Lindores: The Farm Above the Tay

Lindores is a Rural Destination To Connect. Nestled in the north of Fife in a Special Landscape Area, this 3rd generation working farm is a destination for families, friends and work colleagues to stay, but what makes it unique? It is one of the few, if not only, places where you can book authentic ‘farm to fork’ and ‘seed to sip’ experiences, thanks to the family’s focus on sustainable and circular practices and collaboration with locals.

Guests enjoy farm tours, unique food and drink experiences plus unique luxury self-catering accommodation.

After travelling and studying agriculture, Richard had the opportunity to return home to build a new chapter of change on the family farm, Braeside of Lindores. Back in 2012 the farm was very traditional, producing barley, cattle and sheep for food production. Back then the only employees were Richard and his parents.

The farm had been diversified in 1989 by his mother, Frances Black, who innovatively saw an opportunity to make more of the hill ground grassland – she set up a new business offering cross country training jumps for horse riders to hire. By 2012 Lindores Cross Country had an established equestrian customer base of 23 years who were returning year on year.

At the point of Richard starting to work at home, he was eager to create his own mark on the farm, but with the conscious effort to not take large risks that could burden or lose ownership of the farm. As custodians of the land, the Black family’s purpose is to nurture the soil and habitat in order to pass Braeside of Lindores onto the next generation in a better way than it was found. Richard from the start was aware he wanted to ensure the farm was sustainable for future generations to enjoy, but in order to do that he had a desire to invest, diversify and grow.

Lindores is located in a Special Landscape Area – 550 acres of beautiful countryside with panoramic views overlooking the longest river in Scotland, the River Tay. The views stretch across Angus, Perthshire and Fife, and the area is steeped in history.

With the existing equestrian market and a desire to prop up the farming enterprise, Richard had a vision to build the first holiday house to offer a unique selling point – ‘horse holidays’.

Lindores Equestrian is a very special training centre and holiday destination to the Scottish equestrian market. Many children and adults call it their ‘happy place’. Memories are made, relationships are formed and confidence is built between riders and their horses. Lindores Equestrian welcomes riders and their horses between March and October annually, and up to 36 horses can stable and train over the extensive award-winning facilities.

The enterprise is a key part of the sustainable ecosystem. It works in harmony with the farming calendar and practices. Behind the scenes we use the straw (a by-product of our barley) as bedding, we use the dung to naturally fertilise the soil, we use pockets of land to create training areas for horses, and when the 85 acres of cross country land is not in training use, we graze our sheep.

Lindores Equestrian created the brand ethos and customer-centric direction of the business we have today. We learnt very early that by listening to customer feedback, growing the business organically and keeping your customer promises, guests will repeatedly return. Our passion to deliver first-class experiences in a safe and enjoyable environment is the bedrock for the wider diversified arms of the business. If you speak to horse owners in Scotland, many will have heard of or know someone that has trained at Lindores Equestrian and only heard great things about it, and 37 years on we’re very proud of that.

It’s all in the brief! We collaborate with locals and specialists to do the best we possibly can and to meet the needs of multiple markets. A good brief from the outset ensures the end product will deliver on our customer promises and expectations.

Detail is key, and when designing our bespoke holiday houses with the architects Muir Walker & Pride, we avoided budget spec and curated designs that would elevate a customer’s stay. For example, have you ever gone on holiday and had the tricky conversations on who gets the master or best bedroom? That’s a horrible conversation for any group and best avoided, so we design our houses to ensure every bedroom is of equivalent quality, size and luxury. Every bedroom at Lindores has a zip and link bedroom format, so guests can sleep in the format that best suits them – a super comfy superking bed or a super comfy twin bed set-up, each with private en-suite.

We’ve purpose-built shelving using our own beech tree wood from the farm, and we’ve purpose-built a bespoke Scandinavian sauna for The Arches. There’s character woven through each individual property, making them unique and memorable.

A holiday house with a hot tub just simply isn’t good enough, and our ambitions for rural escapes go way beyond this thanks to design-led approaches.

We want guests’ shoulders to drop when they turn into our farm road end. We want them to smile, feel welcomed and comfortable. We want guests to feel relaxed and that every detail has been thought of.

Lindores is a ‘Rural Destination To Connect’ – so we want customers to connect, whether that be with family, friends, food, nature, animals, history, whisky or something else Lindores and our wider region of Fife offers.

We have a circular ecosystem. These connections are the basis of the experiences we offer at Lindores. Guests are surrounded by the farm when they stay – they see us work, whether that’s moving sheep, combining for harvest, or it could be our equestrian guests riding by the holiday house.

Our lamb is produced with great care; guests can see where our sheep graze and watch us work with them. We have the lamb butchered locally, so we can not only share with guests how it’s been reared, we can share the journey from field to their plate. This is really important to us: we want our guests to understand that process and how important eating local is – supporting Scottish farmers and eating delicious produce.

The barley fields are paramount to the landscape here at Lindores. As you drive down the farm road you are surrounded by barley, and can see it through its journey from seed to the long golden stem when it’s ready to be harvested. This crop has a short journey to Lindores Abbey Distillery, where it’s made into their award-winning whisky. Our guests can enjoy a dram (or two!) while overlooking the fields that have grown the barley – a true story of seed to sip, knowing exactly how their drink has been made.

We always suggest balancing peaceful moments on the farm with getting out to explore the stunning countryside. A great stay usually starts right on our doorstep with a walk up Lindores Hill to take in the breathtaking panoramic views across the River Tay.

For outdoorsy adventures nearby, guests love tackling the trails up West Lomond or Norman’s Law for incredible scenery, taking a stroll around local nature reserves like Loch Leven, or getting outdoors at the Scottish Deer Centre. After a day spent exploring local farm shops, riding along nearby cycle paths or visiting traditional country pubs, the best part is coming back to Lindores to unwind in the quiet beauty of the countryside.

Honestly, pick just one! We are endlessly passionate about Fife – there’s so much to do right on our doorstep, especially if you love being outdoors in the countryside.

We’re so lucky with what’s nearby, whether that’s wandering through Tentsmuir Forest down to the coastal sands, exploring the grounds of Falkland Palace, or travelling just down the road to Lindores Abbey Distillery for a taste of local history. Fife is a total haven for countryside lovers, and sharing that outdoor charm with our guests is easily the best part of what we do.