Scots Magazine Features Loch Earn Tourist Villages and Personalities

It was my great pleasure to accompany D C Thomson & Co Ltd  journalist Garry Fraser on a tour of the four villages around Loch Earn in July on behalf of The Loch Earn Tourism Initiative (LETI) of which I am a member.  Garry Fraser was considering material for a story in The Scots Magazine.

August edition of The Scots Magazine

LETI members support each other in looking after visitors and in  promoting local  events, services, private tours, Perthshire holiday accommodation and places to eat and drink via website www.robroycountry.com .  I drove Garry around Loch Earn to the picturesque villages of St Fillans, Strathyre, Balquhidder and Lochearnhead visiting many points of interest and covering local stories and folklore. We visited St Fillans Golf Club (Sandy Lyle's favourite inland golf course), the entrance to majestic Munro Ben Vorlich from Ardvorlich House,  Edinample Falls and bridge beside Edinample Castle, Glen Ample (where Diana Rigg once lived with SAS founder David Stirling's brother Archie),  Balquhidder Kirk which houses stories of famous visitors including Queen Victoria and William and Dorothy Wordsworth and where Rob Roy MacGregor is buried,  Sula Soft Furnishings new workshop,  The Lochearnhead Hotel and The Lochearnhead Water Sports Centre.  We discussed ancient pine forests, the drove roads, fairy stories, the close knit community, wild camping, The Highland Games, the annual sheep shearing event and The Black Face Sheep trophy,   The Villagers newspaper, The Lochearnhead Water Sports Centre, fishing, history of the first person to water ski on Loch Earn, local Munro's, ospreys on Loch Earn and so much more.  The result was a four page feature in the August edition of the magazine with a quote from yours truly and a photo of Fraser and me in front of Briar Holiday Cottages.    Garry returned to interview local personalities including Loch Earn's resident sea plane flying instructor and The president of The BLS Highland Games. This time a seven page feature was published in the September issue. The front cover is a fantastic photo of the local red sea plane taking off at the water sports centre. The shot was taken by local photographer Alistair Barclay of Alba Virtual Tours.



September issue of The Scots Magazine



 A two page teaser view of the September issue can be seen on the Scots Magazine website. 

 

I have been very impressed with the quality of articles and the people that are interviewed for The Scots Magazine. I am about to order three 2013 calendars for relatives in Canada and America and am now planning a subscription for a family member for Christmas.  

NB: For a self catering holiday cottage on Loch Earn for Christmas or New Year visit www.stayatbriar.co.uk .


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Lochearnhead Photographer's Virtual Cottage Images To Represent Scotland

Looking to luxury cottage Briar Steading via the garden on Loch Earn

Photographer Alistair Barclay of Alba Virtual Tours in Lochearnhead has been selected to represent virtual tour images of self catering holiday accommodation in Scotland by The Virtual Cottage Company on its new website.  Alistair has chosen his 360 degree virtual tour of luxury Briar Steading cottage overlooking Loch Earn to showcase his work. Promoting a directory of self catering properties in the UK that uses 360 degree virtual tour technology; The Virtual Cottage Company's new website aims to help holiday makers match properties with their wish list.  Richard and Julie Scutt who are behind the innovative website believe that virtual tours offer everyone an opportunuity to view a property as if they were present. Guests no longer have to be surprised by the layout and setting of their holiday accommodation on arrival.

Briar Steading owner Kim Proven says "I have taken many photographs of the holiday cottages and the grounds around Loch Earn  They are available to view on various websites including Flickr, Picasa, Google Maps and Facebook. Guests are very complimentary about my amateur snaps however I would love to stitch them all together to show the bigger picture.  Alba Virtual Tours 360 degree images are the answer for me. A virtual tour may not allow you to smell the fresh air and hear the birds or the sea plane landing in front of the garden but it does concentrate your mind on the important detail in your list of essential and desirable features and benefits when booking self catering accommodation.  It's a great idea to search a directory of virtual tour accommodation in one spot. I am delighted with Alistair Barclays work and I also wish  The Virtual Cottage Company all the best with its new website."

Alistair Barclay of Alba Virtual Tours offers a range of standard and specialist photography services within the tourism industry.  Services include virtual tours, panoramic and ariel photography and floor plans for  hotels, self catering holiday cottages, bed and breakfasts and other accommodation businesses in Scotland.