire is discovered by tourists and foodies. We have some fabulous food and drink producers right here on our doorstep, people who are really passionate about what they do. We grow all of our berries in poly tunnels, we grow raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. We ve just started to grow asparagus too, so that s a new venture for us. The farm really comes alive during berry season. We have 80 or 90 pickers who come from Poland to pick for us. Most of them come back every year. I d like to think it was just the work that brings them back but I know it s the wonderful countryside too. I have very fond memories of growing up in Glasgow my parents still live in the same house they bought 40 years ago. As a doctor, my father had to be based close to the city hospitals where he worked. Interestingly, when I first met my husband and ended up living on Barra Farm my mum told me that my grandfather was from Aberdeenshire. So, I ve tried to do a bit of tracing my family history and I ve found that a lot of my family lived not far from here. So there is farming and Aberdeenshire in my blood.!!!"#$%&&'#()'*+,"$%"-.!! 050-055_sf11.indd 55 20/09/2017 17:10:47