Latest news with #Luing
The Sun
13 hours ago
- The Sun
The pretty UK island with African-inspired holiday lodges – and you can spot otters and seals from your bed
A TINY island in the UK is home to holiday lodges were inspired by safari camps abroad. WildLuing on the Scottish island of Luing was created by Jack and his wife Emily after they were inspired while living in Kenya. 5 5 WildLuing has eight self-catered glamping suites, called WildSuites, that overlook Torsa Bay where you can regularly spot seals and otters. Something Jack and Emily said they liked about the Kenya lodges was that groups would gather for meals in a large communal space, then go back to their cabins. Each pod is custom built and there are some where you can bring along a furry friend too. And inside each of the lodges is a super king bed, which can be split into doubles if necessary, as well as a shower - and some even have a roll top bath. Cleverly, all of the cabins are positioned differently so no matter which you stay in, you will get views of the bay. Prices for the cabins start from £195 per night and each sleeps two. Unlike most other campsites, there's no shops or pubs, it's all about getting back to nature. As a result, on-site is a communal lounge and dining room. And it's a hit with visitors having been described as 'bucket list material.' The biggest place on-site is The Observatory which hosts up to 20 guests. Scotland's Cheapest & Most Expensive Coastal Towns 5 5 It has views over Torsa Bay and is completely open-plan with a kitchen, pantry, dining area and cosy living room. You can't actually stay overnight but it can be hired out to use for yoga retreats, cooking school, dining events, wild swimming groups, and wedding receptions, according to the website. Around the bay is various types of wildlife, and from the private deck you'll be able to spot otters as well as grey and common seals. For the lucky ones, you might even see dolphins. The Isle of Luing is one of the Slate Islands in the west of Argyll in Scotland and has a population of just 200 people. WildLuing launched three years ago, and has received lots of positive reviews from visitors. One wrote on Tripadvisor: "Wowsers. If you haven't been, then this should be bucket-list material." Another added: "Wild Luing was simply sensational on all fronts." To get to the Isle of Luing, you'll need to get a ferry from North Cuan. Here's the UK's highest campsite has cosy camping pods and views of the country's tallest mountain. And more campsites in the UK near water to with sea views and luxury cabins.
Press and Journal
15-05-2025
- Business
- Press and Journal
Biggar buyer pays £4,200 for champion Luings at Dingwall Mart
There were buyers from near and far at Luing Cattle Society's 17th annual Spring Breeding Sale. Held at Dingwall Mart, the event saw a total of 73 pedigree and commercial Luing changing hands. A similar number of breeding cattle also attracted plenty of interest. Buyers were geographically widespread, with some cattle going to the south of Scotland and others to Orkney. The clearance rate was 100% for females and 50% for bulls, with sale averages for all classes up on the year. There were 58 pedigree Luing bulling heifers forward. They achieved an average of £3,132.80 – up by more than £1,000 year-on-year. And they sold to a top of £4,200 per animal for a pair of polled Finlarg Ziggy daughters, consigned by AC & AL McCall, of Culmaily Farm, Golspie. These were bought by EJ & AM Fox, of St John's Kirk Biggar. The two heifers had entered the sales ring after being named champion pair in a show judged by Colin Little of East Bracklinn, Callander. The McCall family also had the next two highest prices, £4,095 and £3,990, again for Finlarg Ziggy daughters. The first pair at 3,900gns went home with J Jardine, of Dalbeattie. The second pair at 3,800gns were knocked down to S & L Dodd, of Tundergarth Mains, Lockerbie. Local breeder Graeme MacRae, of the Kintail herd at Newton of Ferintosh, Mulbuie, had a single pair on offer. These were snapped up by Messrs Brims, of Caithness, for £3,885. Meanwhile, Tom Lyth brought six heifers all the way from Heatherhouse Farm in Orkney. These sold for £3,225, on average, with a top of 3,700gns achieved for Tom's pre-sale reserve pair. Scott and Farquhar Renwick, of Inverbroom, also has a consignment of six. These averaged £3,535, selling to a top of £3,885 for a pair that were purchased by Messrs Jardine, of Dalbeattie. Elsewhere, Rory Cameron, of Monzie, Perthshire, had a run of six heifers which averaged £3,150. The best were a pair sold for £3,465 to Messrs Brims, of Caithness. Similarly, a small consignment of Sim-Luing bulling heifers sold to a top of £1,746, consigned by AC & AL McCall, which re[presented an uplift of £621 from a year ago. Three in-calf cows consigned by Gary Mackenzie of Fanblair, near Beauly, all in-calf to Sutherland Brora and due in July, averaged £2,345 and sold to a top of £2,625. Bulls sold to a top of £4,200 and averaged £3,675, similar to last year's trade. There were four of them forward, with two finding new homes. David McLaughlin, of Lewis, sold his homozygous polled Nunnerie Young Gun son for £4,200 to I & W Sutherland, of Strathnaver. The last bull in the Luing Cattle Society sale catalogue was Lochbroom Commando, a heterozygous polled Commonside Scania son which sold for £3,150 to Ardtornish Estate.
