At this very moment there’s a natural film set waiting for a survivalist movie – just off the A83 at Crarae Garden on the shores of Loch Fyne in Mid Argyll.

Existing cheek by howl with the teasing, dramatic yet tranquil beauty that has made this garden’s name as a Himalayan gorge delight right here in Argyll, is a very different world, full of powerful forces, destruction and an unexpected beauty of its own.

Crarae, reopened recently for the 2012 visitor season, is still dealing with the scale of the consequences of the gales on the 3rd January.

Following the loss of some 30 trees in the lesser December gales, Head Gardener Nigel Price found a scene of unimaginable and chaotic devastation near the northeastern boundary of the garden after the January gales.

The winds were the cause of the power outage that saw that saw much of Argyll cold and dark at the turn of the year for around 60 hours – with Islay even worse off than that.

Crarae has another direct link with that stormy time.

Access to the cable that had dropped the power was uphill through the garden – on the path across which lay many of the 200 trees Mr Price discovered downed in the winds.

The Scottish Hydro engineers, unable to take a van or even a quad bike up the path, had to physically carry every single thing they needed up the hill to the damage site – and not only that, they had to get it all up and over or around an endless array of fallen trees. Nigel Price speaks of the work they did with an awed respect.

That path is now cleared, of course, with the chopped-off end of trunks hard on each side of the path and massive root plates creating the barriers, chasms and defiles of a world of secrecy and potential menace.

You can’t take your eyes off it – although Nigel Price would be very glad to be able to do so. We were free to catch our breath and reach for the camera. He has to get it sorted.

There is money in much of the fallen timber – but getting it out will be so difficult and cause so much physical disruption that it will probably take all it has earned to see to the restitution afterwards.

But much of this is part of the business of looking after any major garden. Nature does not run on set tracks but can take off in unexpected directions. It’s a case of looking at the positives. They are always there.

The 200-odd trees taken down in the January gales are to be replaced by a fabulous redwood forest – which none of us will see in its maturity but will be quite splendid.

Some individual tress that blew over elsewhere in the garden have let a blaze of light into dark areas, with new glimpses for visitors and growth potential for new plants.

Walking through the garden now, you run the gamut of experience, all of it unforgettable. As always, you need to look for the detail, the moments where there is a fusion of the two beauties, one born from care, the other from destruction. By the stump of a fallen eucalyptus are some bluebells and a curl of new bracken softening the cut.

You take in the drama of the momentous energies that reshaped where they struck; and you exhale with the brilliance of the flowering shrubs, the sound of the burn, the birdsong – and the secret paths vanishing out of sight and promising whatever you imagine…

Any great garden has a skyscape and here your eyes follow the endless vertical trunk of a Californian Grand Fir that a 14 year old Sir George Campbell planted or are intrigued by a twisting trunk that has been created by wind torsion.

Every so often you get glimpses of the loch below and some expansive calming scenes of rolling fields and grazing sheep.

You may see a splendid rhododendron with some of its foliage looking on the droopy side. This is another of the challenges Crarae is currently confronting – the transmission of Sudden Oak Death disease (Phytophthora Ramorum) – which does not affect British oaks but absolutely does for the rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and magnolias that abound in Crarae.

This is a notifiable plant disease and those diagnosed to be afflicted by it must be felled and burned where they lie  -  along with the gathering up of any fallen leaves in the vicinity.

There are two types of Phytophthora ramorum. They differ in the degree of speed they travel. Fortunately Crarae has the slowmo – but they’re on guard for the first trace of the more virulent sibling.

Who’d be a gardener? There’s another little plague sculling around. This is the nasty little ‘Scale Insect’ disease which sees the tiny blighters consume leaves leaving a sticky honey excretion on the stems and branches. This attracts a sooty black fungus making plants suffering from it look for all the world as if they’ve got charring damage.

The plants will probably survive this attack but Nigel Price takes proprietorial offence at the dusty blackness that mars their vitality.

There is development as well, to lift the spirits of the gardening team. A group of volunteers have recently cleared an old drovers’ road running through Crarae, probably from the southern parts of Loch Aweside through to link up with the drovers’ road through Brenchoille near Auchindrain.

Clearing the area around this brought another discovery – a secret pond protected by a wrought iron gate, fed by an uphill well channelled into it. This pond prison once housed a single trout. The fish seems to have had a ritual totemic status, with the flourishing of the area thought to depend upon it.

Climate change will bring associated changes to Crarae – as it will to other west coast and Scotland-wide gardens.

Part of the far forest garden here is likely to host reserve collections for gardens in the south of England facing persistent drought and unable to perpetuate their signature plants.

It’s all change – adaptation, improvisation, opportunism, recovery, redirection – gardens have always been a metaphor for life.

They may look confident, fixed. But it’s all go – evolution by the day.

Crarae garden is open daily, even when, in early and late parts of the season, its visitor centre and shop are not. At the moment, all visitors are asked to step into a disinfectant tray on the garden side of the visitor centre, as they enter and leave it. This helps to limit the two-way transmission of the plant diseases that can wreck havoc in a place like this.

