Stories in the Land: Pony Adventures in the Highlands

Shela Ryan’s enthusiasm for horses is incredible – she has five! - that’s probably why the DofE Co-ordinator at Caol Youth Centre in Fort William has taken up the reins on a DofE project with both hands.

Shela is helping Bronze and Silver DofE groups to take part in an expedition on horseback, but the excitement doesn’t stop there. She’s working with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society as part of the Stories in the Land Project. The aim of the project is to get local people collecting, telling and creating stories inspired by the epic journeys of the Scottish drovers. Shela realised that this could be a creative expedition aim for her group and so the groups have jumped in to take on the challenge of a pony expedition that followed in the tracks of the Highland Drovers.

The group are doing their expedition with the help of Abernethy Ardgour - Shela said, “we took these horses completely out of their comfort zone but with the expert help from the 'technical advisor' Claire Cameron of Ardgour Riding Centre, we have spent many months getting them ready for the expeditions.” It seems like it’s not just a learning experience for the participants – the horses are learning from this partnership as well!

As part of the Stories in the Land project, the Caol Groups will be hosting a Meet the Drovers Event on 1st August - come down and see them, or check out their blog to follow their progress and get more information about events.

Shela’s happy to provide other groups with more information about doing pony expeditions. Just give her a call at 01397 700 113, or email her at Shela.Ryan@highlifehighland.com

Stories in the Land: The Bedrock Walk

Setting off today, a small group of people are planning to walk together from Dalwhinnie to Glen Nevis; taking part in a mobile conference, an on-going conversation, a collaborative venture, a sharing of skills and points of view. 

This journey is called "The Bedrock Walk: a journey through geological time" and is part of the RSGS's Stories in the Land project.

The diverse group on the Bedrock Walk will include geologists, geographers, educators, writers, musicians and artists.  They will be following the Thieves' Road, which was used at a drove road and smugglers' path for centuries.

Using as its foundational idea the rock that underpins their journey, the multi-disciplinary group will share, learn, collect and create along the way. 

It’s impossible to predict outcomes, as in any walking journey, but they hope to generate new stories and explore some of the following questions (and more): 

• What stories, history, music, sound are ‘held’ or inspired by the rocks and stones and land.
• How was the landscape made and how does the geology determine what flourishes?
• Why it became an important route.
• The part played by human culture in the past and currently.
•  What does time mean in such a context, and what future might we imagine for the places we move through?
• How does the physicality and rhythm of walking for several days help us to access any of this?

Find out more about the Bedrock Walk, and the Stories in the Land project at www.storiesintheland.blogspot.co.uk