During a week's residency in Glen Tanar in 2025, storyteller Sarah Hobbs and photographer David Lintern recorded many people with connections to the glen. The resulting film, 'Rooted: Voices of Glen Tanar,' gives space for their perspectives on land, types of knowledge, nature, ownership and thoughts for the future. 
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In April 2025, Sarah and David undertook a seven-day residency at a cottage within the Glen Tanar Estate, near Aboyne in the Cairngorms National Park. Their focus was to work with people with a connection to the glen whose voices are less often heard, and explore connections between ecological and cultural loss.

The film illustrates past histories and landscape change, different ways of knowing, places special and meaningful to the participants, and how places such as this may have something to teach about relationships between one another and the land. 

Cycling up and down the glen daily, they spent time with 19 people, all with myriad links to the glen - current and former residents, staff, volunteers, tenants, visitors - and all of whom loved the place. 

Watch the Rooted trailer below.

The residency was commissioned and previously supported by Bothy Project and the Cairngorms National Park Authority as part of the Cairngorms 2030 programme, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Following requests from Glen Tanar Estate directors that the film be changed, which we declined to implement, the partners withdrew their support for the film. Statements from all parties are included at the end of the film. 

Behind the scenes 

Some of David's shots from the making of, during April 2025. 

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Project team
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Sarah Hobbs is based in Aviemore and runs Storywalks to place stories back where they belong in the landscape and skyscape – very literally re-storying the land. The main focus of Storywalks uncovers and highlights quiet, hidden or silenced voices within the landscape, including how rural landscapes are inextricably linked to empire and colonialism. She is an accredited storyteller with the Scottish Storytelling Forum.

She has 20 years’ experience of working in place-based community-led social change, and has collaborated on story work with Alzheimer Scotland, Cairngorms Connect, Landworkers' Alliance Scotland, Highland Folk Museum, Highland Wildlife Park, the Woodland Trust, and outdoor learning networks and teachers. Read more about Sarah here.

David Lintern has worked across the creative industries for 30 years as a writer, photographer, editor, land rights and access campaigner, founder of a refugee arts charity, music and photography teacher and environmental journalist. Throughout all his work there is a celebration of, and advocacy for, the connections between people, nature and place.

David works as a commercial photographer, photography guide and tutor across the Highlands, both in a community setting and in a private capacity. He is one of the editorial team for The Great Outdoors Magazine and has produced three award winning books; The Big Rounds, Scottish Wild Country Backpacking and Thunder Road. Read more about David here.