Magazine

National Nature Reserves – Scotland’s Showrooms

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Ben Dolphin

I recently found myself stuck between a week’s holiday in Argyll and a week’s holiday in Glen Cannich. Between getting kicked out of one cottage and being able to check in to the next were seven long (and very soggy) hours. Factor in a 3.5hr drive and an hour faffing about in a Fort William supermarket and I’d be left with about 3 hours to kill. Now, if you’re an outdoorsy person then killing three hours on the west coast is unlikely to be a chore or a challenge. You’re spoilt for choice, but I really wanted to continue the…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature

Mountains – the perfect therapy

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Sarah Jane Douglas

In 1997, at the age of 24, Sarah Jane Douglas lost her mother to breast cancer. Alone and adrift in the world, she very nearly gave up hope, but she’d made a promise to her mother that she would keep going no matter what. So she turned to the beautiful, dangerous, forbidding mountains of her native Scotland. Her book Just Another Mountain was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award last year, and it was a Waterstones Book of the Month. ‘Which is your favourite mountain?’ is a question I’m frequently asked, but there are so many of outstanding…

Posted in Features, Magazine

Project sought to receive £100,000 grant to aid Scottish mountaineering

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Paul Webster

For its 60th birthday next year, the Scottish Mountaineering Trust is offering a ‘Diamond Grant‘ of up to £100,000, to a project that helps more people to experience and enjoy the mountains, especially in Scotland. The Trust was set up in 1962 to support deserving mountain projects, and over the years has contributed £1.6 million to a very wide range of schemes. A student training weekend – a mountain rescue base – a mountain film festival – a club hut – a new bridge – all these and many more have been helped, through grants ranging from a few hundred…

Posted in Access issues, Magazine, News

Gear review: Synthetic insulated jackets

Posted on November 25, 2021 by Paul Webster

When it comes to keeping warm on the hill, there are three main options. A traditional fleece offers warmth but very little protection from the wind, and so is best as a mid-layer. Down jackets offer the most warmth for the weight and pack the smallest, but lose most of their insulating properties when wet. Synthetic insulated jackets offer warmth but also protection from wind, and perform much better than down when conditions are wet. Highlander Lewis insulated jacket Recommended Price: £99Manufacturer Weight: 350g Livingstone-based Highlander Outdoor produce a range of outdoor gear towards the lower end of the price…

Posted in Gear reviews, Jackets, Magazine

Ramblers enter major court battle over access at Highland estate

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Paul Webster

Ramblers Scotland has embarked upon a landmark court battle against a landowner’s attempts to permanently sever a scenic path through a West Highland estate. The charity – which faces legal costs of up to £82,000 in its fight to save the Glenborrodale to Acharacle path – has today launched a Crowdfunder at www.ramblers.org.uk/glenborrodale to support its work on this and other legal cases. The path is on the Ardnamurchan peninsula and offers stunning views of Loch Sunart. It is of great value to the local community and as a strategic long-distance trail. In 2019, two Ramblers were reported for aggravated trespass while walking peacefully on the same path, which is near to their Glenborrodale home. A sheriff court last week granted Ramblers Scotland permission to join The Highland Council in opposing a bid by Woodland Renewables to use section 28 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 to…

Posted in Access issues, Magazine

Argaty Red Kites granted beaver translocation licence

Posted on November 10, 2021 by Helen Webster

In a significant policy step, Argaty Red Kites in Perthshire has been granted Scotland’s first edge-of-range beaver translocation licence. Argaty, a working farm which is home to the award-winning red kite project, has been awarded a licence by the Scottish Government’s nature agency NatureScot for the release of two families and one pair of beavers, without the need for enclosure fencing. The beavers will be relocated from areas of prime agricultural land in Tayside where lethal control licences have been issued. They will be released on selected ponds at Argaty later this year, supported by the charity Beaver Trust. The…

Posted in Magazine, News

Telling your trees from the wood

Posted on November 2, 2021 by David Lintern

Enjoy forest bathing but don’t know your mountain ash from your downy birch? Never fear – fellow botanical ignoramus David Lintern has a beginner’s guide. Over the summer, we went camping with the kids on the moors, pitching up for a couple of days near a small burn. After a brief but rigorous interrogation that any parent will recognise, I realised I had no clue what the slightly scrappy looking trees that lined the banks were. It’s embarrassing to admit, but no surprise really – I grew up surrounded by bricks and concrete, far from where I stay now, and…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature

Gear review: Waterproof trousers for women

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Helen Webster

Waterproof trousers have come a long way from the “boil in the bag”, flapping, oversized, essential but unloved items of gear I remember from the past. Whilst innovation has come with higher prices, there are now options that can be worn all day, as alternatives to regular hiking trousers and do more than just keep the rain out. Alpkit Nautilus Recommended Price: £124.99Weight: 420g (10 Short) Nautilus is Alpkit’s heavier overtrouser, made from 3-layer fabric with waterproof and breathable membrane with a nylon outer with a bit of stretch in it. This allows a slimmer fit so there’s less fabric…

Posted in Gear reviews, Magazine, Trousers

Pressure grows on rail bosses to fix Dalwhinnie ‘debacle’

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Paul Webster

Politicians have joined businesses, landowners, councils and outdoors organisations in signing an open letter calling for the unlocking of Dalwhinnie level crossing gates. Kate Forbes MSP and Ariane Burgess MSP are among 15 diverse signatories to the letter to Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland’s Railway. Network Rail padlocked the gates without consultation in late July, severing an historic route to popular lochs, glens and hills including much-loved Ben Alder. Rail chiefs have so far refused to back down, despite a joint petition signed by more than 9,000 people and unanimous opposition from key stakeholders at a meeting last month.…

Posted in Access issues, Magazine, News

Go on. Give moths a chance

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Ben Dolphin

On a warm dark night this summer, I found myself sat next to a glowing bright white ball in the garden, sunglasses over my eyes, watching moths of all sizes disappear into a big black box. Yes, I was getting eaten alive by mozzies and midges but I really didn’t care, because this was one of the undisputed wildlife highlights of my life. That might strike you as odd, given moths’ underwhelming reputation, but bear with me! Until relatively recently I have no memory whatsoever of peering closely at a moth or even being remotely motivated to do so. What…

Posted in Magazine, News