Welcome to the Caledonia Collective
We are a collaboration of creative people who are inspired by the landscapes of Scotland. Our diverse team of contributors includes people who are writers, photographers, musicians, athletes, historians… the list is long. But whatever our professions, our passion is for telling stories of Scotland.
“The thing to be known grows with the knowing” – Nan Shepherd
Latest Posts
What Capercaillie Mean to Me
What I can’t face is the thought of walking through Highland forests, knowing that these majestic birds are not silently watching from the canopy. This is why I cannot let these birds go. As, more than anything else, they belong here, and they deserve to be saved.Molly Doubleday Its pitch black in the forest. At… Continue reading What Capercaillie Mean to Me
Up and Down Days, Part Eight: Commitment
“…one never quite knows the mountain, nor oneself in relation to it.” “One walks among elementals, and elementals are not governable. There are awakened also in oneself by the contact elementals that are as unpredictable as wind or snow.” Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain 1. The excitement I had felt at the prospect of our… Continue reading Up and Down Days, Part Eight: Commitment
Up and Down Days, Part Seven: The Bad Day
I think that when people talk about having ‘adventures’ we generally mean doing something active, bold, possibly a little risky, but with a beneficial impact on ourselves. There’s an implication in how we use the word that the adventure will surely have a good outcome. It will be something fun and fulfilling, without doubt. But… Continue reading Up and Down Days, Part Seven: The Bad Day
Up and Down Days, Part Six: Cold Forged
The day I enjoyed on An Teallach with Doug, Jack and the others was one of the best hill days I’d ever had. More than that; it was, in retrospect, the beginning of one of best years of my life. A year during which I grew more in confidence and ability than any other. Not… Continue reading Up and Down Days, Part Six: Cold Forged
Up and Down Days, Part Five: The Smiddy and The Forge
Part Five: The Smiddy and The Forge In the morning gloom of another tiny hut somewhere in the Highlands, I blearily pulled on my clothes, then fumbled my way to the door. I pulled back the heavy cast-iron bolt, and the door swung wide. Its bright blue paint, surmounted by a huge white saltire cross,… Continue reading Up and Down Days, Part Five: The Smiddy and The Forge
Up and Down Days, Part Four: Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain’s full of strange sights Men who go there end by being scared. Water glints and gleams in the moon, Grasses sigh and sing in the wind. The bare plum blooms again with snow, Naked branches have clouds for leaves. When it rains, the mountain shines – In bad weather you’ll not make this… Continue reading Up and Down Days, Part Four: Cold Mountain
Up and Down Days Part Three: Zero to Hero
The annual Burns Night trip to Skye was usually the highlight of the mountaineering club calendar. The third weekend in January would find a few dozen of us piling into an assortment of clapped out hatchbacks, the suspension groaning under the weight of students and their piles of kit and food for 3 nights. We… Continue reading Up and Down Days Part Three: Zero to Hero
Up and Down Days, Part Two: Muppets on a Mountain
If you’re going to do any hillwalking or mountaineering at all in Scotland, then one of the most fundamental things you have to learn is the difference between summer and winter. You can summarise that difference like this; winter is serious. That’s not to imply that the hills in summer are without any risk -… Continue reading Up and Down Days, Part Two: Muppets on a Mountain
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