April 2016. I was on a campsite in Norfolk teaching my then 6 year old daughter how to fly a kite when the call came in. It was my solicitor in Scotland, ‘Can I speak to the proud new owner of Station House please?’
When it was still a Train Station. Mid 20th Century.
This was the news I had been waiting for, the sale had gone through and I was the owner of a stunning 19th Century Railway Station in Scotland with plans in place to turn it into Dumfries and Galloway’s first dedicated cookery school. A fairly unusual situation to be in and it begged the question, ‘How did I get myself here?’
It all started in the early 1980s when I started to work weekends washing dishes in my hometown of Norwich. Loving the work, I continued in the profession until my mid twenties getting as much experience as I could. I worked in kitchens, as a waiter and a lot of bar work. I’d always intended to carve out a career in hospitality, but decided to take a year out and do something a little different first, I fancied seeing the world! That’s why, post university, I qualified as an English Language teacher and headed out in 1995 for what should have been a 9 month stint teaching English in Ukraine.
One thing led to another and 9 months turned into 20 years. Ukraine as we know it now was a new country then, communism had only just collapsed and I was witnessing the rebirth of a nation. Not something you get to be a part of too many times. There was only one English Language school in a country of 50 million people. A huge gap in the market which was spotted by the person who is still my current business partner. An extremely entrepreneurial spirit, he joined forces with a local business man and started what was to become the very successful chain of English Language Schools and Literature Import Business ‘The London School of English’.
The London School of English circa 1998. That’s me seated, 3rd from the right with my long time business partner Sean to the left of me.
I was there on day one as a teacher. The opportunity to be at the start of a business in a country like Ukraine in the mid nineties was too good to miss. Inspired by my business partner, within two years I was borrowing money from anyone I could to buy into the school. I became a partner and manager at the school, a role that would last until October 2015 when I left Ukraine, 20 years to the day after I had first landed there. During that time we went through three rounds of hyper-inflation, two revolutions and one military invasion. I got to witness first hand how to start a business and guide it through some extremely difficult situations. What’s more I really loved being in the classroom. I took my teaching qualifications up to NVQ level 7, just below a Phd. Teaching had become a real passion. I was lucky enough to have a real mentor in my business partner and I’m sure I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for his support and guidance over more than two decades.
Me and my daughter Asha. Very much the catalyst for leaving Ukraine, she’s around 10 months old here in 2010.
In early 2009 my wife and I got the news that we were expecting a baby. Much as I loved Ukraine, I knew I wanted to raise a family in the UK. The need for an exit strategy arose and I immediately started plans to return to hospitality and open my own restaurant in the UK when my daughter was school age.
It gave me a good six or seven years’ planning time. The problem was that I adored teaching and didn’t want to give that up. That’s when the embryonic idea of opening a cookery school began to take shape. It would combine my 20 years’ experience teaching and managing schools with my love of food and hospitality. It seemed like the perfect plan.
With my fellow Ballymaloe Alumni 2014
The influence of Ballymaloe Cookery School
I then had 5 years to carefully plan the cookery school. And to make sure I was making the right decision, not having a major mid-life crisis. I retrained at the internationally renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland, an amazing experience. Run by Darina Allen, it’s set in a 100 acre organic dairy farm where they grow all their own fruit and vegetables, make their own yoghurts, cheeses and breads for the school. Their ethos to food was exactly my own and it was an inspiration for me to see that you can create a business within the food and drink industry which is ethical and supportive of the local community and producers. Making everything in-house and keeping alive those forgotten skills. I watched and learned as much as I could, becoming more sure every day that this was what I wanted to do.
I was lucky enough to have Darina Allen, her brother Rory O’Connell and daughter-in-law Rachen Allen as my Tutors.
with darina allen
A force of nature and an inspiration for what a cookery school should be
Rachel Allen
An exceptionally engaging teacher.
rory o’connell
An inspirational tutor and great chef.
I also started to write a food blog ‘theredbookcook.blogspot.com’ which was designed to hone my writing skills as a teacher of cookery. Many of those entries have formed the backbone of the factsheets for cookery classes at Station House today. The idea was to find out if I really did want to spend the second half of my life dedicated to a cookery school. If I really enjoyed researching, practicing and writing about food then I was probably going along the right lines. It’s still there!
My vegetable garden in Ukraine
The Red Book Cook in 2014
“Sunday, 13 July 2014
Why “The Red Book Cook’?
The Red Book or ‘Liber Novus’ is the work of Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung. It centres around his reconnection with the soul and the recovery of the meaning of life.
How is that relevant to me?
A few years back I bought a house with a garden just outside of Kiev.
I had always been interested in cooking and for the first time I was able to grow my own fruit, vegetables and herbs for use in the kitchen.
I began to feel much more connected with the ingredients I was using and to really value the concept of freshness and locality.
