Investing In Design

Last week I was absolutely delighted to open a delivery of two pieces commissioned from young furniture designer, Matt Robinson. I had seen his creation of a revolving vanity mirror which would be absolutely perfect for our cottages. His original piece was finished just with a danish oil, looks fabulous and is wonderfully contemporary; our holiday cottages are a rich and stylish mix of contemporary and modern but still maintaining strong connections with nature and the countryside so, following a conversation with Matt, he used our very own beeswax to finish the items and bring a warm honey oak look to the new revolving vanity mirrors.

I love the combination of shapes and planes on these products with their gorgeous curves, beautiful lines and a bold, decent sized rectangular mirror which is just perfect for what we need. The stylish design incorporates various shelves, pegs for hanging jewellery and plenty of space for bottles and the bits and pieces of toiletries and make up you bring on holiday. The beeswax was produced here in Gartocharn by our fabulous honey bees; we've got 6 hives in total, all in pretty good health so far through this winter which is always a great feeling. Its nice to incorporate this local and personal element into the new mirrors.

Here's a few words from the designer, you can also follow his work via Instagram mattrobo

"I see myself as a designer interested in all areas of design, gaining knowledge to create future work. I am interested in using locally produced materials and components which will benefit the people I work with (eg by using beeswax from your own hives) as well as the ultimate consumer of my work (your holiday cottage guests). Overall, this should create a more sustainable design system and provide an authentic story to my work. I see myself as an up and coming designer within London where I currently study, using my background of growing up in the Lake District, working in forestry and within a strong community; just showing how my life experiences so far reflects in the body of work I produce.

From September 2019 I shall be living and working in Barcelona for a year and this will mean my creative and manufacturing skills will continue to grow and develop at a high level in order for my design process, and final product, to be immensely relevant, not just for commercial reasons but also for benefiting the community and consumers. Producing more work in the year ahead, will add to a collective body going forward for my final major degree project as well as what I do after graduating. The future is exciting."

Here's how Matt Robinson produced these fab pieces .

Glengoyne, our local whisky.

You may have seen our 'free whisky' offer? Our special offers page always has something of interest, whether that's a late availability offer or some other benefit for holiday guests. Glengoyne is our local distillery, it is the most southerly of the Highland malts, has some really superb distillery tours and is an incredibly interesting place to visit. You can easily combine a distillery visit with a walk along part of the West Highland Way or up local hills Dumgoyne or The Whangie; alternatively why not enjoy lunch at The Old Mill in Killearn or The Beech Tree Inn.

In October 2018 I was fortunate to join an Erasmus sponsored visit to South Dublin and Donegal in Ireland where I met many tourism, food, drink and accommodation businesses. So many great conversations took place, lots of sharing of experiences and challenges in business, and I developed a whole plethora of ideas and thoughts for the future. Since my return I've developed stronger collaborations with other local businesses, Glengoyne being one of those. We have supported them for a long time, sending customers their way and both benefiting from offering superb quality accommodation and visitor experiences to people from all over the world. All guests can benefit from discounted distillery tours (I particularly like the sound of the Whisky and Chocolate one!) but if you book with us before the end of January you too can enjoy their 12 year old as our New Year gift to you.

Special offers

The Joys of the Winter Season by Loch Lomond

Beautiful scenes across Loch Lomond to Ben Lomond from the southern shore of the Loch. You can walk to this view point from the cottages, downhill through the village of Gartocharn, across the fields on the Aber Path and continue your stroll along a country lane to the shoreline footpaths leading to the Endrick Mouth, National Nature Reserve and RSPB Loch Lomond’s estate. A perfect way of exploring the local vicinity and leaving the car at home, you are likely to see deer, buzzards and geese en route but you might also be lucky to see osprey on their summer vacation. You walk through a mix of woodland and fields so there is plenty of bird life to enjoy as well as the range of flora and fauna. Last weekend our guests spent some time watching a stoat scamper in and out of the red sandstone garden wall, wildlife to enjoy form the comfort of the sofa!

We love that our guests can enjoy the National Park throughout the whole year and, as you may have appreciated, the cottages are warm whatever the weather outside! Underfloor heating, very comprehensive insulation and air tightness in the buildings and free top ups of the log basket ensure that 😊.

Award Winning Holiday Cottages - Success Through Sustainability

We are so pleased to share the great news that we have won the Success Through Sustainability Award of the 2018 Working4Business Awards.

Do awards matter? Perhaps I mean, WHY do they matter?

It is all about recognition.

When you own and operate a small business you’re right there at the coal face, dealing with enquiries and bookings, marketing the properties, constantly reviewing what works, what doesn’t, being social media savvy, organising cleaning and laundry, undertaking maintenance, repair and renewal. And, oh so much more.

Guests love to experience a smooth and friendly service so (we try very hard) to ensure that is what happens. Meanwhile, like many businesses, we are achieving that beautiful gliding across the surface of the lake thing whilst frantically paddling beneath the surface. So, being selected as a finalist for an award offers a moment to pause, reflect and enjoy telling the story of what we’ve achieved in the past 6 years of business. We actually enjoyed our interview and presentation to the judging panel! It’s a great feeling that we have won this award but, even if we hadn't, it has been rewarding to stop and appreciate what we have achieved. These were derelict farm buildings when we settled here, they are now wonderful places to be on holiday in the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park which have been designed, built and managed to a really high standard of comfort, demonstrating environmental and sustainable design excellence.

It is with great thanks to Dunbartonshire Chamber of Commerce and award sponsors Group Saur that we at East Cambusmoon Holiday Cottages were selected to be winners in the Success through Sustainability Award of the Working4Business awards. Steve had the joy of attending the awards presentations and dinner on Friday and bringing home the fabulous trophy, certificate and champagne. It is also truly a great cause for celebration that 60% of all employment in the UK is with small and medium sized enterprises.

Sustainability runs through everything we do, and it’s absolutely brilliant to be recognised for it.