Seafield Farmhouse - Available for Holidays

A year ago while on holiday in our campervan on a storm bound Hebridean island we thought about how little space we needed and decided to spend the winter preparing to move out of our house so that we could let it during the summer months. With all the children having flown the nest, it is a large space for two of us and we are rarely indoors during the summer. We arrived home to the discovery that we had a double booking and so some very understanding visitors were the first to sample staying in Seafield Farmhouse after our rather hasty preparations.




A year on and the house is almost prepared for public consumption. We were nearly ready when our visitors in Byre Cottage needed to extend their stay for a fortnight and it is amazing what you can achieve with two day's notice. Needless to say, the winter had been spent on the sofa, close to the woodburner rather than performing admirable feats of de-cluttering. Letting Seafield Farmhouse is not a new concept. Granny and Grandpa Livingston sent the children to relatives in the summer so that the house could be let to families who came up for six weeks at a time. We have a copy of a delightful diary kept by the daughter of one such family who stayed here in 1928 for whom Granny cooked 'monstrously good suppers'. In the 21st century, the accommodation will be strictly self catering!



We are not sure of the exact age of the house. It has been described as 150 years old for at least the last 40 years. It was built as part of the Poltalloch Estate and sold to the Forestry Commission in the 1930's. Grandpa Neil Livingston arrived from the Isle of Luing at the beginning of the last century when Seafield was a sheep farm. The Forestry Commission planted the hill with sitka spruce and Seafield became a sixty acre smallholding comprising mainly of rock and bog. His son Jimmy Livingston took over the farm and also worked full time for the Forestry, operating a winch. In time, his son, my husband, James Livingston came home to look after the place and was also employed by the Forestry Commission. As a tenant, James was able to buy Seafield in the late 1980's and could then diversify into holiday lets, sawmilling and firewood processing. He has recently taken early retirement and so we hope to be able to continue to improve the facilties we provide so that many more people can share the stunning place we are fortunate to be able to live in. That's when James isn't fishing of course.



On the ground floor, the house has a large, 30 ft long conservatory which we added in 1997. This is the main living and dining area and has a woodburning stove. Off the conservatory is a large kitchen with units made by a local craftsman with reclaimed timbers from redundant Crinan Canal lock gates. It has a dishwasher and dual fuel cooker with gas hob and electric oven. There is a combination microwave and large fridge plus the usual small appliances.



Off the kitchen is a utility room with washer and freezer which is accessible from the kitchen but also has a separate exterior door. We need access to this space from time to time as it houses our freezer and a large oven which I need to use occasionally - but we will be as unobtrusive as possible.



The hallway which has a small cloakroom, leads to a family suite of double bedroom with adjacent twin bedroom and ensuite facilities.




Upstairs, there is a large double bedroom with king sized bed and a bathroom with bath and shower. The second bedroom is not available for letting as it is in need of complete refurbishment and will be used for storage of all the things we don't know what to do with.




Central Heating and hot water are from the log fired boiler and there is a woodburner in the conservatory. During warmer weather, the boiler is off and heating and hot water are provided by electricity - mostly generated by the photo voltaic panels.




Seafield Farmhouse is available for holidays during June, July and August. We may extend into September if all goes well. Sorry, no pets and no smoking. Children are welcome. With Byre and Stable Cottages just next door, there is plenty of scope for larger family groups who want to spend time together while enjoying their own space.

To check availability, please go to www.seafieldfarmcottages.co.uk and check the search availability button, email info@seafieldfarmcottages.co.uk or phone 01546 850274

Walking in Knapdale Forest

Many of our visitors enjoy walking and here in Knapdale there are several routes on forest roads where you can walk for miles without seeing another person.  Some routes are waymarked but many of the forest roads are part of the forest harvesting operation and care should be taken if machines are working.  Some forest roads are quite featureless and it can be easy to get lost - I have taken a wrong turning more than once - usually when walking with a friend and being more intent on conversation than the route.  Keep an eye out for deer, badgers, foxes, osprey (summer only), buzzards, jays and all manner of small finches and tits - and of course the newly resident beavers which are mainly spotted in the early morning and late evening.

