My name is Jo Woolf and I live on the Craignish peninsula in Argyll.   I set up this blog about 15 years ago, simply because I wanted to write about things that interest me:  standing stones, old chapels, tumbledown forts and castles, places with legends attached to them, and all the wonderful wildlife and wild landscapes that make Scotland such an endlessly fascinating place to live.

My husband, Colin, is a wildlife artist, and because we work from home we can go exploring when the mood takes us;  we can also explore all year round, taking advantage of the sparkling conditions that winter brings (although regrettably not often!) and braving the downpours when it doesn’t. 

Most of my blog posts are focused on places around my home:  we live close to Kilmartin Glen, one of the richest prehistoric landscapes in Britain, and then there are the islands:  Mull, Islay, Jura, Lismore, Luing and Kerrera, and tiny uninhabited ones like the Garvellachs and the MacCormaig Isles which still hold the memories of early medieval missionary-saints.   

We also venture further afield – most recently, to Assynt and the far north-west – and we sometimes make a trip up the Great Glen or across to Ardnamurchan in search of lesser-known places and the stories attached to them.

I love hearing your feedback and your own memories of places I’ve visited, so please leave me a comment if you have time.   If you’re a long-standing follower, I appreciate your company and your support, and I know that you love these places and their stories as much as I do.  If you’re new here, you’re very welcome, and I hope that you’ll consider subscribing so that you don’t miss my latest posts.  

I’ve written a number of books…

For The National Trust (HarperCollins)

For The National Trust, I’ve written three books about the natural history and landscape of Britain, exploring its folklore and ancient traditions:  Britain’s Trees, Britain’s Birds, and Britain’s Landmarks and Legends.

All of these allowed me to plunge into the deeply fascinating myths and legends that are woven into our natural world and the landscape that we inhabit. 

Please take a look at my books page to find out more.

Royal Scottish Geographical Society

I’m honoured to be Writer in Residence at the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and I’m also an Honorary Fellow of the Society.  Some of my work involves sifting through archives in search of fascinating, half-forgotten stories that go right back to RSGS’s origins in the late 1800s.   I’m also privileged to be able to interview some of today’s inspirational pioneers, campaigners, explorers, film-makers and public figures.   A number of these, including Chris Packham, Sal Montgomery, Gordon Buchanan, Lewis Pugh, Myrtle Simpson, Leo Houlding, Alice Morrison, Polly Murray and the late and much-missed Doug Allan, feature in my book, Voices of the Earth, which is available direct from RSGS.

I contribute to RSGS’s quarterly magazine, The Geographer, and I write blog posts on diverse topics such the Scottish Women’s Himalayan Expedition of 1955, the women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary in the Second World War, the 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough, and the origin of the United States’ national anthem. 

On my books page you can view all my books for RSGS, including a children’s book, James Croll and his Adventures in Climate and Time.

Website design by Verity Sansom – verity@sansomphotography.co.uk
‘The Hazel Tree’ logo design by Leonie Woolf, Art & Sea