With endless opportunities for walking, fishing, golfing, dining and discovering the past, Fochabers is a source of endless delight to Zara Gordon-Lennox, owner with her husband Angus of the Gordon Castle Estate.
“The north-east of Scotland is such a hidden gem, there’s a lot to offer here,” she says.
Walking
If you join the Speyside Way at Fochabers and head north, you’re on your way to the glorious Moray coastline.
Zara says: “There are wonderful coastal walks and lovely beaches all around this area, whether you go west to Lossiemouth and Hopeman or east towards Cullen and Sandend, you’re spoilt for choice really as to which beach you can get to.
“They’re all amazing seaside villages with plenty to offer.”
She also loves the Winding Walks near Fochabers, forest trails surrounding a
gully carved out by a burn.
“The original versions were laid out in the 19th century by the Duke and Duchess of Richmond and Gordon, and the trail leads up Whiteash Hill to the Duchess’s Cairn, a big stone pyramid at the top.”
“The ascent takes me about 35 minutes,” she says.
Fishing
Zara grew up in Wales and has fished since childhood.
The sport is also bound up in her romance with her husband Angus.
She was invited to Gordon Castle Estate as a teenager, as the two families were friends, and she caught her first salmon on that trip, on the River Spey.
“We’ve now had such fun teaching our children, and hopefully teaching our grandchildren,” she said.
“One of my absolute joys is going fishing on a lovely warm summer’s
evening – the tug is the drug!”
Gordon Castle puts up to 24 rods a day on the river in the season, making salmon-fishing a major boost to the local economy.
Heritage
In an area rich in history, Zara particularly loves the Gordon Chapel on Castle Street, Fochabers.
It was built around 1834 by the fifth Duke and Duchess of Gordon, and is home to a set of stained glass windows by pre-Raphaelite painter and designer Edward Burne-Jones, best known for his collaboration with renowned designer William Morris.
Zara says: “It’s a really fine example of his work and something people probably don’t know if they just pick up a tourist map.”
She also recommends Fochabers Folk Museum and Heritage Centre on the High Street.
It includes much on her husband’s ancestors and displays an eclectic range of objects from the area’s past.
“I love the Milne’s schoolroom, set up to celebrate Fochabers native Alexander Milne (1742-1838), founder of Milne’s Free School,” Zara says.
“He made his fortune in America, having emigrated to New Orleans in 1776 after serving as a footman to the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, and never forgot his home town.”
Food and drink
Zara loves the local produce on offer including the seafood from local fisheries.
She can’t resist Fochabers Ice Cream Parlour, where seasonal offers currently include flavours such as “snowman” and “minter wonderland”.
Speyside’s Malt Whisky Trail encompasses several working distilleries, including the Glenlivet and Glenfiddich.
“Then of course there are also renowned food businesses like Walker’s Shortbread and Baxters just a stone’s throw away,” she says.
Gordon Castle’s Walled Garden
Zara’s pet project for the past ten years is Gordon Castle’s Walled Garden, recently named Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Scottish Partner Garden of the Year, after a public vote.
It’s one of the oldest and largest kitchen gardens in Britain, and Zara has spear-headed work to turn it from a grass field to a thriving, productive garden showcasing fruit, vegetables, flowers, and herbs, and attracting wildlife including red squirrels, pollinators, and birds.
Zara is thrilled by the RHS honour, “a huge testimonial to our very small gardening team and volunteers for the hard work they’ve put in”.
She added: “We hope all our Walled Garden visitors are inspired by something they see here.”
Gordon Castle also offers holiday accommodation and weddings, makes its own gin and hosts its own Highland Games every May, attracting up to 10,000 visitors.
Golf
Zara points out another hidden gem in the area, the historic Spey Bay Golf Course designed by Ben Sawyers in 1907.
It’s recently undergone a renovation to turn the traditional links into a fully reversible, 18-hole championship layout.
Zara occasionally picks up a club, as do her family.
“We’re blessed in Scotland with so many golf courses, and it’s nice to have such a good local one,” she says.
Conversation