Wild Moment: Delia Kennedy
A Trust Member discusses the power of positive action and recommends reading Tess Burrows' books.
Ripples. We all send them out, we all receive them, so we need to do our best to make good ones. One person's experiences and actions can unknowingly influence many others during life's journey and I recently came across one adventurous lady whose challenges and experiences are well worth reading about.
Tess Burrows describes herself as an "adventurer, peace activist, author [of five books], speaker, mother and grandmother and environmental campaigner". In 2021 she and her 13-year-old grand-daughter cycled 600 miles to Glasgow for the COP26 Conference.
I first came across Tess through her book Cold Hands, Warm Heart, which tells the story of her climb to the top of the Old Man of Hoy with a 'Save the Antarctic' banner. Since then she has been to the Arctic, Antarctic, climbed Kilimanjaro in Africa and Chimborazo in Ecuador in pursuit of sending out her messages of peace and love to our wonderful planet and its human inhabitants. Her books draw you fully into her thoughts, experiences, highs and lows. What fantastic ripples she is still sending out.
My own passion for Scotland and its wild places, twinned with my membership of John Muir Trust and the tremendous work it does, has enabled me to experience some wonderful lasting memories of the beauty and indeed fragility of these very special areas.
Many of my walking adventures pale into total insignificance compared with Tess's challenges, and certainly climbing the Old Man of Hoy would never feature in my ambitions! Having said that, I am so thankful and grateful on several fronts that I have been able to experience the wonderful treks I have had, mainly in the North West, and which I never expected to have especially in later life.
Onwards and upwards in your precious endeavours to both Tess Burrows and John Muir Trust - keep sending out those important ripples.
- Find out more about Tess Burrows.
- Read more of Delia's Wild Moments.
- Inspired to submit your own Wild Moment? Find out how here.