Happy Christmas 2025

The "family update" Chistmas letter is, according to reknown and soi-disant etiquette expert William Hanson, not read and by inference, not to be sent.

So how can I persuade you to continue reading this Christmas blog entry? Well, I can promise no reference to family members whatsoever, whether over-achieving or not. Instead, I can promise you egriegous and engaging tales, exposing a villainy that would not be out of place in a seasonal pantomime. Such is the drama, that I am now determined to write the book version. Pre-order for Christmas 2026! :-)

And yes, I do make a point of reading family update letters, and not just out of considerations of etiquette. :-)

2025 has been the year of the most contrasting highs and lows for the restoration.

Early in the year, I reached out to Historic Environment Scotland (HES) for assistance in dealing with Angus Coucil, who were behaving really badly and had stopped all restoration works. The Council had not answered any of the complaints I had sent them - which they are obliged to do.

Anyhow, the reply came back from HES that there was nothing they could do, saying that people assume that as a national body they can trump a regional body, but in fact they are both "public service organisations" at the "same" level. HES said the best way forward was to create some positive publicity for the restoration project, so dutifully this is what I set out to do. We discussed an "open day" for the opening of the Great Hall, which was nearing completion.

Five weeks before the date of the planned event, I invited the CEO of Angus Council along as part of a bridge-building exercise and to verify that the event was acceptible. I also went for broke and invited all 29 of the councillors. I was emailed by one of the councillors to say that an IT system administrator for the Council, had contacted her to say that she had an email from me held in their quarantine system, so she got in touch to find out what was happening. So whether Angus Council regard me as "mad" or "bad" is uncertain, but they have definitely classified me as "dangerous to know". I have still to find out whether my emails to all the concillors were quarantined, but the evidence does suggest blanket censoring.

Lovely articles appeared in the Glasgow Herald and in the Dundee Courier, about the restoration and the open day event. A journalist friend said I could not have got any better publicity.

A week before the event, and notably a day after the Courier article, a certain Council officer banned the open day, and then banned the evening banquet to which I has invited 40 guests. The guests were lovely friends and neighbours who had supported the restoration over the years. I was devastated.

I had dreamed about a celebration event on opening up the Great Hall for decades, though as a realist, I realised it might not happen in my lifetime. You can imagine how I felt dismissing all the volunteers, sending out cancellations of the 550 free tickets, and sending out cancellations of the banquet invites. Architectural experts from all round the country has taken time off work, to speak at the opening event.

On the day of the cancelled event, the Council sent in a police raid to ensure that nothing was taking place. The police entered the building without my permission, and I collapsed with the shock. Sometime afterwards, I got a letter from Angus Council's legal department saying the open day event had taken place with members of the public attending, despite the fact I had promised that it would be cancelled. You're damned if you do; you're damned if you don't. I don't know how you are meant to respond to this madness?

A few days after the date of the open day, the Council imposed a ban on anyone entering the building, not even my friends are allowed to come in. So at present, I am the only person rattling about in this huge building, and I am missing my friends like crazy. It is a veritable travesty of how the castle is intended to function. Now the Great Hall is restored I woud have organised some festive seasonal events. Angus Council really is the Council than cancelled Christmas.

Some lovely friends in Norfolk have invited me for Christmas so I won't be spending it on my own at the castle, but I did initially have to turn them down as the Council shenanigans would not allow me to get away in time. In the end, I cut the Norfolk trip right down to a few days, to make it possible.

Christmas cards at the castle

It was lovely in any case to put up my Christmas cards in the Great Hall: the first time I've really had a place at the castle to put up my cards. I notice that some of my friends, with their own restoration projects, have produced their own cards. I am missing a trick. I have pictured Reveseby Abbey (the Hollis family) and Brough House (friend of Balintore, Mark!).

Revesby Abbey Christmas card

Brough House Christmas card

Given the massive onslaught of Angus Council at the moment, we have largely just been doing finishing-off stuff. I have been particularly pleased with the recent work on the linen cupboard in the basement. This has been restored for a long time, but we just chucked things on the floor as a storage space - hardly satisfactory. Gregor and Gavin have now waxed the floor with a tinted wax-oil and built bespoke items of furniture to fit the space - critical for small rooms. The plan is to use these units to store bulk quantities of vintage and antique crockery and cutlery etc. that I have obtained second-hand in order to feed the multitude on high days and holy days. I hope that one day the Council will see sense, and that these can be used.

the linen cupboard with bespoke furniture

The unit on the left is made from the pulpit of Lochee Parish Church in Dundee (eBay £100) and a antique bookcase (£10). I have installed an initial 80 or so plates just for the sake of morale. I have not checked the exact numbers yet, but I suspect I have a matching service for 200+. That would be some banquet!

plates in the left hand unit in the linen cupboard

The unit on the right is made from the same pulpit, a pew from the same church and the worktop of a school science bench. You can see the filled bunsen burner holes. The worktop was the last remaining one of a set of Iroko ones I purchased. We didn't want to cut it up, and when I measured the wall-space in the linen cupboard, I realised the worktop could be installed whole so it was time to use up that asset! Believe it or not, the doors are 4 inches thick!

Anyhow, I hope you all have a great Christmas and I wish you all best wishes for 2026!