Strathspey – A Rainy Morning of Pottery, Candles and Paintings

Spey Bank Studio

An attraction

Grantown's old Bank of Scotland on the Square is now Spey Bank Studio, a gallery of paintings, photographs, prints and ceramics, mostly by Scottish artists and many of them from the Cairngorms. It's run by Jane Candlish and the artist Angus Grant, whose own Cairngorms landscapes hang among the rest. The building also holds his studio and a pottery, where the stoneware mugs stamped with his name are made and glazed. Parking on the High Street is free. The studio opens from 10am to 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday.

Cairn Candle Co

A shop

It's a few minutes' walk down the High Street to Cairn Candle Co, on the corner of Spey Avenue. A mother and son run it, making every candle and diffuser by hand, a batch at a time, from soy wax and cotton wicks. The scents are named after places in the Cairngorms: Lochnagar, the Lairig Ghru, the River Spey. This is their factory shop, so you may find a fresh batch on the go while you browse. It's open from 10am to 2pm, Thursday to Saturday.

Carrbridge Artist Studios

Carrbridge is about ten miles west along the A938. Park in the village car park by the old packhorse bridge and walk a couple of minutes along Main Street to Carrbridge Artist Studios, the gallery of Jeff, Alice and Amy Buttress. Jeff's paintings are of Scotland's hills, lochs and wild country, Alice makes pottery and raku-fired animals and carves owls and squirrels with a chainsaw, and Amy makes handbuilt ceramics and fused-glass jewellery. In winter it opens from 11am to 4pm, Tuesday to Friday, and from 10am to 2pm on Saturdays.

The Carrbridge Kitchen

Lunch

Lunch is a few steps along Main Street at the Carrbridge Kitchen, a village café cooking with local produce in season. Expect soups, its own sausage rolls and homemade cakes and scones, with coffee roasted by Glen Lyon in Aberfeldy, and in winter there's a wood-burning stove to sit by. Dogs are welcome and there's a children's menu. It's open every day from 10am to 4pm. Across the road, its sister shop, The Old Bakery Arts & Crafts, sells work by Highland artists and local makers.