Of all the traumas that summer inflicts upon a pale, midge-and-tick-attracting ginger who is forced to skulk around in the shadows for months on end, hay fever is by far the worst. But while I’ve had my fair share of…
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Indebted to a damselfly
The insect world is a bit marmite really. I’ve met a good number of people who adore insects more than they adore the furriest, softest koala bear. But then I’ve met plenty of people who loathe insects with every fibre…
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Posted in Magazine
The Bone Caves of Inchnadamph
It’s wonderful when a place surprises you, when something you think might just make an interesting diversion actually turns out to be something extraordinary, something revelatory. Perhaps even something profound. The Bone Caves of Inchnadamph were somewhere I’d driven past…
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Posted in Magazine
Why we should care about peat
Peat. Don’t you just love it? Well, if you’re a hillwalker there’s a good chance that you don’t, because when it’s exposed at the surface or when it comes served with its standard topping of spongy luminous moss, it can…
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Posted in Conservation, Magazine
When does spring start?
On 15th February I went for a walk up West Lomond in Fife and, as I walked through the fields everything around me screamed ‘SPRING!’ for the first time this year. It was only 7C but it was a clear…
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Posted in Magazine
Edinburgh: a half green city
A friend of mine once told me of the time she was showing a Parisian client around Edinburgh and how, as a proud Reekie resident, she made a point of taking her visitor to all the best vantage points and…
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Posted in Conservation, Magazine
Walking can be dangerous and is done entirely at your own risk. Information is provided free of charge; it is each walker's responsibility to check it and navigate using a map and compass.