Since the storm on January 3rd which, in the space of just a few minutes resulted in 200 to 300 trees being blown down, staff, contractors and volunteers have been working hard to make the affected areas safe.

The final safety barriers have been removed today.

And this is the tine of the year when Crarae is at its best.

Begun more than 100 years ago on the south facing slope of a promontory separating Asknish Bay from Loch Melfort, this remarkable hidden paradise is  influenced by the North Atlantic Drift and grows a wide variety of plants from the four corners of the globe.

Internationally known for the rhododendron species collection, the garden also features magnolias, camellias, azaleas and many other wonderful trees and shrubs, many of which are tender and not often seen. A broad selection of perennials, bulbs, ferns and water plants ensure a year-long season of interest.

Beside Arduaine is the fabulous Loch Melfort Hotel, with its food, its welcome and its vistas over the loch making the overall experience of a visit to Arduaine pretty irresistible.

The Ardentinny Community Trust, which campaigned for and completed the purchase from the Forestry Commission on behalf of the community, is running the celebration cum consultation from the Village Hall between 14.00 and 17,00 on Saturday – with tours of the garden.

Local support for the enterprise has been very strong and local fundraising was augmented with funding won from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the BIG Lottery’s Awards for All scheme and the EU’s LEADER.

The Garden is to be restored as a community asset, providing organic produce as well as opportunities for leisure, educational and arts and crafts initiatives.

Set in commanding countryside near Ardentinny, beside Loch Long and overlooking Coulport at the northern end of the Rosneath peninsula opposite, the walled garden stands in the grounds of the former residence of the Douglas (Campbell) Clan. It was established in 1845 to provide vegetables, flowers and fruit (including peaches) for the new and wealthy owners of the Estate.

Notably, its east wall  is curved  an almost unique feature with only one other garden known of in the UK with anything similar.

With home baking in the hall and a walk around the garden, this celebration sounds like one to join – and everyone interested is very welcome to do so.

The story of an expert plant hunter based in the Argyll and the Isles, who helps expand the knowledge and understanding of some of the world’s most beautiful plants and how they came to Scotland is showcased in a new series of online soundslides for the National Trust for Scotland.

Gardener Nigel Price, who is based at Crarae Garden near Inveraray, has travelled to China to increase his knowledge and tells the fascinating story of the troubles that other plant hunters have encountered in bringing new plant species to Scotland. He also shares his extensive knowledge of the many species of rhododendron which can be found at the Argyll garden.

Nigel’s is one of 20 stories featured in the Trust’s Scotland’s Stories project.

Scotland’s Stories created soundslides to tell the story of the diversity of the skills of the people needed to tend the places in the care of the National Trust for Scotland and their passion for their vital work to conserve and promote our heritage.

Chief Executive Kate Mavor says: ‘The Trust is uniquely placed in Scotland – it’s the only conservation charity which is responsible for looking after the whole panoply of our heritage – built, natural and cultural. Through Scotland’s Stories we hope to give an insight into the vast array of skills and experience that is needed to look after the special places and items in our care. All of this goes on day in, day out and often un-noticed behind the scenes.

‘We wanted to pull back the curtain on the world of conservation and shine a light on the talent and dedication of the passionate people who keep Argyll’s heritage alive for future generations.’

The soundslides were created by Interpretaction, a Black Isle-based heritage interpretation consultancy which works throughout the UK and in Europe.  It brought together an expert team combining exceptional photography with high-quality audio-recording and film-making.

Director Verity Walker says: ‘This story is quite deliberately called The Plant Hunter’s Tale rather than The Gardener’s.  Hearing about early plant-hunters and their gory ordeals from Nigel Price had the team mesmerised from the outset, and although the day was very wet, the light and water add to the magic through our photographer Mike Bolam’s beautiful images.’

Join in

You can upload you own stories about Trust properties, your visits and experiences there at this dedicated Scotland’s Stories Facebook page.

Scotland’s Stories

Scotland’s Stories includes 20 soundslides all filmed onsite at a Trust property. The full list of ‘tales’ you will find on the website is:

• The Plant Hunter’s Tale (Crarae Garden, by Inveraray)
• The Archaeologist’s Tale (Bannockburn, Stirling)
• The Bard’s Tale (Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Alloway)
• The Campers’ Tale (Culzean Castle and Country Park, Ayrshire)
• The Clockman’s Tale (Ken Chapelle’s workshop, Glasgow)
• Crofters (Balmacara Estate, Wester Ross)
• The Ecologist’s Tale (Glencoe, Lochaber)
• The Family’s Tale (House of the Binns, Linlithgow)
• The Fungi Hunter’s Tale (Mar Lodge Estate)
• Haunted Houses (Crathes Castle, Estate and Garden by Banchory, Culzean Castle and Country Park, Ayrshire, Crathes Castle, Garden and Estate, and Newhailes, Musselburgh)
• The Housekeeper’s Tale (The Georgian House, Edinburgh)
• The Jacobite Road (Killiecrankie, Perthshire, Culloden Battlefield, Inverness-shire, Glencoe, Lochaber & Glenfinnan, Lochaber)
• The Marine Ranger’s Tale (St Abb’s Head, Berwickshire)
• The Miller’s Tale (Barry Mill, Carnoustie)
• The Printer’s Tale (Robert Smail’s Printing Works, Innerleithen)
• The Property Manager’s Tale (The Hermitage, Perthshire)
• The Stonemason’s Tale (Culzean Castle and Country Park, Ayrshire)
• The Soldier’s Tale (Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre, by Inverness)
• The Volunteer’s Tale (Ben Lomond, Drymen)
• The Weaver’s Tale (Weaver’s Cottage, Kilbarchan)
• The Making of Scotland’s Stories (Interpretaction team insights)

