Fife Coast & Countryside Trust’s Gaelic and Wildlife Walks in Pittencrieff Park 26/08/2021

If you travel around Scotland you will sooner or later encounter either “unusual & unpronunicible” place names or outright sign posts in Gaelic. In Gaelic there is no word for landscape as Gaelic belief stipulates a certain “oneness” and the language describes places in great detail.

On Monday, 26 th of July 2021, Kirsty Strachan and Alexandra Hoadley from Fife Coast & Countryside Trust teamed up to offer a Gaelic and Wildlife Walk in Pittencrieff Park.

As a tourguide I am always on the look out for new stories and aspects of Scottish life or Scotland in general which I in turn can share with you my customers.

I attended alongside a lovely bunch of other people who came from as far as Edinburgh for the day.

Pittencrieff Park as we learnt on first instance mean the place (pit na/pitten) of the trees (crieff). The park itself in the days of a young Andrew Carnegie belonged to the owners of the manson house, who kept it locked. Once Carnegie made his fortune in America one of his first good deeds was to buy the park in 1903 and open it to the public. Over a hundred years later we can still enjoy it just like he had intended.

The walk lasted for two hours and took us leisurely around the park, stopping at trees and plants to learn about their benefits to nature, wildlife and humans and to hear the Gaelic related stories and/or traditions.

An old Hawthorn tree let to the story how they are usually planted in twilight places were human and fairies (sìthiche) could meet and interchange. Kirsty also pointed out that there is another one at Dumfernline Abbey which was said to be planted for William Wallace ‘s mother who passed away in Dumfernline. The ageing of that particular tree indicates that this is at least a possibility.

We came across this lovely little wild orchid.

We learned a lot about the various trees, the Gaelic tree alphabet, Gaelic stories and the park itself thanks to Alexandra’s and Kirsty’s fabulous story-telling skills.

We enjoyed the a the gorgeous park and a fabulous summer day and even came across the proper Scots Pine (check for double leaves) and the “wrong” national flower the thistle.

If you liked what you have read check out the

Fife Coast and Countryside Trust website

As most people in Scotland I am absolutely in love with this country, her beauty spots, landscapes and wildlife – as well as her people of course! Therefore, if possible, I would like to go about my business in the least damaging way.

I have done little things like adapting my driving style to make it more efficient, service my vehicle very regularily to ensure low fuel consumption and little things like offering reusuable glass bottles for the water I offer to my clients.

With an average over 50.000 miles a year the biggest impact I could opt for is to invest in an electric car, but I need the range….

I have previously written about trying a Tesla Model S and I literally was so very impressed with that car: fun to drive, designed as an electric car, amazing features and big advantages over the old combustion engine car (no vibration, no road tax, no real servicing, brakes last longer and most of all a decent reach!!!)

To provide bespoke tours all over Scotland I currently drive an 8 seater Mercedes Viano and on further investigation there is no support for purchasing a seven seater Tesla Model X.

For the Mercedes eVito there will be some help and help I need to make this project become reality, especially due to loss of business during the ongoing Coivd-19 pandemic.

So the end of August I booked an eVito for trial.

Watch this space!

The ones of you who know me are aware that I have been a life-long horse-mad-girl. In my earlier years I worked in the industry and I still ride as much as I possibly can.

It is, however, a rather rare occassion these days that I go on horse adventures which do not feature my own ponies.

I fairly frequently come through Glendevon and years ago I noticed ponies in the valley and was wondering how the fared through the rather harsh winters.

The answer is: these ponies don’t as they spent their winters in the Lothians instead.

The ponies in question are Exmoors owned collectively by a syndicate of veterinary students since 1962(!!!). The main aim of the syndicate is to ensure the future of the breed and in doing so you can book a trek or even adopt a pony.

From June to August the trekking takes place in the wonderful Ochil Hills and between September and May in the Pentlands. Treks range from 1-1 1/2 hrs to 2-3 hrs and if you have very little people with you pony rides are offered too.

During the summer the veterinary students camp with the ponies and as you can imagine the pony herd receives the very best treatment. It is a fantastic way for the students to learn, observe and enjoy the ponies.

