Welcome to Bamff, a Scottish estate where centuries of history, meet one of Scotland’s most exciting rewilding projects.
Bamff is in the rolling uplands of Perthshire, on the edge of the Highlands, and includes 1,300 acres of woodland, wetlands, farmland and open hill. It has been home to the Ramsay family since 1232, when King Alexander II of Scotland granted the estate to an ancestor as reward for serving as his doctor. (A family myth tells a longer story including a potion made from a distillation of magic snake). Nearly 800 years later, Bamff remains a family home, cared for by Paul and Louise Ramsay, their daughter Sophie and her family.
Today, visitors come to Bamff not only for its remarkable history but also to stay in our charming cottages and cabins in the middle of the estate, and experience a landscape that is coming alive again, all around them.
Our estate has become internationally known for its pioneering work with Eurasian beavers. The beaver demonstration project at Bamff, begun in 2002, was the first of its kind in the UK and helped pave the way for the return of this remarkable species after an absence of more than 400 years. The wetlands created by the beavers now support an extraordinary diversity of wildlife, making Bamff one of the best places in Scotland to experience nature’s ability to restore itself.
Building on this success, Sophie Ramsay now leads our rewilding programme. Large areas of the estate are being allowed to recover naturally, supported by free-roaming cattle, pigs and a herd of Exmoor ponies that help create a rich mosaic of habitats. Native woodland, wildflower meadows, wetlands and many pools created by the beavers are becoming home to an increasing variety of birds, mammals, insects and plants. Wildflowers are beginning to make a comeback in the old sheep fields with orchids occasionally appearing alongside abundant meadow plants. The variety and abundance increases every year.
Whether you join one of our guided wildlife walks, watch beavers at dusk, photograph wild landscapes or simply enjoy the peace and quiet, Bamff offers a chance to experience a side of Scotland that few visitors discover.
Although nature is flourishing here, farming remains an important part of the estate. Our neighbouring farmers, Andrew Mitchell and his son Peter, farm the surrounding land organically with sheep and cattle, reflecting our commitment to working with nature while producing food sustainably.
Bamff is a place to slow down, reconnect with nature and experience authentic Scotland. From our historic house and cottages to our woodlands, wetlands and rewilding landscapes, every visit helps support the ongoing restoration of this remarkable estate. Bamff is also close to many of Scotland’s great tourist attractions, such as Glamis Castle, Blair Castle, Loch of the Lowes, and the Cairngorms National Park.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Please read more on the Wildland website: here.
Philosophy
We face a crisis unprecedented in the history of human civilisation, with climate change and biodiversity loss accelerating around the globe. The biodiversity crisis in the UK is happening at one of the fastest rates in the world.
At Bamff, we are doing all we can to create wildlife habitat – to restore nature’s abundance and to sequester carbon.
We offer accommodation to guests not just to fund our work and share the joy of staying in a place of abundant wildlife, but also to show how the restoration of the land for wildlife can also create opportunities for people.
Rewilding Plans
Having introduced beavers in 2002 and seen what an astonishing and positive transformation they have made to former agricultural ditches and artificial ponds, we then expanded the rewilding of Bamff to an area of 450 acres of fields, wetlands and woods, starting in 2020.
Climate Action
Bamff House (or castle), its flats and holiday apartment are heated by a wood-chip district heating scheme. The main house is supplied with electricity by our own wind turbine. Many of the houses on the estate have wood-burning stoves and some have heating systems supplemented by wood from a back boiler. Through a combination of renewable energy use and carbon sequestration through woodlands and wetlands, Bamff estate is contributing to climate change mitigation.
Flourishing wildlife
Visitors to Bamff will find much wildlife flourishing on the estate. Planted and naturally regenerated native woodlands on the low ground are full of birds and small mammals, and on the hill the establishment of new native pinewoods is underway. This approach is being integrated with an eighteenth century planned landscape whose fine old trees give great beauty to the surroundings of the house.
There are many species of bird seen at Bamff. There are also a lot of wild mammals including roe deer, occasional fallow and red deer, hares, rabbits, foxes, badgers, stoats, weasels, pole cats, pine martens, red squirrels, otters, water voles, beavers, hedgehogs, mice, shrews, voles and possibly wild cats.
Some of these animals are very elusive, but you are very likely to see roe deer, and quite likely to see squirrels and rabbits, but less likely to catch a glimpse of a pine marten. Otters are not an uncommon sight, especially for beaver watchers. You may be lucky and see a water vole.
Walks
You can walk anywhere on the Estate and there are two or three lovely walks that take from 20-40 minutes. The Cateran Trail is feted in Observer Magazine’s 10 best long-distance walks in UK, One of our holiday lets, The Hideaway, is situated on the Trail and is featured in the article. You can walk to Alyth via the Hill of Alyth and return by the Den o’ Alyth (or vice versa). Its around 3 miles each way. Alyth has a hotel, pubs, cafes, a local butcher, traditional grocer, and a wee museum. Kirkton of Glenisla is a 9 mile walk and Bridge of Cally around 6 miles. Both have pubs.
Family
Bamff estate is run by the Ramsay family. Paul and Louise share the oversight of the whole and Sophie manages the Bamff Wildland project.
Generally Paul will meet you when you arrive and either Paul or Louise usually guide the walks.
Bamff Wildland Rules regarding grazing herds
1. Do not closely approach any of the grazing mammals (pigs, cattle and ponies), or expect to be able to have any physical contact with any of them.
2. Never, under any circumstances, attempt to feed any of these animals.
3. Keep dogs on leads at all times.
4. Limit the top speed of any vehicle to 15mph along the Bamff drives.
4. Limit the top speed of any vehicle to 15mph along the Bamff drives.
The Tamworth Pigs sometimes have other ideas – they can be somewhat boisterous and can enthusiastically approach people. One or two of the ponies can occasionally tentatively approach people. But these animals can bite and kick, and the herds are there to be resilient, rather than dependant, hence all the above rules must be followed.
We hope you enjoy witnessing these beasts as much as we do.