News and comment from Lands of Loyal Hotel, Alyth and Castleton House

I've generated a QR code.

2011-07-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

This is a bit of a test but here goes

Wow, give your smart phone a glance of this strange black box and see what comes up. Oh yes you have to have an app that can read it first, but you can easily get one FREE from itunes. I have I-nigma but, what is it they say on the BBC, 'other choices are available.'
Its a pretty fancy thingy ma jig.

Charity Open Garden Day - 26th June Scotland's Garden Scheme and Help for Heroes

2011-06-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

12.30 - 3.30pm Come and meet our chefs as they BBQ up 'Something Delicious in a Bun'. Also try our homemade lemonade, local strawberries and cream and of course our own homemade ice creams.

Afternoon tea and Scones 3.30-5pm

Maria Nordgren will be bringing her potters wheel for anyone to have a go, there will also be a Clay Play table for children to try their hand at sculpture. Maria has made some beautiful pots just ready to be bought alongwith a charming little plant from the shop.

Rachel Bower will be demonstrating Willow weaving as she constructs her beautiful wigwam plant climbing frames.

The Alyth Photographic Club will be selling their wonderful photos taken just last week around the Lands of Loyal Garden.

The pet show is open to all, the classes are Clever Trick, Puppy Class (1 year and under), young handlers and of course Best in Show. It is not exclusive to Dogs but please no snakes. In fact just keep it to four legs and fur. Apart from that there really are no rules, so if you have a Gerbil that can do back flips bring it along for the clever trick class because it will for certain beat anything my dog can do. 1.30 - 2.30pm

We are delighted to be entertained by Perthshire Brass, a wonderful local brass band with acolades that list it amoungst the best in Scotland. This was a very popular attraction last year and we are thrilled they are able to come back again. 1-1.30pm and 2.30-3.30pm

All welcome, Free of charge but donations will be asked for. 12.00 - 5pm

Lands of Loyal Garden Open Day

2010-08-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

I am really not good at this Blog thing, I am so behind with it but our Garden Day was too brilliant not to tell you a little bit about it.

It was on Sunday 27th June and for most of the day the sun shone. We'll ignore the tropical thunderstorm from 4pm onwards. The poly tunnel plant shop did a roaring trade with my mother taking charge of the sales, yet never quite mastering the till. Whilst brother Jo took on the financial end of the BBQ, which was aptly named 'Something Delicious in a Bun'. Even though he refused to wear the flowery pinny I had made out of an old curtain specially for the occasion.
Everyone of the staff was involved and the day was a great success, it was well supported by Alyth town and we were delighted to have the Flora and Hortus florist from Kirriemuir and For Art's Sake from Scone also contributing to the activities. The brass band led by George Annan of Pertshire Brass was very well received and really added to the summer garden party atmosphere. Herald Events brought along Capt'n Hogwash who ran an excellent Pirate training camp in the garden, some of the children were so excited about the prospect of going to a proper Pirate school they dressed up for it.

I will be delighted to hold another Garden Open Day next year when we will build on our experience in this our first year and present another great day, come and enjoy it with us, Sunday 26th June 2011. We will be continuing to support both Scotland's Garden Scheme and Help for Heroes with our plant sales throughout the year.

Black Tie Charity Auction and Gala Dinner, Saturday 6th March 2010

2010-02-24T15:44:00.000-08:00

Come to the Ball for our Hall, a Black Tie Charity Auction and Gala Dinner, on Saturday 6th March 2010!

Tickets for this fabulous event, at the stunning Lands of Loyal Hotel cost £50 per person and include, a £20 donation to the charity, champagne reception and the three course dinner
wine, and coffee.

The menu includes a starter of home cured smoked salmon, with prime Angus Beef for a main course, followed by a delectable assiette of lemon tart, cheesecake and sorbet

The luxury tombola and the silent auction take place during the champagne reception whilst the main auction is saved till after dinner. The night is then concluded with wild and flamboyant dancing (just checking you were still reading).