For paying guests- like myself- it is simply a wonderful experience of riding a rather nice pony (mine was the beautiful Honey) within a stunning landscapes accompanied by knowledgable veterinary students who love ponies, riding and landscapes just as much as you do.

We went as a group of three and had the best time.

I can offer this as part of my bespoke tours, or our taxi service can drop you off and pick you up again or you can take you very own transport there.

Contact

Book your Exmoor Pony Trekking

Whatever you do I guarantee you will thoroughly enjoy this experience.

On a mission to investigate the isle of Arran in more detail for future tour options I was lucky enough to be assisted by Chester (photo above) and his his lovely owner, whisky lover and walking whisky encyclopedia, James Gillies (photo below).

For the proposed itineray CLICK HERE

We actually took two days to enjoy the island to the fullest:

On Saturday we focussed solely on whisky and left Chester on the mainland while on the next day our focus was pretty much on making the little fourlegged boy enjoy himself.

Whisky

We started in the new Lagg Whisky distillery on the very south end of the island. We had the lovely Fiona guiding us throughout the impressive building and operation. Part of the tour included a little video on the history of Arran which was displayed on the floor. The views from the distillery were amazing. Fairly quickly we were presented with the new spirit which was surprinsingly nice.

We were allowed to investigate the entire distilling process (malting excluded).

After the tour we visited the shop, bottled our own whisky and rushed off to go on a limited editions tasting at Lochranza Whisky Distillery.

We were meet by our tour guide Douglas who led us into an amazingly cosy room to start explaining the process of distilling which I really enjoyed. Apart from Douglas being a fantastic story teller the room very much invited to linger a little longer:

Once the virtual tour including a little video was completed we entered the draming room for the real business. We got to try three private casks which were all very tasty and two more special drams Drumadroon Point and a white stag.

The next task was to find some lovely walks for Chester and some good food & more non-alcoholic drink for ourselves.

We walked Fisherman’s walk and near Corrie. The weather was so inviting that I managed to go for a swim in the Firth of Clyde.

At the end of Fisherman’s walk you are rewarded with a lovely beach shack (Arran Botanical Spirits) where you can settle down in the shadow and cool down a little. Chester made good use of this.

Little Chester was very happy dipping in and out of the water (sea water and rivers) and he was welcome to join at the beach shack and later on at the Shore. They not only had water bowls but also three dog biscuits for Chester. I am sure Chester will insist to do a return visit there.

Chester had a good time all round and so did we . I cannot wait to return in fact.

If you are interested in visiting Arran or anywhere else in Scotland do get in touch:

Contact

Like many people I started to learn a wee bit of Gaelic via Duolingo. It is convinient but certainly not easy. I struggle with English pronunciation as a non-native speaker and Gaelic certainly adds a challenge.

However if you travel around Scotland you cannot help but notice bi-lingual road signs or even the writing on police cars.

If you then get engaged in Scottish landscapes and place names you simply cannot escape Gaelic. Whether it is Inverness which is Inbhir Nis and means the mouth of the river Ness or places like Abercrombie -> the place where two rivers meet or the fact that in Ben Nevis Ben or Beinn in Gaelic means mountain.

I doubted whether I will ever be a fluent Gaelic speaker till I discovered this:

My dad was a pharmacist and because he really wanted me to step into his footsteps I was made to learn Latin at school. I had little enthusiasm to learn a dead language up until my dad turned up with Asterix in Latin. This in turn enabled my to read Cicero in the original Latin. It did not, however, turn me into a pharmacist.

You can buy your very own copy of Asterix at the Scottish Bookstore. You will be happy to hear they also do Scots. Happy reading!!!

With restrictions on international travel you may have considered Scotland as your destination for the compulsory 2021 staycation.

Scotland has many attractions from history over castles to whisky, remoteness, amazing beaches and gorgeous nature.

However Scotland’s roads especially up north are not exactly comfortable motorways.

So, if you fancy to explore the North Coast 500 but the thought of driving is daunting you opt opt to hire my services. I offer daily rates from £375 which includes driver fully insured & licensed vehicle for up to seven passengers, complimentary water bottles, fruit basket and if wished a wee whisky tasting.

If you would like to sample Scotland’s whisky, gin, beer or even wine having a driver could also be just the thing you need.