Soundslides are a new story-telling approach through a series of images and a spoken sound-track taken from on-site recordings, without a narrator. They provide individual insights which are not only visually sumptuous but through narrative and sound effects aim capture a sense of place and purpose.

The resulting public fury at such a derogation of responsibility led to upheavals in the management of the Trust and the continuation in operation of Arduaine, with private support recruited by the Friends of Arduaine.

Now the lovely garden is under threat of a different kind for a different source – a new outbreak of the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum – popularly known as Sudden oak Death.

The Forestry Commission, with a Notice under Article 31(4) of the Plant Health (Forestry) Order 2005, has confirmed that the pathogen has been found among the garden’s larch trees.

The Order requires that all infected larch trees must be killed or felled as soon as infection is apparent. All other larch trees must be killed or felled by January 2014.

The first sod of Arduaine Garden was turned in 1898. The garden was gifted to the National Trust for Scotland by brothers Edmund and Harry Wright in 1992.

P. ramorum had previously been present in the garden at a low level in the shrub plantings and the Trust had been working with the Scottish Government over a number of years to control it.  Unfortunately, despite these efforts, the fungus-like pathogen has now extended its range of host plants to include the garden’s larch trees.

However, the Trust is at pains to point out that, although the problem is difficult and expensive to deal with, the future of the garden is not threatened.

Ann Steele, the Trust’s Gardens & Designed Landscapes Adviser, says: ‘P. ramorum is a threat of national proportions to forestry, estates, parkland and gardens and has been in the UK since at least 2002.  It has been working its way up the west of the country since then, where the warmer, wetter climate – increasingly evident in recent years – suits it best.

‘In 2009 it was noticed to be affecting large numbers of larch trees in the South West of England.  The disease knows no boundaries and is thought to be spread primarily either through extreme weather events or the transfer of infected plant material.

‘As responsible landowners, we will comply with the Forestry Commission’s guidance and take remedial action to remove any trees suspected of infection.  The good news is that any felling and transport of timber to an approved mill can be done outwith the busy high season for visitors.’

Maurice Wilkins, Head Gardener and Property Manager at Arduaine, says: ‘In the short term and certainly in the coming spring and summer seasons, visitors are not likely to see any change, but will be encouraged to follow any guidance posted at the entrance.

‘The nature of P. ramorum is such that visitors are highly unlikely to be responsible for transferring the pathogen’s spores elsewhere and can rest assured that they can continue enjoying this beautiful and unique garden.

‘Despite the difficulties, there are opportunities.  Arduaine is a plant-collector’s garden and has evolved over the last century as new varieties were brought there from all over the world.  In carrying on this tradition, we can bring forward new planting regimes that should be less susceptible to P. ramorum and better adapted to the climate changes we are experiencing.

‘Indeed, we can use our experiences at Arduaine in order to pass on the lessons we learn to visitors and other landowners and gardeners.’

The Trust’s gardens team will, in the short-term, explore the options to carry out the Forestry Commission’s Notice.

In the longer-term, Maurice Wilkins will lead on the development of a ‘vision’ for Arduaine Garden, which will set out objectives and planting regimes 20 years hence.

The expected cost of remedial works to the Trust may be as much as £500k and staff are anxious that this episode serves as a warning and wake-up call to other landowners and Scottish and UK government agencies.

Ann Steele says: ‘We need to raise awareness of the threat posed by pathogens like P. ramorum and similar species such as P. kernoviae.

‘We are being responsible and doing the right thing – but how many other sites are out there where nothing is being done and spores are being released to infect other locations?

‘Control measures must be applied consistently on a national basis and cannot be left to individuals and charities like us to sort out – government must look seriously at mechanisms for co-ordination and funding support.’

An article titles ‘Sitting Pretty’ and looking at the context of each garden, says that the five named gardens are: ‘… wilder woodland gardens set in dramatic surroundings,offering walkers a good stomp or serving as jumping off points for walks in the hills around’.

