The Rothiemurchus Estate south of Aviemore is open for visitors every day of the year apart from Christmas Day. More than 350,000 people a year visit the estate, the importance of which lies in its varied landscape, wildlife and natural beauty.
Low-lying fields and hardwoods on the river flood plain give way to open heather moorland, birch woods, forestry plantations and the Caledonian Pine Forest.
There are facilities for primary age children, secondary pupils and university students.
The aim is to give groups of primary children an introduction to environmental education, through games, role play and fun activities and to stimulate a respect for the environment. At the other end of the spectrum, colleges and universities visit the estate to study land use and land management.
A number of guided tours and activities are offered and schools are advised to book in advance. A comprehensive pack for use in the classroom will either be sent to schools with the booking confirmation or given to the teacher on arrival. Tours include a fish-farm visit, farm tour, deer-farm visit, land-use management study and guided forest walks.
Alph McGregor is one of the rangers and believes the main strength of the 25,000-acre site is its variety of activities. “We get a lot of repeat business as you see different things at different times of the year. The forest walks are always being looked at and changed,” he says.
“Schools can spend a few hours here, or a full day and there is an auditorium at the visitor centre with a display area for schools to use. A playing field and picnic area are available for use during lunch time, and in wet weather the auditorium can be used for lunches. We are able to provide a unique insight into the way an estate works.” There is relevance to the school curriculum, not only through environmental education, but also in the different landscapes, relevant to geography, and the social history of the estate.”
On a residential basis, the Abernethy Outoor Centre, north of Nethybridge , offers a wide variety of outdoor educational activities. One of four centres throughout Scotland set up by the Abernethy Trust, the country house - built in 1760 - offers accommodation for a total of 76 people with 44 situated in the main house and 32 in four chalets which have their own kitchen facilities.
Nearby Loch Morlich provides the base for water sports and the centre itself has a dry-ski slope (built last year), all-weather tennis court, an indoor heated pool, a games hall and squash courts. There is also a field studieslecture room and a large-screen video projector.
The centre offers separate programmes for different age groups but will fit in with whatever particular schools need.
Level one (for 10 to 12-year-olds) appreciates that some children are away from family holidays for the first time and stresses fun in a supervised setting. Level two (12-14) is for children who enjoy a mixture of fun challenges “usually involving getting pretty wet and messy”. Adventure Plus (14-16) is the next level and offers sharing a week of “challenge, adventure and discovery”. The centre also offers a Ski Unlimited programme during the Easter holidays for 12 to 16-year-olds.
Lorimer Gray, executive director, points out: “We estimate that 70 per cent of our visitors are school-related groups. There are primary schools and secondary schools and the rest is made up of family groups and youth organisations. ”
The centre is very safety-conscious, with trained staff to oversee programmes. For watersport activities, children must be able to swim 25 metres and levels of activities will be pitched to suit the fitness-level of groups.
Typical five-day programmes for primary school children would involve archery, adventure course, canoeing, abseiling, orienteering and nature awareness. For secondary school children, multi-activity options would involve archery, climbing, canoeing, sailing, a river trip and a day on the mountains.
The centre, which promotes Christian principles and offers bible-study classes in the evening, underlines the importance of outdoor education to build on the curriculum. It believes that its benefits include personal growth for pupils through adventure activities, social development enhanced through new and shared experience, and teacher-pupil relationships deepened through the removal of traditional barriers.
o Rothiemurchus Visitors Centre, Rothiemurchus Estate, by Aviemore, Inverness-shire, PH22 1QH. Tel: 01479 810858 o Abernethy Outdoor Centre (contact: Sharon Gill) Nethybridge, Inverness-shire, PH25 3ED. Tel: 01479 821 279 Spey Valley Travel Details On the direct route to Inverness, the Spey Valley has excellent road and rail connections south. Motorways from Glasgow and Edinburgh (both two-and-a-half hours away) join routes from the north of England. Aviemore and Grantown are the principal villages.
Natural features: Cairngorm mountains, Creag Meagaidh and Craigellachie national nature reserves, Abernethy Forest and Dell Woods, Glenmore Forest Park, Insh Marshes bird reserve, and rivers Spey, Feshie, Dulnain and lochs Garten, Insh, Morlich, An Eilein and Lochindorb.
Features: o Britain’s highest restaurant, the Ptarmigan on Cairngorm, sits at 3,600 feet and is often buried in snow.
o The osprey, once the country’s rarest bird of prey, has nested successfully at Loch Garten every year since 1954.
o The Cairngorms have the only herd of reindeer in Britain, introduced from Lapland in the 1950s.
o The brown bears, wolves, wild boar and bison in the Highland Wildlife park were once native to the valley.
o The Spey is Scotland’s second-longest river (98 miles) and its fastest flowing, falling at 11.5 feet per mile. The Thames falls at two feet per mile.
o The defeat in 1746 of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite Army at Culloden Moor, just north on the road to Inverness, began the break-up of the Highlands’ clan system.
For details of activities and accommodation, contact Aviemore and Spey Valley Tourist Board, Grampian Road, Aviemore, Inverness-shire, PH22 1PP. Tel: 01479 810246.
