Activities
Many guests at Seggat are content to just spend their time relaxing around the farm, strolling around the duck pond and feeding carrots to Harry the horse! We also have a heated swimming pool for those that are after some gentle exercise.
Hunting and stalking can be arranged upon request. Seggat has over 2000 acres of rough shoot – pheasant, partridge, geese and pigeons. There’s nothing like going out and bringing your own dinner home with you! Fishing is also available on site – feel free to bring your rod.
Local Area
Turriff and District, North East Scotland is set in the heart of Aberdeenshire, with easy access to castles, distilleries, museums, a range of historical sites and the coast, the Turriff area offers an ideal base from which to discover this lesser-known jewel in Scotland's crown.
Excellent fishing, shooting, golf, riding, and a host of other activities are available and there are beautiful areas for walking throughout the year.
Horse Riding:
Horse riding is available locally at several centres and we will happily give you details to book lessons in advance. The nearest centres is the Faraway Centre. You are also more than welcome to bring your own horse with you to stay at Seggat and enjoy our hospitality too!
Local Golf Courses:
There are several local golf courses of varying technical levels of challenge…
Walking:
There are plenty of beautiful walks locally, both mountainous and coastal as well as the rolling countryside…There is plenty of open farmland around Seggat and we would be happy to advise you on short local walks. Just 10-minutes away we also have Gight Woods which is a Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve specifically for protecting red squirrels.
Bennachie is the nearest Munro (Scottish term for a mountain over 3000 feet) – the walk up is through peaceful woodland and the views from the top are stunning on a clear day – there is a visitor centre and car park.
For other mountain walks and outdoor activities, Seggat is only 30 minutes drive away from the Cairngorms National Park which is the largest national park in the UK.
For sandy beach walks, both Balmedie Beach and Forvie Sands offer excellent seaside strolling and wildlife spotting on the east coast.
There are wilder more rugged coastal walks between the picturesque villages on the northern coastline of the Moray Firth where you can visit Pennan (of Local hero fame), Crovie and Cullen (you must try the famous Cullen Skink fish soup!).
Banff is also lovely town with local shops, a large marina and Duff House country gallery; whilst there a short trip to Downies fish shop in Whitehills is a must, and 5-minutes further along the coast is the 17th century harbour of Portsoy with it’s restored Salmon Bothy, where you can sit with an ice cream produced locally and watch the waves and boats rolling in. On wet days there is also a fine aquarium at Macduff which displays a living kelp reef, is the only one of its kind in Britain and divers hand feed the fish on a regular basis.
If you wish to go exploring yourself, the Ordnance Survey map to cover the local area is the ‘Explorer 426’ and the Jarrold Pathfinder Guide 46 offers some well directed walks throughout the area.
Other Outdoor activities:
There are also two activity centres very close by offering a range of sporting experiences, including shooting, fishing and go-karting:
Whisky Trail:
There are two local whisky distilleries to Seggat:
Castle Trail:
There is a fully signed castle trail for the area which you can download from the Visit Scotland website. A few of the nearest highlights are:
Stone Circle Trail:
The Aberdeenshire countryside still has a large number of stone circles. The nearest stone circle to Seggat is at Loanhead of Daviot.
The full stone circle trail can be found on the Aberdeenshire Council website.
Other local places of interest:
Visit Scotland Website has other good ideas for activities and things to see in Aberdeenshire.
Fishing
The river Deveron due to its more illustrious North East neighbours the Dee and Spey is a well kept secret where anglers return year after year, generation after generation. The Deveron rises in the high hills above the Cabrach along with its main tributaries the Blackwater and the Bogie.
Fishing can be organised for your party at various locations, just ask and we'll be happy to help.
The peaty water flows over a bottom of shingle and rock and is fast flowing in its upper reaches. Joined by the Isla it slackens its pace as it meanders through the fertile countryside until its 60 mile journey ends in the sea at Banff.
Salmon can be encountered right from opening day on February 11th anywhere on the river but the higher beats are usually a favourite.
During April and May the brown trout fishing is superb with many specimens of 5 to 6 lb being caught each year. Sea Trout start running towards the end of May until July and again a 7 lb fish is not uncommon.
The grilse run begins mid July but given water can start in June and can last all season. This is supplemented with the summer Salmon which can reach 18 lb. The back end run starts in September and fish can weigh up to 40 lb +. Indeed the British record for a salmon caught on fly came off the Deveron and weighed 61 lb.
