Tag: Natalie Taylor

Community Walking Projects

Walking the Pennywell Labyrinth in solidarity with Lebanon

Walk with us on Sunday 19th April 2026. Booking link

This is a walk in solidarity with communities along the Lebanon Mountain Trail as part of the Mountains of Hope global initiative. It includes walking the labyrinth at Pennywell Kirk which was designed by Natalie Taylor. This there-and-back walk will begin at 2pm and finish at 4pm outside North Edinburgh Arts, 12C MacMillan Square, Edinburgh, EH4 4AB. ///combs.chin.woven

Lebanon has become impacted by the current war between the USA and Iran, making it impossible for a proposed Mountains of Hope walk to go ahead. As an alternative, Kinetika and the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association (LMTA) will be sharing one local Lebanese story and the silk created with that community per day between 3.4.26 – 3.5.26.

Kinetika flags on Portobello Beach as part of the Pilgrimage for COP26 in 2021

When walking the secular Pilgrimage for COP26 from Dunbar to Glasgow in 2021, I carried a Kinetika silk flag. For our walk on 19th April, I will make a new flag and carry it as we traverse the labyrinth and walk around the urban Pennywell area. Please feel free to do the same. Use any materials you like and contact me if you would like some support.

Mountains of Hope is a creative journey that honours the past, celebrates the present, and imagines a shared future. It creates space for reflection, conversation, and unity, and we will bring that spirit into our walk in Edinburgh.

Expect:

  • Fresh air and gentle exercise
  • An opportunity to get to know new people
  • Entertaining stories of local history
  • Information about art and murals
  • The chance to enjoy urban nature
Kinetika flags on Portobello Beach as part of the Pilgrimage for COP26, 2021

Led by Tamsin Grainger, experienced community walker and Paths for All trained leader.

Moving slowly through the city landscape allows for higher quality noticing and time to pay attention. Pauses are important so we can look, smell, and discover. We will embrace community, as well as silence and conversation.

The labyrinth may not be wide enough for wheelchairs. Apologies, but please tell me if you will be using one and I will get back to you.

Getting to the starting point: Buses 17, 24, 27 and 37. There are bike racks outside the building.

Suggested donation £5 (£3 concession). You can join the new Walk Club Edinburgh. Contact tamsinlgrainger@gmail.com for details.

More information about the Lebanon Mountain Trail and the Mountains of Hope project: The Trail winds through more than 80 villages and towns, connecting people, places and stories across 450 kilometres of terrain, with an additional 150 kilometres of side network trails to explore. From ancient cedar groves and sacred valleys to wildflower meadows and mountain peaks, it is a route rich in biodiversity, history, and culture. Kinetika (Design that Moves worked in collaboration with the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association (LMTA) to bring the people’s stories to life through the design and creation of illustrated silk flags. Across the trail, schools and communities co-created hand-painted silk artworks, capturing the spirit, identity and environment of their region. The silks form a vibrant visual tribute to the people who live(d) along the trail and to the landscape that sustains(ed) them. Photos below are of the Kinetika flags at the Pilgrimage for COP26 event taken by Tamsin Grainger.

More information here

Ready for off! Day 6 of the Pilgrimage for COP26 in 2021. Kinetika flags at the ready in Portobello
Community Walking Projects

The Walk Club, Edinburgh

A brand-new Edinburgh walking / wheeling club offering ambulatory meet-ups that focus on local history, art, and urban nature ~ with a twist ~

Our next walk – full information and booking link here. Walking the Pennywell Labyrinth in solidarity with the people who live along the Lebanon Mountain Trail as part of the global initiative which is Mountains of Hope.

Each walk will have a theme and celebrate events such as the Festival of Terminalia, the Urban Tree Festival, May Day, and the Autumn Equinox. The events aim to be stimulating and the company friendly. Fresh air and gentle exercise are promised, whether you are on wheels or feet, and the Walk Club is open to everyone. Children and dogs are welcome (no membership fee for them!) The aim is to be accessible, inclusive, and flexible.

Moving slowly through the urban landscape allows for higher quality noticing and time to pay attention. Pauses are important so we can look, smell, and discover. We will embrace community, as well as silence and conversation.

Member benefits

  • Advance booking for all walks
  • All events free
  • Simple to join
  • Personalised communication
  • Membership badge
  • Welcome postcard
  • Walk Club Membership Card
Hand-made map for the Rock On! walk ©Tamsin Grainger

Detail

Monthly walks around Edinburgh, often in less well-known areas
Location: Each walk will be different
Time: Sundays, 2-4pm, once a month
Duration: Approximately two hours
The walks will go ahead whatever the weather
You are welcome to attend all or some of the walks as you wish

What will we do?

Meet-ups will involve:

  • Walking / wheeling
  • The opportunity to get to know one another
  • Local history, games, quiet meditative walking

Each one will be different in topic / theme.
Just turn up. There is no need to tell me if you’re coming unless you would like to be certain that the walk will be possible for you.

Cost

For an annual membership fee of £10 (£5 concessions) you will receive a membership pack through the post (including a badge, welcome postcard, and the Walk Club membership card).
You can make a donation per walk if you want – something like £5/£3 – no pressure.

