Voices of the Walk Festive Special 2022

This Christmas may feel a bit different for a lot of us, with the cost of living crisis and other pressures. So, we thought we’d ask some of the people we have worked with over the past year to reflect on how walking can help bring peace of mind during what can be a busy and demanding time of year. 

We caught up with Dr Gemma Ryde, a researcher from the University of Glasgow, our artist-in-residence Alec Finlay, Shirley Gleeson, who delivered our expert lecture on connecting with nature, Kate Lesenger from Sustrans and Mandy Clement, who won our National Walking Month competition. 

We hope you enjoy this special festive episode and we’ll be back in the new year with more episodes of Voices of the Walk. 

Transcript

Introduction Welcome to Voices of the Walk, Paths for All’s everyday walking podcast. Our mission is to get Scotland walking. Everyone, everywhere and every day. In this podcast series, we’ll be hearing from a variety of Scotland’s walking champions, who are helping to make our vision a reality. 

Kirsty: Hello and welcome to this festive episode of Voices of the Walk.
My name is Kirsty Rankin and I’m a manager at Paths for All.  For many of us, Christmas might feel a bit different this year with the cost of living and other pressures facing us. In our household, like many others, we’ve adapted to having the heating on less and wearing more woolly jumpers. And we love wrapping up and heading out for a crisp walk, often meeting friends for a good catch up and maybe with a wee hot chocolate in our backpack. It’s a great way to keep up social connections, to save money and feel good avoiding those pesky Christmas hangovers. Walking is one gift we can all give, either to ourselves or to others. So, we thought we would ask some of the many people that we work with here at Paths for All for their tips and advice on how to make the most of our time outdoors this Christmas, whether we’re walking on our own or with family or with friends, and hopefully give you some inspiration to wrap yourself up and get outdoors. So, delighted to start with Gemma Ryde, from Glasgow University.

 Gemma My name is Dr Gemma Rye and I’m a researcher and lecturer in physical activity at UOFG. I live in Stirling, which has been voted in the top ten happiest places to live in the UK recently, so I have to say I’m very privileged and spoilt in regards to the outdoor space around me. There’s a lot of greenspace in this area and I do try to get out and about for some activity most days of the week, in between my busy work schedule. So, with Christmas coming up, I’m very much looking forward to spending more time outdoors with my young family, but most of all, resting. I think sometimes we don’t value enough the benefit of rest with the fast pace of modern life, so taking some time to slow down is important. I like just having a walk or an activity as the main thing to achieve in a day and that rest in-between, and I hope to do more of that in the festive period. Although I should note, not much resting gets done in a family with two small children. I think we’re also mindful of the cost of living crisis, and for me, heading out for a walk with the kids to the local park or grassy area with a ball, is a cheap day out which we all love. I think there’s pressure on parents to provide activities for their kids and keep them entertained over Christmas, but I think we need to value the little things in life and walking can be a key to experiencing this. Another activity to do with the kids is to experience all the festive lights people are putting up outside their houses, especially if they’re willing to pay the electricity bills! I like to take the kids out just as it gets dark to see all the lights, even in our own local neighbourhood.

And a final thought from me, for those staying at home or still working at home over Christmas, when I appreciate you can spend a lot of time sitting, you can get very chilly in these cold temperatures. But heading out for a walk can help you generate some body heat and therefore keep us warm when we’ve been feeling a bit cold. If you’ve been resisting putting the heating on, perhaps a short walk outside can help keep you a bit toastier during the day, along with those slippers from Santa, of course. So, enjoy the benefits of short, simple, local walks this Christmas, and the warmth this can bring.

 Shirley Hi, my name is Shirley Gleeson and I’m the director of Ecowellness Consulting, I’m based in Dublin, Ireland. Really looking forward to the Christmas period just to take some time out, just to slow down and to reflect and to really gather myself and gather my thoughts. So, I’m going to be spending some time in some really beautiful places around Dublin and Wicklow, going to Glendalough National Park, county Wicklow, spending time at the Sugarloaf Mountain in Wicklow, some of the beautiful forests. Just really walking and spending time just contemplating and slowing down. I think people can make the most of the outdoors this Christmas by really wrapping up warm, being aware of your surroundings and knowing the routes that you’re walking on. And I think what I usually do, some good tips, is to focus on your five senses when you’re in nature; what you can see, what you can hear, what you can smell, what you can touch, what you can taste. Slow down and really take in the natural landscape and really give yourself time to explore and come back to your senses. 

