Fun in the snow at GT!

Glen Tanar is open with lot’s of fun to be had in the deep snow. Over the weekend there were many people out on the Estate cross country skiing. Here are a few snap shots of skiing and of the Trout Loch.

Venison Festival

From the 26th to the 31st of October chefs, venues and estates across Royal Deeside and The Cairngorms will be toasting the Monarch of the Glen from hillside to plate at the inaugural Royal Deeside Larder Venison Festival.

Here at Glen Tanar on Tuesday the 26th of October we are holding a Wild Life Safari which will include a tour around the Estate looking for Red Deer in their habitat and learning more about the beautiful animals. A BBQ lunch will be provided by Liz Peck of Liz’s Larder and this will be served at a remote bothy at the bottom of Mount Keen.

This event costs £40 per person and runs between 11am to 2pm. To book a space please contact us by telephone on (013398) 86451 or email us at info@glentanar.co.uk

Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels

To celebrate Red Squirrel Week, a national week dedicated to everything red and squirrelly which runs from Saturday 2nd to Sunday 10th of October 2010, Glen Tanar charitable Trust Ranger Service will be hosting a Red Squirrel fun day on Sunday 10th October, in partnership with the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS) project team.

Come along to chat with the SSRS project team and learn about squirrels and how this project is working hard to try and protect them.

There will be an information stall at the Braeloine Visitor Centre and red squirrels woodland walks throughout the day starting at 10.30am, as well as fun activities and the chance for the kids to meet Mr Squirrel, a giant red squirrel who likes nothing more than a big cuddle.

Venison Recipes from Liz’s Larder

Liz from Liz’s Larder has kindly given me a couple of her delicious recipes for Venison to put up here so that you can all try and enjoy.

Norwegian Venison
Serves 6 people

225ml (8fl oz) wine vinegar
225ml (8fl oz) water

1kg (2.2lb) Venison cut into 5cm (2inch) cubes
Seasoned flour
2 medium carrots sliced
1/2 head of celery sliced
2 medium onions sliced
40g (1.5oz) butter
600ml (1 pint) strong ale
225ml (8fl oz) sour cream
1 tbs dill chopped

Marinade the meat for at least 2 hours in the vinegar and water. Drain, dry and dust with the seasoned flour.
Melt the butter in a large casserole pan and toss in the sliced vegetables and coat with the butter.
Preheat the oven to 180c or gas 4.
Put the floured meat into the casserole with the vegetables and add the ale.
Cook covered for about 1 hour. Strain the juices into a clean pan and reduce if necessary. Mix in the soured cream, pour over the meat and cover for a further hour.
Sprinkle with dill and serve.

Venison Tagine with Dates
Serves 6 people

1kg (2lb 4oz) Venison haunch or shoulder boned or cubed
30g (1oz) butter
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
55g (2oz) chopped dried dates
Good pinch of saffron threads
2 tbs honey
2 tbs lemon juice
200g (7oz) fresh or dessert dates pitted
15g (0.5oz) butter extra
40g (1.5oz) slivered almonds

In a large pan melt the butter and gently cook the onion until softened. Add the ginger, cinnamon and black pepper, stir for 1 minute.
Increase the heat to high, add the venison and stir until the colour of the meat changes. Reduce the heat; add 375ml (13fl oz) water, the chopped dates & saffron.
Add 1 tsp of salt. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent the sauce sticking as the dates cook down to a puree.
Stir in the honey and lemon juice and adjust the seasoning. Put the pitted dates on top, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the dates are plump.

Melt the extra butter in a small frying pan and add the almonds and brown slightly, stirring often. Tip onto a plate to prevent over browning.

Remove the whole dates from the top of the venison, set them aside with the almonds. Ladle the meat onto serving dishes and scatter with the dates and almonds to serve.

We hope you try and enjoy these recipes and please feel free to let us know your thoughts.

Aboyne Academy Pupils Get Lesson in Countryside Conservation

The new S6 pupils from Aboyne Academy have been finding out more about the importance of conservation with a little help from us here at Glen Tanar. The pupils spent two days here on Thursday 10th & Friday 11th June.

During their visit, the pupils learnt about the estate, and the activities that the team here at Glen Tanar undertake to maintain and preserve the important wildlife, rivers and landscapes. The pupils participated in a day of team building activities during which they restored two Victorian wells, thus helping to conserve the cultural heritage. They also undertook important natural heritage work, maintaining native tree plantings.

