Wild Lochaber Blogs
The latest bleats from the sheep on the street...
Blogs (web logs) and blogspots provide a unique insight into Highland life and nature in Lochaber and The West Highlands.
We have put together a collection of Lochaber blogs to highlight the traditions, culture and wildlife in the various regions, including the West Coast Islands.
We show entries from the last 100 days, organised by region, topic and blog. The titles and text snippets give a taste of each entry with direct links to the main blog entry on the host website. We hope you will find time to explore the full articles and further information on the host blog sites.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any suggestions for blogs you would like to see here.
West Coast Mountain Guides
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One of the great things about the job that I do is the opportunity to explore new places whilst working, today was one of those exploratory days. I was out with Nick, Allan and Andy for their final day. We've climbed many of the classics, so thought that it was about time to try somewhere...
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The forecasts for today were suggesting similar winds to yesterday, but cooler and drier conditions. After quite a bit of thought, I decided that Nick, Allan, Andy and I should seek shelter on the East Ridge of Beinn a'Chaorainn (with possible descent options of climbing back down the ridge...
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Today, I was out with Nick, Andy and Allan, who I've been out with a number of times over the years. We decided that Western Rib on the west face of Aonach Mor would give us a good mountaineering day out. It also gave us a good deal of trail breaking to get round there! Fortunately, the snow...
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For Peter's final day, we decided to go for a journey and headed up Stob Ban, which translates as white peak, which it definitely is at the moment. We had a thaw last night and into the early hours of today, which stripped some of the lower-lying snow and saturated the snowpack to about 800m...
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Today started off very clear and crisp, with great views right up to the summits. There was a hint of red in the sky, adding to the ambience, but you know what they say… 'red sky in the morning, winter climbers' warning'. Peter and I planned to be on our way out by the time...
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It was nice to finally swing the tools into some decent (and not so decent) ice! Today, I was out with Peter and we decided to head to the Southern Highlands and to Creag Coire an Dothaidh. Plan A was Salamander Gully, but it was clear on the approach that yesterday's slight thaw, coupled...
Scottish Islands Explorer
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The West Highland Free Press covers the story of a planning application that has been reversed, giving the go-ahead to restore Pier House, Broadford, Skye, as an hotel. It is pictured below in 1900, the tallest of the buildings and called Campbell's Temperance Hotel, from the 'new' pier. This was...
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To end this week's look at properties for sale on the Scottish islands, comes the former Scalpay School, Harris. It comprises four separate buildings and is offered at a price over £90k. Here's a challenge to convert with ingenuity, innovation and industry. Ken MacDonald, of Stornoway, invites you...
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There was a considerable response to Wednesday's blog featuring a relatively new five-bedroom house for £150k on Shetland's Out Skerries. A comparable figure is asked for an older property - with five acres, an extensive workshop and various outbuildings - on the Orkney island of Sanday....
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The Hebridean Seaweed Company in Stornoway has been awarded £659k by Highlands and Islands Enterprise to further its work in harvesting knotted wrack. Background and prospects are outlined in The Press and Journal. You will be surprised where the all-year-around production eventually reaches....
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If you are attracted by off-shore islands that are distant and distinctive, then consider the Out Skerries, to the north-east of the Shetland group. Here is the opportunity to purchase a five-bedroomed property, built in 2014, with offers of over £150k considered. Take a look around and inside....
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About two weeks ago this blog featured an industrial railway on Skye, built for the transport of Diatomite. The Stornoway Gazette now carries an in-depth article about the product and its process. So do look into the substance - called in Gaelic 'Caile' and translated as 'chalk'. The image above is...
Ardnamurchan Estate
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Wondering when Shrove Tuesday is or as it is now more likely to be known “Pancake Day”. Officially it’s not until March, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying pancakes in the office. We are lucky that one of the ladies in the office, brought in her electric girdle, sugar...
Highland Titles
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Two miles north of the Stirlingshire town of Denny, close to the village of Torwood, lies the ruinous 16th century Torwood Castle. A crumbling shell of what it once was, the lonely silhouette sits quietly in the countryside and the castle is not open to the public. But in recent years several...
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Nestled high above Dollar Glen in Clackmannanshire, the medieval Castle Campbell rises dramatically against a backdrop of the green Ochil Hills. Once called the Castle of Glooms (derived from the Scottish Gaelic word glom meaning chasm) Castle Campbell was the Lowland stronghold of the formidable...
Hunter Mountaineering Courses and Guiding
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9th February 2010. White Shark with Lena Brune Back in 2010 I started to climb with somebody called Lena Brune. Our first climb was on the 2nd Feb, second climb on the 3rd Feb and so this (9th Feb) was our third climb together. Lena and I have climbed a bit since then too! This is what I wrote on...
Abacus Mountain Guides
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More fresh snowfall last night gave Lochaber MRT members a very tough job to rescue two climbers stuck on Tower Ridge. The call out came in last night and everyone got down by 11am this morning after a very long night. Well done to everyone involved and thank you. Dave and I...
Nevis Range Blog
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The 2019 winter season is now fully under way and Scotland’s highest snowsports destination is open for business! The silhouetted quad chairlift at Nevis Range, with mist filling the glen below. Photo Stevie McKenna/Ski Scotland On Wednesday 30 January 2019, after a long-awaited start, Nevis Range...
Volunteer on Eigg
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We are excited to announce we have new Conservation Working Holiday opportunities to offer for 2019! The Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust has recently set up a tree nursery for the purpose of restoring our native woodlands along with some of the more exotic species found in the Lodge gardens with all...
Simon Willis
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A new swim for 2019 on the HighlandOpenwaterSwim.com calendar.We swam it a week ago to get a feel for what it's like and to spot any problems. We found a few, which I'll mention, but on the whole it's going to be a superb event.First, take a look at the video and you'll get a feel for what it's...
