Andrew Bruce Wootton
General Manager, Atholl Estates

Andrew was born in Guernsey, and educated in Guernsey, Jersey and Canada to degree level, before gaining MRICS and ARAgS professional qualifications. Following land and civil engineering work in both Canada and Scotland, he moved in to Estate Management as Assistant Factor of Lothian Estates in 1992 before taking on the role of Deputy Factor at Buccleuch Estates from 1993 until 2000. Andrew came to Atholl Estates as General Manager in 2000. He is a Director of the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association and also of Blair Castle Estate Ltd.

Andrew describes Conquer The Castle thus:

“The prospect of the series being on Atholl was a bit breathtaking when first proposed but also a great honour and as soon as we realised the production team were genuinely aspiring to authentically showcase the estate, our staff and work we signed up to the challenge with equal enthusiasm.
The weather proved to be one of the greatest challenges to the team but in good country style it wasn’t allowed to dampen spirits or divert focus away from the workload.

We had no idea what to expect despite months of planning with the STV team, who have been marvellous all the way through. The identity of contestants had been kept secret until the day of arrival although the schedule of tasks was planned out with military precision.

The contestants turned out to be great sports and fully up for the challenges. They also got on very well with our staff, the STV production team and even with each other. Kindrochet Lodge was an ideal base for them to enjoy some luxury in the evenings after a hard day on the tools and it was always very entertaining to visit them each day after their tasks to hear their stories, which ranged from the height of delight to the depths of shock.

By the end of the series some strong bonds of friendship had formed between the contestants and also with estate staff, which broke through the urban / country divide. A new and lasting mutual respect had also grown out of the shared experiences, which I hope viewers will notice as they watch the series.

Congratulations to all the contestants – each one a kin/queen of the castle for their tenacity and spirit.”

Sandy Reid
Head Gamekeeper

Sandy was born in a croft in Rora in the North East of Scotland, a few miles from Peterhead. At the age of 8, he began spending all his spare time helping out at a local farm and working with the Clydesdale horses. It was at this early age that he discovered his love of fishing and the outdoor life. He completed his education at Peterhead Academy and in February 1959 left home to start work at Forest Lodge on Atholl Estates. He worked on the Clunes beat for a further 13 years before taking over as head keeper/stalker on the west hand-castle beat in 1977. Sandy has worked for Atholl Estates for 49 years, seeing many changes in his time.

Of ‘Conquer the Castle’ he says “It was an interesting and enjoyable few weeks and I think we all learned something from each other. If people understand more about life on a working estate as a result of this programme and come and visit us, even better. I will be taking out Land Rover safari tours this year so if, after watching this programme, people want to experience it for themselves, they’d better book quick – spaces are limited.”

Sandy MacGill
Head Guide, Blair Castle

Sandy was born and educated in Ayrshire. He spent 38 years working in the banking and financial services industry, latterly in Berkshire, before taking early retirement in 2000 and moving to Perthshire. Having always been interested in historical buildings, Sandy applied for a seasonal post as a guide at Blair Castle. His natural aptitude for the job and enthusiasm for the place soon led to promotion, and for the last 6 years he has been employed full-time as Head Guide, with responsibility for all front-of-house staff. So much for early retirement!

Sandy says working with the Conquer contestants was “an enjoyable experience. I will never forget Trudie and Muchaneta checking their make-up rather than the map before setting off on a 6-hour cycling treasure hunt in the pouring rain. They were still smiling when they returned though!”
Sandy’s greatest challenge during filming was training Kimberley for a stint as a Castle guide. “Kimberley had a totally new slant on guiding. Her theory was ‘if you don’t know the facts, make up a good story instead, it always works!’” says Sandy.

Stuart Grant
Gamekeeper – Atholl Estates

Stuart farmed sheep and cattle for 11 years, before opting for a change of scenery and moving into deer stalking. After a spell on Atholl two years ago whilst at college, Stuart returned to the West Hand beat in June 2007. As a ghillie, he works with the deer ponies, bringing culled stags and hinds off the hill during the stalking season. He also looks after the pheasants and ducks put down on the home beat, and carries out vermin control.

