ABOUT US
John
Before graduation John Gregor and I applied for Jobs with SAC as Agricultural Advisers I landed a job in Inverness and John went to the Uists ? I think.
In 1982 I married Alice.
After 5 years , in 1987 I moved to Elgin to work for Watson Bell Consultants as an Agri consultant, I left that job in 1989 (Calum took my post) and moved home to Kirkcudbright to take over the family dairy farm with my brother.
In 1992 I setup an IT company initially dealing in Agri software. The company grew to 10 employees sevicing all types of business IT requirements. We sold most of our land but retained our steading and developed it into warehousing and offices which I rent out to various companies, including Alice’s Physio business. In IT we specialised in software development and wireless networking, with contract work all over Scotland, North England also in West Africa and Pakistan.
I sold the company in 2018.
I now work on my own still in IT, I also create drone footage for a local land agent.
For fun I ride my bike a lot, and play keyboard in a church band.
We have 2 children, Jamie a software developer who lives in Whistler, Canada and Laura a Business Analyst for Lloyds in Edinburgh. Still married to Alice ( Poor Alice !)
Debra
As already mentioned in the 10 year reunion update, after Uni I lacked direction and for reasons of future job security and because trainee jobs were easy to come by, I trained as a chartered accountant and got through the exams. I had a serious amount of student-like fun on the training courses and on the company meetings (true to form I managed to get Coopers and Lybrand banned from a London hotel because of the antics we got up to). Amazingly I did not get thrown out of the traineeship! I stuck around, because I enjoyed the continual change of client and location, until the day I found myself senior enough to be responsible for auditing the audit file and I was no longer going to clients or attending fun events ☹ (this made an ok job…very very dull!).
From here I moved on to real business and spent seven years at Black & Decker – also lots of fun events, weddings and a good crowd (I behaved myself ! no hotel, pub or restaurant ever complained, at least per the current status of my memory). Towards the end of my time at B&D, Alistair and I separated and I lost my best friend of 13 years. I then did what everyone says you shouldn’t – within a year I changed jobs, separated and moved country. In hindsight quite mad! But at the time an adventure and a new challenge including a completely new language to learn. I moved abroad with a British company to Germany (near Frankfurt) with two old cats and my task was to set up and lead their European finance department and put in a European finance IT system. Unfortunately within 6 months the Europe CEO had been fired and the HQ moved back to the UK… as I didn’t care much for the company, I decided to stay in Germany and take my chances. I had one very sleepless night after that decision, an expensive flat and no income, how stupid was that 😲 !!
So after I calmed myself down, I sent off c.100 job applications to American companies in Germany, I got about 5 replies which was also scary…the 2nd moment of panic….luckily I ended up with 3 job offers … relief! …and the result was that I spent next 20 odd years at Dell Computer which on the whole I loved! I worked in all back office departments, learnt loads about business growth and decline, good and bad managers and general management. Finally I outsourced my own job to Bratislava and took a friendly handshake.
I did some temping for fun until I found my current position, also another US company, this one is best known for managing call centres in Europe and the ticketing systems for e.g. the M25 toll bridge, Paris Metro etc and recently the speed cameras and red light cameras on Cyprus. I have spent the last 6 years cleaning up the accounting and company structure in Europe and have had my first experiences of liquidating entities, merging entities and starting up new entities in various countries throughout Europe – its been really mad, lots of work and I wish I was still 40 because I am sure I would have been better or at least faster.
The most important part of my life and the part for which I am most proud was the birth of my daughter Rebecca in 2000 in Germany, she recently graduated in Business management and is now living and working in Barcelona. She’s far braver than I was at her age (escaping family and moving to the far north of Scotland and studying agriculture as a townie does not quite compare), she is in fact sometimes too brave for my liking – I wanted her to be independent but I really think I over did it with my parenting 😲. Her next solo trip is to a country I hadn’t heard of -> Kyrgyzstan (for those of you like me, it’s the last stop before China starts) , as usual to go riding or working on farms in the middle of no-where. I am really curious to see how she balances her wild side with the need to have the style of life she wants.