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘We don't call them woolly maggots': how wildlife campaigners put sheep at heart of rewilding plans
Woolly maggots, nature-destroyers – sheep are criticised by many conservationists for denuding Britain's uplands of rare plants and trees. So The Wildlife Trusts were shocked when they were compelled to buy 4,000 sheep as part of the biggest land restoration project in England. The flock were part of the deal to buy the first 'big chunk' of the 3,850-hectare (9,500-acre) Rothbury estate last autumn, the largest land sale in England for 30 years. How they are going to be managed, alongside the charity's plans to replenish nature on the estate, has put the spotlight on critical questions about the future of upland sheep farming. In what is The Wildlife Trusts' biggest ever land purchase and fundraising challenge, in partnership with Northumberland Wildlife Trust, has so far raised nearly 25% of its £30m target to complete the purchase of the whole estate, which will become a haven for curlew, merlins, cuckoos and red squirrels. However, boosting nature on the estate will be a balancing act, with the trusts – keen to work with local farmers – vowing that sheep and other grazing animals will continue to play a role. 'The Wildlife Trusts are not against sheep,' said Rob Stoneman, director of nature recovery at The Wildlife Trusts. 'We don't call them woolly maggots. Pretty much every wildlife trust owns sheep and uses them for essential conservation work, particularly where we have short-cropped grass [for certain rare species].' Work has already begun to restore nature on the newly bought section. The trusts insist they are not abandoning farming but will use regenerative techniques to retain open landscapes that many declining bird species depend upon. In doing so, they hope to offer a new model for the uplands of profitable, nature-friendly farming. Guided by the stockman who has long managed the flock on the hilly, western part of the estate that the trusts have bought, they are slowly reducing the number of sheep while adding new cattle to the grazing community. They include Casanova, an appropriately named red Luing bull charged with increasing the herd of 100 cattle on the Simonside Hills. The Luing is an extremely hardy breed well suited to extreme conditions. Casanova, from nearby Peebles, and his offspring's grazing and trampling will help manage grasslands to ensure an abundance of songbirds, while beef will provide income for the trust. According to Stoneman, swaths of uplands have been degraded, particularly after the system of 'headage payments' in the 1970s, 80s and 90s incentivised land managers to put too many sheep on to the hills. Although flock sizes have fallen since then, they are still higher than they were in the 1940s and 50s. But the future looks grim for upland sheep farming: trade quotas which historically restricted foreign lamb sold in Britain are being phased out post-Brexit, public appetite for lamb is declining, and most sheep farms depend on rapidly disappearing agricultural subsidies. Stoneman said negative future scenarios for British upland farming include widespread land abandonment, as witnessed in central Spain and Portugal, or family farms being dissolved into vast New Zealand-style ranches. 'Neither outcomes are good for the people who live, work and prosper in these uplands. At Rothbury we can try and model out a just transition for upland farming,' he said. 'If we bring cattle back into the landscape we know that's good for nature but it might be more profitable as well.' Another fear among many upland residents is landowners turning hillsides into dense stands of non-native plantation forestry, which could be as bad for biodiversity as too many sheep. If the trusts do not raise the rest of the £30m required, the remainder of the estate could still be bought by commercial forestry interests. 'If we didn't buy it, that's probably the future for the Rothbury estate,' said Stoneman. 'That's catastrophic. Once land use is changed to sitka spruce, and split up, that opportunity for nature restoration at scale, and joining up land, is lost for ever.' Baseline monitoring on the part of Rothbury now under the charity's care is the first step to transform it into a nature-rich mosaic of boggy moorland, woodland and meadows. Grouse moorland that has historically been burned and drained will be returned to boggy, carbon sinks, while scrub and trees will be allowed to regenerate on grassland, creating a wood pasture, which will be kept from turning into shady forest by cattle. 'Our vision is gradual change but in five years' time you'll start to see the difference – it's putting nature at the centre of the estate,' said Mike Pratt, chief executive of Northumberland Wildlife Trust, who is heartened by local backing for the Wildlife Trusts' purchase of Rothbury. 'The enthusiasm and support has been breathtaking,' he said. The Women's Institute in Rothbury is raising funds and two local crafters have raised £900 in two months through the sale of their needle-felt decorations. 'Lots of local people are very excited and energised by helping to restore nature in the area,' said crafter Lydia Nixon. 'There's so much potential for the River Coquet too – and the hills are just magical.' Pratt said he was hopeful that alongside the local fundraising, talks with businesses, philanthropists and funding foundations will help raise the rest of the target. '£30m is a lot of money but it will only buy you a new roundabout in Newcastle,' he said. 'We've undervalued nature as a society and we've got to put nature back into health and it costs money. But in the bigger scheme of things it's not that much.' Some farmers, including the tenant farmer on the trusts' newly acquired land, are supportive of the charity's vision although Pratt admitted that there were concerns about the potential loss of food production. 'We can have food productivity and nature, and this is a better use of marginal land,' he said. 'Northumberland is the best place, the only place in England, where we can really restore nature at a landscape scale. 'If we don't restore nature here, where can we do it? We need to push the envelope and honour this landscape. To restore this for nature and for people's benefit is just a thrill.'
