Most parents worry that their children spend too much time looking at a screen but in the Angus Glens there are plenty of opportunities to lure them into the great outdoors.
The grouse moors of the Angus Glens offer stunning scenery, fresh air, strenuous exercise and the chance to earn some extra pocket money in the holidays and at weekends for young people and children who can help out with beating, picking-up and flanking on a grouse shoot.
Nine year-old Jamie Brown and eleven year-old Wilf Fruish from Glen Esk are among the youngsters who spend every spare moment up on the moors during the traditional sporting calendar, starting with the grouse season from 12 August.
Harriett Fruish, Wilf’s mother, says the opportunity to be involved in country sports offers a wide range of benefits: “It’s incredibly good exercise, you can easily walk five miles in a day and the terrain is very hilly so it certainly keeps you fit. The scenery is breathtaking and it’s a wonderful social occasion.
“I work on the moors five or six days a week from August to February each year and Wilf has been with me since he was a baby in a sling! He absolutely loves it and he would be here every day if he could. His Dad is a gamekeeper, his older brother is training to become one and my brother is also a keeper, so it’s something that has been handed down through the generations. The guests who come to Scotland to shoot grouse really love seeing people dressed in tweed – it’s part of the heritage that they come here to experience. We’ve had so many positive comments from Europeans and Americans who have huge respect for our traditions.”
Iona McGregor, coordinator of the Angus Glens Moorland Group said: “It’s great to see the next generation getting involved in rural life. There is such a wide range of keepering and conservation skills, not to mention life skills, that children learn from being involved in the grouse season. They have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and experience some of the many jobs that are available to them when they are older. There is also a sense of contributing to the local economy, which is hugely rewarding. The grouse season is good for the Glens and it’s also good for Scotland.”
On average, each grouse moor employs an extra 34 staff on a shoot day which takes in to account beaters, loaders, flankers, pickers-up, house and catering staff.
Grouse shooting plays a major part in the £200 million that is generated for the Scottish economy every year from shooting and stalking.