I could compare the taste of sun ripened cherry tomatoes picked straight off the vine to those bought in a plastic box from the supermarket. The difference is phenomenal. Simplicity became of much greater importance to me. Courgettes lightly seasoned and grilled within minutes of picking were a revelation.
This made me start to think carefully about the rest of the food I was eating. The striking contrast between the mass produced products and those which were home grown or home made was something I began to feel more and more strongly about.
This sparked a desire to expand my abilities in the kitchen and attempt those things which I had always avoided learning such as breads, pastry, pasta or cakes.
Being able to prepare a quiche from scratch using vegetables fresh from the garden proved incredibly rewarding. Homemade soda bread with butter I had made myself, salad leaves from the ground to the plate within minutes. Homemade pasta with a simple sauce of herbs from the garden.
It changed the way I thought about food and the importance of it. It brought back childhood memories of the real taste of food which had been lost over the years. For me it was a reconnection strong enough to make me want to change careers and make a living through the production of real food.
Carl Jung recorded his recovery with the meaning of life in the Red Book and so am I, as The Red Book Cook!
”
Back in the United Kingdom
Leia. My vociferous Ukranian street rescue.
On my return to UK in October 2015 I bought a campervan which was to be my home on the search for the location for the cookery school. Accompanied by my highly vocal Ukrainian street rescue dog Leia, I hit the road.
So, what was I looking for? I needed a spot with strong tourism, a solid food and drink infrastructure, a weekend destination from two or three major cities and no other cookery schools in the area. Not to mention a nice place for my daughter to grow up. Simple.
The infamous Campervan on the road to Kirkcudbright the day it exploded!
The quest began down in Cornwall and I zigzagged my way through England and up to Scotland investigating every tourist location and walking through the door of hundreds of estate agents. Just south of Edinburgh I asked a campsite owner where people from Edinburgh go for a weekend away if they want to stay in Scotland. Dumfries and Galloway was the swift reply, so off we went. I’d been told that the Artists’ Town of Kirkcudbright was a top tourist destination, so on a very wet and cold Saturday night I pulled up in the central square at the exact moment the van’s engine exploded in a very comprehensive cloud of smoke engulfing half the town. I went into the first local pub I could find for some liquid restoration and to ask if there was a local mechanic on call. It appeared not. I was cold, damp and stuck.
The mechanics arrived the next day. After looking under the bonnet I was told that I’d be in Kirkcudbright for a good ten days. Make yourself comfortable. The Kirkcudbright Bay hotel in the centre were really decent and found an attic room for me and Leia, suitably out of the way so she couldn’t do too much damage to the other guests. To this day I’m very grateful to them. Thank you Neil and Sharon Rice!
Beautiful Kirkcudbright
Marooned in Kirkcudbright, I started to look around. Beautiful town, welcoming people and a couple of decent pubs. I spent time in all the local Estate Agents telling them what kind of property I needed for the cookery school but there wasn’t anything suitable. After a week I was pretty despondent and wanted to get further north to try my luck in The Highlands. Then on the Sunday I saw there was a local Producers’ Market happening. I got there early and spent the whole day talking to the most fantastic array of producers passionate about their produce. There was a clear network of support for small businesses at community level. Local people were supporting local producers here. That was certainly not the case in a lot of areas I had tried in UK. I began to get the picture that Dumfries and Galloway really was the perfect location for a cookery school. Just no appropriate property.
I collected my van a couple of days later and prepared to head off the following morning. At 4pm I got a call from one of the local Estate Agents. ‘Not quite what you’re looking for Nick, but a lovely property has come on the market today. Fancy a quick look?’
The moment I walked through the doors of the old Station House I knew it was perfect. Enough space for a Demonstration Room for 40 people, Student Kitchens for 18 and a small café to support. It truly was serendipity, if the agent had called the next morning I would have been gone. Surveys were carried out, permission obtained and an offer put in and accepted. So here I was. Owner of the old Station House in Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway with my sights on turning it into a cookery school and café.
Kirkcudbright Food Festival 2016
Before the proper renovation began I got involved with the local Food Festival
For the Food Festival 2016 I built a temporary cookery demonstration room complete with bench, ovens and hob. This gave me the chance to road test the layout for the school. The layout here is identical to the finished room.
The Festival was an opportunity to get the Cookery School some public exposure for the first time.
A Cookery School has an obligation to support and shout about quality local produce. At the Festival 12 local producers were involved in cookery demonstrations, at the bench, telling their story to the audience in their own words. Here I am with Tracy Roan of Roan’s Dairy who was just one of them.
How to cook the perfect steak. A demonstration with Nigel Taylor from Barlochan Beef, a local farmer who raises the most amazing Highland Cattle.
With Nick Nairn in 2016. Looks like I’m getting a ‘grilling’!
