auchindrain highland farm township

Gosh, this is horrible! Are you SURE it was Auchindrain you visited, not somewhere else? We don't have an "owner" because the museum is run by a charity, and we don't have a man in a shack! November, when you say you came here, is out of season and our visitor facilities are closed. However, during the winter, when the gate is open because we are here for maintenance work we are pleased to allow people in free of charge for a wander round if they want. In November just 33 people did so in the whole month: the great majority of those were prospective bidders for a contract we were advertising, and were both expected and very much welcomed. Any visitor who comes to the museum's office out of season is given a free guidebook, offered the use of our staff loos if required, and very often one of us then goes round and unlocks the buildings specially for them. That's what we do, and we pride ourselves on our reputation for friendliness and helpfulness. As you say manners and niceness cost nothing, but quite apart from that no attraction which takes part in the VisitScotland Quality Assurance scheme and lists itself here on TripAdvisor would treat visitors rudely and abruptly - sorry, but this just doesn't ring true. The only circumstances in which someone might receive a slightly less than welcoming response is if they turn up without an appointment attempting to sell goods or services door to door. In such circumstances we inform them that we don't do business that way and invite them to send us information by post or email so we can look at it properly. But that has only happened once so far this winter, and that was in January, not November.Either way, please contact us direct at info@auchindrain.org.uk. We need some more details from you so that we can hold an internal investigation, and we would like to offer you a voucher for a free return visit with lunch or tea, in the summer. Do please get in touch.

Visited Auchindrain in Easter after staying for a few nights in Inveraray. Spent lots time walking around and exploring the history of the site - absolutely loved it. All the staff we met were very friendly and knowledgeable. Will certainly pop in again when we're back in this beautiful part of the world.

we visited Auchindrain not really knowing what to expect, but we're very pleasantly surprised but the various time periods represented. The visit brought back many memories of my formative years on a farm.I would heartily recommend a visit to Auchindrain. The food is also very good as well!

Really interesting place to visit with lots to look at. Have had a few lovely days out here over the years. Tea shop is a great addition

Very interesting place to visit. Atmospheric and surrounded by beautiful countryside. Good tea shop.

I was with a group of 25 touring Scotland in late August. We had just arrived in the country. The weather was damp. We were jet lagged. Our first stop was Auchindrain. We were warmly welcomed. Bob gave us a wonderful tour. His passion was contagious. In spite of our lack of sleep, there was no problem keeping our interest. The weather only added to the remarkable stories of how our ancestors lived before emigrating to America and countries further away. The tour was followed by a lovely lunch. Soups and baked good are made on the premises. Some of the ingredients are grown on site.This is an amazing place in a very convenient location. Don't miss it !

Only a few minutes out of Inverarary and well worth the drive. Brings home to you what pitiful conditions people lived in back in the day.

We have visited Auchindrain Highland Township Farm twice and it is always fascinating. The history is fascinating. Don't miss the tearoom for homemade soups and desserts. The staff is wonderful!

Took the children here on a damp day in the summer holidays. The township is well preserved and it was easy to imagine how hard life was living here. There was nobody around the township to help to explain how people lived but generally would recommend as a day out

My wife and I spotted this place among the multitude of leaflets available in our Portsonachan hotel. If you have any interest in history, this is a place not to missed. It is about 10 minutes by car south of Inveraray and is a reputed to be one of the last farming townships in Scotland. There are about 20 buildings which show how life was for crofting folk in the 17 and 1800s. The last inhabitant left in the mid 1900s. Don't look for gravel paths and tidy lawns as this is still a working farm. The houses and barns are open and it is possible to see where the families lived side by side with their animals. Very much life in the raw. Use your imagination and think how it compares to our modern cosy lifestyle. We felt the place was very thought provoking and ideal to spend a couple of hours wandering around. A guide book is given on receipt of the entrance fee and contains details of the people who lived in the houses. The visitor centre has a nice tea room and a small shop. Thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

A haunting and poignant experience. A walk through the farm buildings demonstrates the joys of rural life as well as the extreme hard work and effort needed to live in those times. We are small farm owners and learned so much from the agricultural tool display. Thank you for the education. We hope the efforts to preserve and share this wonderful place are successful. We would very much like to come back on our next visit to Scotland.

Have been to a lot of these townships, and while it might not have as much as say Beamish or Summerlea industrial museum, it still has its own attraction. My kids thought it was "cool" so as far as I`m concerned that`s enough. Thought it was a fairly honest depiction of the way things were.

This place is so lovely, we came in the rain and it helped us to understand life back then even more. The exhibition on the gypsies and mental illness was fascinating and so were all the cottages. The staff were soooo friendly and helpful and the food from the cafe was lovely (have to have the homemade jam). Its a must see.

A well preserved example of how crofting communities lived in a time gone by.Thatched cottages furnished the way they used to be, a hen house, barns with farming implements,sheep and goats.You can really imagine how life must have been. A guide book is supplied with the entrance fee which tells you about the people who actually lived there. Characters in costume would give it a wow factor but understand the limitations and practicalities. Staff friendly and helpful.

We are always sad and disappointed when someone doesn't enjoy their visit to Auchindrain as much as we hope and intend. Please contact us via the email address on our website, so we can arrange to provide you with a full refund.Your review reflects some key challenges we face, and you will see our comments here reflected in past responses to negative reviews, showing at least that we are aware of the issues and consistent in the nature of our response.As an overarching issue, Auchindrain is and always has been run by an independent charity: the museum is a small organisation that stands alone rather than being part of a large body with wider resources. We are a bit in the back of beyond away from major tourist destinations and routes, and despite much effort over more than 40 years our visitor numbers and thus our earned income are not high. We receive some public sector financial assistance, but money is incredibly tight and there is a great deal that we would like to do and think we should be doing that is simply out of our financial reach. This issue underpins all of the points you make: we don't disagree, but we just do not have the money to do more or different. You compare us with a number of other sites elsewhere in the world, and this comparison would be fair if we had even a fraction of the discretionary spending power they have ... but we don't. It isn't that we don't care or don't know better.The overwhelming majority of our visitors tell us that they greatly value the gritty realism of Auchindrain, so we have consistently retained that as a focus. We draw attention to the presence of livestock and advise "appropriate footwear". Unfortunately some people do not like aspects our our approach, and where this is the case our policy is to offer a no-argument, unconditional, refund, although we have also found that hardly anyone takes up this offer!Yes, we illustrate our website and leaflet with images taken on our occasional event days that show the place come-alive, but at the same time we are very careful in our words not to give the impression that the place is populated by demonstrators. It isn't, because the costs of doing so would be many times beyond our income from visitors ... we ask people to use their imagination. On the other hand, until a few years ado the images we used were just pictures of buildings and museum objects, and people complained that this didn't do justice to the place or give any sense of what it is. So which set of grumbles should we most heed?We are so very sorry that you were disappointed in us.