Responding to a public consultation which closed this week, the John Muir Trust has lodged an objection to the proposed Crossburns Wind Farm in Highland Perthshire, pointing out that the scheme would disfigure one of Scotland’s Great Trails. West Coast energy has submitted a planning application for 25 turbines, each 115 metres high, to be built across the Ardtalnaig to Aberfeldy leg of the walk. The turbines will also be on the route of the Scottish National Trail. If approved, this section of the Rob Roy Way, considered one of the highlights of the entire walk, will be re-routed during…

Contractors finished restoration work this week on the 3.8km footpath that rises 928 metres to the spectacular summit of the ‘Blue Mountain’ on the edge of the Cuillin. Earlier this year, the John Muir Trust, which looks after Blà Bheinn, won £24,000 in an online poll organised by the European Outdoor Conservation Association towards the costs. The Trust followed this up with an appeal among its members and supporters to raise the balance to fund the project. Chris Goodman, Footpath Manager for the John Muir Trust said: “This was a substantial piece of work that included building 100 metres of…

A forgotten literary masterpiece celebrating the majesty of the Cairngorm mountains will be the subject of a new documentary presented by travel writer Robert MacFarlane. The Living Mountain – A Cairngorms Journey will be shown on BBC2 Scotland on Tuesday 2 December at 10pm and will be available more widely on the BBC iPlayer shortly afterwards. The Living Mountain, written by Scottish poet and novelist Nan Shepherd in the 1940s, recounts her experience of walking in the Cairngorms during the early years of the Second World War. When Robert MacFarlane first discovered it he found it to be one of…

Mountaineer and writer Chris Townsend has joined campaigners against a wind farm in the Monadhliath Mountains to call on the Scottish Government to stay true on its word to protect wild land. Supporters of Save The Monadhliath Mountains (SMM), a broad based coalition of mountaineers, hill-walkers, conservationists, tourism businesses, ornithologists and local communities, are opposed to the building of the wind farm at Allt Duine, located wholly in Wild Land, partly in the National Park and next to the National Scenic Area in the Highlands. SMM says that Ministers are allowing the developers behind the project, RWE, to spin matters…