Perthshire-based writer Linda Cracknell sets off in September to walk a route that was once well-trodden by people and cattle between Skye and Crieff.  The route winds around the serrated Cuillin range, crosses the ferocious tidal strait at Kylerhea where the cattle were swum across in the slack of the high tide, and passes through Lochaber and Highland Perthshire to the more sedate landscape of Strathearn where the Tryst at Crieff was the great centre of the Highland cattle trade till the mid eighteenth century.

‘The route has been well tested by streams of cattle over perhaps four centuries, and devised by skilled and fit drovers,’ said Linda. ‘I imagine the drovers must have had a love of movement and adventure as well as doing a job of work, and dipped into company and talk at different stopping places. I hope to share some of this along my way.’

Her journey is part of a Creative Scotland Award, supported by the National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council, in which she will write about walking journeys each of which follow a human story in a ‘wilderness’ landscape. She will also run workshops for others with an interest in walking and writing.

‘Many writers relish the movement and meditation of walking. It’s part of the creative process – helping to hatch ideas, solve problems, establish rhythms,’ she said. ‘And many walkers might extend their enjoyment by putting pen to paper. Writing can help us notice more, open the senses, free up imagination and learn more about the environment.’

After completing the walk, she will be leading a workshop at the Drovers’ Tryst Walking Festival based around Crieff. The workshop is for walkers and writers of all ages and abilities and will be based at Innerpeffray Library, a literary jewel set deep in the Strathearn countryside. The event will be active and enjoyable including an easy local walk, an introduction to Innerpeffray, and workshop activities designed to inspire creative thought and writing. Wednesday 10th October 10am-3.30pm.