It says of top choice, Ardkinglas: ‘Towering conifers and lush exotics thrive on Argyll’s damp conditions at this woodland garden, part of’ the Ardkinglas Estate  at the northern tip of Loch Fyne. The lower garden is home to some impressive champion trees  -the tallest of their kind in Britain. Several circular walking routes meander among the plantings, while beyond its southern end lies a network of paths exploring the rest of the estate policies and woodlands with views over Loch Fyne. For a more strenuous hike, a number of paths head up into Glen Fyne form the nearby walkers’ car park at the head of the loch, a little along the A83 towards Inveraray. This is also the starting point for bagging the 948m Beinn Bhuidhe.’

Of Benmore, second on the stop five list, the article says: ‘Set in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, this hillside outpost of the royal Botanic garden in Edinburgh, is undoubtedly located in spectacular walking territory. With its mountainside setting and over 7 miles of meandering hillside paths to explore, the garden itself gives plenty pf scope for a satisfying stomp with super views of the surrounding hills. It also serves as a jumping off point for longer hikes up Glan Massan and the 741m Graham, Beinn Mhor. Along with its magnificent avenue of 150 year old redwoods, Benmore’s wilder plantings offer slices of montane forest from around the world, including the Himalayas, Chile and Tasmania. To best appreciate its renowned collection of rhododendrons in bloom, visit in Spring and early Summer.’

In the list, published this morning (21st March 2012) it says: ‘Inveraray’s gardens are a vault of horticultural history’ – not perhaps the most apt metaphor one might wish for but the meaning is clear, as the specific expectations this recognition arouses.

More than 4th on the list, Inveraray Castle Gardens is the only Scottish garden in this top ten. He nearest to this serious pleasure of Argyll and the Isles is Alnwick Gardens in Northumberland, which starred as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.

Jane Young, member of the Inveraray marketing group, IMaGe, has worked tirelessly along with the gardening staff at the Castle and the Duke and Duchess of Argyll to open the formal garden as part of the Inveraray Castle experience. This listing by The Independent as one to see underlines just what they have achieved.

Argyll and the Isles are richly resourced in celebrated gardens open to visitors – including:

• Ardkinglas Woodland Garden and Benmore Botanic Gardens in Cowal;
• Arduaine, Crarae, Inveraray Castle and Kilmory Woodland Park gardens in Mid Argyll;
• Ardencraig, Ascog Hall and Mount Stuart Gardens on the Isle of Bute
• Achamore Gardens on the inshore Isle of Gigha in Kintyre;
• An Cala and Ardmaddy Gardens on and near the Isle of Seil
• Angus Garden in Taynuilt in Lorn
• Ardchattan Priory Garden on Loch Etive and Kinlochlaich House Gardens, both  in North Lorn
• Colonsay House Gardens on the Isle of Colonsay
• Geilston Garden in Cardross and Glenarm Garden in Helensburgh, in the southeasternmost part of the mainland territory
• Torosay Castle Gardens and Lip na Cloiche Gardens on Mull. (A reader has told us  – below – that Lip na Cloiche has featured in many magazines, including that of the Royal Horticultural Society; and was included on the Guardian’s Reader’s Tips page here on the Isle of Mull.)
• Ardtornish Garden in Morvern, a short ferry ride from Fishnish on the Isle of Mull over to Lochaline in Morvern.

With daffodils and primroses already brightening the landscape and the glorious rhododendron season on the near horizon, this is the best time of the year to get out into Argyll and the Isles’ outdoor treasures.

We have been given to understand that, contrary to assurances given by the new owner, Jura House Gardens iare not to reopen to visitors. If true – and we are inquiring on the validity of this story, it would have a serious negative impact on this beautiful island’s fragile visitor economy.

Landowners from elsewhere, as is the case here, sometimes take time to realise that their rights carry wider responsibilities in places like Scotland’s islands and remote communities.

The next big event at Inveraray Castle gardens is the Easter Eggstravaganza – a treasure hunt for tiny Pirates and Princesses on Sunday 8th April at 2.00pm.  The event features the innovative Walking Theatre Company – there are prizes for the most swashbucklingly dressed Pirate and the most beautiful tiara worn by a Princess.

On its southern approaches, in the Great Moss – a National Nature Reserve since 1987, is Dunadd Fort, where the early Kings of Scotland were crowned, with Kenneth McAlpin generally held to be the one who forged modern Scotland in bringing together the clan alliances necessary to form the beginnings of a state.

Kilmartin Glen not only stands as primary important evidence of the pre-history of Scotland and the UK, it has a political significance that makes this part of Argyll and the Isles not only the heart of Argyll but the birthplace of the Scotland we know.

At the top of the hill in the north west of the glen, in the village of Kilmartin on the A816 between Oban and Lochgilphead is the public interface to Kilmartin Glen – the award winning Kilmartin House Museum, another of the shed load of gems in Argyll and the Isles.

The museum, with its gallery, cafe/restaurant and shop opened again on 1st March – with Spring in its step and with new additions to the always popular menu for 2012.

With seasonal change already here and folk thinking of what to plant in their gardens, the Museum is organising some events to support this annual activity.

There’s a Seed Swap in the Café today. This is an exchange for people with spare  commercial or saved seeds – there will be information on heritage varieties and on seed saving and if there’s enough interest,a Seed Saving Group may be formed.

