ASSYNT

THE Glencanisp and Drumrunie estates – which include the Suilven mountain – were owned for 70 years by the Vestey family, which made its fortune in the meat trade.

Residents formed the Assynt Foundation to take advantage of new right-to-buy powers and, with donations, government handouts and lottery funds, they cobbled together the £2.9 million required to take control of the land in 2005.

Two-thirds of it is bog or under water, but it came with the sizeable Glencanisp Lodge, salmon rivers and deer for stalking – although the charity changed direction and culled more than half of the 2,000-strong deer population to allow woodland to regenerate.

The lodge received a £1.25 million publicly funded makeover to target the wedding venue market. The addition of an artist studio, nature walk and bird hides have failed to halt the slide into the red – and auditors warn it is on borrowed time.