Sir Alexander Grant bought Logie estate in 1924 in the same year that he was created a Baronet in recognition of his immense philanthropy.
Sir Alexander Grant
Alexander Grant was born in 1864 and brought up in Forres where he served his apprenticeship as a baker with Mr Thomas Stuart. By 1887 he had saved enough money to give him time to look for a job in Edinburgh. He chose Robert McVitie’s shop in Queensferry Street but was told there was no job available; he replied: ‘It’s a pity, for I’m a fell fine baker’. This amused Mr McVitie who kept the conversation going. Finally, as Alexander Grant was leaving, he picked up a scone, looked at it critically and said: ‘Well, onyway, ye canna make scones in Edinburgh.’ He was given the job he was after.
After a few years he decided to leave Edinburgh to set up his own bakery in Inverness where he learned that ‘enough money to buy’ a business is not the same as ‘enough money to run’ a business; the bakery failed and he returned to Robert McVitie to ask for his job back. Mr McVitie turned him down but the wise foreman made the plea that Alexander Grant was too good to lose. From then on Alexander Grant and Robert McVitie worked tirelessly to grow the business, building factories in Edinburgh and London, and finding gaps in the market for new biscuits, notably the Digestive Biscuit
The work ethic was strong – before the works manager, Hector Laing’s wedding to Alexander’s younger daughter, Margaret, in 1922, his prospective father-in-law insisted that he attended the biscuit factory for the first part of the morning before he could regard himself free to attend to the lesser matter of presenting himself to wed the chairman’s daughter. A whole day off to get married was deemed unnecessary.
Sir Alexander renovated Logie House and built the sandstone farm buildings – now the home of Logie Steading. After his death in 1937, his son, Sir Robert, started work on the adjacent garage and chauffeur’s accommodation (now known as The Big Garage).
Only the ground floor – with space for 8 Rolls Royces – was completed due to the outbreak of WWII. Larger architect’s drawings are on display in the Farm Sop at Logie Steading
Sir Robert Grant
Sir Robert died without issue and his nephew, Sandy Laing, inherited the estate in 1947.
Sandy Laing
Sandy worked in Edinburgh for McVitie & Price but the family spent as much time as possible at Logie; after his retirement in 1965 he and his wife, Graeme, and children Alasdair, Fergus, Carolyn and Fiona, were able to move here permanently. During Sandy’s tenure a herd of 100 Ayrshire cows were milked in the Home Farm buildings. In 1983 the decision was made to sell the dairy herd, and the buildings became redundant.
Panny and Alasdair Laing
Alasdair Laing inherited from his father, Sandy, in 1988. In 1991, he and his wife Panny, with financial assistance from HIDB, developed the steading into workshops – the first tenants were the Tea Room, Logie Gunmakers, Neil Oliver the engraver, and the Art Gallery; over the next 30 years, new businesses have opened, as did the River Findhorn Heritage Centre; the playground was built, river walks developed, there have been annual open air theatre performances, and many other smaller events have taken place. Pre 1983 the Heritage Centre and Fisheries Office was the milking parlour; the Gallery and Timeless were the bull and calf pens; and today’s Café and Countryman were the cow’s winter quarters. Quite a change!
In 2012 it became evident that the Café needed larger premises to cater for the increasing number of visitors. It seemed to be the right time to develop the Big Garage. The Farm & Garden Shop expanded and moved into the eastern part of the building and Logie Whisky & Wine moved into the larger space in the south side of the building next-door – now occupied by Logie Timber Supplies. The Café re-opened in the larger courtyard space vacated by Giles Pearson and the Farm Shop.
Logie House Garden in the 1980s
In Sir Alexander’s day, and to a certain extent until 2009, the garden at Logie was a traditional walled garden with formal decorative areas and a large productive garden supplying fruit and vegetables to the family and staff in Logie House. Since then the emphasis has been on creating a beneficial microclimate with many different areas allowing the planting of a wide range of plants ensuring year round interest; hundreds of interesting and unusual trees, shrubs and perennials have been planted, many of which are propagated for sale in Logie Steading.
Logie Estate has always grown fine trees, and forestry is still an important business. Other businesses on Logie include farming, energy generation – from both wind, sun and woodchip – environmental and community projects, housing, and fishing.
Alasdair and Panny Laing with their children, children-in-law and grandchildren in 2021
Alasdair and Panny have brought up their three children, Emma, Alec and Freddie, at Logie. Emma came home from 10 years teaching in Kenya in 2016 to marry George Bouwens in the first family wedding at Logie in a generation. They now live in the Borders with their children Sophia and Rory.
Freddie works in finance and lives in Edinburgh with his wife Eleanor and sons Arthur, Kester and Dougal (the latest member of the family born in 2020).
Jo and Alec Laing with Juno, Max and Gus
In 2013 Alasdair and Panny’s son, Alec, his wife Jo and their daughter Juno returned to live and work on the estate, continuing the transition of the estate custodian to the next generation. Their sons, Maxim and Angus, were born here in 2014 and 2016.
In 2017 Alec and his business partner, Mark Councill, set up the latest new business on Logie: Logie Timber, a full circle timber business. In the same year, the Windfarm at Hill of Glaschyle was completed and started producing power.
Alec and Jo and their three children have now moved into Logie House – a fitting celebration of 100 years of this family on Logie Estate.
Logie is very much a family estate. From Panny and Alasdair down to their grandchildren Juno, Max and Gus, the three generations of Sir Alexander’s descendants are all living on Logie Estate today – the latest being the sixth generation of Sir Alexander’s family to live at Logie.
Panny Laing, November 2024
