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Jan 25, 2025 | 
pressandjournal.co.uk | Lauren Taylor
Hugh Asher has always loved being outdoors — from rambling up hills, flying down them on a mountain bike, or even bobbing along a river in a canoe. It wasn’t until during lockdown that he discovered the benefits of slowing down in nature and engaging his senses. Hugh was so taken with it that he trained as a forest bathing guide and a nature and forest therapist.
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Jan 25, 2025 | 
pressandjournal.co.uk | Lauren Taylor
For most people, venison is seen as an exclusive meat — something to have on a special occasion or from a nice restaurant. Even though Scotland is overrun with deer. Cairngorms Connect is a partnership of neighboring land managers committed to a long-term, landscape-scale vision for ecological restoration. A big part of this includes reducing deer numbers across the 600 square kilometer area — three times the size of Glasgow.
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Jan 22, 2025 | 
pressandjournal.co.uk | Lauren Taylor
Emma McRuvie entered Granite Noir’s first-ever short story competition on a “whim”. She didn’t think she’d even make it to the final, never mind go on to win the competition. But her thrilling tale Fenna, which explores grief and isolation, truly gripped the judges, earning her the top spot.
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Jan 12, 2025 | 
pressandjournal.co.uk | Lauren Taylor
I have walked past the doors of Aberdeen’s Wild Ginger countless times, but I’d never actually dined there. I don’t know why though, because everyone I’ve spoken to about it is always full of praise for the Union Street restaurant. More surprisingly my boyfriend Doug, a big curry fan, hadn’t been in either. And after five years together it can be tricky finding somewhere to eat in the city that one of us hasn’t been to already. Even more so if you want somewhere decent.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
pressandjournal.co.uk | Lauren Taylor
Eurasian lynx have not freely roamed across Scotland in more than 500 years after hunting and habitat loss led to their extinction. That is until at least four of the predators were illegally released near Kingussie this month. It is currently unclear where the animals came from, but two have since been caught with the help of expert teams from the Highland Wildlife Park.
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Jan 9, 2025 | 
pressandjournal.co.uk | Lauren Taylor
While American mink may look cute with their brown fur and white chins, they are having a devastating impact on Scottish wildlife. The small, but deadly, predators were first brought to Scotland for fur farms. But, some managed to escape in the latter half of the 20th century, and the animals have since spread across the country. In 2018, the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative set up the mink control project.
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Jan 5, 2025 | 
pressandjournal.co.uk | Lauren Taylor
For Lynne Mollison and her daughter Anna Wilson from Aberdeen, their shared passion for yoga blossomed around 2016. They started going to classes together in Foodstory every Sunday when Anna was just 12. The Sunday morning routine became so special for the pair of them, and it was always something nice to do together. Back then, they never imagined they’d both become yoga instructors, never mind go on to hosting retreats abroad together.
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Dec 30, 2024 | 
pressandjournal.co.uk | Lauren Taylor
Janet Rogers has spent more than 40 years rescuing and rehoming stray cats from across Huntly, Keith and Turriff. She never did it expecting any recognition, but simply because she has always been a cat lover. Now, Janet, who works for Huntly, Keith, and Turriff Cats Protection, has been made an MBE for her services to cats and wildcats in the north-east. There are nine pens at the cattery, which Janet says are “continually full”.
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Dec 17, 2024 | 
pressandjournal.co.uk | Lauren Taylor
The run-up to Christmas is always an incredibly busy time — especially for all the reindeer resting up ahead of the big day. But being a reindeer herder and looking after the UK’s only free-roaming herd is a year-round job. There are just over 150 reindeer, and they are all split between the hill enclosure at Glen Mor, the free-ranging group on the Cairngorm plateau and the farm at Glenlivet. Cassie Screen is one of the six herders looking after the magnificent animals.
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Dec 14, 2024 | 
pressandjournal.co.uk | Lauren Taylor
Busy beavers have been settling into their new homes across the Cairngorms for almost a year now — but how have they been getting on since being released? This time last year, there hadn’t been beavers in the Cairngorms for 400 years. This all changed on December 18, 2023, when the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) released a pair of beavers in Rothiemurchus. And even more beavers have successfully been released at sites across the Spey catchment since.
