Field Notes: A great place to take the whole family

A 15-year-old confirms that our Wild Space visitor centre in buzzing Pitlochry is worth pulling off the A9 for…

Designed mainly with native windblown timber, the Wild Space is an awesome place to go and learn about wild land, wildlife and the John Muir Trust and to pick up a few souvenirs.

Based on the concept of ‘wild space’ and the John Muir Trust’s effort to save it, the visitor centre consists of: a self-guided interactive exhibition; a gift shop filled with plenty of locally-sourced, nature-based gifts; and the Alan Reece Gallery which showcases beautiful painting and photo exhibitions of wild places.

On entering you are met with the lovely smell of wood giving it a very ‘wild’ but inviting feel, as do the friendly faces of Alice and the Wild Space team.You are encouraged to wander freely around the clear yet informative noticeboards, enjoying the cool pictures and interactive games. Also on offer is an emotive video about the importance of wild places and the Trust’s role in keeping them wild, plus a series of audio journeys around some of the land the John Muir Trust manages – including Britain’s best beach Sandwood Bay and our highest mountain Ben Nevis.

The visitor centre offers a selection of gifts ranging from children’s toys to books and even tea towels – with all profits going towards ‘wild places for people and nature’ – and its Alan Reece Gallery displays a different artist/photographers’ work every few months. The most recent exhibition features Italian photographer Marco Dadone’s impressions of ‘Deep Scotland’. (Once you’ve done all that, be sure to “leaf” a comment on the comment tree.)

My Wild Space visit has definitely encouraged me to get outdoors and help conserve our amazing wild spaces. The displays clearly show that these precious green places need to be protected and we should be helping to do that. It was also interesting to learn about the John Muir Trust, its spectacular properties and the great work it does.

The Wild Space definitely accomplishes its goal of inspiring others about the beautiful wild places in Scotland. My favourite bit was definitely the art exhibition because the photos were amazing and let you see Scotland in a different light.

I really enjoyed going there and I recommend that other people visit to find out more about the John Muir Trust, what it does and how they can help.

Find out more about the Wild Space visitor centre