FORMER television broadcasting engineer Alan Renwick was able to enjoy the fruits of three years' labour and a #250,000 investment as broadcaster and writer Jimmie Macgregor MBE opened his cherished bunkhouse at Tulloch yesterday.
Situated in a converted
ScotRail station on the West Highland Line, the Station Lodge promises to be a haven for climbers, hillwalkers, skiers, canoeists cyclists and walkers in the Fort William area.
Armed with a redundancy package from Scottish Television, Renwick raised the rest of the capital from the Railway Heritage Trust, the Highland Councils Investment Company, and a grant from the local
enterprise company.
''It took over three years of negotiating and planning to get to this stage, but it has all been worth it,'' he reflected.
Having secured a 40-year lease on the buildings from
Railtrack and a licence, the
Station Lodge will cater for 24 people in bunk-bed rooms.
Guests can choose from self-catering or home-cooked meals, and vegetarian meals are also available.
There are around 300
ScotRail tenants in stations throughout the country covering the business spectrum.
The station buildings in
Dumfries may seem an unlikely setting for an artificial insemination unit but for Jim Samson Livestock it is the ideal location.
''We run an artificial insemination service for the farming community in the area and use the station for a operational base, and a semen store,'' said Samson.
''The station has been great to work from.
''There are staff present for early morning until late at night and the security is excellent.''
His company, which he started three years ago, operates within a 30-mile radius of
Dumfries and presently employs another two people.
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