If you look for more nature and less driving you can combine your touring with walking, hiking, sea kayaking, yoga, forest bathing or even gliding.

I have lived 18 years in Scotland and though I by no means know it all I happily investigate and research to make your dream holiday come true.

The sun always shines in Scotland but if it doesn’t there are many other things to see and do….

Do get in touch 07446112672

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There is a quote I find very truthful:

“If you are depressed you are living in the past. 
If you are anxious you are living in the future. 
If you are at peace you are living in the present.”

― Lao Tzu

If you do something you truly enjoy or are very passionate about, like travelling, you will always find yourself in the present- just enjoying yourself -really.

So every one of us is fully capable of practising mindfulness. However, in our daily life we often try to juggle too many things at once and we start to worry and feeling anxious whether or not we will succeed.

If you are capable in such moments to re-deploy your natural mindfulness it will help you not only to succeed in your tasks but maintaining a degree of happines while performing them, because the tasks are not you.

If this sounds too good to be true you will be happy to hear that mindfulness like fitness exercises can be practiced.

I am currently enrolled in the amazing course” Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance” by Monash University in Brisbane and one of the lecturers, Richard Chambers, produced this fabulous video:

For me this video explains crystal clear what mindfulness is and why it matters.

My personal way into mindfulness was actually let by bodily exercise, namely yoga, and preferrably power, sculpt, intense flows and above all Barre (which is maybe not even “real” yoga). I am someone who struggles to sit still so accessing mindfulness through meditation would have only caused legs that had fallen asleep and a fidgety me.

Another door into mindfulness is being in nature, which had been inprinted in me thanks to my parents.

Finally, as stated above you will find anything you are passionate about will make you be fully present in the moment. For me this has always been horse riding, once mounted I forget the world around me and it is just me and my friend, the horse.

This website is foremost promoting the fact that I offer sightseeing tours all over Scotland but even before the current pandemic a number of people travelled by the way of “tick-the-box”. You go somewhere your digital friends have been, get out of your mode of transport and take a selfie. Don’t get me wrong I do this myself and my partner can probably barely face up to the next selfie with us kissing each other.

All I am trying to point out in this post is that travelling should be so much more: Engaging with the landscapes and people surrounding you, enjoying time to simply be, perhaps trying some forest bathing, wild swimming, walking, kayaking, hiking or even some yoga in nature.

If you are intrigued I can pretty much include any or all of this into my bespoke tours.

Do get in touch:

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When visiting Scotland you may have noticed the different dialects in different regions and perhaps -like myself- struggled to understand one or the other.

If you travel north-west you will probably have noticed bi-lingual sign-posts. Those are providing English and Gaelic place names.

I am based in St Andrews and the Gaelic name for it is Cill Rìmhinn. If you struggle to pronounce this, so do I. “The town was first called Muckross (boar-wood), then Kilrymont (church on the royal mount), then Kilrule (church of St Regulus) and finally St Andrews after the church of St Andrews” (Quote from Fife Coucil Gaelic language page)

If you try pronouncing Kilrymont Cill Rìmhinn does not seem so far away.

Staying local; Aberdour is Obar Dobhair and means mouth of the river.

If you are looking into something more practical you could try some of these phrases

English	Gaelic	Suggested Phonetics*
Good Morning	Madainn Mhath	matting vah
Good Afternoon	Feasgar Math	feskar mah
Good Night	Oidhche mhaht	EYE-che vah
How are you?	Ciamar a tha thu?	Kimura ha-u
I’m fine	Tha gu math	ha g’mah
I’m tired	Tha mi sgith	HAMee SKEEEE
Don’t worry	Na gabh dragh	na gav drugh
Thank you	Mòran taing	MAWran TANK

I am a whisky lover and if you compare the word whisky with uisge you are close though the water of life is properly called uisge beatha.

If you wish to learn more Gaelic or Gaidhlig you could try duolingo, try the official website Learn Gaelic or just find out about your local place names “Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba“

You can also watch television in Gaelic on BBC Alba or listen to the radio.