Alec Hello everyone, my name is Alec Finlay and I’m an artist and poet. I’ve been working with Paths for All for the last few years as an artist in residence and I just wanted to share a little idea with you for the cold weather when it’s harder to get outside. For the last couple of years, I’ve been working with an idea that was inspired by Native American culture. In the cosmology of the Native American tribes, they have an idea that in a compass you can identify each cardinal point with a different animal. North is the mountain lion, South is the wildcat, East is the wolf and West is the bear. And that’s a very nice idea to play with and think about where you live and what you love and also what makes the place you live characteristic. It would be so different whether you were making a species compass in Orkney or in Dumfries. But I have another little idea, a variant of this you might like to try, and that’s maybe for Hogmanay and the year to come. Take a paper and pen and draw a simple cross to give you North, South, East and West. and for each of those cardinal points think of a memory. Something you value from the last year, something that’s stayed with you. It could be a person, a flower, fauna, a happy time, a kiss or a cuddle. Could be someone you loved that you lost, could be a sunset, could be a walk. Whatever comes to mind. And give each of those compass points a different memory. If you can’t make it work for the last year, think back before then. Once you’ve drawn it out, you might find that it helps you to think about the future and what you want to happen. So, that’s my idea for a memory compass for 2023. Take care everyone and stay safe. Bye.

Kate Hello! I’m Kate from Sustrans. This festive period, I’m looking forward to spending time with family, eating good food and hopefully lots of relaxing at home not doing very much at all. In the midst of this, however, I’ll need to find some time to work off that Christmas dinner, and the selection boxes of course. So, our family tradition of going for a Boxing Day walk is always a must. I really enjoy going for walks this time of year. On a sunny winter day when the air is crisp and the paths aren’t too icy, there’s nothing better than going for a ramble in local nature. Back home in the Borders, I love going for local walks, and emerging into a clearing to be rewarded with a stunning view of the rolling hills, and maybe a snowball or two is thrown along the way. Especially at this time of year, I really feel the benefits of going outside and getting some exercise. Instead of all bundling into the car, which can be very tempting, this festive period I’m encouraging my family to walk or cycle to visit friends and relatives if we can. Cutting down on car journeys, not only helps us cut our Christmas calories, but also cut our carbon. So, when the weather outside isn’t so frightful, why not go for a walk or a cycle? It could even be your New Year’s resolution.

 Mandy Hi, my name’s Mandy. I live in Auchengray, which is just a short distance away from the Pentland hills, quite a wee village. It’s got loads of trails and different woodland treks roundabout. I suppose I’m just talking about why I enjoy walking and why this is good for my mental health. It’s good for a work-life balance, especially when things are happening in the Winter, cause it’s quite full on at my work in the Wintertime. So, I like to get out and about as much as I can, especially when it’s a nice sunny day, cause when you’re stuck at work during the week and you’re going to work in the dark, coming home in the dark, if it’s nice at the weekends it’s fantastic to get out and about and enjoy some sunshine and fresh air. This Christmas and New Year, I’m looking forward to spending it with friends and family. We usually have quite a quiet Christmas Day and Boxing Day is our day when everyone gets together. We just do loads of family things; loads of eating, but then, of course, after that, you do like to get out and get a wee walk to burn off some of those Christmas calories. When it’s nice crisp, frosty days, or if there’s been a snowfall, it’s good to get out and about and enjoy that. And when you’re in the trees and there’s been quite a significant falling of snow it’s like everything’s muted, it’s like a blanket where you can just zone out for a while and be at peace with yourself.

Kirsty Thank you so much for listening to our festive episode of Voices of the Walk. We’ll be back in the New Year with more podcasts covering our work at Paths for All. If you’re new to the podcast, please check out previous episodes of Voices of the Walk discussing topics such as: the power of connecting with nature, walking, and creativity with our artist in residence, Alec Finlay, and much much more. I’d like to end by wishing you all the best for Christmas and a happy and healthy 2023.