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During your stay at Escape Lodge you can choose do do as little or as much as you want.
One option is to join in the building of our very own reconstruction of traditional thatched Scottish dwellings circa 1750 (pre-clearances).
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This type of traditional rural dwelling was common in Scotland until the 20th century and, especially in the Highlands and Islands, the people seem to have successfully co-existed with the landscape and environment.
During 1780 - 1880, the tenants of these homes were forcibly removed, often burnt-out, to make way for more profitable sheep farming, a period known as the Clearances.
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The stone ruins of these townships can still be seen across the Scottish Highlands and Islands today and are evidence of a once vibrant, populated, countryside.
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During the Clearances over quarter of a million Scots emigrated to Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, many of them had grown up in these little houses.
Today much of the Highland landscape is worth little as sheep grazing or game estates and the land produces little income for those who live and work on it. But this landscape is amongst the most beautiful in the world and can benefit the local economy through tourism. It is essential that tourism businesses are developed to make the landscape available to visitors in an environmentally responsible manner.
The Houses
There are many variations, but essentially the traditional Scottish croft house (also known as Blackhouse) was a solid stonewalled building with six foot thick walls built using the rocks that lay around on the land. It had a sturdy timber roof structure over which was laid thatch. We believe that there are many people in Scotland and further afield - particularly those with Scottish ancestry - who will be delighted to come and help to build and live in a traditional thatched house.
These houses are organic and natural. Originally they were similar to hut dwellings of indigenous peoples the world over, with a fire in the middle and the smoke allowed to filter through the thatch (fending off midgies). They developed chimneys in the gable ends and became fitted out and decently furnished so that people were still living in them in the 1970s.
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(Above) The Blackhouse Village at Gearranan on the Isle of Lewis
Insofar as Health and Safety and Building regulations will allow, we aim to retain period authenticity.
A separate cooking, toilet and shower building will be provided similar to a campsite.
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Economic Development
The Highlands today faces a constant threat of further de-population and economic decline. Any business providing just one or two new jobs makes a big difference. It is interesting to note that the aims of the recently created Cairngorms National Park include: “To promote sustainable economic and social development of the area's communities”
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