Posts for March, 2023

Join us for a day full of learning and experience. We’ll give you the downlow on key things we have learned about:

how to set up and run a productive kitchen garden
keeping hens
working with pigs
regenerative grazing
introduction to beekeeping
planting trees, including fruit trees

There is a HUGE amount of material to cover so this will be intense and fast paced. The day starts at 9am and finishes at 5pm with a BBQ lunch in between. If there is enough interest, we may look to run a second course so if booking is not available, please get in touch with us directly via our website contact form.

Booking Essential

Join us for a fully packed morning in our super abundant kitchen garden, where we will share our experiences in our journey to become self-sufficient, covering:

how to set up a kitchen garden and soft fruit garden
the role of wildflowers and medicinal herbs
growing in a polytunnel
making your own compost
simple water systems

We’ll stop part way through the morning for a cuppa and a slice of cake but otherwise, it will be all about the learning as we download our experiences to you.

Booking essential via website

Join us and foraging expert Clare Holohan from West Highland Herbal and co-author of Scotland’s Wild Medicine for a day learning about wild plants.

You will learn how to identify and use local plants for all round health, which will include a walk around the grounds of the croft in the morning with some foraging and discussion on food and medicinal uses of the plants we find.

You’ll then gather for a feast lunch, which will include some locally sourced produce, supplemented with anything edible we find in the morning.

In the afternoon, you’ll head back out with Clare to do some more practical learning, either making remedies or foods with whatever we have found. Throughout the day, we will talk a little about how we work with nature and our team of animals to build biodiversity across Lynbreck, a place that can provide for all of us.

Come for a Wildlife Wander with someone from our knowledgeable team to see some of the amazing wildlife that Summer brings to Insh Marshes.

On this leisurely walk, the breeding season is well underway so young birds and other creatures like roe deer will be keeping their parents busy. Lapwing chicks will be feeding, running and hiding while relying on their camouflage and their parents to defend them. The marshes and trail are full of life and colourful scented flowers including orchids

Some areas may be rough underfoot. It is unfortunately not suitable for wheelchairs or buggies, and we recommend sturdy footwear.

Come for a Wildlife Wander with someone from our knowledgeable team to see some of the amazing wildlife that Spring brings to Insh Marshes.

On this leisurely walk see the lush green aspen leaves trembling and a variety of bird species, including curlew (which we may hear calling), lapwing and snipe (which could be displaying) and song birds singing through the trees. During sunny intervals early butterflies like orange tip and small tortoiseshell will be flying.

Some areas may be rough underfoot. It is unfortunately not suitable for wheelchairs or buggies, and we recommend sturdy footwear.

Returning for 2023 is our popular Bivvy Trek. We will once again be returning to Ben Macdui in what will be a unique experience on the UK’s second highest mountain.

This trek will start at 6pm (1800hrs) from the Cairngorm Mountain upper car park. This is slightly later than our usual treks with the idea we will reach the summit of Ben Macdui just before midnight, able to enjoy the late light of midsummer from the comfort of our bivvy bags. The following day we will have a relaxed morning with a cooked breakfast, with a return journey via Loch Avon and a second Munro summit of Cairn Gorm.

A bivy adventure for us is all about feeling connected to the environment you wish to be in. Tents are great and offer a lot of comfort but once you close the doors you miss that immersive experience with what’s going on outside. Bivvying also avoids many of the issues surrounding pitching a tent, for example unsuitable ground or finding a large enough area to accommodate a group. You literally find the perfect spot, lay yourself down, watch the sunset or simply open your eyes throughout the night to gaze up at the sky.

Provided on this trek is a lightweight Bivvy (348 grams), cooking equipment, an evening camp meal and hot drinks. Our guide will also provide and carry all safety gear including a large tarp for the group to sleep under if the weather is wet. All other equipment is to be provided by the client with a recommended equipment list to be given at time of booking. This is a great introduction to minimalist wild-camping with help and advice to be provided throughout from the time of booking to the trek itself.

A great trek if you’re new to multi-day trekking but want to experience the remoteness the Scottish Highlands can offer.

The Ben Avon plateau is distinguished by its sizeable granite tors. We will also experience the Sneck above the Garbh Choire and Mitre Ridge, famed for its remote rock climbing and golden eagles.

Beinn a’ Bhuird at 1197 metres will be our highest point over the two days.

Munros:
Leabaidh an Daimh Bhuide (Ben Avon)
Beinn a’ Bhuird

All wild-camping equipment and food included in the price.

A relatively leisurely two-day trek taking in the White Mounth of Lochnagar Munros and experiencing varying landscapes and environments, with a high wild-camp to hopefully enjoy sunset and sunrise from a mountain vantage.

Starting at the Spital of Glen Muick Car Park, south of Ballater, for the beginning of our trek on the Balmoral Estate along the west bank of the impressive Loch Muick to Glas Allt Shiel built by Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert.

From the lodge we will tackle the major, but steady, climb of the day towards Cac Carn Beag, the summit of Lochnagar. On route we will pass the Glas Allt Shiel Falls, a place often visited by Queen Victoria, and skirt above the cliffs dropping into the vast bowl of Loch Nagar.

From here on the walking is generally leisurely often on good paths, or short vegetation which is easy underfoot. This circular route takes us to the summits of Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach and then Carn an t-Saigart Mor, the site of one of the most extensive aircraft wrecks in Scotland.

The final two Munros of Cairn Bannoch and Broad Cairn are easily summited although the later has some boulder fields to negotiate before reaching the main descent path and our return down to the head of Loch Muick.

All wild-camping equipment and food is included in the price.

Discover a wide range of cycling options at this festival that celebrates the first UCI World Cycling Championships in Scotland, and invites everyone to try many different ways of using cycling as possible.

Partnering with local bike shops, mountain bike leaders, accessibility champions, and nearby villages, the festival is based in Aviemore and showcases the location and sport to a new and diverse audience: e-bikes, cargo bikes, balance bikes, mountain bikes, road bikes… did we say, just, bikes?!

The festival is free, inviting and engaging to all, with particular focus on getting people riding for the first time.

Ride-ins from nearby villages, led by professional bike leaders, will be available to book online.

Join us at the Strathspey Railway over the Easter Weekend for an intensive timetable of Steam and Diesel operated trains. Whether it’s this sounds and smells of a steam locomotive or the rumbling roar of diesel, we’re sure to have something for everyone.

Saturday the 7th of April also sees the official launch of the “Beavertail” observation coach, returning to the highlands in 2023 and providing an unparalleled opportunity to see the very best of the scenery in the Cairngorm National Park.

Light Lunch is available on our 1pm departure and Afternoon Tea on the 3pm departure from Aviemore. Rover tickets are available to allow you to hop on and off as many trains as you wish, and trains run all day and into the evening, giving a unique opportunity to see the railway running in darkness. Mixed in with the passenger services are several “demonstration” services using some of our many freight and engineering wagons.