We Are So Thankful!
We are very sorry to announce that we are now closed for business for good. After 38 years in the business, we have taken the difficult decision to retire on a high note. We are very sorry to cause any disappointment, and we would like to thank everyone for your goodwill, support and kind words over the last 19 years at Inshriach.
We would also like to extend a huge thank you to all our wonderful staff who have supported us over the years and given their time and energy.
Call us: 01540 651 287
Everything that has a beginning must have an end
It was decided that we should semi-retire at the beginning of the 2018 season after almost 40 years of trading.
Twenty wonderful years were spent in Norway where Gunn ran a flower shop and helped out in the family nursery. Between times she produced 5 children as a sideline!
John ran the nursery, selling his plants on-site and at market, in between while just doing as he was told!
A serendipitous telephone conversation while still in Norway created a chain of events that brought the family to Inshriach. This unplanned upheaval threatened to be short-lived as the revenue from plant sales fell horribly below expectations.
Fortunately, at that time, the local bank still employed a locally-based business advisor who was familiar with Inshriach Nursery. He realised the potential and saw that our commitment was worth an investment. Thank you, Peter (he knows who he is!)
John & Gunn – Norway Circa 1980
We continued to run the loss-making nursery for another 17 years, subsidised by the 2 self-catering cottages on the site and the conversion to a tearoom of a potting shed, imaginatively named the “Potting Shed”.
The Potting Shed was an instant hit as folk enjoyed the combination of freshly baked cakes in a lovely garden setting overlooking a feeding station that was frequented by red squirrels and a host of birds.
Word of mouth brought huge numbers of visitors to Inshriach, encouraged no doubt by glowing reports from Dan Lepard of the Guardian and Ron Mackenna of the Herald.
Both gentlemen had visited and left, unannounced having sampled Gunn’s increasingly famous cakes. The Guardian stunned us all by nominating the Potting Shed as one of the best 10 cake shops in Britain! The Herald honoured us with a wonderfully high score. A big thanks to both connoisseurs.
As a small, dare I say, inefficient family business this sort of accolade was a huge boost to Gunn’s self-confidence and a real uplift to staff morale. Staff, to whom we owe a big “thank you”, were always an essential, highly valued element in the success of the Potting Shed. We hope that they enjoyed their time here.
Although being self-employed had been great fun we reached a point at the end of 2017 when we realised that our pleasure was fading for all sorts of reasons, not least health issues associated with ageing decrepitude! Running a business in 1980 seems so simple, looking back.
There is so much more of a psychological burden now that micro businesses have to deal with a myriad of legal requirements with all manner of liabilities that were less daunting in 1980.
These changes are are no doubt positive in themselves but require younger more agile brains that are in tune with modern thinking.
Our children were in fact the sensors that detected the need for drastic measures…hence our retirement. A big Thank You to everyone who supported us at Inshriach over the last 20 years.
In association with Speyside Wildlife
Badger and Pine marten watching
Badger and pine marten watching from our viewing gallery overlooking a wildlife feeding station. Bookings only through Speyside Wildlife.
Red Squirrels
A hide for photographing red squirrels and birds (daytime) as well as pine marten (evening) Space for 3 photographers. Bookings only through Speyside Wildlife.
Our Hides
A hide for photographing badgers and possibly pine marten. Space for photographers. Bookings only with Speyside Wildlife. Click here
Inshriach Nursery & Garden, Aviemore, Inverness-shire, PH22 1QS
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