Conservation and community groups demand review of phone mast programme

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Paul Webster

A coalition of community, conservation and outdoor recreation groups has written to the UK Government asking it to review its rollout of the Shared Rural Network programme to prevent causing unnecessary damage to communities and wild places. Applications for telecom masts are flooding into Local Planning Authorities across Scotland with little justification as to their specific siting and design. Many of the applications lack meaningful knowledge of the sites they are proposed on with blatant disregard for whether communities will actually benefit. The rushed approach is being driven by a geographical target, set by the UK Government, to bring 4G…

Posted in Magazine, Nature

Our picks: Glasgow walks by public transport

Posted on September 30, 2023 by Paul Webster

Tips for using Walkhighlands Whether you are using the free Walkhighlands app that lets you download our detailed route descriptions and GPS mapping for use offline, or just using the website, when doing any walk search you can specify if you are looking for walks that are accessible by public transport – just tick the ‘advanced search’ box to bring up the option. You can search for walks in any specific area, but here are our ideas for 10 walks you can reach from Glasgow. Walking using public transport in Scotland does take a bit more effort to plan your…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Our picks

Ramblers Scotland research reveals inequality in access to the Outdoors

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Paul Webster

New research from walking charity Ramblers Scotland has revealed that Scots living in more deprived areas have far fewer local paths than their wealthier counterparts. Data-crunching by the walking charity has found shocking inequality in the number of ‘core paths’ that communities can enjoy. · Residents in the most deprived* half of society have a total of 4,579 miles of local core paths, compared with 10,351 miles within the least deprived half of Scotland. · People in the healthiest** 10% of areas have nine times (1,891 miles) more local core paths than the least healthy communities (211 miles). Core paths are legally designated by Scottish councils…

Posted in Access issues, Magazine, News

Five years of Radical Road closure marked with call for urgent action

Posted on September 11, 2023 by Paul Webster

Campaigners today marked the fifth anniversary of Edinburgh’s Radical Road closure with an urgent call for Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to “see sense”. HES shut the iconic 200-year-old path on 11 September 2018 due to concerns about rockfall. It is one of the most popular ways up Arthur’s Seat – Edinburgh’s top attraction on TripAdvisor – yet five years on, it remains blocked and ringed by ugly fencing. Stakeholders including Ramblers Scotland, Cockburn Association, Edinburgh Geological Society, Mountaineering Scotland and ScotWays are urging HES to make a more holistic assessment of risks. They want HES to weigh the low risk…

Posted in Access issues, Magazine, News

Our picks: 10 walks you can reach by train

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Paul Webster

Whether you have no car, are trying to minimise your impact on the environment, or are just looking to save the stress of driving and instead enjoy the comfort of relaxing on a train rather than face driving home with tired legs, Scotland’s railways can help you reach some truly superb walks in comfort. In this article sponsored by ScotRail, we choose ten great walks you can reach by train, scattered all around the country. Birnam Hill (Dunkeld / Birnam) Walk the walk This superb circular walk climbs up over beautifully-wooded Birnam Hill. It offers superb views over the surrounding…

Posted in Features, Magazine

Duncan Chisholm interview: music and a sense of place

Posted on June 17, 2023 by Paul Webster

Duncan Chisholm is perhaps the best known Scottish fiddler of his generation. With an intense personal connection to the Highland landscape that so deeply inspires him, Duncan instils pride and passion into recording music influenced by Scotland’s wild places – most recently on his latest album, Black Cuillin. We were lucky enough to catch one of Duncan’s recent concerts with Hamish Napier earlier this month, and asked Duncan about how the landscape and such a strong sense of place feeds into his work. Three of your albums – Farrar, Canaich and Affric – form the Strathglass trilogy, all being close…

Posted in Features, Magazine

Before and after photos show Ryvoan recovery from deer damage

Posted on June 7, 2023 by Paul Webster

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has recreated a 1984 photo of the Ryvoan Pass overlooking the Green Lochan to document the impact of deer management over the past 30 years. The 1984 image was taken by George Dey, a forester who donated his collection of photos to the University of Aberdeen. The caption on the photo states: “Lovely high view of the Green Loch at Glenmore Forest. George Dey has made the remark – no regeneration and it would be interesting to see a present-day view from the same place.” The Ryvoan Pass in the Cairngorms National Park is a…

Posted in Magazine, Nature, News

New campaign to save Scotland’s mountain paths launches

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Paul Webster

Mountaineering Scotland and the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland (OATS) have announced the launch of It’s Up to Us, an ambitious three-year partnership campaign to raise £300,000 for much-needed path repairs on one of Scotland’s most iconic mountains, whilst raising awareness of the desperate need for investment in the repair and maintenance of informal mountain paths situated on land outside of Scotland’s national parks and NGO estates. It’s Up to Us was launched at an evening reception at The Black Watch Castle and Museum in Perth last night. It will also focus on engaging Government, stakeholder agencies and organisations, outdoor…

Posted in Access issues, News

First-ever Scottish wildcat release approved

Posted on March 24, 2023 by Paul Webster

NatureScot has approved a licence application from the Saving Wildcats partnership to release wildcats in the Cairngorms National Park later this year. The decision marks the first-ever conservation translocation of wildcats in Britain, with the first in a series of trial releases being planned to help restore Scotland’s critically endangered wildcat population. Led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), the application from Saving Wildcats was submitted in September 2022 and assessed by NatureScot in line with the Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations. The process considers a range of issues including animal welfare, site suitability and potential impacts on…

Posted in Magazine, Nature, News

Walks showcasing the BBC’s Wild Isles locations

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Paul Webster

In the new BBC’s Wild Isles series Sir David Attenborough celebrates the natural wonders of the islands that we call home, revealing the surprising and dramatic habitats that exist right on our doorstep. The series features stunning footage, much of it shot on location in Scotland – here we highlight some Walkhighlands routes that may reveal the wildlife and landscapes seen in the first episode. Killer whales- Hermaness, Shetland Some of the most stunning scenes featured orca – killer whales. Although they can be seen in many places around the coast of northern Scotland, Shetland is their only UK breeding…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature, Our picks