Anyone with no seed to bring can make a donation and share what’s available.

Seed should be brought in packets labelled with the variety and either the date collected or the ‘sow by’ date.

Then on Wednesday – 7th March – Stan Phillips is taking an immediately attractive session from 19.00 to 20.15 on the Bryophytes of Argyll’s Ravines.

Argyll and the Isles has a series of little and infrequently visited ravines that are one of the richest sources in the world for mosses and liverworts, whose mass and structure is itself beautiful. People coming to this free session will have the opportunity to look at the bryophytes under a microscope.

Stan Phillips says: ‘I don’t think many people head up these ravines but they are fascinating biodiverse worlds of their own.’

Details

• The Museum is open from 1.00 to 17:30.
• The Cafe is open from 10.00 to 17.00.
• The restaurant is open on Saturday evenings for dinner from 18.00 to 21.00.

Phone 01546 510278 for all queries, information and dinner bookings.

Tomorrow (1st March 2012), at the spectacular Portavadie Marina, Argyll and the Isles Strategic Tourism Partnership is hosting a tourism summit which marks the industry strategy for the area genuinely gearing up for the peaks.

For the first time, all of the necessary elements have been engineered, levered into alignment and the rocket is ready to carry Argyll and the Isles where it fully deserves to be – out there and up there.

There will be a major announcement tomorrow which will fuel the engine but let’s look at what is now ready to lift off.

The name

Argyll and the Isles: well – fantastic. At last we can be secure in a brand we can all buy into with hearts and minds, wherever we are. ‘Argyll and the Isles’ is accurate, inclusive, defined, mellifluous to the ear and carries the romance that is the reality of the place.

The buy in

All twenty eight of our local marketing groups are strapped in to their seats and are contributing to the initiative financially. That is one massive first. It also testifies to how widely and how far this initiative is felt to be ‘the special one’ – an appropriate note on the day Jose Mourinho has materialised in London – at Chelsea FC.

And many will be delighted to know that seven out of the eight Islay single malt whisky distilleries are on board.

The corporate structure

This is designed to cover the options from the outset:

• Argyll and The Isles Strategic Tourism Partnership (AISTP) is a group of Industry and public sector people who have given up their own time to develop a long term strategy for Argyll and the Isles Tourism. Its Chair is the Provost of Argyll and Bute, Councillor Billy Patrie; and its Vice Chair and Communications Director is Mike Story.
• Argyll and The Isles Tourism Coop Ltd. (AIT).  This is a new company now being set up setting up to receive funding and deliver the actions required to develop tourism. It is a cooperative company, because it must belong to the members of the 28 marketing groups. The company will have no outside shareholders and Directors will be elected from members of the various marketing groups. AISTP will continue to act as the strategy group.

The funding

There is a very welcome announcement on this to come at the summit tomorrow, from Malcolm Roughead, CEO of VisitScotland and it will identify a range of contributors supporting this exciting and well managed initiative. They include VisitScotland, Leader, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Argyll and Bute Council and the 28 local marketing groups in Argyll and the Isles.

The partnerships

AISTP is working closely with the Rural Tourism wing of Scottish Land and Estates and with Food From Argyll and Argyll Food Producers. Ferry operators Caledonian MacBrayne and Kintyre Express are also partnering AISTP and will be active at tomorrow’s Summit (see below) These combined linkages are a potent and symbiotic fabric for tourism in Argyll and the Isles.

The marketing plan

This is based around the notion of The Argyll Journey – a water corridor with mainland on one side and islands on the other, a place of endless potential relationships between places where anyone can shape their own route through it by any guiding principle they like  – history, sailing, golf, cycling, food, diving, wildlife, lighthouses, angling, lochs, music, gardens, half marathons – and as for photographers, anywhere goes.

Local information and local ‘ownership’

This is another first and a highly important win – local marketing groups will provide the local information and the local itineraries. At last, we will be in a position to see the honestly bewildering riches of Argyll given a chance to break the surface.

You have to know this place deeply to be able to speak for it properly and the marketing plan that Argyll and the Isles Strategic Tourism Partnership now have in place is built on that understanding. It’s the secrets as well as the topliners that create the texture to carry this massy area – so near Glasgow – to national and international consciousness.

And speaking of topliners – think about the wealth of cultural heritage:

• 60 medieval castles
• 19 of them within an hour of Oban
• the birthplace of modern Scotland – at Dunadd in Kilmartin Glen
• the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland – at Iona
• the second most important archaeological cluster in the UK – at Kilmartin Glen
• the seat of the Lords of the Isles – at Finlaggan on Islay
• the planned towns and villages like Helensburgh, Bowmore, Inveraray

Eco-policy and food provenance

The branding will foreground this wealth of assets and experience and add an aspirational, across the board eco-policy, linking with the Green Business company.

There is a symbiosis between this and the quality local food promotions from Food From Argyll, Argyll Food Produicers and LORN (Local Origins Rural Network). Argyll’s food – from source to table – is now a strong selling point in a world where local provenance is of prime interest.