With MSP Emma Harper who has been an absolute rock of support since before we opened and continues to be so to this day.
The demolition begins
The cafe before refurbishment.
I began by demolishing the insides of the building. It had quite a 1970s vibe to it, lots of very textured walls and interesting pinks and purples everywhere, a rabbit’s warren of small rooms and corridors. It was an amazing experience to take a sledge hammer and knock down those walls to reveal the beautiful 150 year old Station House. In our café I have been able to leave the original walls exposed as well as the beams in what used to be the Porter’s lodge.
With the very talented Ian Cameron Smith in the cafe post refurbishment 2017.
I was lucky enough to find a true artist in my designer of the Cookery School in Ian Cameron Smith. As soon as I saw the beautiful stone walls I knew that I wanted an interior involving natural wood with a slightly industrial metal look to reflect its origins as a Station, but that was about it! I approached Ian who had come highly recommended and showed him around the site explaining my very embryonic vision of wood and metal. He immediately took me to his workshop and unveiled some of the most stunning elm wood I have ever seen. It all came from one tree that had lived its natural 300 year life not one mile from Station House. It meant that all the interior including tables, chairs, counter and shelving could be made from one tree that had lived and died a natural death a stone’s throw away. The finished result is nothing short of stunning.
We then had to turn our attention to the planning of the Cookery School itself. Since the first day I set foot in Station House I knew what the layout was to be. Designing and implementing that was a whole other matter. Once again Ian proved invaluable. His remit was to get a Cookery Demonstration Room to seat forty people comfortably which would be attractive enough to work well on television and also to transform into a ‘Pop Up Café’ or Function Room when needed. My vision is to have this as a multi functional space to enable as many aspects to the business as possible. From Children’s Parties to Corporate Team Building, I needed them all to be possible. On top of that, I needed a minimum of eighteen dedicated workstations so each student could have their own work surface, oven, hob and set of cooking utensils. With all of this we had to rewire, replumb, meet Building Standards and Environmental Health requirements in a building built in 1864! No pressure then…
Student kitchens pre-refurbishment.
Student kitchens post refurbishment.
But that is exactly what he did. He kept the natural wood and metal theme throughout and has developed an eye catching level of detail. Even the coat hooks are made from real railway sleeper pins! It truly is an amazing space.
My Cookery Demonstration Room is what used to be the station platform, I jack hammered off the render on the platform wall myself and now it is on full view, a real piece of Scottish history. Original 150 year old walls can be seen in our Student Kitchens along with the same front door this gorgeous building has always had. It feels really good to leave as many features exposed as I could, it’s important for me to keep it as a public space for all to see. It’s obviously a much-loved building for local people and many have come in to share their memories of it as a train station as I give them a tour.
Cookery Demonstration Room before refurbishment. You can see I have partially uncovered the old platform wall.
Cookery Demonstration Room after refurbishment.
Everything wrong in one advert
So why was I bothering to take this huge risk? Many anthropologists argue that it was cooking that made us human, cooked food enabling us to take in more calories quicker and because it needed fire it brought us together for a certain amount of time around that fire. Some argue it made us the social beings we are today. However, statistically we Brits are spending less and less time in the kitchen. We are consuming more quick to cook convenience foods and take-aways. Much mainstream advertising has convinced us that we don’t have time to cook.
The more you outsource your cooking the less control you have over what you put in your family’s bodies. Supermarkets have convinced us that food should be cheap and everything available all year round. They look for long shelf lives and food that can be transported easily over taste and nutrition. Paying high wages for skilled artisans is not something they want to do. There has been a systematic approach to disconnecting the public with their food’s provenance and production. All powered by a massive marketing machine over the last thirty years.
It’s no coincidence that we have a rise in wheat intolerance at the same time as our breads are being fermented for much shorter periods of time (if at all!) to make them cheaper to produce, time is the enemy of profit. Dairy intolerance is on the rise as our milk is being treated at higher temperatures to increase shelf life. Scandals over the public not being informed about what type of meat is in the processed food chain? Does that come as a surprise when the price is expected to be so low? Go to a real butcher and they’ll tell you everything you need to know about the provenance of the animal you are eating.
Just before the opening.
Station House is about doing my small part to address that imbalance. I feel, as a nation, we need to reconnect with our real love of cooking and what helped us to become the social beings we are. Cooking is fun. Allowing yourself some extra time in the kitchen rather than in front of a screen. Getting some really good simple ingredients and the family around the kitchen table to cook a proper meal. I believe that the most important cookery in Britain is what goes on in the family kitchens, this is where we pass on essential life skills to the next generation, I’d like to be a part of keeping that alive.
So that’s the first part of the story up to when we opened. The next part deals with the first fews years of the school to the present day. Tv chefs, awards, trips to Parliament, tragedies and pandemic lockdowns are all there!