A Highland Hill Farm

Faichemard Farm is situated midway along the Great Glen just northwest of the small village of Invergarry in the Highlands of Scotland.  The farm looks out at one of the many mountains of the area – Ben Tee – and looks westward along Glengarry from its easternmost end. Members of the Grant family have farmed the land at Faichemard since before the mid 19th century.  The farm consists of about 20 acres of arable fields, 30 acres of winter grazed land, much of which is a campsite through the summer months, 20 acres of young naturally regenerating woodland in which are situated three self-catering chalets and about 30 acres of mature regenerating Scots pine, birch (and other natives) forest. Also grazed are about 700 acres of hill ground (heather covered moor land).

The Name

The Gaelic name Faichemard is most commonly interpreted as meaning “The High Green Meadow” and having very fertile and ground over the the hilly fields supports this translation.  Some very old earth dykes running along the top of the fields are evidence that this area of land has been cultivated for a long time.

Diversification

The Farm diversified in 1935 when Alistair Grant opened the campsite by mowing some of the flatter parts of the grazing land and putting up a sign at the side of the main road.  The campsite was developed over the years by Alistair and his wife Nan as well as the beautiful gardens around about their house and of course the farm itself. In the 1970s Alistair and his son Duncan built the self-catering chalets that are located in the young woodland to the northwest of the farm.  These chalets are well spread out and out of sight of each other yet share a similar view looking west along Glen Garry.  After Duncan took over running the campsite, both he and Joan made many improvements to the pitchs, building a new toilet and shower block, Adding Electric Hook Ups to 12 of the pitches and turning a boggy area into a picturesque pond.  A lot of their work landscaping, pruning and planting in sympathy with the existing area has kept the campsite an idyllic location.  In 2007 Duncan began construction of a small hydro electric power generation scheme.

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