Well it was longer than I expected! Hope you haven’t fallen asleep because given my surname is letter B I assume there are more to read after this!
Andrew
After graduating in 1982, I spent a summer working on the same farm that I had worked on during Uni hoildays, down near Dumfries where my family lived. I was looking for a more permanent job, with no results, until I was contacted by a certain Alison Burlison (nee Carter). Alison was doing her PHD with Edinburgh Uni but in colaboration with the Hill Farming Research Organisation. She gave me a heads up on a temporaty job at their Hartwood Research Station in Lanarkshire, in the grazing ecology department. To cut a long story short, I got the job which was initailly for 6 weeks, but turned into 18 months, all on short term contracts..
I left HFRO for a summer in 1984, before returning to a permanent job, also at Hartwood, but this time in the Animal Production department. My job was to do the day to day running of the Upland Sheep Systems experiments and also run other shorter term experiments that the departent was doing.
In 1992 HFRO merged with the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen to form the new Macaulay Land Use Reseacrh Institute, which was based at Craigiebuckler and I was transferred there from Hartwood in 1993. I now found myself living in Aberdeen again, and have been here ever since. As far as I know I am the only member of the class who actually lives in Aberdeen now.
Based at Craigibuckler, a lot of my job was at Glensaugh Reseach Station where I did a lot of work on Agroforestry systems. It was much the same as before but with the sheep grazing round trees at wide spacings. This work went on till 2001 when the project was closed down on the retiral of my boss.
After that I increasingly found myself being a bit of a spare part at MLURI. The work was now much more environmental and much less agricultural and I found myself doing a lot of odd jobs that didn’t really interest me. I did a bit of habitat assesment in the deer managment areas of the highlands, which was ok, but I also had to do a lot of literature reviews, and even more boring, a lot of data entry work. The prospect of spending the rest of my working life typing numbers into spreadsheets was not very appealing.
In 2006 the chance came to get out when a very generous redundancy package was advertised. Since I had already paid off my mortgage and I had done the sums, I decided to go for it. It was the best move I could have made as that sort of thing was never offered again.
I left and started doing a variety of part time jobs. I worked in Makro in Aberdeen, selling electrical goods. I worked as an administrator/invigilator with the company that did the driving theory test (among others) and also did a few contracts for MLURI. The other job was doing the washing and polishing of 2 vintage Rolls Royces for a wedding car business.
I think that brings us up to the time of our last reunion.
Since then I have given up all my jobs and have fully retired. Over the years I have had a couple of hobbies that I get a lot of fun out of. One of those is gardening and growing my own veg. I have had an alotment for the last 10 years and get a lot of pleasure out of that.
The other hobby is video. I have been using camcorders for years, mainly to make films of farm machinery, but when I got my first HD camcorder in 2013 I started to take it a lot more seriously. I do a lot of filming here in Aberdeenshire and also down around Dumfries. I have a number of farmers that phone me up when something is happening that needs to be filmed. I have done a lot of video at a farm just along the road from Tillycorthie (remember that) and also at Mains of Fordoun in the Howe of the Mearns. I am sure you will all remember our farm vist there when Mr Innes took us all for a meal at the pub in Auchenblae. The farm is still there and is now run by his son David and grandson Matthew. I was there just last week (12th April).
I have had some of my videos published by a company down in Suffolk (Tractor Barn Productions) So far there have been 4 out of 6 DVD’s in the “North of the Border Series”. I have done a lot of filming on a big estate near Portsoy on the Moray Coast and we hope to make at least one DVD out of that too.
The photo incedentally is me driving an MF 35 that was bought new by my grandfather in 1959, a year before I was born. It was sold at his roup in 1966 but my 3 uncles managed to buy it back and restore it to new condition again. the picture was taken in 2018 at a vintage rally near Dumfries.
I think that brings my story up to date.
Dan
Hello all.
