#FabulousFriday: finally closed out the Dunans Conservation Plan books, and redesigned the greeting pack for Lairds & Ladies

interiorspread-bluefolderWatch the Scottish Laird site for news on the books (in particular our Lairds’ and Ladies’ and the PDF versions), and in the meantime enjoy the inside of the ScottishLaird welcome pack A4 folder. Gorgeous isn’t it? Lots of Dunans Rising tartan, lots of Lairds and Ladies taking the tour, and lots of new information researched through the plan.

First Aerial Movie of Dunans Castle is over in 19 seconds, but shows spectacular potential!

Over the bank holiday we have been testing our new quadcopter mounted camera and this is a short excerpt of what we think will become an exciting and revealing tool for the restoration of the castle. We’re presently designing shots for a forthcoming ibook of the Conservation Plan.

Final Proof of the Conservation Plan for Dunans in from Lulu today – we’re so close to publishing the book I can smell it!

That’s the printer’s ink, the new paper and the ozone of a press that I can smell … No, but really the proof is a live book printed by Lulu, ordered three days ago and received today – and it’s lovely and glossy and just beautiful.

We’re looking for a small Scottish printer at the moment to do a run of between 250-500 hardbacks with dust jackets. And that run will be the primary publication, but we’ll continue with the more expensive Lulu version to enable easy sales around the world.

The PDF version is also nearing completion, and that’ll be immediately available on the Scottish Laird website. It’s not as glossy, but all of the text is there, albeit in a more compressed typographical form!

ScottishLaird tour season has well and truly kicked off with 6 tours in 8 days!

Today I gave a tour for six lairds and ladies – a couple from Aberdeen, another from down south with lovely pooch Oliver and the last all the way over from Australia.

Oliver and people had stayed at Sandra and Michael’s at the Watermill and gave great reviews, particularly for the ever-popular big breakfast that is Michael’s speciality.

Then, given their itineraries, we recommended The George in Inveraray, The Loch Fyne Oyster Bar, The Colintraive Hotel and Inver Cottage! I always feel lucky to have so many great places to recommend in such an isolated spot.

For more information about tours and where to stay and go near us, please click here.

The tartan Dunans Rising puts Dunans Castle in the Herald after our recent order of 6 rolls from @ButeFabric

Delighted to be contributing to the £100K of orders of tartan at Bute Fabric which has given rise to stories in the Herald among others.

Here’s the link

And of course the picture is the tartan, as seen on Lairds, teddies and other wonderful merchandise at the ScottishLaird website

 

If you have ever wondered about the size of the task we’re facing here at Dunans, well, here’s a clue – the indicative costs for Castle and Bridge.

Gulp!

We knew the budget would be big, but not even I was prepared for some of these figures, though they are very rough. They’re based on pounds per metre squared, rule-of-thumb calculations on professional fees, and the type of VAT chargeable. We don’t yet have an accurate survey of the castle – still too dangerous inside I am afraid – but as soon as we do, I am expecting the detail on these figures to resolve.

Obviously with regard to the castle we’re looking at the Accommodation & Event option as our favoured route as this is the most sustainable. Frankly I am gobsmacked at the Victorian Restoration (Like-for-like) price – although this does include lime plaster with horse hair and lath and no plasterboard. You can see where that’s going. Consolidation as a Ruin is the cheapest option, but unfortunately, there’s little or no way of sustaining the borrowing on a roofless shell – albeit a very beautiful one.

The cost for the repair of the bridge is also significant, but at least with the prospect of funding via Historic Scotland, Heritage Lottery and others this might be achievable in the relatively short-term – particularly with the bicentenary coming up next year.

Does this leave you wanting to know more? Well the Conservation Plan for Dunans will be published very shortly (ISBN 978-1-910326-01-5), and you’ll be able to read a great deal more about the site, its history and our plans then… in the meantime, I am going off to write a business plan or three!

Cover finalised for the Conservation Plan of @DunansCastle, including Barcode, ISBN, blurb and fabulous panorama

Sometimes the simplest design is the most beguiling. In this case a panorama taken one  early summer morning from the bridge towards the castle. With title, strap and author on the cover;  title, author and Dunans Castle Ltd. logo on the spine; and blurb and barcode on the back, everything is pared back to the minimum.

The thinking is that the Conservation Plan represents the foundation point from which we are restoring and therefore should display the bridge and castle at their barest – although of course in a picturesque way – reflecting its “quite breathtaking … impact.” (Davies)

But aside from all the design niceties, we’re very, very grateful for the CreativIndieCovers website for the great free online barcode generator – just wonderful how the market throws up truly innovative answers to the questions one asks i.e. where can I generate a barcode free online? And before you ask why one should be able to generate a barcode artwork for free, the answer is that because the standard for deriving barcodes from ISBNs is free, and if I’d had to I’d have coded it myself – and also offered it free once I had.

Three days of comparative dry, lots of raking, shovelling and digging, and we now have access at Dunans!

Today and yesterday we continued the consolidation of the drive at Dunans. The constant rain of the last 6 months has meant that we had not so much a track but a series of large ponds. The result, I hope you’ll agree is a vast improvement.

The contractor? Don’t be silly, that’s me and my mother with the blisters. Actually, more my blisters as I’ve not had the chance to wield a rake in anger since early last year. Thanks Ma, great job!

Photo of Dunans @sunset walking back to the house after a big day on the conservation plan.

Sometimes the interaction of landscape and building is stunning, although mere photos are often not able to catch the full width, breadth and height of the stunningness involved – and I suspect this is one such case. Lucky to live where I do.

#WorkinProgress on the #DunansCastle Conservation Plan book – a gallery of rather lovely rogues!

We’re really enjoying putting together the picture library for the book, which includes, naturally enough, a selection of photos taken of Lairds and Ladies while on tours in the grounds. We’ve included all of them on one page, and here’s the result. You’ll see all sorts of activity, but my favourite are the trio of Ladies with champagne about to have their picnic sometime last summer (and yes, I did quaff too!).

Its looking like the book, Conservation Plan for Dunans, will be published in the next month or so. More details to be announced soon!

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