About us
Overview
Our family business is over 100 years old. Mill manager Thomas Thomson bought Bramblebank and Westfield Mills in the late 1800s. He grew the business opening up a number of new mills along the banks of the River Ericht.
In tandem to the textile industry the business also focused on growing soft fruit, in particular raspberries. The town was so famed for its production of soft fruit that it became know as “Berry Toon” or “The Berry Capital of the UK”.
Today although we are still growing berries we are in period of change and looking what the future holds for the farm and berries.
The mills
Blairgowrie wouldn’t be what it is today without the mills. The milling industry thrived during mid 19th – 20th century. The town grew in size with the rise in number of mills. The river Ericht which runs through the town powered the mills.
Sadly with the demise of the industry none of the mills are in production today, with the last closing in the 1970s.
We are constantly looking at what the future looks like for the mills. To find out more visit the contact us page.
Fruit growing
As a family we love berries. Growing up amongst fields of delicious strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries etc was certainly idyllic.
However, growing berries does have its challenges and over the years we have constantly needed to adapt and change to ensure the business survived.
For more information about fruit growing, please use the contact us page.
The future
The future is bright! Well we hope so!
Like the decline in the mill industry in the 50s to 70s the fruit growing industry has an increasing amount of challenges.
Whilst we are continuing to grow fruit for supermarkets we are constantly looking out for new opportunities for the business to help ensure its resilience for the future.
We hope to be around in another 100 years!