CHAMPIONING RURAL WOMEN
Meet Mrs Brown!
Diane is married to one of our Head Keepers here in the Angus Glens. A hard working mother of three boys, two of which are at the beginning of their budding keepering careers, taking after their father and the third who is one of our #agmg young team, wee Jamie (aged 6), who is already showing signs of becoming the next head keeper and filling his fathers boots!
Behind every good head keeper is his wife and Diane is no exception! Dinner ready on the table, baking always done for the team and as much as this might sound like the stereotypical country housewife she’s far from it! Diane works hard running the shooting lodge overseeing her own team of people who look after the shooting guests. She prepares the lunches for the beaters and organises their pay, which can be a mammoth task through the shooting season. Out with the season you will often see Diane lending a hand round the estate, from painting fence posts, planting trees and assisting with monitoring waders and carrying out grouse counts.
With having young children and living in a remote rural area, community projects are also close to her heart. Diane has been a great help to AGMG and has helped to guide some projects, such as getting the estates to tidy up local playgroup and care home gardens by putting her husband and his team to task, laying bark, slabbing, building equipment for the children to play on and bird feeders for residents to be able to watch wildlife in the communal garden throughout the Covid pandemic.
She is also passionate that the life skills her children are lucky to learn on a daily basis are passed on to more to more youngsters in the surrounding urban areas, who don’t always get the chance to appreciate what’s on their countryside’s door step. She assists on our ‘Estates That Educate’ program which allows children of all ages to come onto the estates and learn first hand the workings of a sporting estate and see the vast variety of wildlife which thrive on her doorstep, thanks to the hard work of her husbands and neighbouring teams efforts all year round!
Her work also means she has to partake in several training courses, from first aid to off road driving, being a fire marshal as well as numerous health and safety procedures.
As if all that isn’t enough, she still finds the time to enjoy some down time to herself. Usually her hobbies would include the gym, romantic date nights with her husband and of course what country girl doesn’t enjoy beating their husband at a round of clays!
“It seems women are unrecognised for what they actually do. We go out and do our work on our rural estates but we also then come home and help our husbands/partners with what they need help with and also run the family home. Or we can have very long hours being home alone raising the kids. Not seeing partners for hours/days on end. Which can be isolating and have effects on people’s mental health. Living in remote areas can also mean we are far from family members, so when life can be busy it’s really important to find that work life balance!”
We couldn’t agree more Diane!