Mr Maio, deputy rector of Aboyne Academy says, “This was a great experience for the pupils. As well as educating them about the importance of conservation and the diverse range of wildlife and endangered species that is on their doorstep, they all had a great day working together and learning more about team skills through various activities.”

Eric Baird, head ranger here at Glen Tanar Estate, says, “We get many school visits to the estate, which we are happy to support and actively encourage as it allows us to increase the awareness of the important work that takes place on the estate.”

A Dog’s Day Out At Glen Tanar

On Saturday 1st of May Glen Tanar hosted A Dog’s Day Out. This was a day for members of the public to come along with their dogs to learn more about where and what we can or cannot do in the countryside with our pets.

Fran Pothecary, Outdoor Access Officer for the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Pam Patterson, Dog Trainer were running the day alongside Eric Baird & Mike Martin, Rangers at Glen Tanar.

The day started with a small test for all attendees to find out their knowledge of the do’s and dont’s in the countryside. After this we had a discussion with Pam which then moved outside with our dogs for some basic dog obedience. It was then back indoors for some more group discussions which took us up to lunch time. Lunch was served by Liz Peck of Liz’s Larder and the lovely soup was enjoyed by all on the wet, windy day.

After lunch we were joined by Paddy Wright who is a Farmer from Ballater. He came with us and our dogs on a walk on the Estate and pointed out things that from a Farmer’s point of view, we the public may miss or not pay attention to. Examples of this is climbing over electric fences to get access into a field that may appear empty when actually once you get over a wee hump in the hill you are met by several angry cattle with young ones.

As members of the public we should respect peoples land and the animals that they have grazing on it and not enter fields especially when there are young animals around. This could certainly end up with the loss of not just your dog’s life but yours too.
Have a look at the Scottish Outdoor Access code for more information.

Glen Tanar Walking to Health Group

Glen Tanar Ranger Service would like to invite anyone to come along and take part in walking to health on the Estate.  This will be taking place every Friday starting from Friday the 9th of April 2010.

A minibus will be picking people up from the Health centre in Aboyne at 09.30, the chemist at 09.35 and the Boat Inn at 09.40.  The bus will then take you to Glen Tanar where you will be met by the Ranger Service.

The walk will take no longer than 1 hour and afterwards you will be taken back to Aboyne to enjoy a cup of tea and a chat back at the Boat.

for further information please contact Alan Melrose on 013398 80081.

Tanar Tigers & Bear

“While Glen Tanar is a lovely place to relax and enjoy the countryside its also a working estate and one of the things we are always keen to do is to educate people on how the estate’s ecology and economy work together.  To do this end we recently held an event for children from Aboyne Primary School which was all about deer management.  This event was designed to show why deer are managed, what value they bring and what impacts they can have as well as enjoying deer for the fabulous animals they are.  Kids played games to simulate stalking and to find out about the resources deer need to thrive.  In the spirit of Jamie Oliver we looked at deer as food, what they look like inside and how we butcher a carcase.  Most children are very open to this once you have got past a few understandable “ughs!”  One wee lad came up to me later and confided gleefully “I just touched some lungs!”  “Good on ya” I said.

However when you dress up 72 children as Environmental  Health Inspectors and get them to examine carcases you can hardly expect to sell the same carcases afterwards.  It’s a shame to throw away good food so we decided to be more creative.  The Polar Bear, Mercedes at the Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig is the only one in the UK and she is one of Scotland’s treasures.  She also has a liking for venison.  I had visions of a blog entry featuring a photo of Mercedes eating Glen Tanar venison under the headline “I know I have had a hard winter but this is ridiculous”.  However when the meat arrived she left her huge open enclosure and retired behind bars to enjoy her meal.  It didn’t make for a good photo at all but as you can see the Amur Tigers were much more obliging.”

Colin McClean, Wildlife Manager

Glen Tanar Flies High

Glen Tanar is flying high in the sky at the moment in the Eastern Airways Inflight Magazine.

Last September we had Tom Boden staying with us on a press trip to see what Glen Tanar offers  in a range of activities and accommodation.  He took part in a Bushcraft & survival training course while he was here and the article that he has published you will be able to see below.

1st Big Salmon caught on Glen Tanar Beat

The first big Salmon of the season was caught on Saturday 6th of March on one of Glen Tanar’s beats, Waterside & Ferrar.

The beautiful Salmon weighed 25lb and was caught by Crawford Mallean alongside Ghillie Davey Goodfellow.

We hope that this will be the start of a very good season.