Managing to injure my nose by falling over a chair in the dark and then trying to enjoy another wet sporting day whilst also exploring my estate and all of its features. We then went back to the hotel where we met Alan Brooks in the bar and talked about developing the White Loch for sporting use.
Then we drove as far as Edinburgh and booked into a Thistle Hotel for the night causing some consternation by taking the guns upstairs
We had booked an early morning call at 6.00am so as to get out for some shooting at dawn. The problem was that, in this large country-house hotel bedroom, I had to scramble across the room in the dark to cancel the ringing telephone and succeeded in tripping over the chair and falling on my nose! I was therefore hopping around the room, clinging to my bleeding nose which was a rather painful start to the day. The next scramble was to find some dry clothes as much of what I was wearing was still soaking wet from yesterday.
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Nigel had contributed to the melee by leaving his Range Rover sun roof open overnight and allowing the inside of the car to get soaked. of course the rain was pouring down again, but we arrived at Thormaid and we were not to be put off by the weather. The same route across the estate as yesterday and we found grouse few and far between and those that we saw were out of range. I then managed to sink right beyond the top of my boots into the DuLochan System and was getting very wet and cold when we had a last walk along the roads to look at the other areas. I skirted Thormaid Loch and walked along to the Fairy Glen and Nigel went back down the road to collect his Range Rover and meet me there.
On the way he bagged another grouse at long range and was very pleased with this even though he had to chase it through the trees to catch it as it had only been winged! We walked along the top of the Fairy Glen gorge but could not put anything up and so I just had some target practice before we packed up. Nigel was impressed with the planted land beyond the Fairy Glen and towards the north of the property and thought that worthy of attention on another occasion. The forester had reminded us of the Gaelic Folk Tale of the Fairy Glen.
A wicked witch had got the fairies to dig the glen in order to drain the Thormaid and Saorach Lochs as there was a pot of gold in it that she promised to share with them. When she found it, she tried to double cross them and took the gold for herself. However, they chased her through the glen and down to a point to the north of the Broubster Estate (now joined into it by the landowner of that part of Broubster having acquired the land) where they turned her into stone.
There is now supposed to be the standing stone still there with the gold within it. All good stuff. back to the hotel where we got changed and dried off in time to meet Alan Brooks in the bar for our scheduled noon meeting. Nigel and I discussed our sporting plans with Alan and suggested a fee of around £3,000 for a gamekeeping plan to provide a sluice for the lake, to get the two boats maintained and the fishing improved, then to site 2/3 hides by Lake Thormaid for goose shooting and to manage the rides and unplanted areas for grouse by cutting them for the new shoots to grow and save the grouse for a shooting expedition in the first week of October 1992.
We also discussed pheasants and the problems of keeping them on the property and heard his suggestion that we get some post-pen-laying birds for release as mature birds. They would come with their wings clipped and then might rear another brood on Thormaid. It all sounded very promising and, after lunch, we packed up and set off for home as it was still raining. This afternoon, we drove as far as Edinburgh and booked into a Thistle Hotel for the night causing some consternation at taking the guns upstairs and into Nigel's room! Some drinks in the bar and then to sleep.