Despite a less than favourable weather forecast the sun shone on the 201st annual Banchory Show in the heart of the village.

Leys Estate Group was in attendance as part of our year long activities to mark the 700th anniversary of the Burnett of Leys family residing in the Deeside area.

Attending the show gave members of our teams – from Property and Management to Marketing and Game Keeping – the chance to meet members of the community, speak about many of the projects and legacies the Burnett family and Leys Estate has been involved with over the 700 year period and our plans to mark the 700th anniversary.

Members of the Burnett family also attended the show, meeting friends, tenants and employees old and new throughout the day.

Within our stand we also had on display a very special art project undertaken by the children from Crathes Primary School to celebrate the anniversary. Each pupil was given a shape to decorate illustrating what the Estate and Crathes area means to them. Each piece joined together to create the iconic Horn – which is part of the Coat of Arms for Burnett of Leys and prominent in both the Leys Estate Group logo and the Crathes Primary School logo – and a giant 700.

Many children and parents visited the stand throughout the day to spot their contribution and tell us how much they had enjoyed being part of the project. We look forward to displaying the project throughout the year and presenting the school with their own version to mark their involvement in the celebrations.

Also on hand were members of our Inchmarlo Golf Centre and Inchmarlo Resort teams who kept visitors entertained with a special golf game with the opportunity to win prizes for Inchmarlo Golf Centre Driving Range which has recently seen the addition of Toptracer Range technology in 13 of its fully covered, floodlit driving range bays.

We were also delighted to welcome Tim Eagle, Scottish Land & Estate’s Regional Manager – North East, to the stand. Not only did Tim spend a great deal of time speaking with a wide range of visitors to the stand he also proved to be quite an asset to our golf competition!

Thank you to everyone who stopped at the tent to find out more about our 700 celebrations and take part in our charity raffle and golf game.

We are looking forward to 2024 already!

The Burnett family has a long association with Banchory Show as Thomas Burnett of Leys and Archibald Farquharson (Finzean) established the Association and show in 1820. Following the pandemic, we were delighted to join the Association in celebrating its 200th show in 2022.