The Northern Lights welcomed us home the other evening, the first time I had ever seen them. By a happy coincidence we were driving late through Glenshesk and there was a strange glow by the mountain, we pulled over in the silent darkness and watched the greenish beams of light shimmering across the sky. Amazing. Grounding.
I’m regularly in awe at the beauty of our local landscape, with an overwhelming sense of privilege to live here. Our homeplace is famous for many things but noticing the incidental beauty of bright blue skies reflected in the waves between the coast and Rathlin Island or the basalt glowing amber in the golden hour at sunset are little moments of blissful appreciation. Whilst I love to travel and find it fascinating and enriching to be immersed in cultural appreciation for the diversity in this world, it is on this island that I feel constantly rewarded, renewed. How better to learn about ourselves than to explore our place, the land that holds us daily.
Happily, luckily, my parents enjoyed holidaying in Ireland, year after year we’d pack up the car to visit relations or friends around the country. We’d form strong bonds with places like Roundstone in Galway , Easkey in Sligo and Valentia in Kerry alongside deep ancestral connections with Tipperary and Down. I know my island well, the coastline, the heartland, I know the wildlife, the plants, I know the shores and inlets of Clew Bay, I’ve watched the low morning mists in the Glens of Wicklow, hiked in the stark beauty of the peaks and bogs of Connemara and swam in the waves of jaw droppingly beautiful Donegal beaches.
But there are still so many places to explore, peninsulas to get lost on. What magic there is even on this tiny isle. How well do you know your home land, are you connected? Do you know the names of your local streams and rivers, have you climbed the nearby hills and visited the shorelines? Do you claim a sense of cultural identity without trying to get to know your land better, whether that be from physically visiting or an effort to read more about it.
This disconnect to the world around us often makes me question those with strong feelings of nationalism or unionism here specifically, what is the root of that sense of pride, or identity. Can it truly be upheld with little experience of the country outside of your own doorstep? Those feelings confound me even more when I see how totally disconnected some are to very essence of what they profess to hold so dear. I guess blind politics takes hold and the negative inherent feelings from our troubled past get in the way. The politics of land is hugely divisive, so visible these past few weeks with the heartbreaking scenes in Palestine. Devotion to land should go hand in hand with environmentalism and admiration for the natural world, wanting to protect those places we love and respect all those who live upon it. Of course, this is hugely tied into my own interests and ethos, continually learning about the health of our soil and using our seasonal produce in rhythm with the turning of the year.
‘You’ll be taking him down to Murlough tomorrow, I’m sure?’ I was almost tearful when a customer, a friends, said this to me and our guest chef Robbie the other night at the last Ursa Minor collaboration dinner. What a clear sense of pride of place, without having to say anything else at all that little prompt from him, the way it was said, made me so happy. If you can, then please explore more! Take time to get to know the land that holds you.
A PERFECT GIFT…I hope you think so!
I’ve been working hard over the past few months to get this beautiful calendar printed, each month with a delcious recipe and a little Gorse style ramble on what the month means to me. I would love to see you cook along month by month, it’s handy A4 and can be posted easily. At the moment we can post UK and Ireland but if you are further afield I will try and sort postage for you! You can buy the calendar here thank you so much x
After my family and I spent a month on the North Coast over the summer, we’ve made the decision to relocate their next spring / summer and we are just in the process of selling our house in England. Reading this had made me even more excited about all the incredible places we’ll have to explore and reassures me that the decision we’ve made is definitely the right one. We’ll be in for a coffee once we’re settled! X
You are so fortunate to live along one of the most beautiful undiscovered coastlines. We loved our visit and are scheming a way to return!