Conference Tours
Royal Deeside Tour
Tour three farms with diverse agritourism enterprises in an area that captivated Queen Victoria and where the River Dee runs into the heart of the Grampian Mountains.
FINZEAN ESTATE
Hosts – The Farquharson Family
Agritourism
Finzean Estate in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire has been in the Farquharson family for over 400 years. Sustainability, community and nature are at the heart of this family managed estate.
The well-known Scottish artist Joseph Farquharson (1846 – 1935) was laird (landowner) at Finzean and many of his paintings are of the stunning Finzean landscape. The estate is located in the beautiful Feugh valley. The waters of the Feugh are a tributary to the River Dee.
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Finzean Farm Shop & Tearoom was established in 2006, as a diversification project to sell direct to the customer. The Estate produces both game and beef as well as other local artisan products. Wild venison is culled, butchered and sold directly through the Farm Shop.
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The Estate also has two traditional holiday cottages located by Finzean House and a recent new build modern ‘little house on the prairie’ style holiday cabin at Tillyfruskie Farm.
Farm
The estate covers 10,000 acres and comprises of 3,500 acres moorland, 3,000 acres forestry and 3,500 acres farmland.
Finzean has some of Scotland’s most easterly native Caledonian Scots pine wood. Decades of conservation has enabled the regeneration of this ancient woodland and precious wildlife.
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The in-hand farm comprises of 160 home bred suckler cows and 160 acres spring barley. The farm is part of the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme.
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There are seven tenant farmers on the estate with a long historical association with farming in Finzean.
LOUISE'S FARM KITCHEN
Hosts - Louise and Ahren Urquhart
Agritourism
Louise’s Farm Kitchen started off as a hog roast for a birthday celebration in 2015 and quickly turned into producing meat boxes for family and friends. 10 years later the farm retail business comprises an on- farm butchery, farm shop and café. The business is on track to put 160 pigs, 80 lambs and 20 cattle through the butchery this year. They also offer a butchery service to other farmers selling meat direct to consumers.
Pop up events are held on the farm and mobile catering services includes hog roasts and BBQs at a range of events throughout Scotland.
Louise and Ahren have recently taken over running a farm café and farm shop at another agritourism business, Deeside Adventure Park, whose premises are closer to a main road than their own farm.
Farm
‘The Milton’ is the home farm and base of operations; it is a family owned block of 130ha. An all-grass farm, it is a green gem in the heart of Deeside, Aberdeenshire. Sitting at approx. 175m with a rainfall of around 840mm with a southern view, it suits the all stockoperation.
8 miles away a further block of 156 ha is rented. 53ha forms the base of summer grazing for the cattle and the remaining 103 ha is a mix of bracken, birch and SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) land.
The main stocking of the farm is a 100 strong herd of Angus cattle and a closed flock of 550 Logie X ewes, lambing outdoor in April.
Beef and lamb production is complemented by pigs – which began the whole butchery enterprise. The farm keeps 12 sows and finishes an increasing number of pigs each year. Pigsare kept on the rougher corners of the farm and help to clear and improve certain areas.
There is also a small batch of 50 egg laying hens and chickens raised for meat through the summer.
COWDEN FARM HOLIDAYS
Hosts – Liz and Clive Phillips
Agritourism
Cowden Farm Holidays is an agritourism accommodation business offering visitors a relaxing family holiday near the seaside in south Aberdeenshire.
Owners Liz and Clive Phillips opened Cowden in 2020, a renovated farm house that can welcome up to eight guests. Liz looks after Cowden Farmhouse while Clive is one of Scotland’s leading agricultural lawyers. Both run the farming enterprise along with their children Calum and Pippa.
Liz has a background in set design and has brought her creative flair to Cowden Farmhouse with the interior design being a talking point of any guest’s stay. The extensive garden has been designed to offer a fun family space and Liz sets up a treasure hunt for visitors as part of Cowden experience.
Farm
Cowden Farm has 750 breeding ewes, annually producing over 1200 lambs in April, reared for Scotch Lamb. Calum has been shearing sheep since he was a young boy (like his father did) and from this, has set up his own shearing business, offering services to other farmers in Scotland.
Clive and Liz first met through their mutual interest in Icelandic horses and have both worked in Iceland and competed at Icelandic Horse world championships. Although they find little time for riding these days, they still have a herd of horses living adjacent to Cowden, which guests enjoy seeing over the fence from the farmhouse.
