Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Suze Walker - Medical Herbalist, Alternative & holistic health service, Roadside Cottage, Glasgow.
10/11/2025
Thank you to everyone who stopped along the stall this weekend to say hi, buy some remedies and enquire about workshops/appointments - it’s was an absolute whirlwind! 🌿
Special thank you to the amazing Christine and Laura for all their help and to the volunteers for organising this very special event - you are all stars just like this beautiful flower 🌟
The online shop will be updated this week with my new products. Workshops will be advertised this week too so watch this space! 🌿
Borage is for courage and there was a lot of that required this weekend. Thank you all for your continued support - it means an awful lot 🌿❤️
07/11/2025
Looking forward to seeing you at the craft fair this weekend 🌿
I’ll have all your favourite herbal remedies to keep you cool, calm and healthy this winter 🌿
I’m in the bowls hall this year 🌿
27/09/2025
Just a wee update as I’ve been absent online for some time now. The combination of amazing weather, summer holidays and family commitments simply means I have had no time to post online. However, I have been very busy growing, harvesting and making herbal medicine (picture for evidence of meadowsweet harvest while on holiday!) so hopefully I'll find time to share more about this with you over the winter!
In the meantime, I’ll be at Mareel this Sunday for the Shetland Arts & Crafts Association Wool Week Market (11-5) with all your favourite seasonal herbal remedies:
🍂 Elderberry Syrup
🍂 Rosehip Oxymel
🍂 Fire Cider
🍂 Fire Chai
🍂 Herbal Tea
In addition I’ll also have two NEW products:
🍂 Throat Spray ~ to help relieve soreness and fight infection
🍂 Rescue Remedy Drops ~ to help alleviate feelings of overwhelm & anxiety
I hope to see you there
Details of upcoming workshops & markets to follow
21/05/2025
🍃🍃🍃 It's All Clear - New Tea 🍃🍃🍃
I'm a bit late in posting this as the tea has been in for some time now but with all this fine weather I've been so busy planting and harvesting (and painting!) that I simply forgot to mention it!
🍃 It's All Clear is a blend designed for those who suffer from seasonal allergies and can help to ease symptoms such as itchy eyes and a stuffy nose etc. Key herbs are:
🍃 - the nutritional king of herbs also has the ability to reduce histamine and has anti-inflammatory properties
🍃 - as a demulcent and anti-inflammatory herb, it supports and restores health to the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract
🍃 - familiar as a tasty, cooling summer drink, Elderflower has many medicinal qualities including anti-catarrhal, expectorant and astringent - everything you need to open those airways and ease the irritation associated with allergies
Hopefully you may have noticed the tea and already be sipping away as starting early in the season is always beneficial and if not, then better late than never!
☀️what a magical weekend at for the spring tonic workshops ☀️
☀️ a huge thank you to Linda for allowing us to use the gardens and to all the participants for really engaging and making the weekend so enjoyable ☀️
This is just some of the things we learnt how to make and sample over the two days:
🌿 Cleavers 24hr infusions and juice
🌿 Spring greens vinegar
🌿 Nettle iron tonic
🌿 Dandelion, Daisy & Hypericum infused oil
🌿 Rose petal tincture
🌿 Garden tea
🌿 Wild garlic pesto
🌿 Wild garlic & spring greens sauerkraut
🌿 Flowering currant cordial & kombucha
🌿 Nettle & carrot cake
🌿 Dandelion & Burdock cordial
🌿 Nettle energy balls
🌿 Lemon balm, Hibiscus & Peppermint kombucha
☀️to be blessed with such good company and weather in the most beautiful surroundings felt really special - can’t wait to do it again! ☀️
20/04/2025
🌻 Tussilago farfara - Coltsfoot
🌻 These pictures were taken a few weeks ago on a trip to Sanday Island in Orkney. Here we were at Doun Helzy, a hidden beach on the south east coast of the island with spectacular caves that are accessible at low tide. On our way to the beach we encountered this lovely patch of Tussilago farfara poking out the sandy clifftops like little rays of sunshine
🌻 The name Tussilago is derived from the latin tussis (to cough) and ago (to depart). It's common name Coltsfoot arises from the fact that the leaves resemble the shape of a horses foot. Although it's often referred to as "father before son" because the flowers appear before the leaves and as the name suggests, this herb has traditionally been used as a cough remedy and respiratory tonic.