Those who have generously donated prizes include

SIR ALEX FERGUSON ♦ STEPHEN FRY ♦ JOANNA LUMLEY ♦ GLENEAGLES HOTEL ♦ LORRAINE KELLY ♦ SIR ALAN SUGAR ♦ RICKY HATTON ♦ DUNDEE REP THEATRE ♦ ALAN TITCHMARSH ♦ FERN BRITTON ♦ PERTH RACES ♦ SHEILA HANCOCK ♦ THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR SCOTLAND ♦ LEN GOODMAN ♦ THE ROYAL & ANCIENT ♦ CHARLIE TAYLOR HAIR SALON ♦ JACKIE GARDINER ♦ BALLATHIE HOUSE HOTEL ♦ BLUES AND BROWNS ♦ CAIRD HALL ♦ KAREN HARTNELL PET PORTRAITS ♦ ARSENE WENGER ♦ SCOTTISH FIELD

To book your tickets for the event contact the Lands of Loyal on 01828 633151.
http://www.landsofloyal.com/

What is happening in the Eassie, Nevay and Kirkinch areas.
Visit the ENKCA blog pages : http://enkcanews.blogspot.com/
and the ENKCA web site : http://www.eassieandnevay.org/
________________________________________________________________________

Eassie Nevay and Kirkinch Community Association
Scottish registered charity : SCO33791
________________________________________________________________________

Registered office :The Community Hall, Balkeerie, Eassie, Angus. DD8 1SQ
________________________________________________________________________

A private company limited by guarantee.
Incorporated in Scotland. Registered Number SC325383
________________________________________________________________________

Castleton closes as a hotel and restaurant to pursue the private holiday let market

2010-02-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE

WEDNESDAY 3^RD FEBRUARY 2010

Castleton House Hotel becomes simply Castleton House, as it closes its fine dining restaurant and changes direction to focus on the private holiday let market. With a sad loss of 17 local jobs.

The small 6 bedroom country house hotel has for the last 10 years received many accolades rewarding fine cuisine and excellent service, but this has not been enough to enable the hotel and restaurant to survive in the current economic climate. In recent times, prices and special offers have improved interest but ultimately with mounting costs and overheads, the profit margins have squeezed to nothing and David and Verity Webster, after years of personal commitment have reluctantly reached the sorry conclusion to close the business they have lovingly fought to build up.

Castleton was the first restaurant in Angus to hold 3AA rosettes for fine cuisine but this was simply not enough to regularly fill its 30 seater conservatory restaurant and with only 6 bedrooms it often found itself too small to suit shooting and golfing parties.

The hotel will trade in its full capacity until at least 15^th February, giving friends and regulars the opportunity to enjoy the Castleton restaurant for the last time and for the staff to, in their words, ‘go out on a high’.

A personal statement from David and Verity Webster:

It is with great sadness and regret that we have had to start redundancy proceedings. It will affect all members of staff as the company of Castleton House Hotel Ltd closes its doors. We sincerely cherish the kind lovely people who daily have put their heart and soul into the hotel. We will personally miss them deeply. Where possible we will offer them new employment at the Lands of Loyal Hotel in Alyth or the Raemoir House Hotel Banchory, and perhaps, as Castleton takes on its new life in the Private country house letting market, we can find fresh vacancies for them here. Everyone leave us with the highest recommendations and we would urge any local employers to make quick and generous offers to them as they are all with out doubt exceptional assets to any business.

Our grateful thanks to all our guests and we hope to see you all before the 15^th February, and thereafter at the Lands of Loyal where we will be redoubling our efforts and anticipate an excellent year.

Don't stay in this Hogmanay, This one is special there is blue moon in the sky.

2009-12-28T06:53:00.000-08:00

In reality it is not likely to look quite as this picture would have you believe. I think it has had a wave of a photoshop wand, but since I didn't take it I cant say for certain. I found it here, http://gizmodo.com/5435190/.

My point is that this Hogmanay night, Thursday 31st December our night sky will be lit by a Blue Moon. This is the second blue moon in a month and since a lunar month is 28 days and our calendar month is only a few more they are rare enough, but to occur on the last day of the year is a coincidence not likely to happen again for another 20 years. So don't stay indoors, come out for the night. Enjoy the company of friends, a fine dinner, dancing and piping and celebrate this auspicious night.

