Posts for May, 2022

Do you want to… Get expert advice on how to make your home more energy efficient? Learn how your small business can improve its green credentials? Find out how to make your garden wildlife-friendly? See what local businesses are doing to combat climate change? Discover how to reduce your carbon footprint? Share your best green ideas? Or locate where to recycle more, and more efficiently? Then come along to the Greentown Show!

From 11am to 3pm on 3rd September head to the Grantown square for an informative and fun event for all the family. Visit the Sustainable Strathspey tent to find out more about us and the event.

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

The breeding season for birds is coming to an end, however there is still plenty of other life to be seen on the marshes and in the meadow. The heather should be in full flower and field gentian may be coming into bloom. Wild flowers like knapweed and scabious provide nectar for butterflies.

We will lookout for the nationally scarce scotch argus butterfly which breeds on the reserve and can be the most common butterfly to be seen in August. Dragonflies like black darter and the impressively large golden ringed may also be seen.

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 Summer brings to Insh Marshes.

The breeding season for birds is coming to an end, however there is still plenty of other life to be seen on the marshes and in the meadow.

Colourful wild flowers include sweetly scented orchids, which attract beautiful butterflies and dragonflies. We will lookout for the scarce scotch argus butterfly which feeds on flowers like sunshine-yellow rock rose.

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 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.

Join us at the award winning Lynbreck Croft with 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 croft grown 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.

Please read website Terms and Conditions before booking

Garden tools sharpening sessions and learning to use your sewing machine.
Email repaircafe@boathall.org.uk to book a place or for more information.

Experience the peaceful wonder of the Dawn Chorus

Join us bright and early for a gentle stroll in tranquil Loch Insh Woods, listening for birdsong and learning how to identify which species are serenading us, with an optional coffee/breakfast* afterwards at the Boathouse Restaurant (at Loch Insh Outdoor Centre) who have kindly offered 20% off our order to celebrate International Dawn Chorus Day.

We will meet in Loch Insh Outdoor Centre car park and walk through Loch Insh Woods on rough paths with exposed roots and some steps.

Children over 12 welcome, under 18s with an accompanying adult.

*Please note that the cost of breakfast is not included in the price of your ticket

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.

Imagine you are about to die.
You have one meal left.
What are you going to have?

It’s the question award-winning restaurant critic, MasterChef judge and writer Jay Rayner has been asked most often by audiences across the UK. It happened so often that he decided the time had come to investigate the concept of the last supper and why it intrigues us so. Is it because of the opportunity it presents us with to let your appetites run riot? Or is it because it’s
a greedy way in which to tell the story of your own life? And if so, what would a man like Jay Rayner, who for two decades has made a living eating out in restaurants, choose to put on the menu?

In this barnstorming new show, based on his new book, Rayner investigates our fascination with last suppers and tells the stories of the killer dishes that would end up on his table: how he was introduced to oysters by his late mother, how he almost burnt down a hotel because of his love for snails in bubbling garlic butter and of the many ways by which the mighty pig has
fed him over the years. Plus, he’ll get the audience to design their own last meal. My Last Supper follows the success of his sell out shows, My Dining Hell and The Ten Food Commandments, which have taken audiences by storm across the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the US.

My Last Supper with Jay Rayner. It’s a show to die for.