The Scottish nature book that stole my heart

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When Tim asked me to be a guest curator for Adventurous Ink, it was a no-brainer.

As a content creator, I get approached by a fair few brands. The majority of these I decline, as I have strict value criteria that most don’t match up to.

My love of books and nature has always been part of my content. I even created a whole merch design around it (which you can check out here).

I adored everything about Adventurous Ink immediately. A books subscription service that they describe as ‘made for outsiders’, it perfectly reflected the spirit of my brand. With the motto, ‘read, wander, reflect and reconnect’, I just knew I had to share this with my audience.

Saying yes was the easy part. Choosing just one nature book to feature was far more challenging! Not only have a read a fair number myself, so many of these excellent titles have already been wonderfully featured by Adventurous Ink.

I ended up going with the book I felt the most personally connected too.

When I first read Regeneration by Andrew Painting, it felt like I was revisiting an old friend. Besides the fact that I actually knew Andrew, who is a fellow ecologist, this book is set in my beloved Scottish Highlands.

Its a story I’ve lived and breathed for the past 5 years.

Andrew perfectly balances describing the unique richness of this wild region, whilst giving an honest account of the damage that is painfully apparent to an ecologist’s eye -

‘For many, the Highland sporting culture, the deer, the grouse moors, is what makes the Highlands special and beautiful. But for many others, the grazed, burned, drained moors and dying woodlands are a landscape of environmental and cultural destruction. This is the clash that lies at the heart of environmental conservation in the Highlands.’

The book is based at Mar Lodge in the Cairngorms, which is the largest National Nature Reserve in Scotland, and exactly the ‘wild land’ that the National Trust is desperately trying to rescue.

Andrew covers all the varied habitats that are found on this landholding, including forests, moorlands and mountains, with detailed and fascinating accounts of the special creatures that live there.

I especially love his opening lines to ‘In the Woods’ -

‘For the connoisseur of British woodlands, the Cairngorm’s Caledonian pinewoods take some beating. They are ancient landscapes. The grand old trees, the carpets of juniper, heather and bright green blaeberry, the sounds and smells: the Caledonian pinewoods have their own quintessence.’

I’ve spent countless hours trespassing through these woodlands in my work with the RSPB, so I revelled in every word of this section. I even have a wee feature as Andrew interviewed me way back in 2019!

As well as celebrating the glorious life at Mar Lodge, Andrew is able to provide an honest and valuable account into what its really like working as a conservationist in the Highlands -

‘In actuality, environmental conservation is among the most complicated, underfunded, political, vitally important activities that a person can do.’

All in all, Regeneration is a story of hope. As a fellow warrior in the fight to save this precious landscape, its been a privilege to share a story that is so close to my heart.

Rather generously, Tim (the founder of Adventurous Ink) has offered 50 free copies of Regeneration to my audience, which you can claim by following this link.

Many of these have already been snapped up, when I shared this book on my YouTube (which you can watch here), so be quick if you want a copy!

Rather excitingly, I will be doing a live Zoom podcast with Tim and Andrew on the 27th July. If you are interested in joining our chat, you can book tickets here (its free). I’d really love to have you there!

Until next week,

Molly xx