🌻 Sadly Coltsfoot isn't used that much in modern practice due to the fact it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can be hepatotoxic (once converted in the liver) if taken in large doses or over a long periods of time. This doesn't mean it has to be written off completely and it certainly can be used in small doses for short term use in certain people but this obviously needs to be carefully assessed prior to prescribing. Combining with other herbs, which is normal practice for herbalists, may also go some way to alleviating these effects and there is ongoing research into this.
🌻 It would be nice to think we could head back to Sanday to gather some leaves when they appear later in the year; however, the reality will most likely be Hamnavoe leaves. Fortunately this lovely little herb can be found growing quite abundantly in most areas, often around wasteland, verges and pavement cracks (not to be confused with Dandelion when flowering)
16/03/2025
Definitely feels like spring is in the air today. I even managed to plant some seeds outside in the sun 🌿
Spring Cleanse Kits are back in stock online now - I'll be starting mine next week - let's hope this fine weather lasts 🌿
🌿 It feels as though it might be safe to say that spring is finally here. Even though we still feel the cold, the evenings are noticeably brighter and the plants are really starting to shoot up now, braving the Shetland winds. So let's be like the plants; let's stretch up, get out and embrace these longer days. If, like me, you feel like you might need a bit of assistance with this, then my Spring Cleanse Kit is the place to start. Each kit consists the following:
🌿A specially blended herbal tincture
🌿Begin Again herbal tea
🌿A diet/lifestyle advice sheet to guide you through a 2 week gentle spring cleanse
🌿Full instructions on how to take your herbs
🌿The herbs (which I'll write about individually in the coming weeks) included in the tincture and tea have been carefully chosen to help improve digestion and support routes of elimination. They are safe for everyone to take but please be aware that the tincture is an alcohol/water extract. If you have any concerns or questions, please DM and I will be happy to discuss further
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to Suze Walker - Medical Herbalist:
I gained a first class BSc Honours degree in Herbal Medicine from Napier University in 2012. As part of my degree, orthodox subjects such as anatomy and physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, clinical medicine and differential diagnosis were studied alongside phytochemistry, materia medica, traditional herbal therapeutics, plant science and nutrition. I also completed over 500 hours of clinical training.
After graduating I was accepted as a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, established 1864, which is the UK's leading regulating body for Medical Herbalists. NIMH members are required to adhere to a strict code of ethics and practice and submit annual Continuing Professional Development records.
I now run regular herbal medicine clinics from my home in Hamnavoe and in 2018 I launched Island Botanicals - Shetland's first herbal tea company. I am passionate about growing herbs and I try to incorporate as many locally grown or wild harvested plants into my tea blends as possible, as well as promoting the use of food as medicine.
Herbal medicine is the oldest form of medicine and continues to be the most widely used form of healthcare in the world. Herbal medicine is the use of plant-based medicines to remedy ill health and can be used to treat a variety of both chronic and acute conditions associated with:
Stress and anxiety
Digestive disorders
Allergies
The immune system
Skin problems
Fatigue and low energy
Sleep disorders
Nutrition
Women's health
Joints and bones
Heart & circulation
As a holistic therapy, herbalists take a patient centred approach to treatment with advice tailored to each individuals needs, meaning no two people will leave with the same prescription even if they present with the same condition. Through their training herbalists know what herbs can and can't be prescribed in certain conditions, such as pregnancy. Herbal medicine can work to complement orthodox medication, as such, herbalists are also fully trained in drug-herb interactions and contraindications; therefore, maintaining an excellent safety record. Indemnity insurance is mandatory for all NIMH members.
