Balnahard Farmhouse - Self Catering with all the Comforts of Home
Scotland > West Coast > Inner Hebrides > Isle of Colonsay > Balnahard
07850 2300000
We have 35 Cows and 425 Ewes. The cattle are predominantly Luing (Shorthorn / Highland Cross) and the ewes are mainly blackfaces, with a few Lleyn crosses thrown in. All the cattle & sheep live out all year round. The winter climate in Colonsay is wet & wild, rather than cold. All the stock needs to be able to withstand this, whilst only being fed poor quality rations. We are constantly striving to breed a type of animal that will look happy and do well in these conditions, whilst at the same time getting some sort of return in the market.
The Hobhouses first came Balnahard in 1946, when David’s grandmother took on the tenancy. It has been passed down since then, with David inheriting it in 1994. About 12 years ago David was able to buy the farmhouse and buildings from the landlord, whilst remaining a tenant on the farmland.
Balnahard has for many years been managed in an environmentally sensitive way, with the emphasis on bird protection. The farm is a SSSI and SPA (special protection area) for Chough and sea birds, as well as being a Corncrake breeding site. The farming measures we practice are principally to protect & encourage these two species.
For the Corncrake this involves putting in cover strips around the fields and shutting off our silage fields in May and not cutting & baling till the 1st September, to allow time for 2 clutches of chicks to be raised.
The Chough (a rare member of the crow family) feeds on the worms and grubs that live in and under cowpats & sheep droppings. In order to keep them well supplied the cattle and sheep graze out on the hill for most of the year, with the cows moving onto the sand-dune area at the north end of the island during the worst of the winter and during calving.
In isolated places such as Colonsay, it is essential to work with your farming neighbours, and for the last few years we have been contracted by the Estate to oversee the running of the Kiloran home farm and their conglomeration of other farms at the south end of the island. We are very ably assisted by a stock manager & his wife, as well as another general farm worker, all of whom also caretake in Balnahard when we are away.
We live in the far end of the farm steading, with other commitments taking us to the mainland for about 10 days a month.
The farming is still very much at the heart of Balnahard, and in order to protect its future for the next generation as a viable farm & business, it has become essential to look to other ways of making an income.
We started doing self-catering holidays in the farmhouse about 9 years ago, and have worked hard to tidy up and improve the accommodation and to make it something ‘a bit different’, - with character.
Sarah says ‘I do spend quite a bit of time dragging things that have been thrown away out of the back of barns & sheds and off bonfires! I am trying to get away from the slightly ‘samey’ look that some self-catering holiday houses have. The challenge is to create something really nice and special, which is easy to maintain & clean, but not to be too precious about it. 10 people in one house can create quite a fair amount of wear & tear. I try to pick pieces of furniture that will improve with a few knocks and scrapes.