The John Muir Trust today supported legislation, first introduced by John Swinney in 2006, to extend the boundary of the Cairngorms National Park into Highland Perthshire. The public consultation for the Cairngorms National Park Boundry Bill ends on Friday.

“We welcome this proposal to move the Park’s boundary south to take in Blair Atholl and spectacular nearby hills such as Beinn a’Ghlo,” commented Nigel Hawkins, Chief Executive of the John Muir Trust. “The Park currently only includes the Northern Cairngorms. This extension will embrace the Southern Cairngorm mountains as well, truly earning Scotland’s first National Park the title of ‘The Cairngorms National Park’.”

The Park currently stretches from Grantown on Spey to the heads of the Angus Glens, from Ballater to Dalwhinnie and Drumochter including much of the Laggan area in the southwest and a large area of the Glen Livet estate.

The John Muir Trust hopes that making Blair Atholl the focus point for visitors entering the park will increase its impact. “Right now the only indication that you are entering Britain’s largest National Park is a sign by the road at Drumochter,” said Nigel Hawkins. “Moving the boundary to Blair Atholl will give the Park greater presence, as well as bringing potential economic benefits to area.”

The Cairngorms National Park is internationally recognized for its mountainous areas of wild land, moorlands, forests, rivers, lochs and glens. Almost 40% of the land area is protected by natural designations and two thirds of these sites are of Europe-wide importance. It is also home to some 16,000 people.

Nigel Hawkins cautioned that it is essential that environmental protection remains central to the Park’s future development. “At this review of National Parks, after their first five years, we must remember that the Parks were established to protect our best natural heritage. This must be foremost and will contribute to economic aims. Tourists come to see stunning landscapes and wildlife – let’s not kill the golden goose by putting short-term economic gain first.”

Archaeologists working on St Kilda, the National Trust for Scotland’s dual World Heritage Site have discovered a cross-inscribed slab that had previously gone un-noticed on the island, thanks to the sun.

Staff from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) recently visited the island as part of a special project to investigate and record the rich variety of archaeological evidence that exist on St Kilda.

They discovered the cross on a piece of stone that had been reused as the cover slab of a drain. It had never been spotted before, despite being located in a well-investigated area of the island and experts say they only spotted it when the sun hit the slab as they were passing.

Two other cross-incised slabs have already been recorded in the area – one built into one of 1860s houses, the other into the roof of one of the cleits (the drystane storage sheds that are unique to the archipelago). It is thought that the three stones came from the nearby chapel or graveyard.

National Trust for Scotland archaeologist Jill Harden, who has worked extensively on the island said:
“We are so pleased to have made such an interesting discovery, and almost by chance. The slab would not have been spotted had the sun not hit it just so. This find demonstrates just how much there is still to discover and understand on all our properties.

We are still a little surprised that this has been found here as the settlement area of Village Bay on Hirta is one of the most investigated historic landscapes cared for by the Trust. Nevertheless it is a brilliant discovery and one which will add to our understanding of this amazing location and the unique community it once supported.”

Strat Halliday, the archaeologist from RCAHMS who discovered the cross said: “I was literally just watching where I was putting my feet, and there it was, clear as daylight. And to think I’d walked across the very same spot less than 24 hours previously. It all goes to show how important it is to visit sites more than once and at different times of the day. You never know what’s going to pop up next.”

This year’s golden spurtle, the Oscar’s of the porridge world, has been awarded to Ian Bishop who runs the Slochd Mhor bunkhouse, skiing centre and bike shop, near Carrbridge in the Cairngorms. Ian, who has now been crowned World Porridge Making Champion, has entered every year for the last fifteen years, and is one of only a handful of local winners.

Ian put his success down to perserverance and local water taken from a bore hole near his house. “I remember the first year when it was organised and I had never made porridge before,” he said. “I saw the lumps and was told I had to stir like hell. I am delighted to have won it at long last.”

He was presented with the Golden Spurtle, a wooden stick traditionally used to stir porridge (clockwise only according to tradition), by Miss Scotland. Entrants had to use traditional oatmeal, salt and water, however chefs in the speciality section could add whatever ingredients they liked.

