Posts for November, 2025

Something different for our November screening – we are bringing the theatre to the cinema, thanks to National Theatre Live “The Fifth Step”.

Olivier Award-winner Jack Lowden (Slow Horses, Dunkirk) is joined by Emmy and BAFTA-winner Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Responder) in the critically acclaimed and subversively funny new play by David Ireland.

After years in the 12-step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous, James becomes a sponsor to newcomer Luka. The pair bond over black coffee, trade stories and build a fragile friendship out of their shared experiences. But as Luka approaches step five – the moment of confession – dangerous truths emerge, threatening the trust on which both of their recoveries depend.

Finn den Hertog directs the provocative and entertaining production filmed live from Soho Place on London’s West End.

As usual, doors will be 6.30pm, with film on at 6.40pm.

Run by the community, for the community.

The New Groove Collective big band are thrilled to return to Strathspey this autumn. Expect a rich variety of instrumental pieces that showcase the band’s impressive musicianship, alongside songs that transport you straight back to the forties, brought to life by the captivating voice of Catriona Sutherland.

Join Cairngorms Connect and Fèis Spè for an evening of music and film, celebrating the involvement of young people in local music and landscapes.

The free event includes perfomances from young musicans and a screening of a new film Tha Sinn an Seo (We are Here).

Made throughout 2025 and featuring young people at work and play in landscapes of the Cairngorms, Tha Sinn an Seo (We are Here) is a poetic statement of presence, action and joy as young people participate in the habitat restoration work of Cairngorms Connect. Through a new Gaelic song score, created with Fèis Spè Gaelic singers, and playful and imaginative physical embodiment, the young people express notions of change and hope, investing and connecting themselves with other species and landscapes.


Light refreshments served on arrival and during the interval.

All ages welcome. Under 16s to be accompanied by an adult.

A walking workshop to collect the ‘living’ placenames of the high Cairngorms, as used by you – hill-goers, local residents, mountain enthusiasts – but which aren’t on any maps or recorded in any way. This workshop will be delivered by Sarah Hobbs. Please bring footwear and clothing suitable for a 1-2km walk.


This project will map, record and eventually share placenames used by many different folk who live or work in the hills, and the corresponding stories behind them. Aiming to highlight ongoing and varied human connections with mountain habitats in the Cairngorms, the project will create a snapshot of a point in time as the climate and land use changes.


Who it’s for: Anybody who lives, works or plays in the Cairngorm Mountains (the high hill ground), and who may have their ‘own’ names for places – from individual memories, to names made up by families or social groups.


What to expect: 2 hours max – a mix of outdoor walking (2km max, on accessible paths) and indoor mapping.


This workshop has been made possible with funding from the Cairngorms Trust and the Scottish Government in partnership with the Cairngorms National Park Authority and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.

A one-and-a-half-hour workshop where we will draw using our senses and work with tree-based inks.

Using ink made from trees and employing tree branches and leaves as found tools, this session is a drawing meditation, exploring ways to perceive trees beyond sight.

We will begin with observing the sounds of being amongst trees, the feel of bark under our hands, and the scent of early autumn leaves. Drawing will not be about creating a finished outcome but about observing and responding to qualities discovered through our senses.

“The body is not negligible,” Shepherd wrote, “but paramount. The hands have an infinity of pleasure in them. The feel of things, textures, surfaces, rough things like cones and bark, smooth things like stalks and feathers and pebbles rounded by water, the teasing of gossamers… the scratchiness of lichen, the warmth of the sun, the sting of hail, the blunt blow of tumbling water, the flow of wind—nothing that I can touch or that touches me but has its own identity for the hand as much as for the eye.”

Participants will leave with a deeper awareness of trees and their own sensory engagement in drawing, guided by the textures, smells, and sounds of the natural world.

This workshop has been made possible with funding from the Cairngorms Trust and the Scottish Government in partnership with the Cairngorms National Park Authority and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.

A walking workshop to collect the ‘living’ placenames of the high Cairngorms, as used by you – hill-goers, local residents, mountain enthusiasts – but which aren’t on any maps or recorded in any way. This workshop will be delivered by Sarah Hobbs. Please bring footwear and clothing suitable for a 1-2km walk.

This project will map, record and eventually share placenames used by many different folk who live or work in the hills, and the corresponding stories behind them. Aiming to highlight ongoing and varied human connections with mountain habitats in the Cairngorms, the project will create a snapshot of a point in time as the climate and land use changes.

Who it’s for: Anybody who lives, works or plays in the Cairngorm Mountains (the high hill ground), and who may have their ‘own’ names for places – from individual memories, to names made up by families or social groups.

This workshop has been made possible with funding from the Cairngorms Trust and support from the Cairngorms 2030 programme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund – thanks to National Lottery players.

Grantown and vicinity has a long tradition of brewers and distillers, licensed premises and off-licences. Join us on this virtual tour as we peer into dark corners and bright lounges and hear astonishing tales of some characters of long ago and more recent times. Researched and presented by Bill Sadler. (Drinks may be brought through from the bar!).

This workshop will be delivered by Clare-Louise Battersby and is designed for artists, makers, and creative practitioners who wish to explore how their practice can align more deeply with place, land, and non-extractive ways of working. Rooted in the principles of biophilic design and the Gaelic concept of Dùthchas, the session invites participants to reconnect with their creative practice through sensory exploration, storytelling, and material reflection.

Step back in time and uncover the mystery of the Picts with the Glenlivet & Inveravon Heritage and Dark Sky Ranger. This engaging talk and tour will introduce you to the Pictish people, their unique art, and the symbol stones that continue to inspire centuries after they were carved.

Set within the ancient and atmospheric site of Inveravon Church—an important place of worship and pilgrimage for generations—we’ll closely examine the intricate carvings on the four remarkable Pictish stones discovered here. You’ll learn how these enigmatic symbols fit into a wider cultural story and how the Picts helped lay the foundations of modern Scotland.

This autumn, journey back through thousands of years of history at Inveravon Church, set along the beautiful River Spey. This exhibition, generously loaned from Grantown Museum, traces the story of the very first people who encountered this landscape as the Ice Age ended, through to the arrival of Picts and early Christians.

Explore how early hunter-gatherer societies lived, and learn about local hillforts and sacred sites, and how the enigmatic Pictish symbol stones connect us to this past. The Inveravon Pictish symbol stones are also on display, with interpretation that helps us understand their meaning and significance.

Whether you are fascinated by archaeology, heritage, or simply curious about the lives of those who walked this land before us, this exhibition offers a unique opportunity to uncover the layers of history woven into the Spey valley.

This exhibition was made possible with funding from Museums Galleries Scotland.