News

Isle of May opens to walkers

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Helen Webster

Boat trips to Scottish Natural Heritage’s Isle of May National Nature Reserve re-start for this year’s visitor season on 1 April. The island is renowned for its bird populations, its seals, its history and its carpets of flowers. The reserve, at the mouth of the Forth, has a boat service from Fife and East Lothian during the visitor season. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) welcomes boat trips to the island from April until the end of September and SNH does not charge for visiting. The island has a visitor centre and marked paths covering the island. The private May Princess boat…

Posted in Nature, News

National Nature Reserve walks highlighted

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Helen Webster

There are over fifty National Nature Reserves (NNRs) in Scotland which are some of the best places for wildlife spotting in the country. It is now possible to search the 1300 routes on Walkhighlands to find walks in these Reserves. NNR’s are managed primarily for nature, but people are welcome too, many have facilities to enable visitors to appreciate the wildlife living there. Walkhighlands has 69 detailed walking routes in NNRs across Scotland – to find them go to the Find A Walk search facility and click NNR in the Walk Features option. Put together, the NNRs showcase the wide…

Posted in Nature, News, Walkhighlands news

MCofS publishes Hillwalking Factfile

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Helen Webster

The body which represents hillwalkers and climbers in Scotland, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) has published a new Factfile about hillwalking. The A5 leaflet is aimed at anyone thinking of taking up hillwalking. On launching it, the MCofS said, “This new FactFile gives anyone considering hill walking in Scotland’s hills and mountains in summer for the first time a concise list of what they need to know, what gear they need to get and where they can start.” “The first chapter gives some practical advice on what clothing is the best for hill walking and what else you need…

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Online booking for Angus Glens Walking Festival

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Helen Webster

The award-winning four day Angus Glens Walking Festival has started taking online bookings for the 2011 event to be held in June. Experienced walkers and novices alike will be able to choose from a packed programme of 28 walks as well as three evenings of top-class entertainment. Last year the festival was extremely popular with many walkers reserving places within days of the online booking launch. Spaces are limited so organisers are advising to book early. Now in its ninth year the festival will run from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June 2011. The programme provides the opportunity to experience…

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Ben Lawers tree planting boost

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Helen Webster

Work is underway at the National Trust for Scotland’s (NTS) Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve near Killin as staff and volunteers prepare for the peak visitor season once again. Last year the visitor centre building, which was closed during a round of NTS cutbacks, was removed from the car park and there are ongoing plans to re-site the existing car park and undertake landscaping. The reserve is the site of the Central Highlands’ highest mountain and six other Munros, as well as some of Scotland’s rarest alpine flora, beautiful birds including the Ptarmigan and Red Grouse, fascinating archaeology and stunning…

Posted in Access issues, Nature, News

Southern Upland Way on Walkhighlands

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Helen Webster

Scotland’s longest long distance walk, the Southern Upland Way, is now featured on Walkhighlands.co.uk. The route was walked for Walkhighlands by outdoor writer, Chris Townsend, who also used the challenge of the weather and the terrain to test out some walking and camping gear. The Southern Upland Way is Scotland’s first and only official coast-to-coast long distance route, running across the country from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea. From Portpatrick on the west coast the route runs 341 kilometres to Cove and Cockburnspath on the east coast. The Southern Uplands make up the southernmost part of Scotland, just…

Posted in News, Walkhighlands news

Hill Tracks consultation published

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Helen Webster

The Scottish Government has published the consultation on proposals to change Permitted Development Rights for the construction of Hill Tracks. At the moment most hill tracks are constructed without the need for planning permission as they are deemed to be Permitted Development. This consultation is in response to a campaign to change the Permitted Development Rights (PDR) which resulted in a parliamentary debate in June last year. The consultation document stops well short of proposing removing PDR for this sort of development totally or from specified designated areas which was recommended in research carried out by Herriot Watt University. The…

Posted in Access issues, News

Want to help carry a car up Ben Nevis?

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Helen Webster

The John Muir Trust, the UK’s leading wild land charity, has reached an agreement with the organisers of a major car rally in Lochaber that will see a Model T Ford go to the top of Ben Nevis. The car, which has already been prepared by Model T Ford enthusiast Neil Tuckett, will be dismantled at Achintee, near Fort William, and assembled on the summit of the Ben. The planned date for the carry is Wednesday 18 May, part of a week-long rally being organised by Iain Blyth for the Model T Register of Great Britain. Local company No Fuss…

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Birth of a nature reserve, death of an aircrew

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Helen Webster

A poignant memorial service took place yesterday (Monday 14 March) amid some of Scotland’s wildest mountains to commemorate an RAF aircrew killed in a training accident in 1951. The tragedy took place just as the mountain, Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross, came to be Britain’s first national nature reserve. It happened in the early hours of 14 March 1951 when a Lancaster bomber from RAF Kinloss crashed near the summit of Beinn Eighe, killing all eight crew members. The wreckage came to land in what is still known today as “Fuselage Gully” and due to the harsh conditions it took…

Posted in Nature, News

Snow may mean more midges

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Helen Webster

Although many walkers, climbers and skiers have been enjoying the challenge of the recent snow in the Highlands, it is being predicted that the early snowfall this winter could mean many times more midges this summer. Previously it was thought that heavy frosts and prolonged cold killed off the midge larvae, leading to reduced numbers the following summer. However Dr Alison Blackwell from the Scottish Midge Forecast said that the deep snow that hit Scotland from November this year has acted as an insulating layer, keeping alive the larvae. Dr Blackwell told the Scotsman, “We thought that a hard ground…

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