I haven’t seen most of you since 1982 so I am very much looking forward to catching up.
To recap the last 40 years (!), Ally Ingram and myself set off for New Zealand in 1982. After a while I went off sheep shearing but Ally – who’s smarter than me – did not.
I did that for a while in Australia but then went back to England to work for Velcourt, the contract farming company. Through them I worked for a year or so in France, which I enjoyed a lot, but then came back to England. It took a few years to figure out that this was not the life for me. (Windsurfers played an important role in that decision…)
With my girlfriend-at-the-time, we headed off to Canada, then the US. She had family in Boston so we ended up there, and when they said; “why don’t you stay?” – lacking a better plan, we did.
Eventually she went back to Scotland but I, still lacking a better plan, stayed.
Then I met the lovely Tracy – the social worker, rock-climber, and all-around better person than me. We’ve been married now for 25 years and have 2 boys – Peter, who’s an accountant in Boston, and Callum, who is a teacher in Western MA.
I worked construction for a number of years, but for the last 20 years I’ve been the inspector of buildings in Dracut, MA. Plus a side gig driving a truck on the weekends, which I don’t mind since it gives me time to sit, and think. This morning I approved a new building for the last dairy farmer in Dracut, which is as close to agriculture as I’ve been for a long time…
We’re both planning to retire in a couple of years. My plan is to buy a ukulele, a Hawaiian shirt, and a boat, and sail away. Tracy is ok with the shirt but thinks the rest is iffy. A compromise will be reached, I’m sure.
That’s it so far.
Looking forward to seeing you all!
Alistair H
So my life has been in New Zealand for the past 29 years – it’s my home and I love this country. It has though required a regular requirement of long haul flying over the decades to keep in touch with family, friends and for work. I have been back to Scotland many times but sadly only one trip back to Aberdeen about 2 years ago.
My wife and I enjoy quiet life in a rural part of New Zealand and accompanying us are our 4 dogs. Our passion is our house and garden, both of which are large – Nikki my wife, is a landscape garden designer and botanical artist. For me my career has been largely in management, over the past 25 years in digital business, running businesses online. I have enjoyed a lot of different roles over the years in quite a few companies of variable size from large corporates to small start ups. I work from home these days and balance work with working on the house and garden, keeping me busy and active.
As well as settling in New Zealand I also spent 3 years living in Sweden and a year in Australia in the early 90’s. I feel like I have seen enough of the world over the years and travel no longer appeals as much as it once did.
That is a snapshot of my life.
Campbell
Brief resume!
Since University, Married to Katrina (Kings College) 2 sons, 1 border terrier, living in Scone,
Career: Veterinary Pharmaceuticals (Farm Animal then Companion Animal and currently Scottish Salmon) with as much fishing as possible!
Photo: Sea Trout from Ythan Estuary – Photographer Guy!
Mugshot attached in case no one recognises me!
Calum
Having failed to secure a job with SAC in 1982 I did manage to get a post with MAFF working for ADAS out of Alnwick in Northumberland. This was my training post and, after marrying Rosie in 1983, we were transferred to Suffolk where I took up an Ag Adviser post – what a piece of nonsense – a young lad from Scotland advising on Sugar beet production – I had never seen the crop!
Anyway, from there I specialised in farm business management and got a job with a big firm of consultants, again in Suffolk. Great training but all manual, no computers then. As JC mentions I had a hankering to get back to Scotland and replaced him with Watson Bell in Elgin. Unfortunately that did not work out for various reasons (not all my fault) but I did then get a job in Elgin with SAC – that was a relief as we had moved up with a 1 year old daughter so the pressure was on. This was a great time on Speyside, plenty of practical on farm work with enough free time (and Rosie’s help) to produce two more daughters.
