Still time to donate unwanted gear

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Helen Webster

Gift Your Gear, the outdoor gear recycling initiative, will be accepting donations in all Rohan stores until 5 October. Drop off your unwanted waterproofs, fleeces, outdoor trousers, insulated jackets, hats and gloves regardless of brand including children’s clothing at any Rohan Shop and receive 15% off a full priced purchase made the same day as a qualifying Gift Your Gear donation. Gift Your Gear is the brainchild of Rohan founder Sarah Howcroft and cleverly matches unwanted outdoor gear with UK community organisations, youth groups and charities working with young people in the outdoors. Sarah, stresses the importance of reusing outdoor…

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Rannoch wind farm would kill golden eagles say mountaineers

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Helen Webster

Scotland's mountaineers have expressed concerns about the possible threat to rare wildlife from the proposed Talladh a Bheithe Wind Farm. Hundreds of residents, businesses and landscape protection organisations are actively opposing the scheme to build 24 wind turbines, each 125 metres tall, together with the wide access tracks, buildings and infrastructure, on moorland between Loch Rannoch and Loch Ericht. The impact on wildlife is a key concern for some including George Macdonald, who recently retired after 23 years as head gamekeeper on a local estate. His views are backed up by Scottish Natural Heritage whose own objection suggests that the…

Posted in Nature, News

Glen Affric competing for cash award

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Helen Webster

Hopes of protecting and restoring a magnificent Highland glen and its rare wildlife, including golden eagles, red squirrels and Scottish wildcats, have received a major boost after conservation charity Trees for Life was named as finalist for a major European funding project, with the winner to be chosen after an online public vote. The charity’s Glen Affric Landscape Project is in the running to secure almost £20,000 in the European Outdoor Conservation Association’s ‘Outdoor’ funding scheme, with online voting taking place over two weeks until Monday 6 October at this website. The Trees for Life project will also create opportunities…

Posted in Nature

Shooting the breeze: Framing your photos

Posted on September 23, 2014 by David Lintern

I thought it’d be worth trying to take a look at framing subjects in landscape photography. Last time I threw a load of numbers at you, but I’m deliberately abstaining from that here. Hopefully it goes without saying that this is a massive subject area and impossible to discuss objectively, but I’ll say it anyway. Subjectivity is kind of the point in my view, and something to be celebrated, especially since it can’t be avoided – we might see the same landscape, but we see it slightly differently. First, what’s ‘composition’? Apparently, wiki thinks ‘it’s the placement or arrangement of…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Photography

Trossachs walks coverage expanded and updated

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Paul Webster

Walkhighlands’ coverage of walking in the Trossachs area has been expanded and updated. New routes added close to Callander and Aberfoyle include the beautiful waymarked Primrose Hill circuit above Loch Katrine, along with many other brand forest walks. Other routes have been completely rewritten and updated, whilst many new hill routes have also been added or revised. Several new routes up Corbetts have also been added, including Beinn a’ Chaisteil and Beinn nan Fuaran above Auch, Meall nam Subh in Perthshire; further Corbett routes are still being added.

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Dundee Mountain Film Festival tickets on sale

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Helen Webster

Tickets are now available for this year's Dundee Mountain Film Festival starting on the evening of Thursday 27th November and running through to Saturday night. The festival is the UK's longest continuous running mountain film festival. It showcases an international programme of speakers, as well as award winning films and exhibitions, held in Discovery Point, and Bonar Hall, Dundee. 2014 will present two evening programmes on 27th, 28th, and one full day programme on Saturday 29th all featuring films and personal appearances including talks by Karen Darke and Martin Moran. There will also obe a supporting exhibition of art, photography,…

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Public to be consulted on future of Glenmore

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Helen Webster

Members of the public are being invited to come along to a drop in session on Thursday 25 September to find out about and give their views on the long term management of publicly owned land in Glenmore and Upper Rothiemurchus forests near Aviemore. This area includes land managed by Cairngorm Mountain and is the starting point for many walks both up onto the Cairngorm plateau and in Rothiemurchus forest itself. Earlier this year Forestry Commission Scotland purchased Upper Rothiemurchus Forest from the Grants of Rothiemurchus Esate for £7.4 million. The event will be held at Glenmore Visitor Centre and…

Posted in Access issues, Nature, News

Local councillor fears “monstrous” new power line over Monadhliath

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Paul Webster

A local councillor in Badenoch and Strathspey has expressed concern at the prospect of another new line of pylons over the Monadhliath. Cllr Gregor Rimmel told the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald newspaper that “I know it’s still early but alarm bells are already ringing over the prospect of a line of pylons from Creag Meagaidh – pylons the same size as the old Drumochter towers – further desecrating the previously unspoilt area towards Laggan. It’s not just the line, it’s the sub-station which it involves and that could be a 10-acre metal kit-and-kaboodle plant bang in the middle of our…

Posted in Nature

The Cairngorm Reindeer

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Ben Dolphin

Last week I was standing under a blue sky in a bleakly beautiful landscape. It was vivid with an unlikely marriage of green and orange, the brief surge of summer growth giving way to the rustiness of autumn. Bright white snow lay off to my right, the stubborn remnants of winter storms hinting at the true nature of the place. And just beyond that, not ten metres from me, a dozen or so reindeer grazed peacefully under a warm sun. I sat down on a rock and immersed myself in the timeless scene before me, alone with the reindeer in…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature

Wind farm near Ben Wyvis refused planning

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Helen Webster

Highland Council has refused planning permission for a wind farm on the slopes of Carn Gorm, about 8km south west of Ben Wyvis, a popular Munro. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland and John Muir Trust had opposed the proposal. Council planning officials advised that the scheme would have a detrimental impact on wild land. The Trust’s Head of Policy, Helen McDade, said: “This is a victory for wild land and for common sense. The Trust vigorously objected to the development. We are delighted that the Highland Council has taken this decision. “We are especially heartened at the council’s recognition that…

Posted in Nature, News