09 Apr Our New Outdoor Yurtish Shelter
As we all adapt to coming out of lockdown we have been busy at Glen Lyon Coffee developing a new outdoor sit down area at our Aberfeldy roastery for take-out coffees and bar baking. We wanted something solid and quirky that we can take down in the winter so turned to the team at Dragonfly Yurts in Pitlochry to build us a unique ‘yurtish’ structure.
Business partners Dave Walker and Timo Hayes are more used to building and hiring out yurts for events but demand collapsed over the lockdown. Luckily they relish a challenge and after a long and complex series of mathematical calculations have brilliantly adapted the characteristic crown of radiant spars of a circular yurt to our new outdoor space. The results are stunning and we are almost reluctant to put canvas over the top of it!
Yurts are intimate and inviting meeting spaces with a deep history. They were first recorded by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus as the dwelling place of the horse riding Scythians in Central Asia from as early as AD 300. We won’t be out riding on horseback from ours but we hope it will make a convivial meeting space for our both our Aberfeldy community and visitors fleeing months of lockdown.
Dave and Timo fortuitously met at the post office counter four years ago in Pitlochry. Dave had set up Dragonfly Yurts after 25 years working in the Ambulance Service as a Paramedic. Timo was a frustrated postmaster by day and a passionate woodworker in his garage by night. They teamed up and have never looked back, taking pride in creating unique structures that ‘look more like furniture.’
“I find it hard not to be satisfied by my own work,” commented Dave. “When I see people in one of my yurts it makes me happy!” Dave chose the name ‘Dragonfly’ for his business because it to him is a potent symbol for transformation, “teaching us to love life, to rejoice and to have faith even amidst difficulties.” We all need little bit of this kind of inspiration right now as we come out of lockdown and re-join the wider world.
We are busy putting the final touches to our new outdoor space as well as upcycling old pallets from coffee deliveries for outdoor furniture. We will be throwing open our doors and welcoming all comers from Monday to Saturday from the 26th of April onwards. Hope you can make it along.
