in 2011, which led to the establishment of the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Development Trust in 2012. The group has taken several steps to "develop, inspire and embrace a vibrant future for the Tomintoul and Glenlivet area", seeking investment and promoting the area's visitor attractions. The regeneration effort obtained funding of approximately £3.5 million to be used for projects that would benefit the "cultural and natural landscape" of the area. As of 2019, the village offers many small accommodation facilities (The Smugglers hostel, B&Bs and holiday cottages) as well as three larger hotels (Hotel Square, The Glenavon and the Richmond Arms). Hotel Square has a "highly recommended" restaurant using local seasonal produce. The regional whisky offerings and craft beer can be sampled in the Hotel's pub. The village also made the Glenlivet Walking Festival an annual event as suggested by the 2012 Regeneration Strategy and Action Plan. In addition to tourism and the nearby whisky industry, sheep and beef cattle are raised on farms around the village. Notable People The artist and writer Mary Barnes died there in 2001 after living there for some time. The immunologist Prof Kenneth Boyd Fraser FRSE retired to Tomintoul and died there. Lynn Cassells and Sandra Baer farm the nearby Lynbreck Croft. The author Captain W. E. Johns lived in the Richmond Hotel at Tomintoul from 1944 to 1947, before renting Pitchroy Lodge on the nearby Ballindalloch Estate from 1947 to 1953. Percy Toplis - The "Monocled Mutineer" Percy Toplis took refuge in the area in 1920 before being discovered by a local farmer. He made his escape, shooting and wounding the farmer and a police constable while doing so. Within a week, he was shot dead by police in England. Lord Tony Williams In the 1990s an individual, styled by the media as Lord Tony Williams, spent £1 million on improving the Gordon Arms Hotel (now Hotel Square) and invested money in other businesses. He was later shown to be a fraud who had stolen £4.5 million from his former employer, the Metropolitan Police and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Grigor Willox Grigor Willox was a reputed white witch who lived in Tomintoul in the 18th century. He was said to derive his powers from two amulets: a brass hook from a kelpie's bridle and a mermaid's crystal. Among his alleged powers were making cows produce milk, curing barren women, and detecting