Category Archives: Farming and Forestry

Wind farm Ballindalloch

Paul’s Hill Wind Farm

Changing times have brought changing attitudes towards conservation and land use. In the 21st Century responsible stewardship of the land demands more than the preservation of the natural landscape. It also requires that we harness the abundant natural resources of the Scottish Highlands in order to combat climate change and generate sustainable energy supplies for future generations. We also believe that adding renewable energy to our portfolio of commercial activities will help us meet the challenge of diversifying and sustaining the rural Speyside economy.

With these goals in mind we went into partnership with Fred Olsen Renewables and in May 2006 Paul’s Hill Wind Farm became operational. Located upon moorlands on the northern edges of the Ballindalloch Estate, Paul’s Hill Wind Farm comprises twenty eight Siemens 2.3 Mega Watt turbines and generates a maximum output of 64.4 Mega Watts of electricity. Power from our wind farm enters the national grid via the Scottish and Southern Energy substation in Moray and provides enough electricity to meet the needs of 35,000 homes annually.

The establishment of a wind farm upon the Ballindalloch Estate has also brought immediate and tangible benefits to the local Speyside community. Paul’s Hill Wind Farm has established a community benefit fund which finances projects that help sustain the local environment, improve local amenities or assist in attracting more tourists to the region. The fund is administered by the Community Council and grants are made yearly.

For more information on Paul’s Hill Wind Farm and the community benefit fund please visit: www.fredolsen-renewables.no

History of Aberdeen Angus at Ballindalloch

Black, hornless, cattle had been grazing the Highlands since the 12th Century. From the 16th Century onwards various types of hornless cattle were being bred in the North East of Scotland. By the late 1700s two local breeds had come to prominence: the old ‘Doddies’ of Angus and the ‘Hummlies’ of Buchan. Both breeds have a strong claim to being forerunners of the Aberdeen Angus.

In the 1820s Aberdeenshire farmer and member of parliament William McCombie, along with (but working separately from) Hugh Watson of Keillor Farm in Angus, through line breeding and selection for type, began producing a breed of cattle noticeable for the quality of its meat and the ease of its rearing.

Their pioneering work was taken up by the 3rd Baronet of Ballindalloch, Sir George Macpherson-Grant, who upon inheriting Ballindalloch Estate, set about the refinement of the breed: a labour of love that was to become his life’s work for almost half-a-century.

Today the Aberdeen Angus is one of the most recognisable and popular beef breeds in the whole world.

Painting taken from from ‘Life’ By Edward Herbert Miner