What could be better than getting out of the office for a couple of days, or a long weekend, and spending it outside in stunning surroundings miles away from the hustle and bustle  of modern day living. Scotland has always had the enviable reputation of having the best salmon fishing, challenging walks and the tastiest larder! Why not do something that little bit different and more memorable than simply a round of golf, or an outing to a rugby international.

Combining a day’s team building with a couple of nights at one of our beautiful sporting lodges and being catered for by their chef using the best local produce would be a talking point at your team meetings for months to come! We can tailor-make a package according to your groups’ requirements.

For example combine a day’s fishing on the River Spey followed by a tutored Malt Whisky Tasting in the comfort of your lodge.  Alternatively try your hand at clay pigeon shooting or a “mock stalk” with your camera out on the hill  to get shots of red deer, black or red grouse, or mountain hares – you might even see a Golden Eagle. Whisky tasting, poetry reading, or you could host your own Mini Highland Games or a cruise on Loch Ness followed by an overnight stay in a Castle! The opportunities and options are limitless. We work with some of Scotland’s top sporting estates, handpicked by us for their excellent reputation, hospitable welcome and experienced staff, to ensure your stay is nothing short of a memorable experience.

There are excellent air links between Stornoway, Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and the London Airports so transporting your team couldn’t easier. We can even assist with organising 4WD hire, chefs and entertainment.

Why not speak to us and talk about an event with a difference.

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Be sure to check locally before you shoot anything which might have a closed season. Shooting is largely restricted on Sundays and Christmas Day.

Shooting

Grouse                         12 Aug – 10 Dec

Partridge                     1 Sept – 1 Feb

Pheasant                     1 Oct – 1 Feb

Ptarmigan                   12 Aug – 10 Dec

Blackgame                  20 Aug – 10 Dec

Common Snipe          12 Aug – 31 Jan

Woodcock                   1 Aug – 31 Jan

Stalking

Red                                         

Stags                            1 July – 20 Oct

Hinds                           21 Oct – 15 Feb

Roe

Buck                             1 Apr – 20 Oct

Doe                               21 Oct – 31 Mar

Fallow

Buck                             1 Sep – 30 Apr

Doe                               21 Oct – 15 Feb

Sika

Stags                             1 Jul – 20 Oct

Hinds                            21 Oct – 15 Feb

Muntjac                      No close season

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The story is based around three successful, but bored friends, in their mid-forties who decide to turn to poaching. They are Sir Edward Leithen, lawyer, Tory Member of Parliament (MP), and ex-Attorney General; John Palliser-Yeates, banker and sportsman; and Charles, Earl of Lamancha, former adventurer and Tory Cabinet Minister. Under the collective name of ‘John Macnab’, they set up in the Highland home of Sir Archie Roylance, a disabled war hero who wishes to be a Conservative MP.

They issue a challenge to three of Roylance’s neighbours: first the Radens, who are an old-established family, about to die out; next, the Bandicotts: an American archaeologist and his son, who are renting a grand estate for the summer; and lastly the Claybodys, vulgar, bekilted nouveaux riches. These neighbours are forewarned that ‘John Macnab’ will poach a salmon or a stag from their land and return it to them undetected. The outcome is that the men’s boredom is dispelled with the assistance of helpers (including a homeless waif, ‘Fish Benjie’ and an athletic journalist, Crossby), and Archie Roylance marries Janet Raden, daughter of the grandee.

The three champions are consummate sportsmen, essential when engaging in enemy territory. Palliser-Yeates is an excellent shot, having stalked nearly every forest in Scotland. Leithen is an artist on the river, and Lamancha no mean shot himself. Leithen’s straight delicate casts and skill with the fly are vindicated as he is the only one of the allies who brings off John Macnab’s dare!

The novel is derived from the real-life derring-do of Captain James Brander Dunbar. In a letter to The Field of 17 November, 1951 he clarified just what had given Buchan the idea. A dearth of shooting invitations and the assertion that he could kill a beast in any forest in Scotland was duly challenged by Lord Abinger. A .303 carbine rifle hidden inside a golf bag was his only attempt at mustering a semblance of stealth. After two blank mornings and on the verge of chucking in he took a six-pointer in the Iverlochy Forest (not quite a match for the Earl of Lamancha’s 13-pointer). He evaded pursuit by crossing the River Spean and carried off the head and neck ready for mounting. Presenting himself at the castle in the afternoon he received a cheque made payable to J. B-D., POACHER. After the book was published Buchan wrote to Brander apologising for failing to get his permission to use the story, but his vim was a great hook for the tale.

Today the competitive spirit outranks boredom as the driving factor for those taking to the hills in pursuit of the accepted modern version of a Macnab. It pits skill and endurance against the clock and unpredictable quarry. Anyone can stand in the line and crumple a stately pheasant, but to take three species in one day requires another type of expertise altogether – and good fortune if a stag, salmon and brace of grouse are to be taken within 24 hours. Perhaps a little less thrilling than Buchan’s original, it’s still a sporting feat that can delight the most jaded sportsman. Many sporting lodges offer the chance to notch up the Highland triple in return for an appropriately serious certificate and sporting satisfaction.

Today a “MacNab” can (legally) be achieved on many of George Goldsmith’s sporting estates … We would heartily encourage everyone to have a go!

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Carnoustie is known as one of the world’s most challenging links courses and this will be the eighth Open Golf Championship to have been held there. The modern game of golf is generally considered to be a Scottish invention and golfing enthusiasts from all over the world will be flocking to Carnoustie this July to see who will lift the famous Claret Jug.

The first documented mention of golf in Scotland appears in a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament, an edict issued by King James II of Scotland prohibiting the playing of the games of “gowf” and football as these were a distraction from archery practice for military purposes. Bans were again imposed in Acts of 1471 and 1491, with golf being described as “an unprofitable sport”. Mary, Queen of Scots, was accused by her political enemies of playing golf, after her second husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was murdered in 1567. George Buchanan subsequently wrote that she had been playing “sports that were clearly unsuitable to women”. Golf was banned again by parliament under King James IV of Scotland, but golf clubs and balls were bought for him in 1502 when he was visiting Perth, and on subsequent occasions when he was in St Andrews and Edinburgh.

The East Coast of Scotland boasts many beautiful houses, of which a select few are available to rent for the Championship. If you would like to secure your accommodation for the Open we would recommend you book as soon as possible.

The beautiful Angus and Perthshire countryside holds some of the most beautiful privately owned lodges and houses in Scotland, some of which will be available through George Goldsmith to rent for the Open.

For those who perhaps would like a day off from the Championships, it is easy to travel directly into the beautiful cities of Edinburgh or St Andrews where you can spend an enjoyable day exploring the historic Old Towns, museums and art galleries, together with many shopping opportunities.

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