At this point – and yes, it sits oddly with a tourism focus but square on with the provenance of our food – we have to mention abattoirs. Argyll has two. On the islands. Mull and Islay. The Islay one is mothballed. The Mull one is struggling. Farmers are having to pay the costs of transport of livestock to remote abattoirs, stressing the animals, churning out avoidable carbon emissions and weakening the vital chain of food provenance.

If food providers – of source materials, bistros and fine dining – can say that meat is reared locally, fed locally, roams freely and is humanely killed locally, that is a double win on cost reduction and enhanced marketability. There is a research paper, with recommendations that the Scottish Government recognise these island facilities ‘as critical parts of the rural infrastructure rather than as failing rural businesses’. It was published a month ago, in January 2012 and has been written by Fergus Younger of the  Argyll Agricultural Forum/SAOS, Martin Caldwell of MCA Regeneration  and Mike Story, Argyll and Isles Tourism. It is worth reading, as one of those important issues that somehow get left under the radar: Abattoir paper 30 Jan 2012 final.

Ferry partners for the summit

The buy-in to this entire initiative just gets better.

Ferry operators Caledonian MacBrayne and Kintyre Express are both supporting the Tourism Summit at Portavadie Marina on 1st March with an enhanced service for delegates.

• Kintyre Express is offering a free special service exclusively for delegates at Thursday’s event. The two new Kintyre Express fast passenger ferries, with a combined capacity of 24, will leave Campbeltown Marina at 07’15 and arrive at Tarbert Marina at 08.45. The boats will then leave for Portavadie at 09’15 at the very latest. On the return journey, the boats will leave for Tarbert/Campbeltown when all passengers are ready to go.
• Caledonian MacBrayne has kindly offered a discount for delegates using the Tarbert-Portavadie service as foot passengers. Delegates should ask the crew for a ‘Tourism Summit Return’ to qualify for the special rate. There is no need to take a car to take advantage of the offer. There is free car parking alongside the ferry slipway at Tarbert.

Secrets waiting to be unleashed

Argyll and the Isles has so many secrets, so many highly distinctive historic microcultures, you could spend a lifetime in ‘foreign’ holidays right here, never exhaust it and come home from a very different place.

Who’s been to Craighouse, to Port Appin, to Portavadie, to Machrihanish, to Airds Bay, to Ulva, to Stronmilchan, to Gigha, to Carradale, to Hynish, to Kilmartin, to the Bay at the Back of the Island, to Kilchattan, to Ardchattan, to Port Charlotte, to Toward, to Southend, to Ardentinny, to Luss, to Kilcreggan, to Muasdale, to Colonsay, to Kilfinan, to Carrick Castle, to the Mull of Oa, to Kilchrenan, to Skipness, to Tighnabruaich ..?

Who’s taken the Loch Lomond Seaplane between Oban and the Clyde; the CalMac ferry to the Atlantic isles of Coll and Tiree, an Islay Sea Safari, the Loch Frisa Eagle Hide, Seafari from Easdale to the Corryvreackan or Sea Leopard form Ardfern to the same potent whirlpool, the little passenger ferry over to Point on Lismore, the trip from Iona to Staffa and the Treshnish Isles, come into Tobermory across the sound from Kilchoan on Ardnamurchan, the Kintyre Express down the east Mull and over to Ballycastle on the north Irish causeway coast, the Jura Passenger Ferry out of Tayvallich on Loch Sween…?

Who’s even really struck a CHORD with each of our five key towns – Campbeltown, Helensburgh, Oban, Rothesay, Dunoon?

Argyll is internal space, a galaxy with accessible and virtually virgin planets. Local marketing groups are going to be providing the material for the frontline marketing of their own areas. The more internal travelling we all do the better we can enthuse our guests and visitors about parts of Argyll and the Isles beyond our own. It is this ability to cross-market that will lift the entire area into a new dimension of popularity in a vital industry. The truth is that there is nowhere to match Argyll and the Isles.

The towns aren’t good enough – yet – but we’ve got the landscapes, the islands, the wildlife, the history, the cultural heritage, the sailing grounds, the marinas, the golf courses, the long distance walking trails, the hotels, the food, the whisky, the transport providers on land, water and air, the experiences, the castles, the gardens, the big events, the Munros, the physical challenges  and the music. Let’s go.

The last piece of the jigsaw

We take sole responsibility for floating this one so  AISTP should not be held responsible if anyone doesn’t like it.

Imagine the compound impact on branding and on widespread consciousness raising if our local authority was Argyll and the Isles Council.

On that day, 30 trees of various sizes were blown down. This is substantial loss.

Staff have been working hard to get the garden open again and now the Red, Green and Yellow routes (those around the  Crarae Burn) are open again.

White and Blue routes will remain closed until February.

Visitors are asked to respect the closures and not to cross the temporary barriers. They are there for very real safety reasons.

And, since no carol singing is complete without its accompanying seasonal comforts, punch and mince pies will be part of the order of the evening.

