Short break walking holiday in Scotland, Lairig Ghru

Environment

Our business reflects our personal commitment to sustainability. We run this holiday from our home at Fraoch Lodge which we manage as resourcefully as we are able. A local recycling company picks up all our recycling including plastics.

The back garden supplies almost all our herbs and salad throughout the summer; we also dry our own herbs to keep us going all year round. We produce a large quantity of summer fruits and have converted as much of the garden to edible products as we can. We also supply all our own kindling supplies from the prunings in the garden and from donations by our neighbours. Our garden is managed organically with the help of volunteers on the WWOOF scheme.

The house is heated with a biomass boiler, plus an open fire and log burner. All wood is supplied either from our garden or locally. We encourage squirrels and local birds to visit our garden and have sighted Scottish Crossbills and Crested Tits.

We have designed this holiday to be car free to make this trip sustainable and stimulating.

We are committed to Leave No Trace and the Scottish Code of Outdoor Access.

Community

Our staff all live locally; in fact, most of your team live in house. We have extensive knowledge of the surrounding area and work with the best of all the local suppliers to put together your trip and organise any extensions which may be of interest.

We are members of the local Cairngorms Business Partnership which is a loose association of local businsesses who work together to promote the area.

We have worked extensively with local guides to expand our holidays and offer photography, geology and wildlife specialities.

We are also sponsors of the Cairngorm Snow White project.

We are working with the manager of the local RSPB reserve to put together a business sponsorship scheme so we can put something back into the local area in a tangible way.

Fraoch Lodge is decorated with pictures from our travels and augmented with the work of local artisans including the local pottery and our wood craftsman. Guests are encouraged to purchase any of the works in the Lodge or to visit the artisan themselves.

Landscape

We are committed to exploring and continually developing our knowledge of the Cairngorms. Our main guide and ambassador for the business, Andy, is a mineral engineer whose knowledge of geology and fauna scotica is unmatched and stems from a genuine interest in the world around him.
We incorporate local produce, crafts, sights and stories within our trips to enhance our visitors experience of the landscape they are enjoying.