Conference Tours
Coastal Angus Tour
The Coastal Angus Tour will visit three innovative agritourism businesses located next to the seaside with stunning views of the sea and beaches.
CHARLETON FARM
Hosts – Graeme and Lisa McColl
Agritourism
Charleton Farm welcomes 250,000 visitors each year. The agritourism offering includes a farm café, wedding venue, experiences, seasonal events and a children’s play area. Charleton farm was part of large estate that was owned by the Carnegie family and the restaurant is now situated within the original stable block, build in 1820.
Farm
Charleton Farm consists of 100 acres growing a mixture of soft and top fruit, (strawberries, raspberries, tayberries, golden raspberries, red & black currants, gooseberries, rhubarb, brambles, blueberries, apples, pears, plums, cherries, pumpkins, asparagus & Christmas trees). Graeme, Lisa and family took over the business in 2021 with no prior farming experience, it has been a massive learning journey. Kune Kune pigs are reared for meat sold through the restaurant and shop and the farm also has hens, Highland Cows and goats.
Graeme and Lisa are members of the Core Community Group for Scotland’s Agritourism Monitor Farms Programme and they are also both the Angus Destination Leaders for Scottish Agritourism.
LUNAN BAY FARM
Hosts – Jillian and Neil McEwan
Agritourism
Lunan Bay Farm opened to visitors in 2023, offers farm tours and experiences. The signature offering is a guided ‘Scottish Cashmere Farm to Fibre’ experience, where visitors meet cashmere goats, learn about the cashmere process, and enjoy a beachside setting at Angus’ jewel in the crown, Lunan Bay. An annual ‘Goats in Coats’ event at Easter, featuring over 100 goats in hand knitted jumpers by the local community, welcomes thousands of visitors. The business also has a farm retail offering.
Farming Operation
Lunan Bay Farm is a 600-acre regenerative coastal farm located on the east coast of Scotland between Montrose and Arbroath in the region of Angus. The farm is the UK’s only cashmere goat breeding farm with 150 cashmere goats on site. Jillian works in partnership with luxury cashmere manufacturers, Johnstons of Elgin, to pioneer regenerative Scottish Cashmere, a world first. The farm’s grazing systems and field rotations are designed to sequester carbon and increase biodiversity while producing high-quality fibre. Jillian and Neil have been farming here since 2016.
Photo Credit: Alun Callander for Country Living Magazine
ARBIKIE
Hosts – The Stirling Family
Agritourism
The Arbikie Distillery was founded in 2014, combining traditional farming with modern distillation and sustainability practices. The Agritourism offering includes tours, tastings, a café and accommodation.
Established on the Stirling family’s estate in Angus, Scotland, the business has quickly gained international acclaim for its sustainable, field-to-bottle spirits. With approximately 14,000 visitors annually, the distillery has become a popular destination thanks to its immersive visitor experiences and scenic coastal setting. Arbikie’s spirits are now enjoyed globally, with distribution expanding across multiple continents. The distillery has earned numerous accolades, including Single Estate of the Year at the Icons of Whisky Awards, and receiving international recognition for its pioneering climate-positive gin, Nàdar.
Farm
At a commercial scale, the farm cultivates barley, wheat, rye, potatoes, peas, and oilseed rape - with the first five also serving as key ingredients in the distillery. The farm extends to 1800 acres. Additionally, a variety of vegetables for the on-site café and botanicals used to flavour the field-to-bottle gins are grown. Distillation by-products are repurposed as natural fertilisers and cattle feed, contributing to a circular farming model.The Stirling family has farmed the land at Lunan Bay since the 1920s, with farming roots going back over seven generations.
