Sunday, July 15, 2012

Mingling with the Royals - past


The current Mar Lodge, five miles west of Braemar in the Cairngorms, started life in 1895 when Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of her grand-daughter Prince Louise’s summer hunting lodge.

Renovated in the 1990s following a fire, the pink-coloured granite building originally hosted the extended Royal family for summer fishing, shooting and hunting, up to the second world war. Post-war, inheritance tax took its toll and the lodge passed through numerous private owners until the National Trust for Scotland, (NTS) purchased the estate.

We occupied one of five holiday apartments, a contrast to the simplicity of the croft who’s total floorspace probably equalled the apartment living room! The four poster bed looked small in the massive bedroom whose windows overlooked the lodge’s drive. From humble crofters to Laird in the course of a couple of days, the toil of subsistence living and the clearances replaced by Victoria summer pastimes of the Royals and rich.

Victorian artifacts, stuffed animals and countless deer heads adorned the corridors, making evenings meanders around the house a spooky affair. Only on our last day did we discover that the locked door in our bedroom was through to the Princess’ boudoir which we were able to visit along with the dining room, living room, library, and billiards room used by the Princess and her guests.

As featured on BBC Countryfile earlier this year (after we’d booked our stay), the NTS management approach has proved controversial, preferring to cull deer in order to redevelop the ancient pine forests that were removed by commercial and military logging over the past century. One of the benefits of being a managed estate is that we were able to spend time with the estate’s ecologist, learning more of their approach and some of their work with the local wildlife and raptors.

The estate offers lots of opportunities for walk to suit everyone, regardless of age or ability. Time allowed us two longer walks during our stay, both taking in open heather-covered moorland that was yet to bloom.  Our first was on a beautiful day, warm enough for shirt sleeves. The heavily eroded Falls of Quoich were spectacular and a great place for a coffee break. Coffee the next day was taken while sheltering under the only group of trees on rain-driven moorland after walking through one of the sparse forests that NTS are seeking to re-establish. The main curiosity of the day was a number of dwarf telegraph poles that seemed to serve no purpose. Despite being short enough for us shorties to be able to touch the top, the poles included the footsteps normally associated with the top of regular height poles. A secondary curiosity were the tallest styles we’ve ever seen, required to assist walkers to get over anti-deer fences.

More to follow – “Mingling with the Royals – present”.