This walk starts at Seafield Forest gate,  approximately 150 metres north of Seafield Farm, Achnamara.  There is room to park at the entrance but obviously if you are staying with us, you won't need to drive.  If you choose to do the walk anti-clockwise, you should park at Achnamara Village Hall, half a mile south of Seafield Farm and reverse the instructions.

Follow the forest road straight up the hill.  There is a burn (stream) on your left hand side.  Pass a side road on your left and keep on up the hill.  Soon you will come to a right turn.  If you wish to take a little diversion, it is only a short distance to the Lily Loch where there is walkway and a bench.  This is an idyllic spot to sit and enjoy the sounds of birds and small brown trout breaking the surface of the loch.  There is a good display of waterlilies in the summer and it's a good place to see dragonflies and damselflies.

Retrace your steps to the junction and turn left.  You will be able to see Seafield Loch on your left hand side.  A few yards along, there is a small jetty for Lochgilphead Angling Club.  Directly opposite the jetty is a lodge built by a pair of beavers introduced to the area by the Scottish Beaver Trial.  Being built of sticks and mud and being quite a flat construction, it would be easy to miss it. 

As you continue along the side of the loch, you may notice some beaver gnawed trees although most of the activity is on the far side of the loch.  At the end of the loch, there is another walkway on the left hand side leading to another bench at the north end of the loch with more lovely views to sit and enjoy.

Continuing along the forest road, you will pass a turning to the left.  This side road is permanently blocked by flooding.  Keep on up the hill until you reach a junction.  Take the right turn and continue through the Sitka Spruce plantation.  About an hour into the walk, you come to an open area which is fenced off on the left hand side - this was once a granite quarry for construction of the forest roads.
Keep on following the road past a marshy area to the left which is a favourite spot for deer to wallow in the mud.  Keep following the main forest road around the bends, through an area of cleared forest and downhill until you reach a crossroads.

Take the right turn and keep going ignoring the next turn to the left.  The track takes you downhill, passing a waterfall on the left.  Continue through the plantation of old trees on the right, across a concrete bridge to a forest gate.  Turn right at the gate which takes you to the Village Hall where you turn right.   As you cross the stone bridge in the village look up to the right where you will see Achnamara House.  For many years this was an outdoor centre, visited by hundreds of children and adults from other parts of Scotland.  Sadly, the once fine Dower House and Shooting Lodge of Poltalloch Estate, is currently in a poor state of repair after many years of neglect since being sold by Glasgow City Council.

It is about half a mile from here, through Achnamara back along the single track road with Loch Sween on your left hand side, back to Seafield gate where you started.

This walk is approximately five miles long and takes about one and a half to two hours depending on how fast you walk.

To check availability of our cottages, click on the green search button below.

Winter Arrives Early

For years our winters have mostly been green, damp and dreary. After the freezing conditions of early 2010, we were not expecting a repeat performance at the end of the same year. Once again, water supplies froze up and we were glad of our firewood stocks to keep ourselves and our visitors warm.



The cold clear air gave us stunning views of the area and beautiful sunsets. We are lucky to have fantastic walks around Achnamara and rarely feel the need to go further afield. Loch Sween froze over completely at Achnamara; a sight not seen for many years.
The freshwater lochs were covered with a thick layer of ice for several weeks.



The winter solstice coincided with a lunar eclipse and Kilmartin House Museum organised a guided walk around some of the Cairns and Stone Circles of Kilmartin Glen. The cold was toe numbing but the atmosphere and the sunrise were worth the discomfort. Cups of coffee and sausage sandwiches in the museum cafe helped revive the intrepid souls who braved the elements at 8.00 am.



The thaw started on Christmas morning so after weeks of very festive, Christmas Card weather, green grass began to show through the snow. January was unseasonably mild but after the extra work and stress of freezing conditions I have vowed never to complain about rain and mud ever again.