In 1989 I was offered a position with Bank of Scotland with an associated move back to Edinburgh – this was a national role and probably the job I most enjoyed as it took me to every corner of Scotland. The bank. However, had plans to expand in England, found out I knew East Anglia and sent me back south to build their Ag portfolio in that region. Big task taking on Barclays in their own back yard, but we gave it a shot. Branding for that offering needed to improve so we built it around a JV called NFU Mutual Finance for which I was appointed Regional Director for East of England – that’s Northumberland to Kent!! All went well for a few years until the banks generally went belly up and I was made redundant after 15 years service. Luckily, I secured a post with what was the Technology Strategy Board in 2010 – this became Innovate UK where I am still working as Head of Agriculture and Food.
This has been an amazing job where I have led multi-million pound publicly funded programmes for applied research in the agrifood sector and has established what is now known as The UK AgriTech Centre. It has taken me in to Downing Street the Houses of Parliament and around the world from America to Australia and India to Israel.
All in all – I am glad I did my degree in Agriculture in Aberdeen – it has given me a lot!
Suzanne
So, after uni in 1982, I started teacher training in Bath (?) ….which didn’t last long…. and I escaped…literally.Then I worked for a year on an upland dairy and sheep farm in Cumbria; and then began work with ADAS 1983 down in Kent (?) …and then moved with them north to Newcastle upon Tyne.Lots of changes in 21 years, I worked as an agronomist and business management adviser in Northumberland and Durham.And for the last 20 years, I have been working for a national land management/ marine/environmental organisation, and am still there based in Newcastle upon Tyne.I have one son, aged 35, who has finally after 12 years, got engaged…
Rosie
After graduation, I worked on the family farm until our wedding and move to Alnwick. Once there, I worked in the toxicology dept of Sterling Winthrop R&D in their small animal unit.
MAFF then transferred Calum to Suffolk where, I initially joined Life Science Research but hated the dreaded LD50, so bailed asap and found work in the animal health dept of MAFF. I blood sampled on farms and slaughterhouses for many notifiable diseases incl brucellosis, aujeszky’s, salmonella, some sheep disease which I’ve forgotten (I forget a lot these days!) as well as an interesting spell warble fly dressing in Cornwall.
After our first daughter was born and our move to Elgin, I became a childminder, until MAFF came looking for me again. More varied this time; salmonella sampling imported soya from the hold of a boat in McDuff harbour, trussed up in white boilersuit, hard hat and respirator much to the amusement of onlookers. The most embarrassing, though, was having to ask farmers in Morayshire if I could come and collect urine samples from their bullocks. Feel free, they said and even at 7am a good crowd normally gathered to witness this spectacle!
Maternity leave luckily meant I missed most of the BSE era and I had left before foot and mouth hit, I’m glad to say.
Two more daughters, and another move, this time to East Lothian, I realised it was now time to pursue a long-standing dream of mine, and so retrained to begin a new career in midwifery. I completed my training in Edinburgh just in time for another move – this time back to East Anglia where we finally settled and have lived (in the same house!) for the past 23 years.
I’ve enjoyed a 22year career as a midwife, mainly on delivery suite, with all its joy, heartache, scary moments and fantastic friendships and colleagues. I finally retired after our 4th grandchild was born in 2022.
Our three daughters, Nicky, Sam and Jess have established very worthy careers in East Anglia, 2 have married local lads with lovely families and all live within an hour of us, so we enjoy our annual family festivals: most recently ’40-fest’ for our 40th wedding anniversary. Who would have bet on that!!!
Diana
I cannot believe 42 years have gone past since we all left Aberdeen .
Soon after finishing I sold the flat in Clifton road and headed back home to the Southeast.
Later that year I went to America ,travelled down the towns ,cities and countryside of east coast by greyhound bus ending up in Miami with Fiona Keppie’s family – another friend from Uni .
On my return with my heart in farming I became self employed and worked on farms in Surrey , Wiltshire and Wales ,working on sheep beef and dairy farms .
I have always been involved with horses and in 1990 I joined a horse Physiotherapist as a technician/driver , an incredible experience and many miles travelled, living back at home I managed to combine this with riding/competing and running a livery yard at home .
