News from the field

Image courtesy of ORganic Rapeseed oil

Rural Britain is a wonderful assortment of farms, estates, hamlets, villages, forests and moors, lochs and valleys. Our stunning scenery, close communities and wonderful rural businesses provide an idyllic lifestyle for many, but rural life can also throw up some pretty unique challenges.

The Rural Scene (the Scene & Herd rural blog and news updates) looks at what’s new, what’s relevant, what’s tasty, what’s fun and what’s challenging about life in the Great British Countryside. We offer an insider insight into rural Britain, highlighting some of the exceptional people, businesses and innovations we believe that everybody should know about.

May 2022

Hello! We hope this finds you well and enjoying some good weather. Rain or shine, the Scene & Herd team are all outdoor enthusiasts and share their tips on making the most of your time out of doors: Anna likes to pack a backpack with a picnic blanket (we love these recycled wool blankets), some local produce and a pair of binoculars.‍Monty suggests combining a work phone call with a walk in the fresh air. The Scene & Herd team are always happy to arrange walking meetings to discuss any aspect of marketing or PR for your rural business. Sarah is a fan of Slow Ways, an initiative to create a national network of walking routes connecting all of Great Britain’s towns and cities as well as thousands of villages.

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OnFARM Podcast: Go Rural from Glasgow

Our latest 'Days Out On Your Doorstep', takes in farm visitor experiences within easy reach of Glasgow, with Go Rural Scotland. Go Rural encourage people in Scotland’s towns and cities to get out into nearby countryside for farm experiences, short breaks, and food and drink days out. This time, Leeanne Coyle visits Kilmacolm Farm Tours, the Round House at Craigmaddie Muir, Errington Cheese, and Forth's Wee Farm Distillery. These attractions and many more can be found at goruralscotland.com

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Caledonian Auction Raises Over £70k for Ukraine

The auction, held simultaneously online and live at the Caledonian Mart, included a host of exciting unique and exciting lots donated by businesses and individuals from throughout Scotland. Lots on offer included everything from livestock to holidays, machinery to memorabilia.“We were delighted with the support our auction received,” commented John Kyle, MD of Caledonian Marts Ltd.“When all was toted up, from sales and generous donations, we have a fantastic total of £70,064 to donate to UNICEF and via the Central Plains Group in Ukraine.”

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Ally Leaves The Cally

‍Alastair “Ally” Logan retired recently after 44 years at Caledonian Marts, Stirling.“I joined the navy straight from school, but after getting sea-sick on Loch Lomond in the first few weeks, I quickly decided a land-based career was more my thing.” Ally commented, “I started with the Cally as a 17-year-old trainee and here I am, 44 years later hanging up the gavel!”“We have had hard times – BSE, Foot & Mouth and the dreaded Covid - and good times over the years, but I have honestly loved almost every minute of it.”“When I was learning the ropes, I started off selling furniture, then moved on to calves and then cast sheep and then was let loose.”

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How much do you have?

Self-confidence. Some have it, some don’t and some of us are somewhere in between. We’ve all heard of Imposter Syndrome and we all know someone with far too much confidence – so how do we find that middle ground where we have the confidence to forge ahead with our goals and ambitions, all the time making sure that we aren’t being thought of as arrogant or rude?

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