Lunan Bay Farm – Scottish Cashmere Experience

Description

Join Lunan Bay Farm on their working farm at Redcastle, on the secluded South side of Lunan Bay where you’ll have a fully immersive, intimate experience learning how they produce their Scottish Regenerative Cashmere. Whether your passion is goats, fibre, wellness, wildlife, nature, history or heritage, there is something for everyone to enjoy at the Scottish Cashmere Farm to Fibre Experience.

The Experience:

On the day, you can help gently comb the Cashmere goats to harvest the fibre, learn how the Cashmere fibre is processed, and experience hand spinning on the shore of Lunan Bay, the stunning wild Scottish beach we call “Home”.

There will be a demonstration on the key steps involved in converting fibre into yarn, by our artisan hand-spinner. You will have the opportunity to try hand-spinning and hand-carding with fibre from our Shetland sheep.

Learn how to dye our fibre with plant extracts, over fire in our cosy beachside bothy, and make your own naturally dye yarn to take home as a memento of your visit.

See the environmental benefits our regeneratively managed goats bring. You’ll also receive a double dose of goat therapy as we offer you the opportunity to interact with our herd of friendly Cashmere goats.

Explore our Coastal Farm:

• Caress our baby soft yarn in our pop-up Cashmere Shop
• Listen to local stories during our guided historical tour of Redcastle Ruin
• Dolphin spotting in the Bird Hide
• Cashmere Goat Therapy
• Search for the rare Small Blue Butterfly during a beach walk
• Delight in the annual visit of the Swallows at the Pillbox, WW2 look-out

Optional Extra:

We are privileged to live and work in such a beautiful place, where we enjoy daily sea and river dips. It is good for the soul! Whilst you are here, you may fancy a dip in the sea at the end of the tour. It’s quite an experience at any time of year with well documented health benefits.

It’s not for the faint hearted, temperatures are never high in the North Sea, (5 degrees C in March to 15 degrees C in August) we think it’s well worth it though! If you do, bring your: swimsuit, water shoes, towel, woolly hat/swimming cap, wetsuit gloves optional, lots of warm clothing to layer up in afterwards. If conditions allow, we’ll walk in and always stay in our depth dipping to the neck and staying as long as comfortable. A lose rule of thumb is a minute per degree, but everyone is different, and we just do what feels right individually. The waves are a playground when they let us, we never go in if conditions aren’t safe. We stay together, no dipping alone.

After dipping, quick change, then back for Artisana hot chocolate. We don’t shower then, it’s better to wait a few hours when you have fully warmed up. By joining our event, you are directly supporting our pioneering work to bring back homegrown Cashmere production to Scotland.

A Real Taste of Angus Lunch:

Immerse yourself in the nature of our special place, whilst enjoying a Real Taste of Angus lunch served in our Farmhouse Garden.

Typical menu features:

– Caramelised Onion, Walnut & Blue Cheese Tart (vg) and, Tomato, Basil & Mozzarella Tart (vg) with salad, by Coolinary Café, Montrose
– Sourdough Bread by The Newport Bakery, Arbroath, Butter & Lunan Bay Farm Honey
– Blueberry, Yoghurt and Lemon Cake by Coolinary Café, Montrose (vegan)
– Seahills Angus Strawberries, Arbroath and other Angus soft fruits
– Sacred Grounds Coffee, Arbroath, Tea, Artisana Hot Chocolate, Forfar and Soft Drinks

*Alternatives for pre-advised dietary requirements will be provided

When and Where:

Tours start at 10am and finish at 4pm.

Happy to accommodate both individuals and small groups per experience. Maximum group size per experience will be 14 guests.

The location is Lunan Bay Farm, Redcastle Salmon Bothy, Redcastle, Angus, DD11 5SS.

Experiences are offered during Cashmere harvest in May and June 2024. Taking bookings for summer 2025.

Please get in touch if you are looking for accommodation. We have some excellent local recommendations. An accompanied sea/river dipping experience, with changing rooms and hot chocolate, is an optional extra, if desired and conditions allow.

Cost:

The cost for the experience is £125 per person.

This includes local produce refreshments throughout the day, a A Real Taste of Angus two course lunch, and a souvenir of 6 x naturally dyed mini-skeins of yarn.