Heathery Heights offers the full range of outdoor experiences, from beginner to advanced, so whatever you're looking for, you'll be sure to find something to suit your level of expertise
I have walked in the mountains and remote areas of Scotland, the UK and throughout the world from the tender age of 3. As a tot I first walked around Loch Coruisk on Skye fuelled with Gingernut biscuits; it was seemingly then, according to my mother, that I got 'the bug'.
I was incredibly fortunate that my parents, who lived in Tarbert, Loch Fyne, were very keen sailors; the exploration of Scotland's West Coast and the Hebrides was an annual family event. With cousins or friends in tow I could explore remote islands, hidden anchorages, rugged coastlines and nearby hills and mountains to my heart's content. And we would catch fish, collect mussels or find puffballs and bilberries to cook for our tea.
During my teens I was in school in Morayshire where my love for the hills saw me train and join the Mountain Rescue Team prior to leaving for the south and Uni. But the flatter lands of Oxfordshire did not stop me and I ended up running the Fellwalking Club and leading trips all over the UK including back to one of my favourite haunts, the Black Cuillin on Skye.
Travel then beckoned - before, between and after working in catering management, hospitality and as a trainer and lecturer - leading me all over the world from the Himalayas to the Andes, from The Great Wall of China to Machu Picchu, from Nairobi to Bangkok. I loved every minute and when I was back in the UK I would sneak back to beautiful Argyll or the Scottish hills, perhaps to bag a Munro or revisit a favourite spot.
But it was not until many years later, when my daughter was 8 years old, that I actually decided to become a Mountain Leader. I should thank my daughter for if she had not been a Brownie I would not have decided that it would be great to offer more outdoor adventures for young girls and get involved with GGUK. It was through being a Brownie Leader that led me to 'get the piece of paper' so that I could both take girls out on walks and help train other Guiders to do so. Such things inevitably led to becoming involved with DofE as a Supervisor and Assessor, and - most life changing of all - being asked if I would guide those clients......
'Heathery Heights' grew from my own name which, in itself, was given based on the purple heather on the hills behind our old house in Tarbert where I was brought up. It holds a sense of belonging; this is even more pertinent following the company's move from the limestone of the Yorkshire Dales to the heathery hills of Argyll.
Heathery Heights is very much a company grown from the love of nature and the outdoors. Caring for the environment, our planet, and nurturing that care in others is intrinsic to the company's ethos. We enjoy the peace, beauty and tranquility of what we find in nature, we immerse our senses and find inner balance. The incredible power of spending time in the outdoors to improve health and wellbeing is immeasurable, add to this the benefits of learning to cherish and safeguard the natural world around us and you have your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And safety is key too; being a member of the Mountain Rescue in Scotland and then latterly in the Yorkshire Dales certainly instils respect for our outdoor environment.