There is also a 5 year Gaelic Plan

In my previous post we had stayed two nights in the Glenuig Inn (Arisaig) which we were very sad to leave but we had scheduled another night on the Drimin Estate on the Movern penisula to do our first tour of the new whisky distillery Nc’Nean. The 7000 Hectar Drimin Estate was bought over by Derek & Louise Lewis in 2003 with the aim to serve the community. Their daughter Annabel Thomas is the CEO of the rather unusual and very green Nc’Nean distillery, which gets its name from the Gaelic Neachneohain, the Queen of Spirits and a fierce protector of nature.

Like Glenuig Inn Nc’Nean aims to indeed protect nature by using organic barley, being powwered by renewable enery and recycling 99.97% of their waste.

Personally I have to admit that my way to Nc’Nean was purely based on the exquisite inaugural release which I bought after I had already experienced their aged botanical spirits which I also highly recommend.

However, before all this we had an amazing drive to Morven. We had planned to walk in the Ariundle Oak Forest, but as we were on holidays we got distracted stopped too many times and ended up walking elswhere so by the time we arrived in Strontian we felt the need for a cup of coffee and a scone which we had at the Ariundle Centre which again is a fantastically freindly place with amazing produce.

From there we had an amazing drive over to Morven.

As always there is too much to see on the way so we only just made it for our 2 pm distillery tour to Nc’Nean. Even the drive up to there is an adventure as the road is tiny and steep but very well maintained and so beautiful.

Amy welcomed us and provided a very insightful tour. We tasted a surprisingly delightful new make spirit, the botanical spirit and the 6th batch of whisky which was even better than the already amazing inaugural release. I had to buy it it was that good. We also learned a lot about the process and the engagement with the local community. Besides all this the distillery is located heavenly. The paintings on display took our interest and as per usual were locally produced by Alan B Hayman, who lives on the estate. To sober up we took a walk to the Hayman Gallery. We realised that we had seen his wonderful artwork when he was still located in Glen Lyon, Perthshire. We were warmly welcomed by the artist’s wife and actually meet the artist himself and disturbed him in his work briefly.

We eventually made it to our B&B, Achnacriche Bed and Breakfast and we made very welcome by our host, Janine. She made some amazing suggestions to what to do on the estate, thanks to her we took a sunset walk to the chapel and she is a fantastic cook!

Before dinner we had some time to spare and as it was a gorgeous day went went for a swim.

Sadly the following day we had to return home but I will leave you with some impressions from our evening walk and return journey to Fife:

I offer a nature & whisky tour in the West Highlands. The recommended hotel in Arisaig is the Glenuig Inn, which has recently changed ownership.

I am a great believer in recommending accommodations, restaurants, whiskies, attractions I have actually experienced. Therefore me and my partner (in love and all things fun) booked ourselves for two nights into the Glenuig Inn and added a day of sea kayaking.

After a drive in the rain and being late for our booked dinner we were welcomed by Rona who immediately provided us with the option to settle in first and than return for dinner. We were quite happy to begin with dinner nonetheless and what amazing food this was. It is a small menu but the contents are of such high quality and well prepared that I would not mind eating the same dish more than once.

There were a number of other guests and the atmosphere was lovely and we really enjoyed the Glen Spean beers too.

The Inn welcomes walkers, hikers, families, motorbikers and dogs and the rooms are family friendly, nicely decorated and super clean. The emphasize to use local products even made it into soap and hand sanitizers.

After dinner we went for a walk and due to the beautiful surroundings hardly noticed it was raining.

The following day started with fresh fruit yoghurt followed by an amazing cooked breakfast, again using local produce from Ardshealach Smokehouse and eggs from the resident chickens.

It was a dark morning and windy and we were not really convinced that sea kayaking would prove to be much fun, but we were so wrong. We were picked up by Arisaig Sea Kayaking/Rock Hoppers and Ben & Cal took us to Loch Moidart which was very sheltered and once on the water the day turned into a perfect adventure which we both whole-heartedly recommend.

When we approached the shore at 3 pm it began to rain but had stopped by the time we reached Glenuig Inn. We went walking before dinner to the left of the Inn and after another delicious meal right of the Inn past a camping spot we had used years ago. Up a hill we found the perfect sunset spot.

If you love nature you will definitely find it in Arisaig.