Gannochy Estate is situated in Glen Esk and dates back to the 12th century when it was owned by the Stirling family. By the 18th century it was part of the expansive Dalhousie estates, where, legend says that the Laird could ride from the Invermark border to Edinburgh without leaving his own land.
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Gannochy's grouse moors reached a peak in the 30′s when annual bags were in excess of 5,000 brace. Royalty were regular visitors to Glen Esk including the future Queen Elizabeth with her father King George VI. The moors also gave their name to a patented cartridge dispenser, The Gannochy Loader, designed for very fast reloading between shots.
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In the 1960′s Gannochy was sold by Dalhousie to William Foster who then sold the Estate in the 1980′s to an American, Derald Ruttenberg.
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By the turn of this century the heather was seriously damaged by an excess of deer, tick had badly affected the grouse stocks and the estate properties were in a poor state of repair. In 2003 the Estate was sold to a developer and when re-offered for sale in lots there was public outcry at the break-up of this once-famous estate. However, this sale was in fact a turning point for the whole Glen.
New owners and their gamekeepers took on the challenge of reviving grouse stocks with enormous energy, a modern approach and focused investment in the moors. The result is a re-birth of Glen Esk with thriving wildlife and a stronger local economy. Today Gannochy is once more one of the finest private estates in Scotland.