Land Justice Gathering at the 'Lost Forest'

Sharing local Gaelic placenames and stories to situate us in the landscape - what's here and what's missing

"We’re standing on a threshold. Between stories told about this land - and stories told from it.

"One says: this place is empty, lost, ruined—ready to be bought, branded, and offset.
The other says: this place is alive, remembered, and still resisting."

The words of Col Gordon, read beautifully and thoughtfully by Jo Rodgers at Saturday's Land Justice Gathering as Col couldn't be there in person - his full piece is now published on Bella Caledonia: Ossian, Punk Beer & Greenwash.

Around 50 of us gathered at Brewdog's so-called 'Lost Forest' near Aviemore to learn about ecology, employee/worker struggle, land-based folktales from near and far, songs, the myth of carbon credits, and to reimagine a land not bought by corporations to offset their conscience and exploiting a broken subsidy system, but stewarded and cared for by those who live on or near it. 

The event was put on by the Landworkers' Alliance (LWA) and Scottish Histories of Resistance, and it was brilliant to see that so many folk had travelled a long way to be there (from Fife and Glasgow amongst other places) as well as so many interested local folk too. 

Other speakers included Nick Kempe, who has written extensively on his Parkswatch blog about the sequence of poor decisions on Brewdog land which has led to even poorer impacts; Tara Wight, policy and campaigns director for LWA Scotland; Dave Morris, local land reform campaigner; and Olly, a farmer from Devon who spoke of the difficulties for young people trying to remain in or get into farming. ​

I contributed stories and histories from what is now Canada - an indigenous story with indelible links to this area here - as well as Palestine, and local stories linked to Gaelic placenames. 

Pines, colonialism, stories from the land

Anyone interested in joining the Badenoch & Strathspey chapter of Scottish Histories of Resistance, an informal group getting together to learn about all the knarly Scottish resistance we don't see in schools or books, drop me a message!

Will Boyd-Wallis / Greenshanks sets us off at the cèilidh house

At the evening cèilidh house, Will Boyd-Wallis/Greenshanks set us off (in more ways than one) with a heartfelt song about his own family's clearance from Rhùm (from his new album available on Bandcamp hint hint!) And for those wondering why we aren't all dancing, a cèilidh traditionally is a visit, a gathering, where people take a turn to share a poem, tune, story, song etc.

A tale from Palestine at the cèilidh house. Credit: Clem Sandison

As it was rightly pointed out, there's little point envisioning new spaces without bringing along things to fill them with. 

All of this on Aviemore's hottest day on record...

Thank you all for having me and thank you for such an uplifting day! Watch this space for what's next!