Serenity Scotland

29/07/2024

Early July in Glen Etive:

‘Meanwhile in Alba, the seasons turned blissfully for Deirdre and Naoise. The woman, always the one for the wild places, made a fine home from each of the forests or lochsides on which they camped, and the brothers hunted the rich hills and glens of Argyll. It was the sweet summer of their love; nature was kind to them, and they lived and they laughed in the lap of her bounty.’

(an excerpt from Fiona Davidson’s version of ‘Deirdre of the Sorrows’ as told on ‘The Language of Birds’ (1998), drawn by Fiona from the Ulster Cycle, and also the inspiration for other storytellers and playwrights, including WB Yeats: Deirdre (1907)).

For me, it was the perfect storytelling to accompany the walk, the swim, and the research for guiding on a photography trip—a glorious glen, but always, like the story of Deirdre, a palpable sorrow is not far away.

24/11/2023

The fabulous V&A in Dundee…
Iconic building & historic city!

We look forward to the next international exhibition in January ~ Kimono: Kyoto to catwalk. Why not explore some of our distinctive art & Dundee on your next tour?

We thoroughly enjoyed the last exhibition ‘Tartan’, Joanne particularly spent time enjoying the templates, drawings & patterns which have been preserved. Iain appreciated the evidence of tartan portrayed in 17th - 18th century paintings, that became one of the signifiers of the cultural identity of the Gaelic population and the Highlands.

🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING: The next exhibitions at V&A Dundee have been revealed which includes new free exhibitions

MAIN EXHIBITION SPACE:

🇯🇵 Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk (4 May 2024 - 7 January 2025) will be the flagship exhibition which will present the kimono as a "dynamic and constantly evolving icon of fashion"

FREE EXHIBITIONS:

🎶 The Big Weekend Experience (opens 1 December 2023)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Dundee Tapestry (opens 20 January 2024)

🖼 Photo City: How Images Shape the Urban World (opens 29 March 2024)

10/11/2023

Exploring bridges beneath oak and hazel...who dwells here...

10/11/2023

Walk with me……

30/05/2023

Turf, wattle, daub and heather; a Glen Coe home in perfect weather.

22/05/2023

Ane wounderful crag, risand within the sea, with so narrow and strait hals that na schip nor boit bot allanerlie at ane part of it. This crag is callet the Bas; unwinnabil by ingine of man. In it are coves, als profitable for defence of men as [if] thay were biggit be crafty industry. Every thing that is in that crag is ful of admiration and wounder.

Hector Boece 1465-1536

15/05/2023

There are many ways to travel through the Kingdom of Fife; some have arbours and arches...




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24/03/2023

When the first days of Spring coincide with Spring tides (and sun) in the East Neuk of Fife, the painted houses and pantiles gleam...

24/02/2023

Mackerel in the sea, mackerel in the sky - Crail, Fife, Scotland. On the way for a February swim, the water is beginning to get warmer, spring tides; the nights are drawing out.

13/06/2022

From Mingary Castle to Luskentrye, to the temple at Taobh Tuath; a tour of Ardnamurchan, Skye and Harris in June. Where now?

02/05/2022

On tour today with a walk at Glenashdale to the Eas a’ Chrannaig waterfalls.

Here are some fabulous walks in Scotland for you to savour courtesy of walkhighlands, a very useful resource:

https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/our-picks-scotlands-most-remarkable-paths/

The Silver Walk, Moidart Undoubtedly one of the truly special paths of the Highlands, this fascinating route cut out of the rock through picturesque scenery. The eastern end of the Silver Walk near Kinlochmoidart is currently diverted, but this isn't the finest part in any case. The best outing is a...

25/12/2021

Joanne and Iain and all associated with Serenity Scotland wish you and yours a happy festive time wherever you are in the world, and a safe, healthy and happy 2022.

Photo courtesy of one of the Crail swimming group, taken early this Christmas morning, with Iain, on the way into the wild, windy, wonderful, winter waves.

Time for renewal - many adventures ahead!

29/11/2021

Winter walking the Waterless Road yesterday. Between Catto Hill and Ceres, an ancient route to St Andrews on the Fife Pilgrim Way with the land composed of patterned compartments, contrasting textures, tones, brush strokes; impressing sight and imagination..