In 1999 I bought my first 12 Suffolk sheep , over the years I have got very involved with the breed become a member of the council ,met many lovely people in the UK and Ireland and had success breeding , showing and selling them .
These days I have reduced the sheep increased the dogs I have to stay and care for mum my mother ,I feel very lucky to live and work at home
Sheila
Firstly personal…
Married in 1984, not the best plan, finally got the courage to leave in 1987, it was around 10 years later before I could actually say the word abuse, it always affects your self esteem, but moving on….
I was very lucky to meet John in 1990 in Milan Airport – returning from the World Cup with Jim Riddell’s brother Iain! We lived between Allanton (more later) and Town Yetholm, were married in Kirk Yetholm (lovely village on the Border), built a house in Kelso and moved to Galashiels in 1998.
My stepdaughters were 3 and 5 when I met them, now Stephanie is 39, partner Stevie, two daughters – Sophia is 10 and Sara is 7 weeks old!, partner in a local solicitors firm; and Vanessa is 37, husband James, two daughters – Eva is 14 and Thalia is 12, was a lecturer in the local college, has FND and is taking a day at a time. Both live locally in Darnick and Melrose.
We have two sons – Stewart is 29, qualified as an electronics engineer, and is now Operations Director of Stewart Technology Ltd, our electronics company, working with his dad and a team of 60 or so producing electronic boards for a diverse mix of customers. He loves his football, coaching and playing, and is currently doing both with Peebles Rovers. His girlfriend is Lucy, an early years practitioner and a lovely girl, from St Boswells, and they stay in Galashiels.
David is 28, completed a Gaming degree, then an MSc in AI (not the agricultural version as my dad discovered!), after an internship at Microsoft he decided, along with his school pal Ian, that they would build a rocket for satellites…. Thistle Rocketry is ongoing and there are some loud bangs from time to time! He moved home and his current German girlfriend Robin is finishing her PhD in Edinburgh soon.
Now career..
After graduating in 1983 I was one of two employed by a co-operative of northeast farmers providing them with a budgeting and quarterly review service, taking their manual multi column cashbooks and analysing them onto Brian Pack’s package on farm, and discussing the results with farmer and bank manager. Bob (Yuill) made the boxes for transporting the computers, forgetting that I was about half his size, lived in a first floor flat, and had Fred the Fiat 127! FCS Ltd was an excellent grounding in hands on what to do and not to do in farming!
Brian acquired me to work for Farmdata Ltd as Customer Services Manager working across UK and N Ireland. Basically after a system was sold it was up to me to get the hardware and software to the farm, and provide/organise training and support. Again a good opportunity to see farming across the UK. One of the installations was to a farm estate in the Borders….
A chance conversation, and six weeks later I was in the Borders as an Assistant Estate Manager at Whiteadder Estate, Allanton – dream job! Main roles were financial control (not really possible given the owner!), suckler cows and potatoes but there was also arable, forestry and gamebirds, a commercial grain store, and a refurbishment project so definitely never a dull moment! I thought it would be shortlived and two years later I was showing potential purchasers round the farms.
I retrained as a chartered accountant. Training and initial years were with Douglas Home in Berwick upon Tweed and then Kelso, and then a manager at JRW in Galashiels, setting up my own practice Gall Robertson CA in 2001 – must have been mad – four small children, and John had just set up his own electronics company too! A part-time position came up with Scottish Enterprise locally – their first farm advisers – and on the day of the interview Foot and Mouth was confirmed. That year was not one to ever forget, working at a social and business level, to help those affected recover and find a way forward. The accountancy practice has continued to grow over the 23 years and we now have a second office in Peebles. It is now time to work out how to successfully manage succession over the next few years! (yes that does sound like an accountant!).
Elma
Well I don’t even know where to start. As most of you know I divorced nearly 20 years ago and sadly became a single Mum. However my girls are my greatest achievement and joy. I had to work around them so spent 13 years working in a special needs school which I loved and which allowed me to have all the school holidays off with the girls.