Both Lands of Loyal Hotel in Alyth (01828 633151) and the Raemoir House Hotel in Banchory (01330 824884) are open and have a few places left. So don't delay give us a call and make a rare night of it.
Happy New Year
and best wishes
David and Verity Webster

Christmas Decorating at Lands of Loyal

2009-11-27T12:27:00.000-08:00

Well done to these fine people here for decorating the massive 22ft tree at the Lands of Loyal today. It is quite magnificent and more pictures will follow here. But to see it for real, why not come up to the hotel on Tuesday 1st December 3-6pm for a complimentary drink and Christmas Canapes. David and I will be there, along with various members of staff, and we are looking forward to meeting you and sharing some Christmas cheer. All the hotel decorations will be up by then and are pretty confident you will love them. Bring the children as we will have a little Santa dip for them.
Hopefully see you Tuesday.
Verityx

Meet your local hotelier

2009-11-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

We recently hosted the Glamis Senior Citizen Friendship Group to an afternoon of tea and bed bouncing, but reaped much more than we ever expected. We rekindled local support for both Castleton and Lands of Loyal from a very discerning and insightful group of local ladies. Before the cooking demonstration we invited the Ladies to inspect and probe all nooks and crannies of the bedrooms even to pinch the bathroom free bees, (but they didn't). We were quite happy to face the consequences of their findings and this set the tone for the rest of the afternoon, it was open, honest and friendly and altogether an experience that hoteliers should put themselves up for, more often.

So it was, with this new found determination to boldly invite criticism, in whatever form it came, that the ladies tucked in to their tea and scones. Only it wasn't criticism that came my way, it was in fact a fascination for hotelkeeping. It is a dispiriting fact that that only after a hotelier has met every mental, emotional and physical challenge imaginable, someone will say that its a profession any fool could do. The ladies however were kind and sympathetic to the daily tribulations at Castleton and the Lands of Loyal. They wanted to know about the people we serve, the staff we employ the suppliers we use and of course the accidents and mishaps. Everybody likes the mishaps, such as pigs escaping whilst a wedding party enjoy drinks on the lawn or Sharon Stone having lunch without anyone realising it. Then there are the public dramas that everyone else has in the privacy of their own home, such as radiators bursting and bats flying in through bedroom windows.

But no one aspect can cause a hotelier to lose more sleep than the staff they employ and I was delighted to share some insight of the agonies as well as the joys of employing people. I am the first to admit that across our three hotels we have had some dark moments and I wish I could say they were all behind us. But unfortunately about the only prediction I dare make about this varied and wonderful career is that we will, despite our best efforts to avoid it, be let down at some point again. And all I would ask is, if it is you, is please show us some of the sympathy and understanding that the Glamis Village friendship group showed me the afternoon they visited Castleton.

Blairgowrie and East Perthshire Tourist Association

2009-08-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

I was recently invited to take the last place on a committee of a local tourist association representing Blairgowrie and East Perthshire. I can not deny that I was honoured to be asked but I have had my fingers burned in the past with committees and did not want to revisit that particular hell. Their efficiency depends entirely on who else is at the table, and especially who is at the top of it. Egos and chatterboxes are strictly not welcome.

Some wise man said; to vote, a committee should be an odd number, but three is really too many.

So it was with some apprehension that I took my seat. BEPTA (Blairgowrie and East Perthshire Tourist Association) is actually a rare committee. One of hardworking professional and committed people. We all have experience of tourism in different ways, so the whole spectrum is evenly represented. The offices are held by people who weren't crow barred into it and everyone keeps the focus of the area and membership in mind. This is the committee for me. I actually want to be there and do my bit.

The membership is well beyond 100 and ever growing; as the new girl I would like to earn my place by drawing in 3 new members a month until the end of the year. With rates that vary between £30 and £55 a year depending on the size of business, it is well worth it.

Activities of BEPTA include attendance at top level trade shows, advertising in various publications, promotions both local and UK wide and representation on local council projects. Places that are just simply unrealistic for small operations.

There are plenty of marketing gimmicks out there making wild promises and charging 10 times as much. Some of them may even persuade you, I know I have fallen for some myself but BEPTA is £35 we spent wisely.

If anyone would be interested in learning more, please get in touch, I would strongly recommend it to anyone involved in tourism however slightly, in the Tayside area.

2009-08-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

I have been told that I should start a blog. So here it is.
I hope for everyone's sake I find it easier to navigate than facebook. I will post something more interesting soon, but for now I shall just leave these few underwhelming sentences.

For anyone who may read this up, trust me my posts will get more interesting.
Surely not! I hear you exclaim.

best wishes
Verity