First grouse raced back to hotel as tradition revived

Gleneagles serves up a taste of the past for lunch guests

Gleneagles Hotel revived a longforgotten tradition when it raced grouse back from a Perthshire moor in time for lunch on the first day of the shooting season.

For the first time in more than 30 years, Gleneagles harvested game birds on the morning of the ‘Glorious Twelfth’ from the heather-clad hills surrounding the hotel which were served in the hotel’s Century Bar for lunch at noon – ensuring guests were the first in the country to enjoy the culinary delicacy.

Another 10 brace were raced to London to be served at a special Gleneagles Grouse dinner in the capital, in line with tradition.

Getting the birds from “estate to plate” in just two and a half hours on Saturday was seen as a celebration of the hotel’s great sporting heritage and the abundance of fresh, seasonal ingredients on its doorstep.

Each year on August 12 in the past, tradition dictated that restaurants all over the UK vied to serve the first pickings of the new season, but over the years this activity had declined as the public’s taste for game has changed.

At Alvie Estate, near Aviemore, farmer and cheese-maker Archie Montgomery, who travelled from Somerset, brought a party of 80 people to celebrate his 60th birthday.

“We’re delighted to have the opportunity to open the grouse shooting season in such magnificent Highland surroundings,” he said.

Pictures: Sandy Young. Gleneagles Hotel shooting instructor Nick Raby, left, and executive sous chef Jonathan Wright with some of the first grouse of the new season.

Picture: Peter Jolly. A grouse shooting party on the Alvie Estate.