01/11/2021

An added treat of early morning swimming in the East Neuk of Fife is the ever lyrical light and sea. Samhain - Happy Celtic New Year.

22/10/2021

October sunrise over the Isle of May (the afterglow of an early morning swim in the North Sea)

18/09/2021

Collieston Village in Aberdeenshire - this rocky coastline with its hidden inlets was a haven for smugglers in the eighteenth century when local fishermen and farmers worked together to smuggle goods from the continent to avoid paying taxes to the House of Hanover.

21/08/2021

Limousin cows grazing at Tentsmuir help protect the dunes. On the Fife Coastal Path walking tour.

15/08/2021

Magical morning at Wormistoune House and Gardens - the herbaceous borders, the prodigious potager garden, the wildflower meadows and the folkloric shade garden. A restorative experience.

31/07/2021

Since June of this year the numbers have soared for the uptake of our monthly newsletter subscription. Offering latest news, cultural and historical insights, and updates from Serenity Scotland, If you would like to be on our mailing list please dm me. We have also had enquiries for people looking to forward details of our tours to a friend. Please feel free to recommend friends:- they can like Serenity Scotland page, message me direct, or dm me their details to add to our mailing list.

Best wishes for the rest of the summer, Iain :-)



Photo by Eilis Garvey on Unsplash

08/06/2021

Mineral rich, the sandstone of the Caves of Caiplie exhibits its tilted secondary colour palette. A long time tale of the sea, the earth from deep, and the wind above. A decoration for a hermit monk from nature's bounty...

https://www.serenityscotland.co.uk/walking-tour.html

07/05/2021

Puffins and rabbits both burrow... Limited people, unlimited birds. Treading lightly. Springtime on the Isle of May.

01/05/2021

Serenity Scotland shares with you the knowledge that on our doorstep we can find world-class produce, and food and drink experiences. An example of this is a very fine food festival in the East Neuk of Fife, the Crail Food Festival. As you support the local community and environment, you can roam 12th century streets sampling savoury delights and sweet things, sip local beers and whiskies, delighting the taste buds with fresh lobster and crab landed by the harbour. You don’t need a silver fork to eat the best food but perhaps in Fife a long spoon may be handy!

‘Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are’ Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755 – 1826)

‘Wine is bottled poetry’ – RL Stevenson (1850-1894)

https://www.crailfoodfestival.co.uk/

.beehive.crail .b_penmanbutchers

07/04/2021

A very engaging and informative virtual exhibition by MLitt students at St Andrews Uni for The Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther. We hope you enjoy it: 'By the Seaside'.

March 20th-August 20th, 2021 at the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther, Scotland

06/04/2021

Not a harbour seal but myself for a bracing swim with some fellow Crail folks this morning. What a way to start the day!

21/03/2021

This video was written and produced by one of Serenity Scotland's creative and skilled clients, Ross West of Ross West Creative https://www.rosswestcreative.org/. Having been with his wife on one Serenity Scotland tour in Scotland and another in Ireland, Ross wanted to tell the story and convey the feeling of the tour experience. The video uses footage shot by the talented photographer Ash Stewart-McFarlane, including Ash's beautiful drone work. See: https://www.facebook.com/ashielphotography and https://www.instagram.com/ashiel_photography/?hl=en for more of Ash's work. Delighted that Ross felt inspired to design and develop such a work, and great to feature Ash's wonderful photography. I am getting ready for Scotland Reconnect in April, an online trade show with visitscotland and videos such as this can show Scotland from the personal perspective of someone who had never been to Scotland nor to Ireland before but now has taken several tours, and plans to travel here many more times in the future.

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/526878581

25/02/2021

A welcome walk at Cambo today with Joanne to experience the snowdrops, a delicate undercroft, in swathes to the sea...

Do you know what I was, how I lived? You know
what despair is; then
winter should have meaning for you.

I did not expect to survive,
earth suppressing me. I didn't expect
to waken again, to feel
in damp earth my body
able to respond again, remembering
after so long how to open again
in the cold light
of earliest spring--

afraid, yes, but among you again
crying yes risk joy

in the raw wind of the new world.

'Snowdrops' by Louise Glück