Mountaineer and broadcaster Cameron McNeish will be appearing at the Skye Book Festival on Friday July 29th.
Cameron will be presenting an illustrated talk, along with fellow film maker Richard Else, about the BBC 2 documentary The Skye Trail, a 70-mile backpacking route from the tip of the Trotternish Peninsula to Broadford.
The event takes place in the Aros Centre in Portree on the Isle of Skye at 7.30pm and admission is free. The event will also be the launch of the book which accompanied the BBC programme and signed copies will be available.
The Skye Book Festival is a three day event focusing on antiquarian and second hand books with a number of stalls at the Aros Centre.
Cameron McNeish’s book, The Skye Trail, describes a 70 mile walk connecting two of the island’s most extraordinary landscapes; the world-famous Cuillin, the most rugged mountain range in Britain, and the Trotternish ridge, a rolling escarpment of basalt hills that look over the sea to the tumbled landscapes of mainland Scotland. This long walk through the island, the ‘Skitis’ of the Celtic world, follows ancient byways, cattle drovers’ routes, mountain footpaths and an old railway line, through a land where the first inhabitants sensed the presence of their gods in every nook and cranny, on every hill and crag, in every corrie and loch. Landscape and weather and an affinity with wild nature made up the very fabric of their lives. The route visits castles, takes in geological gems like the Quiraing and the Storr, follows rivers and loch-side paths and recalls those who were brutally removed from their homes during the Highland Clearances. It visits the site of the ‘last battle on British soil’ and climbs Bla Bheinn, surely the finest mountain on this island of fine mountains. The route then takes its finale along the old Marble Line to Broadford, and the end of a magnificent island journey.
The book adds to and builds on a number of exisiting publications centered on a long walk across the island. It is hoped that eventually some form of the Trail will be adopted as one of Scotland’s Great Trails, a group of 20 long distance routes which are promoted nationally by Scottish Natural Heritage and have some waymarking and other facilities. Evidence suggests that having an official long distance route brings additional visitors to the area and boosts the local economy. For the last two years Highland Council Rangers have completed the Skye Trail as a number of day walks open to the public which have proved popular. The Skye Trail route taken by the Rangers is detailed on Walkhighlands where you can also see maps and a step by step description of the trail.
Scotland’s leading Antiquarian Book expert, Donald MacCormack, will also pay a visit to the Skye Book Festival to talk about some of the rare volumes he has bequeathed to the island. Donald MacCormick’s own collection of priceless books has been housed at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig since 2001 and the man himself will select some outstanding items to discuss, among them extremely rare volumes of ‘Sheriff Ivory’s Letters’ (late 19th century) and ‘Emigrants’ Guide to New Zealand’ (1872 and in Gaelic). Donald MacCormick will give his public presentation at The Aros Centre in Portree, Isle of Skye at 11am on Thursday 28th July 2011. For more details about the Festival and Cameron McNeish’s presentation see the Aros Centre website.