Portnellan is a small family farm nestled on the secluded south-eastern shore of Loch Lomond in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

Owned by the Scott-Park’s for over 65 years, Portnellan is first and foremost a family farm, with production of high quality organic beef in an environmentally sensitive way at its heart. Our native breed Aberdeen Angus and Shorthorn cattle are born and reared on the farm and grown slowly on a diet of 100% organic grass until they mature at around 30 months old. The beef is then hung for a minimum of 21 days to ensure excellent depth of flavour and tenderness. You can buy our beef directly from the farm.

Since giving up dairy farming in 2010, the farm has diversified in several ways, now offering moorings for rent in Portnellan Bay and winter boat storage with many people bringing their boat back year on year. We are delighted to be able to share our beautiful location and stunning views with guests staying in our newly renovated 4 star self-catering accommodation. We love meeting our guests and getting to know them over the duration of their stay, many have become firm friends!

After returning to the farm in 2013, Chris set up a business running a range of water-based activities for guests staying on the farm and visitors to the local area. Activities include a range of speedboat tours, which are often described as the highlight of a visit to Loch Lomond, as well as kayak and stand-up paddleboard hire.

Meet the Scott-Park family 

David is farmer-in-chief; he works all hours of the day and night like most farmers with livestock – David is also a talented mechanic, builder, welder, plumber, and general Mr Fix-It.  He’s never happier than when he’s showing people around the farm or the moorings – he likes to tell people about the farm – about our organic principles, the ‘new’ system of paddock grazing, the fencing projects and the plans for a biomass boiler.

Freda married David in 1983 and their first task was to build their own house. Freda is a vet working as a consultant in veterinary cardiology to the pharmaceutical industry. Freda is also an official Met Office observer and is a font of information about the climate on Portnellan. She likes nothing better than having a cup of tea with visitors. She’s fussy about her tea, having grown up on a tea estate in Kenya.

Chris Scott-Park on Portnellan Farm

Chris graduated from Stirling University in 2013 with a degree in Environmental Science and Outdoor Education. It’s fantastic that he’s come back to work on the farm; a great help to David. Alongside farm work, Chris runs his own business on Portnellan offering bespoke luxury speedboat tours and water-sports equipment hire on Loch Lomond. Chris is a qualified mountain leader, Tae Kwondo black belt and commercially endorsed skipper. In his free time he enjoys hill walking, running, wakeboarding and spending time working in the garden.

Ginny graduated from St Andrews in 2014 with degrees in Management and Psychology. She is now a fully qualified chartered accountant working in Inverness. Although she doesn’t live on the farm it’s always nice when she comes to visit!

A short history of the farm

Portnellan Farm originally belonged to Ross Estates. Donald MacLean bought it from Ross Estates in the early 1900s: Donald was a stockman on another farm near Stirling and when he left to take over Portnellan, he was gifted the dairy herd and he walked the cows all the way over to their new home on Portnellan. David’s Grandfather, Stanley Scott-Park, who was a radiologist in Glasgow, bought the farm in 1952 for his son Jock Scott-Park to manage.

Originally the farm would have been a traditional mixed farm with a combination of cattle, sheep, pigs, hens and even a few cereals but in the early 70’s Jock decided to specialise in dairy farming. In 1981 David came back to work on the farm along side Jock and the dairy man. Jock in particular had always been interested in food and its impact on human health and in 1991 they decided to begin converting the farm to become certified organic which they achieved in 2001.

In 2010 the consistently low milk price and cost of production meant that dairy farming was no longer sustainable and the decision was made to begin conversion to organic beef farming. This transition freed up a lot of time to concentrate on other projects and with the help of their son Chris, who returned to Portnellan in 2014, David and Freda set about renovating the Old Farmhouse and converting it into self-catering accommodation. They also renovated the old jetty to service the moorings in the bay.

Along side working on the farm, Chris started his own business running speedboat tours and water-sports hire from Portnellan all of which has become steadily more popular over the last few years. More recently the Scott-Parks have added farm tours to the list of activities on offer as people become more interested in sustainability and food production.

Find out more about our organic farm

LIFE ON THE FARM
LIFE ON THE FARM