Now we are well into February and the days are beginning to lengthen and signs of spring are appearing. The hens are starting to lay again and we hope to raise some new chicks in a few weeks. The cockerel has proved to be extremely bad tempered so as soon as we have a batch of his progeny, he will make a very delicious casserole. Newts have appeared in the ditch next to the road up to Seafield Loch. Blue tits are emptying the peanut feeder as quickly as we can fill it and there are delightful drifts of snowdrops in woodland and churchyards.






We have not had any sightings of beavers for some time due to the long hours of darkness and for a few weeks they will have been laying low in their lodges. Now the ice has melted and temperatures risen, their activities are easy to spot. According to the minutes of a meeting of the Species re-introduction Forum in August, the juvenile male on Loch Linne has dispersed from its family group but we have had no information on this from the Beaver Trial Team. Hopefully, we will learn more at the next stakeholder meeting in March. The lodge on Loch Linne is covered with de-barked sticks to the beavers must be using it as a feeding station as well as living quarters.

Summer Holidays Begin, Drought Ends

Good news for private water supplies, gardeners and hydro generators but not so good for visitors coming to Argyll to enjoy the great outdoors. For six months we had very little rain but as soon as the school term ended and the summer holidays began, the skies darkened and the heavens opened. Hopefully there will be a return to more summery weather in the coming weeks.

The Artmap Open Studios Event will be taking place across Argyll from 13 - 16 August. The brochure has been launched and the website (www.artmapargyll.com) updated. Many of the artists welcome visits outwith the event dates. Some of the Art Map Artists are also exhibiting in ‘Mixing Up the Media’ at Kilmartin House Museum from July 15 until October. There is a also brand new exhibition space, Studio Barn at Leac na Bhan Farm on the road to Tayvallich.

The Gannets and the Osprey are having more success fishing for mackerel than we are but we did manage to catch two last week while fishing from the shore. Mackerel fresh from the sea are a very different fish from those in fishmongers and supermarkets which have been around for a few days. The flavour is light and delicious compared with the oily, heavy taste of an older fish.

There have been scores of sand martins feeding on insects in the shelter of the trees at the edge of the glen. They take a rest from time to time, up to 50 at a time lining up on the hen run fence. There are four swallow’s nests on the house which have been very noisy in the early mornings.

The lovely yellow flag iris have given way to foxgloves which are one of the first plants to colonise harvested sites in the forest. The field beyond the hen run is dotted with orchids ranging in colour from almost white to purple.

The garden is at last producing vegetables and fruit. As usual we go from dearth to abundance overnight and harvesting becomes another job to add to the list. Cabbage white caterpillars attempted to munch their way through calabrese, cauliflower and cabbage but were easily picked off and disposed of. I tried feeding them to the chickens but they were not impressed. They must have a bitter taste but I am not going to try one to find out. We haven’t seen our strawberry eating badger for a while so hope to gather enough for puddings and jam.

Following the death of the adult male beaver introduced to the Lily Loch in May, the female moved to Seafield Loch where it has been observed during June. The post mortem report was inconclusive and suggests that the beaver starved to death after failing to adapt to the Knapdale diet. A further two beavers have been released on Creag Mhor Loch which was vacated by the beavers originally released there in May 2009. One of the original beavers died in captivity in Edinburgh Zoo on 26 May and the other two are missing, presumed dead.

Current resident beavers are:- 3 on the Dubh Loch (originally released onto Loch Coille Bharr), 3 beavers on Loch Linne, 2 beavers on Creag Mhor Loch and 1 beaver last seen on Seafield Loch. The project has been given permission to release further beavers to replace adult beavers which die or disperse from the trial site. The minimum requirements for a viable trial are four breeding pairs of beavers and 13 months into the trial, there are still only three pairs in Knapdale, two of which may produce kits this year.

The Dubh Loch beavers continue to maintain and enlarge their dam and signs of their activity in the area are very apparent. The path remains flooded and visitors have formed a well trodden path to the dam. So far, no start has been made on the alternative boardwalk which will allow walkers to safely circumnavigate Loch Coille Bharr. On Loch Linne, the beaver dam was repeatedly removed by the project and the beavers appear to have given up trying to rebuild it. There are signs of tree felling all around the loch and there is a lodge on the east side of the loch. On recent visits, we have only spotted one beaver out and about on the loch. The adult female may be in the lodge with kits and will not emerge until they are ready to be weaned.

