Spring is here – and so is the April 2021 edition of Scottish Field, now available in shops and online.
In this packed issue, we enjoy the great outdoors as editor Richard Bath heads off on his first ever ski touring experience in the Cairngorms
And a trio of Scottish Field writers took up wild swimming this year and have found the benefits innumerable.
Richard said: ‘We have all found different ways to stay sane over the past year, and for many of us the great outdoors has been a life saver.
‘I explored the joys of ski touring in the Cairngorms for this issue, and closer to home I’ve been so determined to get out that during the worst of this winter I and three friends went so far as to clear the snow off the tennis courts we use so that we could carry on playing.
‘I even discovered that there’s such a thing as waterproof tennis balls. Who knew?
‘But for some of my colleagues, their connection with nature has been even more visceral and important to them. None more so than the trio of Scottish Field’s finest who took up wild swimming at the beginning of the lockdown last March.
‘Against all expectations they have continued going for a dip multiple times a week, even during the worst that the Beast From the East II could throw at them.
‘Wild swimming has experienced an explosion in popularity over the past year. One octogenarian I know has swum in the sea at Portencross in Ayrshire (sans wetsuit) every day for the past seventy years, but she always swam alone and was considered mildly eccentric. She no longer swims solo, nor is she considered slightly loopy.
‘My colleague and wild swimming convert Steph Abbot explains how her life has been changed for the better by her immersion into a way of life that she once considered beyond the pale. So why not have a read – who knows, it might even appeal…’
In other features, Winner of the Great British Bake Off 2020 Peter Sawkins talks behind the scenes shenanigans and dream dinner dates.
Helen Bellany’s passion for painting has been reignited after a fifty-year hiatus, while Scottish Field’s wildlife columnist Cal Flynn says there is still plenty of hope for the nation’s red squirrels, despite worrying trends during lockdown.
Photographer Jenny Anderson reflects on the spectacularly beautiful coast around Gairloch, while Lauderdale Hunt Master-of-Hounds Claire Bellamy introduces us to all 46 of her gorgeous animals.
In our regular columns, Alexander McCall Smith muses on how philosophy, once so popular amongst all Scots, has lost its way, Guy Grieve is delighted that the popularity of sea shanties is once more on the up and Blair Bowman reflects on whisky’s shift towards being a cleaner, greener industry.
We also have our regular features, with property, interiors, food, drink, culture and more.
The April 2021 edition of Scottish Field is available now, priced £4.75. Click HERE to order.
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