The winner in this section was Addy Daggert, a professional chef from the Netherlands, who also made it to the final of the porridge-making contest for the Golden Spurtle. Addy made his special porridge with a mixture of marzipan and home-made ice cream laced with 18-year-old Glenfiddich.

The World Porridge Championship has been held in Carrbridge for the last fifteen years and always attracts a large entrant of professional chefs, bed & breakfast landladies, and enthusiastic amateurs.

The John Muir Trust announced today that it is accepting entries for the 2009 Wild Writing Competition at the Fort William Mountain Festival. The competition, which is free and open to all, encourages both aspiring and professional writers to pen stories about Scotland’s landscapes and wild places.

“We are looking for inspiring short stories with the broad theme of’ ‘experiences in wild places,’” commented competition organizer Alison Austin. “Your entry can be factual or fictional and could incorporate a journey, a place, an expedition, a mountain or river, a walk, climb, sail or kayak.” First Prize is a place on a Writing and Place course at Moniack Mhor, Scotland’s creative writing centre.

Now running in its third year, the competition attracted over 50 high quality entries in 2008. Previous judges have included well-known writers Cameron McNeish, Jim Perrin, Cynthia Rogerson and Kenny Taylor. This year’s judges are the writer and teacher in creative writing Linda Cracknell and Hamish MacDonald, playwright, novelist and Director at Moniack Mhor.

It is hoped that the Gaelic, poetry and children categories will extend the reach of this year’s competition.

The closing date is the 26th of January 2009 for entries (not exceeding 1200 words) in English or Gaelic. Entries selected for final consideration will be exhibited at the 2009 Fort William Mountain Festival. The winning article will be published in the John Muir Trust Journal. Entry forms can be found on the websites of the Mountain Festival and the John Muir Trust.

Walkhighlands has reached the final shortlist of four for this year’s Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards in the Best New Business category. These prestigious Awards will take place on 21st November 2008 at the Drumossie Hotel in the heart of the Highland region, Inverness. The awards recognise excellence in the tourism sector. This is in addition to being earlier announced as a finalist in the Scottish Thistle Awards, the winner of which will be announced later this month.

Walkhighlands is thrilled to be shortlisted for this award and would like to give a huge thank you to the thousands of people who use the site and contribute their ideas, route comments and discussions.

The Mountain Bothy Association (MBA) has revealed in its annual report that 52 of the 99 bothies it maintains were repaired by its volunteers last year. The report highlights the work of its volunteer members who regularly join work parties or carry out maintenance work on the bothy that they look after.

The biggest project was the refurbishment of Luib Chonnal in the West Highlands. This included replacing the stairs and fitting new windows and stove. The work party involved a special workshop on using lime mortar given in association with Historic Scotland. Lairig Leacach, also in the West Highlands, has been given a new roof and a new double sleeping platform built. Other bothies have had their loft spaces closed off to reduce the risk from fires, and at Corrour, in the Cairngorms, the new toilet has been working well and means that the sensitive habitat is not being polluted by bothy users.

The annual report also shows that membership of the MBA is up 11% on the previous year, with 4,200 members. The MBA was established in 1965 to organise the restoration and maintenance of old cottages, huts and similar buildings throughout the wilder parts of Scotland, England and Wales for use as open shelters for walkers and other outdoor enthusiasts. Many of the buildings that are cared for by the MBA would otherwise have become derelict. The MBA does not own any of these buildings and restoration and maintenance is undertaken with the permission of the owners, with whom the MBA enjoys excellent working relations.

The organisation has recently undertaken major renovation work at Cam Ban in Upper Glen Affric and work at the old schoolhouse at Duag Bridge in Ross and Cromarty means a new bothy will be available this year.

Sadly the annual report does not mention the number of cups of tea consumed on work parties, however it does feature some rather fetching photos from 1970, taken by Irvine Butterfield, of a work party on Rum. Notable, in addition to the shortness of the shorts, is the youthfulness of those taking part and the sheer work involved in renovating a roofless ruin into a useable building.