The garden was the Community Company’s first major project and was created in 2002 in partnership with the BBC’s Beechgrove Garden, the Boat Hotel and the Strathspey Steam Railway and with help from many volunteers and sponsors.

Originally the Station Master’s vegetable garden, its management was taken over by the Community Council in the 1970s and many of you will remember Margaret Hutchison, who tended the garden for many years. It was a hidden gem in those days, accessed by a rickety wooden staircase from the hotel’s car park, and not visited or even seen by most passers by.

Two of the founding directors of the Community Company, Shona Tatchell (who then owned the Boat Hotel) and Christine Morrison (owner of Moorfield House), applied to be one of the BBC’s Birchgrove Garden projects. Managed by Lorraine MacPherson, Iain Murray and Anna Barton, the project was completed within five months and the grand opening took place in September 2002, complete with a display from the village’s Flag Troupe. More than 50 residents became members of the Garden Group, committing to maintain the garden.