Rebuilding Diary

The enduring memory of our first glimpse of Annandale Distillery, way back in July 2006, was of the slender brick chimney with its fancy crown, of the iconic Doig Malt Kiln and of the Bonded Warehouses with their angular, pitched roofs, all nestling in the hollow formed at the confluence of the Gullielands and Northfield Burns.

We couldn't believe our eyes!

How could such a wonderful range of old distillery buildings have been 'lost' for so many years?

What a find!

It was definitely a case of love at first sight!

As a Single Malt Scotch whisky lover and as a 'local' (albeit somewhat estranged) with strong family and emotional ties to the area, it seemed unbelievable that I shouldn't have known about Annandale Distillery. Luckily for us, I wasn't alone. Intoxicated with excitement, we set about buying the property. It finally became ours in April 2007.

Over four years later, after obtaining the necessary permissions, after negotiating the purchase of extra land to form a car park (a condition of planning permission) and after very detailed financial planning, work finally started on 27 June 2011.

As part of the restoration process, we decided to make a series of video clips that capture some of the detail. Our first video, shot in February 2009 after completion of a fairly thorough archaeological study, deals with the history of the buildings, and can be seen on the interactive archaeological site map on this website.

This second video shows something of the progress made by 13 September 2011. The footage is quite detailed because it's intended to form part of an historical archive rather than an 'easy viewing' documentary.

These first four clips start in the newly formed car park with a look at the Warehouse roof, then follow the path down to the envisaged entrance near the Bonded Warehouses. This is essentially the same view that Teresa and I saw for the first time back in July 2006. We hope that you enjoy seeing it as much as we did.

To be continued...