The Highlands have been shortlisted in the, Britain’s favourite holiday destination, category in the BBC Countryfile Magazine awards for 2013. Now in their third year, the awards are a celebration of our countryside and its people. The 2013 awards were launched in the August and feature 10 categories, from conservation projects and best heritage site to countryside writers and the finest nature reserves. Countryfile is now asking the public to vote for their rural favourites. Full details can be found on the website, or you can email your votes to awards@countryfile.com. Voting closes on 30 September 2013.
Work starts to complete Loch Leven trail
Work has started on the final section to complete the circular Loch Leven heritage trail in Kinross-shire. At the moment walkers can only get three quarters of the way round the Loch to the RSPB centre at Vane Farm. There is only a very limited bus service in the summer to return people to the start, the alternative being a dangerous walk on a busy road. Following the raising of £800,000, and after negotiations with local landowners the final 6.5km of trail is being built and is expected to open next spring. This final section, which will close the gap between…
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Posted in Access issues, News
National Tree for Scotland consultation
The Scottish Government has announced that it will ask the public to make the final decision on choosing a national tree for Scotland. Rory Syme from the Woodland Trust Scotland said: “An official national tree would be a fantastic legacy of the Year of Natural Scotland, providing recognition of the role that native trees have in shaping the nation’s landscape and identity. “Scots pine will undoubtedly be a favourite, but many other species, such as rowan and aspen, have a rich heritage of their own and could be considered candidates. “Alex Hamilton deserves a great deal of credit for getting…
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Posted in Nature
Three Season Sleeping Bags
While it’s a convenient categorisation there’s no doubt that the traditional seasonal sleeping bag rating system (where sleeping bags are designated one, two, three, four or even five season) is highly subjective, and the introduction of the standardised EN13537 testing procedure was designed to make things a bit simpler for the consumer. Thanks to the variances in the way people sleep (a hot or cold sleeper, a side, back or front position, male or female, whether you’ve just eaten etc) I’m not convinced that it is. Nonetheless, put simply, the EN13537 Comfort rating is the lowest temperature that a woman can…
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Posted in Camping, Gear reviews
Life saving advice on river crossings
The arrival of autumn provides great opportunities for stunning days out in the Scottish hills, with the gradual change of the mountain flora to its autumn colours. But autumn also heralds its own risk in the hills. The increased rainfall, especially noticeable after the dry summer, can result in some normal burn and river crossings becoming impassable. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) has issued the following warning to walkers and has reduced the price of their DVD on making safe river crossings. “Even a burn you crossed earlier in the day can have risen to dangerous levels by afternoon,…
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Posted in News
Volunteers clock up over 1200 days working on Bothies last year
2012 saw no let-up in the amount of work undertaken by the Mountain Bothies Association to renovate and maintain unlocked shelters in the remote parts of Great Britain. Three new buildings were adopted during the year, although two others were handed back to their owners. Two well- known Scottish bothies received major refurbishment and improvements were made to many other buildings. Presenting the Report, Association Chairman John Arnott said: “2012 was a very successful year for the Association. We took on new buildings at Dryfehead in the Scottish Borders, Cruib on the Island of Jura, and Lluest Cwm Bach in the…
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Posted in News
Alfred Wainwright: Genius?
A number of years ago I was invited by the Wainwright Society to deliver their Centenary Lecture, I thought I was rather curious choice of speaker to talk about the legacy of Alfred Wainwright. For a start I’m a born, bred and patriotic Scot, and we all know that Scots hill-goers are a wee bit contemptuous of good old AW, and sometimes, just sometimes, we’re a wee bit contemptuous of the Lake District too. Some have suggested the Lake District is no more than a great sheepfold that could be swallowed up by the Rannoch Moor. Anyway, I accepted the…
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Deadline near for hill walking detectives
This weekend is the last chance for hill walkers to submit photos of any bulldozed tracks they have encountered. Walkers were asked to turn detective and send in evidence which will be used by campaigners who want to show the damage done to the environment by these unregulated tracks with the aim of persuading the Planning Minister to change the law so these tracks would need planning permission before they could be constructed. Helen Todd of Ramblers Scotland and co-convener of the campaign group said: “We have long been convinced that unregulated hill tracks needed to be brought into the planning…
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Posted in Access issues, News
Scottish National Trail website launched
A new website has just been launched to help promote the Scottish National Trail. The Trail – which was devised by outdoors broadcaster and writer Cameron McNeish and launched by First Minister Alex Salmond last year – runs for the length of Scotland, 864km from Kirk Yetholm to Cape Wrath. “This trail has wonderful variety, ranging from easy but beautiful walking in the Borders and Central Scotland before becoming progressively more challenging through Perthshire and the Cairngorms to become a real backpacking adventure in the Northwest Highlands. We’re delighted to have completed a detailed guide and description to walking every…
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Posted in News, Walkhighlands news
Plans for new Trossachs long distance path unveiled
A new long distance route in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park that will link the West Highland Way and the Rob Roy Way has been officially named. Bruce Crawford MSP helped children from Trossachs Primary School to christen The Great Trossachs Path. The 35 mile long route is aimed at walkers and cyclists, and is due to be completed in 2015. The Great Trossachs Path will form the spine of a wider network of trails throughout The Great Trossachs Forest, a large scale woodland restoration project which extends from Inversnaid on the edge of Loch Lomond to Kilmahog…
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Posted in Access issues, News