Award-winning Grosvenor’s Reay Forest Estate welcomed hundreds of school children and members of the public to its free open days last month, enabling visitors to learn more about the work that goes into managing a traditional rural estate in one of Europe’s last wildernesses. 

The estate, which is renowned for its excellence in conservation, leading country sports and the beauty of its unspoilt landscape, hosted two separate events – one exclusively for schools and a second over the weekend for the public – at Achfary, Sutherland, in the north-west Highlands.

About 140 pupils from nearby secondary and primary schools in Kinlochbervie, Gairloch, Ullapool, Durness, Scourie and Lochinver attended the event.  

Ben Mardall, Estate Manager, Grosvenor’s Reay Forest Estate, said: “It’s really important for us to demonstrate the work we do and the benefits that it provides, as well as to encourage people, particularly children and young people, to learn more about the opportunities and careers that are available at the estate. The whole event has been a celebration of what makes the Reay Forest Estate, and the North-West Highlands, such a special place. We’re really proud that we’re able to deliver the open days with our partner organisations for our communities.”

The biennial events provide a rare opportunity to see behind the scenes of the estate, which last year was awarded the highest ever score in Europe for land management and conservation, becoming the first organisation in the UK to receive a gold accreditation from Wildlife Estates.  

Visitors had the opportunity to tour 12 activity centres and stations shining a light on the people, roles and responsibilities that support the management of the estate, including deer management, sustainable forestry, maintenance and operating the estate’s holiday lodges, as well as careers at Grosvenor and the Westminster Foundation, an independent organisation representing the charitable activity of the Duke of Westminster and Grosvenor businesses.

The event also included partner organisations North West Highlands GeoPark, Countryside Learning Scotland, the West Sutherland Fisheries Trust and the Atlantic Salmon Trust – who Grosvenor is working in partnership with to deliver one of the UK’s most extensive landscape-scale, ecosystem-wide, conservation projects to restore endangered wild Atlantic salmon populations.