Stuart enjoyed filming ‘Conquer the Castle’, saying the contestants were “very good, they were really interested to learn about what we do here as it was a complete culture change for them. They were all keen to learn how to do their tasks and tried to carry them out well”.

Fraser McLauchlan
Farm Manager – Balanloan Home Farm, Atholl Estates

Fraser has been Farm Manager at Balanloan Home Farm on Atholl Estates for just over 3 years. Along with his team of three staff, he is responsible for 180 head of beef cattle and 1800 breeding ewes, producing organic beef, lamb and mutton for the Atholl Glens organic meat co-operative.

Fraser, who lives in the farmhouse with his wife and 4 children, has been farming all his life barring a five year spell building and managing a golf course. He describes his experience filming ‘Conquer The Castle’ as “a lot of fun, due to the wonderful mix of contestants and their great sense of humour”.

George Scott
Shepherd – Atholl Estates

George has been a shepherd for over 32 years, 28 of them on Atholl Estates. After leaving school he spent 4 years at the Middleton of Glasclune, near Blairgowrie, where he attended Elmwood College and gained his City & Guilds in Hill & Upland Farming. He moved to Atholl Estates in 1979, intitally working at Rotmell Farm near Dunkeld. George has been in his present position in Glen Tilt since 1987, where he looks after over 1800 ewes spread over a large area from the steep slopes of Beinn a’ Ghlo to the fields around Blair Castle. Assisting him everyday are his team of dogs - Bob, Woof, Ned and Cora.

George says he “thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of teaching the contestants to work with the sheep, especially the shearing – that’s one of my favourite parts of the job”. George was most impressed with their gutsy performance at each challenge.

Vicki Bogan
Blair Castle Trekking Centre

Vicki has been the Centre Operator at Blair Castle Trekking Centre for almost two years. Her main duties on the estate are the day to day running of the trekking centre and responsibility for the welfare of the Estate’s 30 ponies. Outside of the trekking season, there are young ponies to train, and Vicki also helps out on the hill on the West Hand sporting beat.

Vicki describes her experience with the contestants as “a good one, although it was a little stressful at The Highland Show as it’s such a big event! It was sometimes difficult to explain simple things that we do everyday with the horses to complete beginners, though it was interesting to see it from their point of view. Kimberly would be excellent at putting customers at ease, because she’s always cheerful and never stops talking, whilst Richard was very serious and wanted to know every detail about every job. They were a good mix.”

Hamish Cruickshank
Blair Castle Trekking Centre

Hamish has worked on Atholl Estates on and off now for about 5 years, between studying at North Highland College. Having worked as an underkeeper and ghillie, last year he had the opportunity of a full time job at the Trekking Centre and a Trek Leader. Hamish describes it as “a very rewarding job, because I am outside and involved with the ponies most days.”

Hamish enjoyed filming ‘Conquer The Castle’, and says “the time that we spent with the contestants was always good fun as they were always interested in what was going on and were not afraid to ask questions.”

Madge Sutherland
Head Housekeeper, Blair Castle

Madge has been Housekeeper at Blair Castle for 23 years, and is the longest serving member of staff at the castle. She is responsible for organising and leading all housekeeping and cleaning duties throughout the castle. Caring for and preserving the many antiques and museum pieces on display are the top priorities for Madge and her team. Under Madge’s guidance, the housekeepers take pride in maintaining high standards and presenting a polished Blair Castle to the public.

Madge describes her experience filming ‘Conquer the Castle’ as “truly amazing. I really enjoyed being involved. Every contestant was a superb individual, and they each put 100% effort into every task they were set. Well done to them all.”