Jenny – now 31 studied music ( singing and song writing) then went off on her travels to Australia. Currently head of operations at the Melbourne Sealife Aquarium. Big change from singing but living the dream.
Lisa now nearly 26 studied medicine and is now an FY2 based in Glasgow. She too is going to Australia for 2 years (so she says) and is hoping to work her way towards becoming a consultant surgeon in Obs and Gyne. So my time dedicated to the girls has paid of very well. They both make me very proud.
I have been out to Australia twice to visit Jenny and I love it there so who knows what the future holds for me. Photo is from my latest trip in February of this year.
I currently live in Elgin. I moved here when Lisa went to University as I hated Livingston and also to be closer to my brothers. I currently work as a Social Care Assistant and in the main love this very varied job. Hard, frustrating at times but also wonderful to meet so many wonderful service users. Health wise still undergoing surgeries related to my car accident 27 years ago. Guy who hit my car did not hold back!! Have given up counting the number now – just have to keep going but it has been a huge struggle at times.
I have to say Moray is such a beautiful place to live and I have made lots of new friends so would be sad to have to leave but I would definitely and happily live in Australia.
Stan
Still Managing Director of Growforth Limited a wholesale nursery servicing the horticultural trade throughout Scotland and the north of England. Maybe reducing my hours soon! We also have a Cash and Carry, x2 plant retail outlets and floristry businesses. Growforth was established in 1990 after a spell as a nursery manager following university. From 2013 – 2015 I was President of the UK Horticultural Trades Association’s and Chairman of the Board.
Some of my industry involvement reflects my interest in sustainability as a long-standing committee member of both “Garden for Life” and “Green Business Fife”. I am still involved in representing horticulture at Holyrood and Westminster. I received the “The Royal Caledonian Horticulture Societies” – “Silver Medal” for services to Scottish Horticulture in 2017 and the Pearson Memorial medal in 2023 from the Horticultural Trades Association for services to UK horticulture.
After I left university I was immediately employed behind the scenes at BBC Scotland’s “Beechgrove Garden”, and from there I established my career in horticulture.
My experience outside horticulture has been broad. Gail and I renovated our first house, which we then sold to give us the funds to start Growforth Limited. I am currently involved (as vice chairman) in our local Community Trust in my own village of Lower Largo, Fife.
I am still enjoying golf (badly), music (occasionally), gardening (obviously), fishing (irregularly), cycling (electric bike!!) and walking (Limping – waiting for a new hip!) I also enjoy the exploits of our national rugby team as a fan.
We are pretty well travelled in Europe and North America but doing less now.. Ewan is off pursuing “anything but horticulture” in Canada after an arts degree. He is married with a 1-year-old daughter – Willow and they stay in Vancouver. Gail continues to be my rock. She is now retired from her job as a pupil support assistant and is now a full-time granddaughter support assistant!
Gail and I are in the enviable position of still living in the beautiful seaside village of Lower Largo, Fife; where, when we step out of our house, we turn left to the garden or right to the beach. This is now alongside my daughter Mhairi, her husband Ross and our granddaughter Skye who now live next door (which is brilliant!!).
Rhona
“After uni I was Asst Manager at the Girl Guide Scottish Training Centre near Peebles. In 1983 I married David and returned north to Logie Newton Farm in Aberdeenshire and had three daughters, Louise, Debbie & Laura. I introduced tourism (and horses!) to the farm in 1988 by running a self catering business until 2003. After many wonderful years, in 2003 the girls and I moved to Huntly and I worked as Office Manager for a new Equestrian Centre until 2006. I then joined the Training Team at Johnston Carmichael (a Scottish accountancy firm) looking after all their accountancy, tax and admin students across Scotland. In 2011, once all the girls had left home, I moved to Kintyre to join and marry my new partner Malcolm, a single handed GP in a remote rural community. I was Johnston Carmichael’s first trial remote worker and so began my remote working career until 2018 when I chose to retire. However, before long I was assisting Malcolm with his GP practice part time and heavily involved in community voluntary work – Carradale Community Harbour Enterprises, Kintyre Way Long Distance Walk, Community Website builds, as well as being the founder member of East Kintyre Renewable Energy Group and Kintyre Wind – set up to maximise community benefits and share ownership in wind farms for all the seven Kintyre community council areas. Both the Rural GP and Wind Farm work involved a lot of political work with Scottish Government to highlight the difficulties remote rural communities face. I also got roped into being Carradale Golf Club Secretary for a few years, despite not playing golf – all because of half a bottle of wine one sunny afternoon!!