Download a membership form

Please note that at this time, you have various options in order to join The Walk Club:

  1. Download the form by clicking the button above and print it out in order to fill it in. Then upload it and return it to me
  2. If you have a programme on your phone / computer that will allow you to fill in a pdf on screen, then you can miss out the print-out part and simply click on the button above, fill it in and email it to me
  3. You can email me now and I will send you the membership form.

My email is tamsinlgrainger@gmail.com and once I have your form and annual membership fee, I will send out your membership pack.

First Walk Club event

The first walk was on the Saturday 21st February celebrating the Festival of Terminalia: Rock On!

We collected stones at Wardie Bay and walked them past rock music studios to Granton ‘the Brick’ Beach and made a cairn

Upcoming Walk Club events

The next walk is on Sunday 22nd March marking the Spring Equinox and visiting the Pennywell Arts and Heritage Trail murals in North Edinburgh. The artwork is by Fraser Gray and the walk led by me, Tamsin Grainger, with local history, stories, art chat and discussion. All ages welcome. Foot, wheel and paw friendly. Dress brightly for all weathers! Information and booking here.

Mural by Fraser Gray, part of the Pennywell Arts and Heritage Trail

Walking the labyrinth The April meet-up will be on 19th April at 2pm meeting at North Edinburgh Arts and we will be walking the labyrinth at Pennywell Kirk. 2pm – 4pm. This is a there-and-back walk, and the labyrinth was designed by Natalie Taylor. Meet outside North Edinburgh Arts. Booking and more information here.

Labyrinth by Natalie Taylor, Old Kirk, North Edinburgh. ©Natalie Taylor

More information on the North Edinburgh Arts Trail

The March and April walks are featured on my blog here

Community Walking Projects

Swift Moves

Live participatory Performance event by Tamsin Grainger and Natalie Taylor

The artwork of Natalie Taylor in front of Granton Station, Edinburgh

This event took place on Friday 31st May 5-6pm at the Granton Station Plaza – outside the front of the new Granton Station (formerly Granton Gasworks Station).

We explored the migratory patterns of birds and how it felt to walk alone and together in a ‘flock’ in a structured improvisation. No experience was necessary and everyone was welcome. It was accessible for wheelchair and mobility aid users.

Participants of Swift Moves, Granton Station, Edinburgh

This event was part of the Granton Gas Tower art commission design proposal, and took place on Waterfront Broadway, Granton , Edinburgh EH5 1FU W3W///groom.honest.apples (what 3 words)

Being swifts, Granton Station ,Edinburgh

Funded by the City of Edinburgh Council.

Community Walking Projects, Walking without a donkey - travels in Scotland

Pilgrimage to COP26

Blog 3 Dunbar 17 October

As two pilgrimages converged in Dunbar yesterday, the YCCN in relay from St Ives , Cornwall and this Pilgrimage for COP26, we merged happily with the people of East Lothian – women, children, men and umbrella-holding, violin-playing stilt walkers together with a green-faced witch.

The YCCN are calling on the government to lead the way on their climate finance pledges which have not yet been delivered in full, particularly for those countries who are suffering extremely from the climate crisis. It was announced that the
Labour party have agreed 3 out of 4 of the pledges on their website


Climate change conversations erupted in the corners of fields, while waiting for delicious soup at the Wishing Tree by the Sea Cafe, and at the pizza oven.

 
In the centre of town, we began a slow walk, lead by Karen (see yesterday’s blog), curving around the garden at the front of St Ann’s Church where we were read sections of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Policy on Climate Change).

We stopped the traffic.

Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life. Awakening from the stupefying effects of the vice of over-industry and the deadly apathy of luxury, they are trying as best they can to mix and enrich their own little ongoings with those of Nature, and to get rid of rust and disease.

John Muir, Our National Parks

A huge crowd were waiting at the Battery at the sea’s edge for a ceremonious show. Representatives from John Muir’s Birthplace Trust and Friends opened proceedings. The Keeper of the Soil was gifted samples for the cape’s pockets, notably from land which Eve Balfour visited as a child. Founder of the Soil Association, she was one of the earliest women farmers, and the speaker, Chris Yule and his 6-year old daughter did her proud.

The beacon flashed as the nearly-new moon rose and we walked to the Belhaven Church for a Pilgrim’s meal arranged through Sustaining Dunbar with sourdough bread from the Station House Bakery.

Karine Polwart wrote a song for the Dunbar Youth Choir which we all joined in with – smiles all round.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine

Mary Oliver, The Wild Geese

The highlight of the evening was a presentation by Alastair McIntosh who cautioned us to cease despairing, lamentation, yes, but not despair, and this chimed with the Mary Oliver quote which was shared on stage earlier that day.

Alastair quoted Alice Walker

Be nobody’s darling;

Be an outcast.

Take the contradictions

Of your life

And wrap around

You like a shawl,

To parry stones

To keep you warm

Alice Walker, from Everyday Life

Question from the floor: How do we make use of what we learn on pilgrimage when we get home?
Alastair’s answer: It’ll be in your presence. People sense if you’re connected spiritually. People share their stories with you because they intuit that you can hear them, it’s in your comportment and your bearing. Ask yourself, regularly, if you are still being honest, remember how you move to ground yourself, recognise the way it is and it isn’t.
He spoke about the phrase, Om mani padme hum, from the Hindu tradition, meaning ‘when mind and heart come together’, adding, when you do what you are doing from a spiritual place, ….. , that work is love made visible.