Malcolm Whyte
Deer Ranger, Atholl Estates

From Forfar originally, Malcolm started work in the Angus glens on a small estate, before working as a ghillie in the Isle of Lewis for a year. He then moved back to Forfar, as a gamekeeper for a few years, before coming to Atholl Estates in 2001 as the Forestry Deer Ranger. Although the culls now are not as big as when he first started, Malcolm still enjoys the challenge of managing deer to allow the new plantations to produce quality timber. Malcolm is also very involved in conservation on the estate, conserving species such as Capercaillie, and looking after the estates’ fishing stocks. In 2008, his main challenge will be bringing back in-hand the lochs at the southern end of the estate and providing high quality fishing opportunities for guests.

Malcolm is also just about to complete a 2 year HNC in countryside management, which he says will be of great use to his role. In his spare time he is also a Special Constable with Tayside Police.

Of Conquer the Castle, Malcolm says ‘It was good fun taking the contestants out for the program. I think they were surprised at how different the job is from what they were expecting to be doing, but they were very interested in all the work that goes into managing deer numbers effectively’.

Sean Marsh
Deer Ranger & Forester, Atholl Estates

Originally from the New Forest, Sean moved to Scotland after completing a National Diploma in Game & Wildlife Management. After work with the Forestry Commission at Lochaber and a season as a ghillie and Invermark Estate, Sean came to Atholl in 2005 for a 12-week contract with the Capercaillie Project, managing deer populations in capercaillie breeding grounds. He then spent a season stalking at Atholl’s neighbouring estate, Fealar, before returning to Atholl permanently in 2006. His role now is as a full time forester and deer ranger, a mixture of forestry work such as felling and broom cutting, and also carrying out a deer cull in the forestry blocks.

During the stag season, Sean takes stalking guests on the high ground of the West Hand beat.
“Filming was good fun, despite the 5am start for our shoot day. That’s fairly normal in my deer work, but I think it was very new for some of the contestants! They were interesting people, and took on the challenges well. They were keen to learn, and once they understood the reasons for it, were very supportive of the deer cull” said Sean.

Alan McNicoll
Forestry Foreman, Atholl Estates

Alan has been with the Atholl Estates Forestry Department for over 33 years. His father was a tenant farmer at The Meadows of Tulliemet for 28 years, and Alan first worked with the Forestry Department during his school holidays, helping to cut bracken. Growing up on the farm gave Alan a good grounding in agricultural work, standing him in good stead for his work in the Atholl Estates Nursery growing young trees from seed. He has been an Atholl Highlander for over 30 years. His great passion is vintage tractors and has a Grey Ferguson 1954 which he intends to restore when he retires.

Alan said of his filming experience “it was very entertaining. Everything was obviously very new to the contestants, but they tried hard and enjoyed themselves at the same time.”

Polly Freeman
Ranger, Atholl Estates

Polly is originally a city girl herself, hailing from London, but left the city lights as soon as she finished school and has lived and worked all over Britain’s countryside since. Polly has managed the Ranger Service on Atholl Estates since 1998, and very much enjoys the variety of work involved in being a countryside ranger.

She says she was “surprised how seriously Trudie and Richard took their challenge. They both worked really hard and put everything into it. Choosing a winner felt really mean as they both did their absolute best.”

Gordon Learmonth
Stockman, Balanloan Home Farm

Gordon was born in Kenmore in 1964. His father was a professional golfer and stock farmer, giving Gordon a strong background in farming. After three years studying agriculture at Elmwood College, Gordon began a career as a stockman, and has now been in the industry for nearly 30 years. He came to Atholl Estates in 1984, and has worked for three farm managers and three factors since then. As stockman at Balanloan Home Farm, Gordon is responsible for 180 head of cattle. He has been married to Susan, who works in the Estate accounts department, for 22 years.

“An experience not to be forgotten” is how Gordon refers to his involvement with ‘Conquer The Castle’. “It was quite a challenge, as the contestants were all from very urban backgrounds, but they were good fun and genuinely wanted to learn. My favourite contestant was Kimberley, as she was hilarious and willing to try anything.