Why we love Brodie Castle & Estate

Transcript

Four speakers: Lorna Leil (Visitor Services Supervisor for Events); Pam Hill (Operations Manager); Kyle Grigor (Estate Worker); Jamie Barron (Visitor Services Supervisor for Visitor Experience)

Lorna
My name's Lorna. I'm the Visitor Services Supervisor for Events for the National Trust for Scotland at Brodie Castle.
I run events. Easter is the big thing at Brodie. Easter = Brodie in this area!
We do have a wonderful couple of trails with the Easter eggs at the end.
We also do lots of trails throughout the year, themed to the different seasons and different aspects of Brodie.
Also, we have a wonderful Santa -- it's a lovely, cosy, comfortable, traditional Christmas with Santa in the Library.
We have got bushcraft events on.
We've done twilight tours where you can see the stars because it's so dark at Brodie.

I love Brodie Castle because it brings families together. There's something for everybody -- you can spend a whole day here easily, between playing in the adventure playground, wandering around the castle itself on a tour, in the Playful Garden, doing a trail, doing the orienteering courses that we have, and then wandering around the pond and then coming back for cake and a bubble tea.
I used to bring my son here when he was little. He was very active and he always wanted to be in Brodie, running around in a safe environment.
And that's what we offer for children here.
It's a wonderful place for families and children at all times of the year.

Pam
I'm Pam. I'm the Operations Manager here at Brodie Castle for the National Trust for Scotland.
When you visit the castle, you can learn lots of history by going on one of the guided tours.
They last about just under an hour and you can go around with one of our fantastic tour guides.
They will tell you all about the history of Brodie Castle and some of the great art and architecture that is here.
It's an amazing collection within the castle, so it's absolutely worth a visit.

I love this place because of the feeling that you get when you come here.
Ninian Brodie, who was the last Laird Brodie of Brodie to live in the castle, remained in the castle after the National Trust for Scotland acquired the property.
During that time, he welcomed our visitors and told stories about the past at Brodie.
It was a great welcome and we often get told by our visitors what a warm welcome it was that they got.
Over the years, after Ninian passed away in 2003, we try and maintain that welcome here.
I believe we do a good job of making sure that everyone here feels like they've come home, whether you are a Brodie or whether you're not a Brodie, or whether you're from this area or not, this should feel like a place to come and be at home.

Kyle
Hi, I'm Kyle. I work for the National Trust for Scotland at Brodie Castle.
I'm an estate worker, which means I take care of all the roads, paths, hedges, trees and meadows.
Here at Brodie, we have a National Collection for daffodils.
We have a pond as well and it's a particularly large pond.
It's probably about a half-hour walk round, just on the other side of the West Avenue, and it's probably one of my favourite places to walk around because the wildlife there is great.
It's always so peaceful, quiet.

I love this place because it's helped me with my mental health, and giving me access to be able to go outside, work outdoors, meet people, do things, learn new skills.
And that's why working at Brodie Castle is great.

Jamie
My name is Jamie. I am the Visitor Services Supervisor for Visitor Experience here at Brodie Castle, run by the National Trust for Scotland.
My favourite object in the castle is undoubtedly the large group portrait of the Brodie children, painted by John Opie around about 1804.
Of the seven of them, we're being told a huge amount about their situation, about what's happened to them, about who's going to inherit and so on.
There's a lot of really subtle and interesting details that have been put into it.
Every November, we explore different aspects of Brodie's history through a light show.
Our Brodie Illuminated event happens throughout November, and that's always really special. It's lovely to see families exploring the gardens in a completely different way.
Because it's night time, the atmosphere is different and the lighting really focuses you on different things to what you normally would see.

I love this place because it's always been at the heart of the local community, whether you were part of the clan back in the 15th and 16th centuries, or if you were part of the estate, the workers, the family and so on.
Everyone would have felt part of the community and that's really continued today when we've got staff, visitors, volunteers and all sorts of people who make the place really special, whether it's dog walkers or flower arrangers or the contractors and other staff who come and make this place a really homely place to work.