Winter Wonderland at Seafield

Visitors often ask if there will be lots of snow at Christmas and usually my answer is ‘probably not’. Typical Argyll festive seasons have been wet, windy, mild and green but this year has proved the exception and we have a covering of snow and thick frost. It is stunningly beautiful and the monochrome snowy scenes of the day have given way to stunningly colourful sunsets. The one year that we could have provided the perfect Scottish white Christmas for our visitors, we decided to have a break and leave the cottages empty until New Year.

The weather is not without it’s challenges, with frozen water supplies and icy roads to contend with. Bundles of willow which should have been baskets by now are frozen in the soaking tank and will take days to thaw when the temperatures rise. Fortunately we have plenty of firewood to keep us warm and cosy in the house.

We continue to keep an eye on the beavers. Both families have built lodges and stored winter supplies of food underwater. Coming from Norway, the cold weather will not cause a problem for them. The tree felling activity has increased in recent months and hundreds of trees have now been felled and many will die through being flooded. While this may create habitats for some flora and fauna, it will undoubtedly displace others. If the damage to the woodland had been caused by humans, it would be called vandalism; because it is done by a wild creature, it is considered beneficial. With a landscape covered in Sitka Spruce, it is nonsense to laud the environmental benefits of opening up the canopy in tiny areas of scrubby woodland.

We wish all our visitors a happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year.

Wildlife Watching on Loch Coille Bharr

We have had some beautiful evenings here recently and as long as you keep moving, it is possible to avoid the midges. On Friday 12 June we took a stroll around the loch to see if we could spot the beavers. Eleven were released, three on Loch Coille Bharr, and four each on Loch Linnhe and Creag Mhor Loch with one young beaver dying shortly after release.

The silence was broken only by the sound of trout sucking in insects from the surface of the loch and the call of the woodcock as it flew overhead. Starting from the Forest Track behind Knap Studio on the Achnamara Road, we walked anti clockwise around the loch. The main beaver signs were of the man made variety - signposts with more than a touch of anthropomorphism; a manifestation of the Disneyfication of Knapdale. Stopping at the landing stage we spotted a beaver which rapidly disappeared around the corner heading south. Later, stopping at the bench at the southern end of the loch, we watched a beaver swim across the loch from east to west. Whether we saw one beaver twice or two beavers is uncertain.

Apart from the beaver itself, we saw few signs from the path. The water lilies are just starting to flower, a known favourite of beavers. The next night we took to the water for a spot of fly fishing in addition to beaver spotting. The loch was perfectly still, the reflections so perfect it was hard to see what was reflection and what was real. Once again, the lone beaver was at the north end swimming from east to west and seemingly unconcerned by our presence. It came close enough for me to get a reasonable photograph. Beavers really aren't particularly attractive, they really do look like oversized hairy rats in the water. However, they are not as hideous as the carved beaver model which is in the log cabin at Barnluasgan. Our native otters are far more entertaining to watch. Later, paddling south along the eastern side, there were plenty of beaver signs. The cut ends of branches clearly visible in the fading light. Birch, oak and rowan seem to be the favourites with alder left untouched. A birch branch was stripped of its bark with the teeth marks clearly visible.

At this time of year, it is hardly dark at all so it was after 11 pm when we left the loch. No trout were harmed during our trip. Many broke the surface but were not tempted by the fake fly, having an abundance of the real thing floating on the surface. A mist was rising over the whole surface and there was quite a chill in the air after the heat of the day. On the way home, we stopped to see if the glow worms were in their usual spot and counted five along the road verge - tiny green lights shining intensely among the grass.

If you are passing the Crinan Canal, keep a look out as a beaver has managed to make it overland into the Canal but I haven't heard if it has been retrieved. I hear the radio tags have caused problems too. How exactly do you glue a radio tag to a Beaver?