The Findhorn Foundation Ecovillage

Venture to Scotland's moray firth and you'll find an idyll of sustainable living

Featured June 09 Words by Nancy Lyon
The Findhorn Foundation Ecovillage

Scotland is known for its love affair with whisky, but this is taking it to another level. Wooden vats from a Craigellachie barrel-maker have been made into quirky houses straight out of The Hobbit - and you can't help but wonder if it smells like single malt inside.

The cluster of whisky-barrel dwellings overlooks organic-vegetable gardens, dancing wind turbines and the sandy dunes of the North Sea's Moray Firth. It's only a part of the Findhorn Foundation ecovillage, a sustainable-living community set between the villages of Findhorn and Kinloss.

The landscape between this area - known locally as "the Scottish Riviera" for its mild climate - and Inverness 26 miles away is teeming with history. Nearby are the ninth-century carved Pictish Sueno's Stone at Forres, the neolithic cemetery Balnuaran of Clava and the supposedly haunted Culloden Battlefield, where Bonny Prince Charlie's men were defeated by the Duke of Cumberland's troops on 16 April, 1746. Yet, here at Findhorn, except for these whisky barrels and a few words of Gaelic, it hardly looks like Scotland at all.

Near the entrance to the village is a quirky old tin caravan bearing the Gaelic name T�r Tairngire (in English, "the promised land") - it was home to some of the early members of the community and is still lived in today. But, as Findhorn evolves within the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) as a UN-affiliated training centre, such relics are being removed to make way for handsome new eco structures.

If you're expecting to see Scotland's hero Robert the Bruce on bank notes here, you're in for a shock. The local currency, the "eko", depicts wind turbines and grand timber houses, instead. Findhorn's system keeps money within the community - pay with a �10 note and you get change in ekos to spend elsewhere in the village. You can trade them back for sterling or save as souvenirs.

Incongruously, this peaceful community of 700 - comprising herbalists and healers, poets and potters, educators and experts practising sustainable professions - is next door to RAF Kinloss, established in 1939. (Brace yourself for the roar of Nimrod MR2s overhead.) The wide road fronting the visitors' centre was originally an RAF runway, but personnel now drive their cars over it to buy organic veggies, instead.

The Findhorn Foundation ecovillage caters to an annual 4,000 visitors from 70 countries. To grasp the range of ambitions here, drop into the visitors' centre for a tour, or explore on your own using the guide sold at the local Phoenix Community Stores.

You'll learn how it all started in 1962, when six people on the dole lived in the Findhorn Bay Caravan Park, miraculously growing 40lb cabbages and other giants in the sandy soil. From these beginnings sprang the UK's largest community-supported agricultural system.

The Findhorn story starts at the "original caravan", where founders Dorothy Maclean, Peter and Eileen Caddy and their three sons lived from 1962 to 1969. Walk past the fantastically named "eco-mobiles" and "earth ships" to the fancy timber houses in the Field of Dreams. The grass-roofed Nature Sanctuary is great for meditation, while the Living Machine, Europe's first eco sewage-treatment greenhouse, is a fascinating operation. The ecovillage's green credentials are impressive - the Stockholm Environment Institute rated it as having the lowest eco footprint in the industrial world.

Although most Findhorn residents live on modest incomes, they enjoy the fruits of their shared wealth, with daily gourmet vegetarian feasts, traded talents and skills, awesome scenery, beautiful buildings, and a flourishing arts scene all part of life in this community.

For food lovers, Phoenix Community Stores is a veritable Noah's ark of everything organic - according to manager David Hoyle, it stocks an incredible 25,000 items. From bread and beer to cheese and chocolate - even organic vodka - there's everything you need for a delectable picnic on the beach.

But, if that sounds like too much hard work, treat yourself to a light meal at the Blue Angel Caf�, situated within Findhorn's Universal Hall, the liveliest performing-arts venue between Aberdeen and Inverness. Look for the angel wings of stained glass and the pentagon-shaped roof made of living sedum plants. Universal Hall has dance, drama and recording studios, and a 300-seat auditorium. Groups such as Capercaillie and Blazin' Fiddles, and renowned ensembles, including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, National Theatre of Scotland and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, have all performed here - and many of those have soaked in the outdoor hot tub afterwards, too.

Living in a community where economic, political, social, spiritual, ecological and professional relationships overlap might seem a bit too intense for some; but, to New York-born artist Randy Klinger, director of the new Moray Art Centre, Findhorn is a magical, wish-fulfilling place. This high spec facility started from nothing more than a crazy dream and a shed, but is now a state-of-the-art venue powered by solar and geothermal energy, which is preparing to host exhibits from names such as The British Museum, the National Galleries of Scotland and the Louvre.

"I fled New York's cold, cynical art scene in 1992," explains Klinger. "I then started teaching art at Findhorn in a 50-year-old rusty metal shed with no insulation and bad lighting. It rained as much inside as it did outside! That lasted 14 years - during which time, more and more people were attracted to my vision."

"But I imagined an environment for artists and students to evolve and flourish away from market trends, fashion and critical intimidation. After sweat and tears, countless financial miracles and local and government support, it has finally happened - beyond my wildest dreams. Private art collectors, like comedian Billy Connolly, now want to give us their private works to exhibit. They call me up and say, 'Just come over with the van and take what you want."

The Findhorn Foundation ecovillage may have changed beyond all recognition from the crude caravans of the early days, but the ideals of art, beauty and sustainable living remain as true as ever. And they continue to develop. As Klinger says: "The sky's the limit!" Visit Findhorn and you'll believe it.

FINDING YOURSELF AT THE FINDHORN FOUNDATION

MORAY ART CENTRE

This creative hub has exhibitions, classes, lectures and films. Highlights include classes in botanical painting, paper sculpture and felt painting. New York artist Jon Schueler's work, inspired by northern Scotland's vast skyscapes, will be on show from 13 June to 29 August, while Poland and Scotland Connections will explore Bonnie Prince Charlie's Polish ancestry through art from 4 September. Take a tour of the nearby Battle of Culloden site, too.

For the latest exhibitions, check www.morayartcentre.org

UNIVERSAL HALL

The 2009 season of theatre, concerts dance, comedy and family entertainment continues. Scottish piper Fred Morrison will take centre-stage on 13 June, while the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's young principal conductor designate, Robin Ticciati, brings music by Faur�, Poulenc, Berlioz and Haydn on 27 June.

Visit www.findhorn.org/uhall.
Purchase tickets at www.thebooth.co.uk

WORKSHOPS

Join the Findhorn Foundation ecovillage as a short-term guest for one to six days.

The fee of �14 per day (pay at the visitors' centre) includes a vegetarian lunch and dinner, but not accommodation. Caravan and tent camping is available, or find a list of eco B&Bs at www.findhorn.org. "Experience Weeks" take place all summer in Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, French and English. Choose from a range of workshops, from astro-shamanic trance dances to hands-on ecovillage training.

For more details, visit www.findhorn.org or call +44 (0)1309 690311