Mark Avery: The Inglorious 12th

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Mark Avery

With the grouse shooting season upon us once more, environmental campaigner Dr Mark Avery asks for support from walkers. We all head into the hills to get away from it all, to refresh our souls and to get back to nature. But the hills of much of east and south Scotland and the north of England, even in National Parks such as the Cairngorms National Park and the Yorkshire Dales National Park, are landscapes subjugated to the interests of one narrow land use: intensive grouse shooting. Concern, alarm and anger are growing over grouse shooting, and there are things that…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature

UK’s smallest butterfly boosted by Ayrshire golf courses

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Helen Webster

Habitat for the UK’s smallest butterfly is expanding along the Ayrshire coast thanks to a project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust in partnership with Butterfly Conservation Scotland and local links golf courses. The small blue butterfly had been completely absent from Ayrshire since the 1980s. The species bred successfully for the third year in a row on the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Gailes Marsh reserve and neighbouring Dundonald Links this summer after work to create large areas of kidney vetch (the butterfly’s only food plant), and a carefully managed translocation in 2013. Greenkeepers on a number of links courses south…

Posted in Nature

Short film: Isolation

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Helen Webster

I S O L A T I O N is a short film about a character who abandons societies predictability in a bid to uncover the secrets buried within the mysterious and dramatic landscape of the Scottish Highlands. Directed by : Mathieu Bernat & David Guersan Sound : Arthaud Versaveaud Starring : Jamie Farquarshon Music : «Night Sky» – Tracey Chattaway «A Three-Legged Workhorse» – This Will Destroy You Shot in the Scottish Highlands.

Posted in Features, Photography

A remarkable walk: Beinn Eighe Mountain Trail

Posted on August 1, 2016 by David Lintern

David Lintern is woo’ed by the Beinn Eighe woodlands. This visit to Coille na Glas Letire – ‘the wood of the grey slope’ – was something of a pilgrimage for me; it’s where British Conservation stopped being theoretical and became physical. In 1951, Beinn Eighe and its surrounds became the UK’s first National Nature Reserve. At the start, there was much disagreement and debate about how best to care for the rare and beautiful fragment of Alpine rainforest that sits between Beinn Eighe and Loch Maree – after all, there was no precedent. Over the decades since, a range of…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature

Munro-bagging – what counts as a genuine ascent?

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Cameron McNeish

I was on Meall nan Tarmachan the other day enjoying the bonus of starting my climb at a healthy 500 metres above sea level. I mentioned this to a couple of guys I met close to the summit and one of them, with tongue firmly in cheek, suggested we were all ‘cheating.’ The comment reminded me of a minor brouhaha that broke out a few years ago when the Daily Mail ran a story about a member of the Munro Society, the club that exists for all those who have climbed Scotland’s Munros, suggested that the vast majority of the…

Posted in Features, Magazine

Walkhighlands navigation course 6 August

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Helen Webster

A last minute cancellation means there are another 2 places available on the one day navigation course run by the Mountaineering Council of Scotland for Walkhighlands users on Saturday 6 August in the Ochils. The course will begin with an hour of work indoors and then the rest of the day will be spent on practical navigation skills on the hill. The course will be run by Heather Morning, Mountain Safety Officer at the MCofS and is aimed at anyone who wants to learn how to navigate for hillwalking or to brush up existing knowledge. The courses are very friendly…

Posted in News, Walkhighlands news

Disabled teenager reaches Cairn Gorm summit

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Helen Webster

Natasha Lambert has completed one element of her latest challenge, Sea and Summit Scotland. She reached the top of the Cairn Gorm Mountain, just after 3pm on Monday. It took her just over five and half hours to reach the summit which is some 1245 metres above sea level, the sixth highest mountain in the UK. Natasha has athetoid cerebral palsy and uses a wheel chair. However, for this part of her challenge, she used a special device called a Hart Walker. This pulls Natasha upright and enables her to propel herself forward. Natasha also wears a lycra corset to…

Posted in News

MCofS changes name to Mountaineering Scotland

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Helen Webster

The Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS), the representative organisation for hillwalkers, climbers, mountaineers and ski-tourers who live in Scotland or enjoy Scottish mountains, has announced that it will rebrand as ‘Mountaineering Scotland’ following consultation with members. Commenting on the change, Chief Executive Officer, David Gibson said: “The MCofS has represented the interests of its clubs and members since 1970. We are proud of our heritage and achievements, but we recognise that times are changing and tailoring our brand and communications to new audiences is essential.” The ‘Council’ in the MCofS title originates from when it was formed as a body…

Posted in News

Judges overturn judicial review decision on Stronelairg wind farm

Posted on July 23, 2016 by Paul Webster

A huge and highly controversial windfarm in the Monadhliath mountains looks set to go ahead once more after judges overturned the decision of last years’ judicial review following an appeal. The windfarm had originally been given planning consent by the Scottish Government in 2014, but wild land conservation charity the John Muir Trust had challenged the decision, and a judicial review last December judges had found that the government’s decision had been “defective”, overturning the plans. However SSE and the Scottish Government appealed against the ruling, and judges have now overturned the judicial review. The original decision to grant consent…

Posted in Nature

Devil’s Elbow, Glenshee car park to close for month

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Helen Webster

A parking layby near the Devil’s Elbow on the A93 just south of Cairnwell is to be closed for improvement works from 25 July to 26 August. The site is marked a blue ‘P’ on the map below. Alternative parking will still be available on the north side of the road at at the Devil’s Elbow itself. The car park is sometimes used for the shorter route to Glas Maol and Creag Leacach. The car park will be landscaped, a new curved seat installed and the path toward the Munro stone pitched for a short section from the car park.…

Posted in Access issues