Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Christmas comes early to Drumtogle Farm

Ellen Watt with some of the festive wooden reindeer she makes at Drumtogle Farm
Ellen Watt with some of the festive wooden reindeer she makes at Drumtogle Farm

With Rudolph watching over a herd of grazing reindeer outside Aberuthven, Christmas has certainly come early to Drumtogle Farm.

So early, in fact, the animals have gradually begun to arrive at the 200acre arable family farm almost since the turn of the year.

Yet these aren’t just any old reindeer – they are the latest homemade quirky crafts from farmer’s wife and local designer Ellen Watt – and they are now ready and waiting to spread plenty of festive cheer.

“When I was a child, I used to constantly nag my dad, who builds natural timber farm buildings, to make things out of wood for me,” Ellen explained.

“Over the years I asked him for all manner of various things; things to play with, things to use – a clothes line made to look like an old style telegraph wire pole as an example – you name it really, the possibilities and creativity used to fascinate me,” she said.

In fact, up until very recently and even though Ellen now has children of her own, she still hadn’t stopped badgering her father James – to the extent he eventually told her to go and have a shot of making things herself.

“So that’s exactly what I did,” Ellen said.

With a flair for art and design, having studied a degree in textile design at Heriot Watt in Galashiels before progressing into a profession as a policewoman, it was the need for a career that would marry with farm life and a hectic schedule as a mother of two that brought Ellen back to her creative roots.

“Having had a family, my artistic endeavours took a back-seat for a fair few years, but now my boys Henry (8) and Angus (6) are both at school, it has been so exciting to get the opportunity to get back into a studio and be hands on once again.”

Ellen’s studio – dubbed Watty’s Workshop – which was constructed as an extension to one of the sheds at Drumtogle by Knapp Farm Buildings, now houses all the space, tools and machinery she requires to carve and store her designs and also boasts panoramic views over the Earn valley countryside.

Ellen has been busy in her workshop ahead of her pop-up Christmas fair at Drumtogle Farm
Ellen has been busy in her workshop ahead of her pop-up Christmas fair at Drumtogle Farm

“Christmas has certainly been a long time coming this year, as I’ve been developing and working on a number of unique designs, but I think that makes it all the more special,” Ellen explained.

“I just think I’m so lucky to be able to spend each day using my creativity to construct quirky crafts. It’s something I really love doing.

“My wooden sculptures and knick-knacks are all completely hand-made here on the farm, they aren’t mass produced and I’m largely self-taught so no two items will ever look entirely the same,” she added.

Forged from exterior plywood, Ellen’s designs include three ‘breeds’ of reindeer, wall mounted wooden stags, horses, Highland cows and sheep heads, toy soldiers, stars, wreaths and various differing heights of free standing Christmas trees.

“Completed designs are sold in their natural form – so it’s really up to the customer whether they want to stain, varnish or paint the wood – but the beauty, particularly as they are largely for Christmas décor, is the components all slot together or come apart, so are therefore easily and efficiently stored in flat pack,” Ellen added.

“My collection is continually growing so if anyone would like to drop in and see me they can make an appointment to come to the farm almost any time, but I’ll also be opening the doors to my studio to provide a festive-theme pop-up shop to help everyone to beat the Christmas rush.”

Ellen Watt with some of the festive wooden reindeer she makes at Drumtogle Farm
Ellen Watt with some of the festive wooden reindeer she makes at Drumtogle Farm

Shoppers will also get a further opportunity to pick up one of Ellen’s designs at the Cordon Farm Country Market, Abernethy, on December 3 and 4, where 32 stalls will be jam packed with local, festive and home-made goodies.

Ellen’s pop-up farm shop opens at Drumtogle Farm, Aberuthven, on Friday, November 11, from 10am until 8.30pm and on Saturday, November 12, from 10am to 4pm.

Full details and further information can be found online at www.ellenwattdesigns.com