These blogs feature my writing and photographs from my experiences out in the Caledonian Forest and other natural ecosystems. Please subscribe to receive automatic notifications when new blog posts are added.
Alan’s blog
Alan’s blog
More from the Millionth Tree Lecture Tour
After the first week of the Millionth Tree Lecture Tour, I had a day off from public talks on Sunday 15th April. I stayed with some good friends and long-time Trees for Life supporters, Geoff and Lisa Sharp, at their farmhouse home in Somerset, which dates from the 14th century. It was a very nice place to rest and relax, being peaceful and secluded out in the country, with a view to the famous Tor at Glastonbury in the distance. [Read more…] about More from the Millionth Tree Lecture Tour
On the Millionth Tree Lecture Tour
On Sunday 8th April, I headed south from Findhorn for the English and Welsh legs of the Millionth Tree Lecture Tour that I’m doing as part of the build-up to the planting of our millionth tree at Dundreggan on 20th May. After an overnight stop at a vegan Bed & Breakfast near Kendal in the English Lake District, I continued down to Wales, where my first lecture was scheduled for lunchtime on Tuesday 10th April at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), near Machynlleth. [Read more…] about On the Millionth Tree Lecture Tour
Back in Strathfarrar again
Glen Strathfarrar is unusual amongst Scottish glens in that the road up into it is private, with a locked gate across it, which was closed for the winter, until March 31st. So, with Sunday being the 1st of April I decided to visit Strathfarrar again, for the first time since early November. [Read more…] about Back in Strathfarrar again
Spring gathers pace at Dundreggan
(Blog updated on 17th April 2012 to include details of the slime mould)
It had been two weeks since my last trip out to the Caledonian Forest, as I was busy last week-end, in between public talks on the Millionth Tree lecture tour that I’m doing throughout the UK in the second half of March and April. The weather had continued to be very mild and warm for the season, so a few days after the equinox I set out for Dundreggan, keen to see how spring was unfolding. [Read more…] about Spring gathers pace at Dundreggan
An early spring day in Glen Affric
After a busy week in the office, and two weeks since my last dedicated photography day out in the forest, I was looking forward to some quality time out in Nature. So on Saturday I headed to Glen Affric again, on an overcast but dry day, with the vague intention of continuing my exploration of the Abhainn Gleann nam Fiadh burn, which I’d visited a couple of times in the past few weeks. [Read more…] about An early spring day in Glen Affric
Two days with the Ecovillage Training group
I didn’t have a dedicated photography day out in the forest this past week, because I spent two days out with the Findhorn Foundation’s Ecovillage Training programme group, in Glen Affric and at Dundreggan, so this blog entry covers that trip. That programme has been running for 14 years now, and takes place for a month each year in February/March – I’ve done a session with them in each of those years. I’d given this year’s group of 25 people a talk and Powerpoint presentation about the forest and the work of Trees for Life on Wednesday evening at Findhorn. [Read more…] about Two days with the Ecovillage Training group
The first signs of spring
We’ve been having some unseasonably mild weather recently, and, at Findhorn where I live, snowdrops and crocuses have been in flower for a while and catkins have unfurled on hazel trees. I was going to Dundreggan for the day on Saturday, and I wondered if there would be any signs of spring there, as things are usually a week or more later in Glen Moriston, because of the colder climate in the mountains of the western Highlands. [Read more…] about The first signs of spring
Another day I didn’t make it to Dundreggan!
I was on my way to Dundreggan on Saturday, but as I’ve sometimes done before, I stopped beside the River Moriston, at a small patch of beautiful native woodland below the dam on the river, about a mile before reaching Dundreggan itself. This is a beautiful little area, and as has happened on previous occasions, I ended up spending the whole day there, so that I never made it to Dundreggan again.
[Read more…] about Another day I didn’t make it to Dundreggan!
Another gorge-ous day in Glen Affric
I had been planning on going to Glen Strathfarrar this week-end, but there’s a gate across the access road, and when I got there I found that it was still closed for the winter, so I was unable to get in. I decided to go on to Glen Affric instead, and this change of plans gave me an opportunity to return to the gorge on the Abhainn Gleann nam Fiadh burn, where I’d been two weeks ago. Then, I’d explored the lower section of the gorge, but I had run out of daylight when I’d reached a large cascading waterfall. Now, with a whole day ahead of me, I could pick up where I left off, revisiting the waterfall and then continuing to explore the gorge further upstream. [Read more…] about Another gorge-ous day in Glen Affric
A rainy winter’s day at Dundreggan
On my previous visit to Dundreggan there had been a lot of beautiful hoar frost on the vegetation. The last few days had been similarly very cold, with sub-zero temperatures, but it had got warmer over night, with quite a lot of rain falling, so I was expecting a wet day rather than a frosty one this time. Arriving in Glen Moriston, there was low mist drifting across the hillsides on the south of the valley, giving a very atmospheric appearance to the landscape. [Read more…] about A rainy winter’s day at Dundreggan