Midsummer 2025

It seems a long while since we were out amongst the trees celebrating Green Health Week, but somehow it doesn't feel that long since I was talking about the Spring Equinox. Suddenly here we are with the Summer Solstice on Saturday 21st (such pleasing alliteration) and Midsummer's Day on 24th June. You can read more about the solstice and how it makes me feel (sad!) from a 2023 blog here.

Instead we'll focus on the events from Green Health Week that actually took place during the heatwave even if it was only officially Spring then and not Summer. Firstly, Clay in the Woods, which took place in Backmuir Woods Local Nature Reserve in Hamilton. We could hardly believe we were in Hamilton, the fresh green leaves of Spring on the trees, woodland floor covered in bluebells and the smell of wild garlic in the air down by the burn, as we cracked open a bag of fresh clay and started playing! I can take no credit for the face in the picture. We were lead that day by Melanie, one of the SLC Countryside Ranger team, who also just happens to be a talented potter. What we didn't know was that we'd also be joined by another potter masquerading as an Occupational Therapist from NHS Lanarkshire. The rest of us were slightly overawed by the artistic vision and clay skills on display, but we got stuck in, quite literally - the new clay was indeed sticky, and spent an enjoyable hour engaging our senses, but also developing an emotional connection, with the tree we had chosen to work on and with the woods themselves. Both senses and emotion are pathways to nature connection, taken from the Five Pathways to Nature Connection. Not content with just covering some of the 5 Pathways, we were also ticking off all the 5 Ways to Wellbeing - having walked into the woods, we'd been active, we were connecting with each other and with nature, the sights and the smells almost forced us to take notice, and we were definitely learning, or those of us less experienced with clay certainly were! Last but not least, we'd done a brief litter pick before the event so we had also given back to nature, some might call it showing compassion for nature and that's another of the 5 Pathways! Much like being in nature, working with clay has been shown to have numerous mental health benefits, including reducing stress and anxiety, increasing mindfulness, and promoting emotional regulation, so no wonder they tick the boxes from the two frameworks we like best. We hope to offer more sessions like this in the near future. Get in touch if you or the groups you work with might be interested.

We collaborated with the Lanarkshire Climate Action Hub and Clyde Climate Forest (CCF) to have a tree-mendous day at the David Livingstone Birthplace in Blantyre. The CCF project aims to increase the average tree canopy cover across the whole of Glasgow City Region to 20%. Some areas of Blantyre have canopy cover levels as low as 12.6% and so is one of the areas where more trees have been planted to provide a cooling effect in heatwaves, carbon storage, surface water management and a place for wildlife. At our Communi-tree Day we offered Tree ID walks, craft activities including printing with leaves and making cyanotypes from foraged nature, and we chatted with groups about how they can get involved in the upcoming Lanarkshire Climate Festival this September. We're hoping to do more printing as well as clay as part of the festival so keep your eyes peeled for the programme.

The Clyde Climate Forest is also active in other areas of Lanarkshire: Bellshill, Rutherglen, Burnbank, Central Wishaw and North Motherwell. There are opportunities to get involved as a volunteer by joining their team of tree wardens. They will help particularly with general maintenance and management of the trees and doesn't have to be a strenuous commitment. You can find out more here.

They're not the only people looking for volunteers, Get Walking Lanarkshire are also keen to recruit more health walk leaders. I'm writing this on the 18th June which is Scotland’s National Day of Movement. It's an opportunity to celebrate the vital role that all forms of physical activity plays in supporting the health and wellbeing of people, particularly those living with long-term health conditions. Big or small, all movements count. And getting out into nature on a health walk is a great way to get moving. Get Walking Lanarkshire have recently started a new monthly walk in Rutherglen for people with dementia and their carers. You can find out about all the Lanarkshire health walks here and if you are interested in volunteering check out the Volunteer Scotland database.

While we're talking about walking, Paths for All have just announced their new name: Walking Scotland. Their strapline "your walking and wheeling charity" demonstrates their commitment to inclusion, making sure no one is left out, and their new website is big on the reasons why walking is good! For physical health, for climate and nature, for communities, for children and young people, for the economy and for workplaces. Check out their new website to find out more.

Just as I was finishing writing this, an email from the British Pilgrimage Trust popped into my inbox titled "Walk to your summer solstice" with a link to this article. It reminded me that I've walked the avenue to the stones at Avebury at the solstice and briefly made me sad that I'm currently so far from all the sacred sites listed in the article. The only Scottish entry is Callanish, and the Isle of Lewis isn't really very accessible for a walk. However it did prompt me to go back to the June entry for Megalith of the Month in this year's Almanac from Lia Leendertz. Callanish is the star of the show because it marks an extraordinary natural phenomenon that happens every 18.6 years, at the time of the moon’s Major Standstill and which is occurring this summer, although as it happens at full moon, it doesn't coincide with the solstice. I won't even begin to try and explain, other than to say this happens when the moon's rising and setting positions are at their southernmost point and furthest apart, there is a lot more technical information on the Callanish website. However, to get back to pilgrimages, both the BPT and Urras nan Tursachan (the Standing Stones Trust), remind people that these places were constructed as sacred sites, not for major tourism. I love the suggestion of the BPT that instead of going to an official pilgrim destination, choose a place sacred to you, a local hilltop or ancient tree with a clear view of eastern and western horizons. Somewhere within walking distance is ideal. Make the last part of the journey on foot, in quiet contemplation, perhaps in time for sunrise or sunset. What a delightful way to mark the Solstice in 2025.