Knoydart: Any locals on here?

MAH

Well-Known Member
I saw attached article in The Times.

My 1st reaction was, what a shame, one of the last wildness in the UK being turned into an "secluded resort".

But the article lacks detail, so maybe i am being presumptuous, and maybe locals welcome the employment opportunity.

Is there anyone on here living nearby?
What's your view?
M.
 

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It makes one realise how disastrous the economics of "wilderness tourism" and rewilding are when the land involved is valued at under 1% of normal farmland (which obviously is not an alternative land use).
 
There are remote places in Scotland, and then there's Knoydart. No road, access by boat only. I have a mate that worked there, he loved it but he doesn't like people. Good luck to whoever bought it, the cost of shipping anything there will be eyewatering.....
 
Are my sums right, only 92 quid an acre??

£1.2mil 1200000 /1300 =

Must admit that is cheap even for poor hill ground.
Round my area they used to say £2k and acre to plant with trees was enough for poor hill ground but heard of some paying £3-4k recently, won't be as rough ground as that and definately far better access now.

Althou to be fair JST and a few others have timber boats now, probably easier moving timber down to a shore line and away in a boat than navigating those wee roads with 26T on, esp meeting daft tourists in campervans that cannae reverse.

Funny how holyrood only seems to be against foriegners buing u big estates as plaything if they want to shoot fury/feathery things on them
 
I suspect there won't be many "locals" living on the estate if it's similar to the scheme run by our Danish friend is anything to go by..... The general cunning plan will be to remove any deer on the land, wait for money to become available to plant trees (AKA "rewilding"), build/refurbish some quaint old estate cottages that used to be lived in by keepers/shepherds so you can charge your wealthy guests a fortune - after all helicopter transport isn't cheap you know! This of course is in the well known nation which is lead by the poisonous SNP and Greens who for fifteen long and painful years have been pratting on about land reform and stopping absentee landowners from creating the second clearances......
 
Funny how holyrood only seems to be against foriegners buing u big estates as plaything if they want to shoot fury/feathery things on them

They'll be some shenanigans behind the scenes, especially with the Greens in bed with the SNP.

'If you donate/sponsor this we'll make sure your grants get the green light etc.'

Rotten.
 
This of course is in the well known nation which is lead by the poisonous SNP and Greens who for fifteen long and painful years have been pratting on about land reform and stopping absentee landowners from creating the second clearances......

Funny how the cities vote Green, yet that party wants to change the countryside...

No surprise the rest of the country votes Conservative...

Eye for an eye!
 
I suspect there won't be many "locals" living on the estate if it's similar to the scheme run by our Danish friend is anything to go by
Shades of the Inverinate Estate now owned by Sheikh Mohammed who was hand in glove with Salmond.
 
Normal farmland? What is that Mr Apthorpe, would be interested to see your calculations. Most of Knoydart wouldn't make Grade 5.
13,000 acres for £1.2 million is slightly under £100 an acre. Average farmland prices pre covid were about 10k an acre. I just got outbid two weeks ago on a block of permanent pasture (unploughable) at £12,000 an acre.

Under100÷10,000=less than 1%.
I know Knoydart is entirely unsuitable for farming, and I specifically pointed that out. My point was that large chunks of Scotland are being appropriated for a change of use to "rewilding" which is alleged to be a valuable land use. The market is giving a very strong signal there that the value of rewilding is negative - there is less than no economic value in it, and that the Scottish government is a massive political risk to its citizens and investors.
 
There are remote places in Scotland, and then there's Knoydart
Your right.
Absolutely fabulous place.
That's why I was trying to understand what this development was about.
We spent a week trekking between bothies, with a few nights in the tent someyears back.
Overnight train to F. Will, started waking at the road end loch Hourn, ended up in the pub at Inverie, (some fine bear and music) then a rib to Mallaig and back to F.Will.
Hope it doesn't change too much.
M.
 
Great memories of Knoydart. Family lived on Knoydart back in the day when it was one estate, our house is now the pub. Back then it was owned by merchant bankers from London. The estate ran hereford and angus cattle, small herd of dairy cows, a lot of sheep, some forestry and then there was the stalking for the big house guests.

Years later a developer from down south bought Knoydart and sold off a lot of the houses on the estate to white settlers - went back 30 years ago and local accents fairly much absent. He eventually split the estate and sold the Kilchoan portion. I think he also sold Li & Corrie Dhorcail portion to the John Muir Trust but might be wrong on this. Later still the residents bought the Knoydart portion. Must be the only man to have made money from a highland estate.

Got a photo of my father fording the river Ghuiserein with two Garrons, one with a Stag shot by the guy who took the photo (will try to upload a copy if anyone interested).

The downside to owning Kilchoan is you have the John Muir Trust as a neighbour towards the Kinloch Hourn end - 80 odd stags shot and left to rot on Li & Corrie Dhorcail and there was also an earlier incident involving hinds and calves being shot a left in a corrie! - might not be an issue to a 're-wilder' but very sore with me!!
 
Shades of the Inverinate Estate now owned by Sheikh Mohammed who was hand in glove with Salmond.

The one thing about the Sheikh is that he puts money in. A new community centre and work for locals ain't bad. Not many do that.
 
Are my sums right, only 92 quid an acre??

£1.2mil 1200000 /13000 =

Must admit that is cheap even for poor hill ground.
Round my area they used to say £2k and acre to plant with trees was enough for poor hill ground but heard of some paying £3-4k recently, won't be as rough ground as that and definately far better access now.

Althou to be fair JST and a few others have timber boats now, probably easier moving timber down to a shore line and away in a boat than navigating those wee roads with 26T on, esp meeting daft tourists in campervans that cannae reverse.

Fixed it
 
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