Meet the Roxburghe Estates Team
This month we meet Clerk of Works, who has been with Roxburghe Estates for 17 years.
Craig began his time here as a fresh-faced twenty year old as assistant to Gordon Little who was Clerk of Works here for 44 years. He went on to become Architectural Technologist and then took over from Gordon as Clerk of Works on his retirement in 2020.
Craig left school and studied Architectural Technology at Telford College, after qualifying he went to work for several different companies in the space of a few years, including recruitment agency Hays Montrose where he worked with a variety of companies on different projects including disabled discrimination audits and the Palm Island project in Dubai.
Asking Craig what his job entails, he laughed and answered that I may get a shorter response if I asked what it didn’t entail!! He went onto list some of his many duties such as drawing designs for estate cottages, bridges and farm buildings. He oversees the daily running of the estate and has nine tradesmen working under him. One of his most time consuming responsibilities is doing the “Record of Condition” for each of the 48 farms that are owned by Roxburghe Estates which is taken by him sequentially. Craig surveys the land, fencing and buildings. This involves long hours in the hills walking every fence line! He also does all of the estate’s cartography and GPS drone work and as an added extra he is the first port of call for all of the IT at the Estates Office!
Craig’s favourite thing about his job is the variety of his activities and the stunning rural locations he visits. Going to work in the morning and not knowing what the day will entail, the phone will ring and suddenly what he had planned for the day goes out the window! He enjoys being outside on the quad bike or walking up in the hills doing the Farm Records where his Labrador Glen joins him. When asked what he dislikes most about his role, he takes a long time to answer and his reply is “well not a lot, as I’ve been here for 17 years I really enjoy my work” but probably the long hours that comes with the job.
The most unusual thing Craig recalls being involved in is him hanging off the back of a boat with a measuring pole surveying the riverbed in the Tweed to compare against the previous surveys to check the sediment levels to see if the bottom of the riverbed had moved from the previous years after a flood. This proved especially interesting in the rapids section of the river where Craig and the boat were at the end of a rope held by one of his colleagues stood on the riverbank shouting orders of “keep it straight” and “left a bit, right a bit, down” while Craig was leaning over the back of the boat headfirst!!
When asked what he is looking forward to in the future of Roxburghe Estates he answers that he is eagerly anticipating watching the Estate evolve, the planning and overseeing fabric repairs to the exterior of the Castle and being involved in the planning of exciting external partner projects.