Tickets are £5 at the door, with children free if they are accompanied by an adult; and there will be a Christmas Raffle.

The young creative company – working in web and digital design, film and media, has created an iPhone App for Oban (and one for Lochaber) within its new Highlands portal,

The marketing logic behind the enterprise is that statistics on smartphone usage in the UK have been released by Ofcom, showing that:

• 27% of UK adults are smartphone owners
• 47% of teenagers own a smartphone
• 59% have bought the device in the last year.

Knowing that this is a market Scotland needs to hit, Linnhe Creative have set up the facility for Oban, which is  now there for local businesses to hitch their web wagons to the train.

The use of smartphones today is huge and still growing. Its prevalence in the younger end of the market is another good reason why Scottish – and Argyll – businesses are wise to make sure they are reachable through this specific technology. Our own Internet Services Director had For Argyll optimised for mobile use at a very early stage and has kept its availability updated as smartphones – and of course the iphone in particular – have made their presence felt in the Internet access market.

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has predicted that smartphone using holidaymakers will increasingly turn to mobile phone applications and services, with travel experts predicting that smartphones will continue to drive luxury and specialist holiday bookings. And this is Argyll.

We’re not about traditional beach holidays – although we have utterly memorable beaches.

We’re about activity – using the beaches, the water, the hills, the glens, the roads and the forest tracks for surfing, boardsailing, sailing, quad biking, sand yachting, marine wildlife trips, water taxis, hill walking with the long distance walking trails, birding – with golden and sea eagles a massive USP, mountain biking, cycling, golfing and rallying. And folk chasing these activities need somewhere to stay. eat, drink and browse.

We’re about luxury – with notably fine local produce from sea and land, with some first class fine dining establishments and a range of very good bistros (not to mention the whiskies and the ales) – and the highest quality of accommodation at places like the Isle of Eriska Hotel, the Portavadie Marina resort, the Cameron House Hotel; with Campbeltown’s Royal Hotel, the Ugadale at Machrihanish and the Machrie Hotel and Links on Islay about to come onstream after major revision and refurbishment; and with Oban to get a new hotel on the site of the old Argyll Hotel – and from owners with imagination and ambition.

The council needs to get its act together on the infrastructure but the opportunities for visitors are all there, with access to a ready market via smartphones a very powerful instrument.

Chris Snelgrove, Linnhe Creative’s Managing Director,  recognises that ‘our visitors demand destinations to keep apace with technology, therefore our About Highlands product is a group of websites and apps that are designed specifically to target modern consumers who use mobiles and social media to plan, book and experience their holiday.

‘At it’s heart is an innovative design with a simple user interface which allows businesses to update information easily and publish it instantly into an agile machine dedicated to marketing destinations.’

Check out About Highlands and within it, About Oban and the Isle of Mull. The design is clean and unfussy – and majors on spectacular photography.

The Big Lottery’s Awards for All has granted the Trust £8,000, while Highlands and Islands Enterprise has granted the remaining £2,000 towards the total purchase price of £10,000. Conveyancing has already begun, the cost of which was, for a large part, also covered by Highland & Islands Enterprise funding.

Trust Convener, Dennis Gower, says: ‘This is good news for the village and, since our application to buy was accepted, the Trust has raised an additional £6,500 through local fund raising.

‘e would therefore like to thank local residents and friends of the walled garden project for all their support and we look forward to restoring this valuable piece of Ardentinny’s heritage.’

The community and its trust has been working for some time on the Glenfinart Walled Garden purchase project. Seeing them succeeed in this is very god news indeed.

There are a lot of positive energies in Ardentinny and the web presence the community gets from the great Ardentinny.org website evidences the skills and commitment within the community that are being turned strategically to its sustainability.

The gardens are open to the public  by kind permission of Mr & Mrs John McGhee and there will be a jazz concert during the afternoon between 1.00pm and 4.00pmn in the barn – featuring the Tim Saul Jazz Quintet.

Proceeds of the admission charges will support the Scottish Gardens Scheme and local charities.

The focus for the occasion will be hearing the new Garden Club Coordinator’s idas for the new season and contributing to the shape of the programme of evening events, weekend and daytime activities, talks, workshops and walks. All of these are designed to share more insights and expertise on gardens, growing and the environment.

Full details of the meeting and Linda Mitchells proposals for the coming season are here.

Anyone who cannot come to the meeting can go online here for a survey of suggestions and to add more.

Anyone can join in online with North Connel and District Garden Group members between workshops and meetings and to find out what is being planned.

The ‘Himalayan gorge’ garden, as well as its dramas, exudes tranquillity and provides horticultural spectacle with its rhododendrons, camellias, magnolias and azaleas.