In 2023 after a truly idyllic life in Kintyre wild swimming daily and kayaking amongst seals and dolphins we both fully retired and moved to near Peebles to be closer to our five daughters, extended family and especially our grandchildren.
The family:
Louise is Head of Finance at Harbro and back on the home farm with her joiner husband Mike and stepson Kaiden. They are currently building a new farm tourism adventure with lodges focusing on equestrian, dog and cycling holidays. Debbie, a primary teacher runs her own childminding business and lives in Eskbank with her husband John who works for Phoenix and they have two delightful boys 7 & 4. Laura, an orthotist returned to Glasgow from London with her husband Jamie who is Asst Producer at BBC Sport Scotland. Malcolm’s daughters, Aimee is a solicitor in Glasgow and Sophie works for the National Trust head office in Belfast and is married to Robert – they are expecting their first baby in the summer.
Retired life is amazing, very varied and with lots of child and doggie sitting thrown into the mix we seem to be busier than ever! We have swapped our kayaks for e-bikes, but rest assured there will be no purchasing of lycra cycle gear! Anytime you are passing through the Borders pop in by as the kettle is always on and a very warm welcome awaits! “
Alison
I completed my PhD with the Hill Farming Research Organisation (as was) at the end of 1987. It taught me a lot, including report-writing and statistics, not to mention faecal grab sampling from sheep and cattle (don’t ask!). Jobs in agricultural research were thin on the ground and I wanted to stay in Scotland, where my husband John was working for the Nature Conservancy Council (later Scottish Natural Heritage). I had always been interested in health, so changed fields and joined the Scottish health service, in Public Health information, moving between different Health Boards as opportunities arose. At one point we were living in Lanarkshire, and between us crossing Scotland daily – I to Paisley and John to Edinburgh. Highlights of my career included expanding a WHO database to compare Scotland’s health with other countries in Europe, and analysing Healthy Life Expectancy for Scotland. This led to a trip to Copenhagen to give a talk, which I enlivened with a cartoon of the Loch Ness Monster!
After 28 years, I retired early from the NHS in 2016 and whilst I enjoyed my career, don’t miss work at all.
Since 2010, John and I have been living on a small family farm in the Ochil Hills. We have renovated the house and buildings, and for a few years ran a small free-range poultry enterprise. We now just have two horses and a very large fruit and veg garden to keep us busy. Apart from some wildflower meadow areas which we sowed, the grazing is let for sheep. I still help occasionally with lambing and other jobs. We are keen to encourage wildlife, and now have both tawny and barn owls using our nest boxes, and red squirrels visiting daily.
John and I were lucky enough to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary in April, with a great meal with friends both new and “old”.
Mark
After leaving university, I went and worked for a year in Kent for a company called Kent Salads, at the time, the largest producer of iceberg lettuce in the UK. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me, so I came
back home and spent the next year working on the family farm at home as well as helping on other local farms. It was during this year, I met Carolyn, my future wife, at a housewarming party in Nottingham ( long story ). She was a PE teacher working in Lincolnshire so I managed to get myself a job in Lincolnshire working for a vining pea and bean group called Parker Dean Produce which meant we could be together.
We got married in Hampshire ( her home county ) in 1987, setting up home in Lincolnshire, in a small village called Branston ( nothing to do with the pickles in case you’re wondering ), her teaching and me peeing !
