“In the heart of the Cairngorms National Park”
As told by Sarah and Alastair
Cranford Guest House is located in the picturesque village of Braemar, a popular visitor destination in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park and close to Balmoral Castle.
“Our Guest House is a traditional Highland home which was originally built in the 1870’s when the area became fashionable with Victorian tourists. Of course, Cranford has been extended over the years and fully modernised to provide the high-quality accommodation that our guests enjoy today.
We have lived in the village for 25 years, spending about half of that time welcoming visitors to our Guest House. Previously, we were managers of the local Youth Hostel in Braemar, where we also raised our three children.
We have a shared passion for the wildlife, mountains and wild spaces of Scotland and especially the stunning Cairngorms National Park where we first met. Sarah originally trained as a nursery nurse but an unexpected redundancy back in 1994 led her to applying for a summer job at the Youth Hostel in Glenmore, somewhere she had previously visited on ski trips. Alastair, a geography graduate, had recently returned from a trip to India and Nepal and started work at the Glenmore hostel on the same day!
As Sarah says: “The shock of losing my job was soon tempered by moving from the flatlands of Leicestershire to the beautiful Scottish Highlands and meeting my future husband on the first day of a new job”.
After spending a couple of years at Glenmore interspersed with some extended trips which included cycle touring around New Zealand and travelling across Kenya, we settled in Braemar and have fully immersed ourselves in village life ever since.
Sarah is Chair of the local Tourism Group, is on the committee of the Braemar Mountain Festival and organises other pop-up events locally. Alastair is a retained fire fighter, community first responder and member of Braemar Mountain Rescue Team. He enjoys competing in mountain running races - the longer, the better. He also looks forward to the winter, which is hopefully long and snowy, so that he can make the most of the excellent ski touring terrain on the doorstep.
Sarah prefers her pastimes to be a bit less frenetic, she enjoys hillwalking, skiing and has a particular interest in local plants and wildlife.
Located in the picturesque village of Braemar, Cranford is just 15km from Balmoral Castle, 10 minutes from Glenshee Ski Centre and close to the start of the Whisky Trail. There are lots of great walks straight from our doorstep and the area is superb for wildlife watching, red squirrels are usually seen in our garden daily and red deer are often seen grazing nearby.
We both really enjoy sharing our knowledge of the local area, so that guests can make the most of their time in the beautiful landscapes and experience the unique wildlife that surrounds Braemar. We are always happy to suggest walks, trips or places to visit whether it’s to experience an exhilarating hill walk, where to sample great local produce or to take a wild swim in a crystal-clear pool.
Quite simply, we want our guests to have the opportunity to make the most of the unique area that we are privileged to live in, here in the UK’s largest National Park, the Cairngorms"
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10 Ballifeary Road,Inverness,
IV3 5PJ
07920 404 163
info@beourguestscotland.co.uk