The programme of events includes:

• Cadbury Easter Egg Trail: For families, the fun begins at Easter with the Cadbury Easter Egg Trail – run from Friday 22nd until Monday 25th April 2011 from 10.00 until 16.00.
• Bluebell Treasure Trail: On Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th May, younger visitors can explore the woodlands at Crarae on the Bluebell Treasure Trail. This event is presented in association with the Inveraray Marketing Association.
• Strawberries and Cream: For an early taste of summer, on 21st May, the Friends of Crarae are hosting their Strawberries and Cream event and tying this in with the group’s Annual General Meeting.
• Scotland’s Garden Scheme days: Crarae hosts the first of its Scotland’s Garden Scheme days on 28th May adn 25th June. Visitors can come along and learn more about the care of such a valuable garden and help raise funds for gardens all over Scotland in the process.
• Red Squirrel Day: At Red Squirrel Day on 17th July, Crarae will celebrate its red squirrel population with help from the Scottish Wildlife Trust, helping visitors learn more about these creatures, the challenges they face and why they have made Crarae their home.
• Scrufts: More creatures feature in August, as Scrufts takes place on 14th August. Billed as a ‘not too serious dog show’, the event will offer fun for all the family, whether four legged, or two…
• South America Day: South America Day on 4 September means the welcome return of Freddie and the alpacas. This unusual event proved a hit last year  – and this year there will be spinning demonstrations and South American plants on sale.
• Fungal Fest: As autumn sets in, the focus turns to fungi. On 9 October, the garden will host a Fungal Fest, giving visitors the chance to seek out mushrooms of all shapes and sizes and giving advice on what’s edible and what’s not!

Crarae Garden is open daily until dusk. The visitor centre and shop are open from 10.00 to 17.00 each day, except Tuesday and Thursday.

They will be meeting up with fellow family members in a bid to raise awareness about the threat to the garden’s sustainability.

Threatened with immediate closure a year ago under the aegis of the then Chair, Shonaig MacPherson, whose departure was acceleretd by the controversy that followed the proposal to close and refous a swathe of National Trust for Scotland properties, Arduaine got a reprieve.

However, an additional £750,000 needs to be raised now as an endowment to ensure that this important west coast garden remains open and continues to be enjoyed by future generations of visitors – including Campbells – in years to come.

Set on the stunning Arduaine peninsula, the garden was originally designed by Arthur Campbell back in 1897. The mini-climate created by the warming North Atlantic Drift became home to azaleas and rhododendrons shipped home in tea-chests from the Himalayas and Ceylon.

Since taking over the garden in 1992, Arduaine has continued to thrive and develop under the care of the Trust’s dedicated and talented Head Gardener, Maurice Wilkins.

Diarmid Campbell, grandson of the late Arthur Campbell, who shares his grandfather’s passion for the garden takes up the story,

‘In my unofficial capacity as ‘historian’ of the extended Inverawe family, I’m passionate about ensuring the garden continues to delight our visitors. I’ve enjoyed working with the Trust in planning this Campbell family re-union picnic in Arduaine Garden next week.

Invitations have been issued by the Trust, who will be our hosts – and we’re looking forward to a great turn out.  For many it is a long way to come but they’ll be sure of a warm welcome and a very interesting day’.

Donations to help secure the future of Arduaine can be made online here..

The gardens are open every day throughout the year from 09.30 to sunset.  For further information call 0844 493 2216.

Note: Sir Kenneth Calman has now been appointed to the vacant Chair of the National Trust for Scotland.

This digital format newsletter is emailable and downloadable – and, particularly appropriateky for gardeners, requires no trees to be felled in its publication.

This development sees the Club embracing new ways to connect growers and gardeners in the local area and to share the expertise of the many experienced gardeners in the area.

Jill Bowis, Secretary to the Club and founding energy behind online local news service, the Ardchattan Observer, says: ‘More and more people are interested in producing their own food from their gardens, but our locality is not the most hospitable. The Garden Club has many experienced gardeners, and we hope to encourage them to share their knowledge with new members through the year.

‘There are other topics of interest, which we hope to follow up and we’re looking forward to ideas from existing and new members.

‘ Our first newsletter is here – Ardchattan Garden Club Spring Newsletter 2010 – packed full of information and ideas for activities, visits and talks for the rest of 2010′.

‘For members who want to get together, share, swop, chat, or arrange outings please join the Garden Group in the new LORN community network’.

Annual membership is £7.00.

Email ncdgardenclub@gmail.com for contact and payment details or call into Kintaline Plant and Poultry Centre at Benderloch.

New members will be welcomed by the club’s strong existing membership.

Last year James Lothian ,who was gardening with Mrs Campbell of Ormsary in the 1840s, was finally acknowledged by the leading horticultural historians on both sides of the Atlantic, as the first pioneer of alpine gardening.

He then went on to establish the Kilmory Castle gardens and later he had a seedsman and landscaping business in Campbeltown.

Several years ago a woodland garden was planned but and just as Tommy McCrae started planting it, a huge stormed flattened the largest trees,  so a new avenue garden has been created.

The woodland garden has been revived by Jim Davidson who has brought a wealth of knowledge to the gardens.

These two new areas will be open for the first time this year.

This open day will be for the benefit of the MS Centre,The Red Cross, Lochgilphead, and South Knapdale Parish Church.