Learn about growing vegetables, help with fun projects and experience the rural Isle of Arran, Scotland, UK

Details

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  Description

  Hi, my name is Beth, I live at the south end of the beautiful Isle of Arran with spectacular views and fantastic walks.
  
  Arran is very accessible from the Scottish mainland, it’s only 50 minutes by train from the city of Glasgow to the ferry port for Arran. I live with my husband Chris and our son James (25).
  
  Chris works from home Monday to Friday and James is studying his university course from home. I let out two holiday cottages and I have to work one or two mornings a week cleaning them for our new guests each week, you won't be required to help with this or be involved with maintenance or gardening of any areas used by our paying guests, the things you'll be helping out with are purely for our own private home and garden.
  
  I love spending time outside in our garden or working on projects in our home. I have a big greenhouse and vegatable garden as well as a flower garden. There is a big pond with ducks, an orchard and other areas we would like to develop into gardens.
  
  Chris and I brought up our large family here, even though our four daughters and one of our sons have all ‘flown the nest’ they always come back as much as possible to catch up with their family and friends and to enjoy life at the slower pace that Arran offers.
  
  We have two dogs and a cat, they love the attention they get from all our visiting Workaways, we also keep ducks and hens who keep us supplied with their lovely eggs. I enjoy many of crafts in my spare time, my favourites being embroidery, beadwork, sewing and crocheting, I also love cooking and baking and I’m more then happy to teach any of these skills. We bake our own bread daily and all of our meals are home cooked using our own vegetables where possible. We all eat meat with most meals but we are happy to cater for vegetarians.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  While you are here you can enjoy many of the endless walks Arran has to offer, miles of coastal pathways, numerous hills and mountains, forested areas, rivers, small lochs and beaches. if you love taking photos Arran has so many beautiful views you will be spoilt for choice. Arran is full of history from the stone-age to modern history like the land clearances. If you love wildlife Arran has many wild flowers and trees, some only native to Arran, and lots of wild birds and animals. We love feeding the wild birds right at our kitchen window and we have a red squirrel who visits us most days. Otters can been seen playing on the nearby beach and just a mile away is a beach full of seals. Chris and I are knowledgeable about most of the local history and wildlife and are happy to answer questions. We live in a very quiet rural location in a very beautiful part of the world, don't expect nightlife! we have wi-fi and we are on the bus route so not too uncivilised.
  
  This is some of the skills we can teach….
  Making drinks ~ cider, wine, cordials and ginger beer
  Crafts ~ beadwork, crochet and embroidery
  Baking ~ bread, cakes, pies and quiches
  Other culinary skills ~ making yoghurt, sweets and jams
  How to store food from the garden and garden tool care and maintenance
  DIY skills ~ woodwork, painting and small household repairs
  Gardening ~ planting, soil analysis, composting, seed germination, organic pest control, pollenating, potting up, companion planting.
  
  * Some of these skills are dependent on the time of year

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We live in a large house and have a large garden, we would welcome some help looking after our house and garden. While staying here I can offer you plenty of experience to learn new skills in gardening, growing vegetables, animal care, cooking, DIY and more. I mainly work outside through the spring, summer and autumn unless the weather drives us inside. I always work alongside our Workaways and our past Workaways have enjoyed helping me with lots of fun projects, both big and small. They have enjoyed gaining a variety of different skills while staying here with us and we have formed many long-lasting friendships with them too.
  
  Last year we established a bigger vegetable garden and put up a greenhouse/polytunnel so we can extend our growing season. While staying with us you will not only learn gardening skills but enjoy the benefits of harvesting and eating our produce. We are also in the middle of renovating an old farm cottage on our land, we plan to do all the plumbing, electrics, kitchen fitting and decorating ourselves and we are happy for you to help and learn any of these skills.
  
  We have too many projects to list but the workaways we have had so far have never be bored and there is lots of variety of tasks. We have had many workaways to stay, some who have already returned more then once and we are looking forward to seeing some of them again this year.
  
  This is the type of help our workaways have done....
  Maintaining the garden
  Planning a new vegetable garden
  Helping to rebuild an old stone wall
  Assisting with some cottage renovation
  Clearing materials from old farm buildings
  Painting and decorating
  Garden Woodwork
  Cutting wood
  Outdoor painting, walls, sheds and fences
  Re-organising sheds and cupboards
  Cleaning
  Cleaning out the hen and duck house
  Feeding ducks and hens
  Grooming, bathing and walking the dogs
  Clearing overgrown garden

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  We offer a lovely large bedroom on the top floor of our house with fantastic views. There are two single beds, storage for your belongings and use of a shower room, all bedding and towels are provided. You will be living as part of our family and sharing meals with us and we would expect you to take a turn with washing up and clearing the table as you would in your own home.
  
  Breakfast - 'help yourself' cereal, toast, tea, orange juice etc.
  Lunch - homemade soup and/or sandwiches
  Evening meal - home cooked dinner, we eat meat ourselves but can cater for vegetarians.
  
  If you are going exploring on your days off you can make yourself a packed lunch and we can always keep your dinner warm for you.

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  What else ...

  Our home is surrounded by open farm land and beautiful sea views. One of Arran’s most popular sandy beaches is a five minute walk away and in the other direction there is a secluded rocky beach. Spend enough time here and be rewarded with otter and seal sightings. Arran has a maze of forestry tracks to explore easily reached from our home.
  
  The nearest shops are 8k away but our village has a campsite shop and a pub. there is often a craft market or a coffee morning on the weekends in the Village Hall
  
  Arran is steeped in history, places to visit include Brodick Castle, Lochranza Castle and Arran Heritage Museum. 
  
  Recreational facilities include golf, cycling, pony trekking, gorge walking, kayaking, sailing, fishing, para-gliding, snorkelling and swimming. If you are keen on walking then Arran has a wealth of varied walks and climbs for all abilities.
  
  There are a variety of places for eating out and plenty of local crafts and gift shops. For natural history lovers there is an abundance of flora and fauna. Arran can offer all year round entertainment with live music, family ceilidhs, drama and village events.
  
  Arran is reached via a ferry from Ardrossan, there is a regular train link from the city of Glasgow which takes about 50 minutes. There are air links at Prestwick International Airport, Glasgow International Airport and Edinburgh Airport.
   

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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