In 1989, I changed jobs, working as a sales rep for a company called Booker Seeds based in Sleaford ( still Lincs ). Caroyn was getting fed up with her job and I quickly discovered selling was not my thing.
So, Carolyn applied to The League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers and she was lucky enough to be offered a 12 month exchange PE teaching job in a school in Lismore, northern New South Wales, Australia. I gave up my job and joined her, starting in January 1990. One year became two years and we had a fantastic time but our visas ran out and we returned to the UK in December 1991.
Carolyn went back to her previous teaching post and I went and worked for the groundstaff of the local council in Lincoln whilst we got the necessary papers to emigrate to Oz. In the meantime, my father’s health took a downturn and he was looking to step back from the farm and wondered if Carolyn and I would like to come up and take over ? We were hearing nothing regarding our emigration application so in the summer of 1992, decided to head up to Brechin and give it 5 years. That was 32 years ago and we’re still here !
I have continued to farm, mainly producing spring malting barley for the whisky industry. I decided I needed something to do in addition to the farm and in 2000 became a Lantra pesticides instructor following up two years later by becoming a City & Guilds pesticide assessor. A few years later, I also became one of the instructors delivering the annual NRoSO course ( National Register of Sprayer Operators ), a CPD-type course for existing, experienced sprayer operators. I am still heavily involved with pesticide training /assessing.
Carolyn and I have a daughter, Hayley, married, living and working in Edinburgh as well as a son, Murray, living and working in Montrose.
The last forty two years seem to have gone by in a flash but, as they say, time flies when you’re having fun
John G
Further to my resume of 1992, on leaving NOSCA, I continued to work at ANM for 35 years. I started as assistant farm manager, working my way up to farm manager, business development manager, general manager and ended up as executive director of the company. The job was wide, varied and satisfying. I enjoyed the diversification side of the business and had opportunities to do many different things including being President of the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland, a director of Quality Meat Scotland and also served as a director for the Chamber of Commerce in Aberdeen and being Chairman of Taste of Grampian Food Festival.
I was fortunate enough to work with some amazing people, particularly when part of Brain Pack’s management team. (He was one of our old lecturers.) However, as folk of our age know, none of us are indispensable and in February 2019 I was asked to clear my desk and go… I never saw eye to eye with the chief executive and despise what he and some of his contemporaries have done to the farmer’s cooperative and the shareholders that I had previously been so proud to serve.
However, water under the bridge…
On leaving the mart, I did some consultancy work for the Scottish Government and Scot EID, touring Scotland presenting at farmers’ meetings regarding the planned electronic tagging of the Scottish cattle herd. This was really enjoyable and we visited parts of Scotland that we’d never been to before. (Audrey reduced her work days and we planned the visits so that she was my tech person for the roadshows.)
Once Covid took hold I was no longer in a position to deliver roadshows at farmers’ meetings so I decided to properly retire at 60.
Life is busier than ever! Both of our sons are married now, Fraser and Jamie marrying just outside Barcelona (where they live) in 2021 and Rory and Steph marrying on their farm in Aberdeenshire in 2023.
We are now proud grandparents to Stanley who was born on 9th May 2024.
We invested in property (an old farm steading) in 2014 and are kept busy as landlords with general upkeep and maintenance of the 3 houses that we let. We’re hoping to convert the 4th one in the near future. The buildings are listed, so this isn’t the easiest of jobs…
I’ve spent the last 3 weeks lambing for Rory as he had other priorities with the birth of Stanley. Getting too old for 5am starts, but it keeps me active!
Rory and Steph also have a Pumpkin Ranch enterprise that we’re heavily involved in, from the seed planting, daily watering, harvesting and selling.
Besides spending time with family, our passion is travelling. We’re recently home from 3 weeks touring Vietnam and Cambodia which was an amazing experience. We’re off to France to the Canal Du Midi on a cruiser with friends at the end of the month and will then head to Barcelona to stay with Fraser and Jamie for a week or so. Life is good and we’re making the most of it!