Badenoch, Cairngorms: In the late summer, the bracken is still a weave of green and gold, while the heather is burnished bronze. Read my latest …
Category: Landscape and Nature
Posted on 10th April, 2023
On Nature Writing for The Creative Penn Podcast
I first met Joanna Penn ten years ago at a course in Inverness set up by Peter Urpeth of what was HiArts and then …
Posted on 23rd March, 2023
Snow Walk in the Cairngorms
The view to the Cairngorms across Loch Morlich My March article for the Guardian Country Diary charts a snowy walk up a northern spur of …
Posted on 12th March, 2023
The Courage to Follow Nan Shepherd
“I set out on my journey in pure love.” So said Aberdeenshire author, Nan Shepherd, in The Living Mountain, her now-celebrated account of exploring the …
Posted on 8th March, 2023
Nan Shepherd’s Legacy for Women
Jean Roger (L) with Nan Shepherd (R) on a hillwalk in 1944. Photo: JG Roger International Women’s Day is a good opportunity to remember Nan …
Posted on 7th January, 2023
New Year’s Day Walk up Creag Dhubh
My New Year piece for the Guardian Country Diary captured a winter walk up Creag Dhubh – The Black Crag – above Newtonmore. You can …
Posted on 29th March, 2022
Naming The Equinox Moon
That Saturday was a night of strange conjuctions in the celestial realm. The Friday before had been the full moon and the Sunday to follow …
Posted on 21st February, 2022
Ice and Running Water
When the author Nan Shepherd was walking the Cairngorms in the 1940s, she once dedicated an entire day to studying the ice patterns in the …
Posted on 24th January, 2022
Winter Solstice Canoe
It was just before the winter solstice. The day had flung its arms wide for the short hours of light, throwing glitter on every frosted …