Tour of Pitfour Estate and Modern Dairy

23 Mar

Tour of Pitfour Estate and Modern Dairy

Tour of some remains and restorations at the once-magnificent Pitfour Estate, Mintlaw, by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Alan Watson and family. This will be followed by a visit to a nearby award-winning modern dairy at Middleton of Rora by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Bruce Mackie.

The Pitfour Estate was purchased in 1700 by James Ferguson of Badifurrow (later the 1st Laird of Pitfour). It was substantially renovated by Ferguson and the following two generations of his family. During the lifetimes of the fifth and sixth lairds the estate was gradually sold off to pay for their extravagant lifestyles. What remained of the estate was sold after the First World War and the mansion house was demolished in 1926 (the stones from the original house went to build council housing in Aberdeen). Recently many of the remaining buildings on the estate have been classified high risk by Historic Environment Scotland due to their deteriorating condition however, the chapel was fully renovated and converted to a private residence in 2003 and the observatory was purchased and restored by Banff & Buchan District Council.

Bruce and Jane Mackie won one of two ‘Distinction Awards’ in the ‘As Built’ category for Sustainable Innovative Development at the Aberdeenshire Design Awards 2016. The new dairy at Middleton of Rora was designed by Douglas Shand of Shand Building Design and the Dutch vet Nico Vreeburg of Vetvice, a cow welfare consultancy famous for their ‘Cowsignals’ methodology.
Fee: £12.00, to include tea. For tickets please contact the National Office

 

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