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.
Mingary Castle
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This morning's low, grey overcast did nothing to hide how well the area in front of the castle is coming on. The soil between the paths in the formal garden has now been weeded and sown to grass seed and, out of shot to the right, the stone wall that will run down the west side of the area is well...
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It was a bit of a surprise this morning to find building contractor Mark Rutherford Thompson consulting a set of tide tables. I assumed this related to his taking a boat out this coming weekend but........the real reason is that the tides are vitally affecting progress on the sea wall below the...
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The weeks of fine autumn weather had to end, which they did in style last night with a westerly gale which roared through in the hours around midnight, giving us gusts to force nine in exposed parts of the peninsula. It also gave the workmen in their caravans a sleepless night, but it had...
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The fine weather seems to go on and on, much to the delight of the builders. It isn't only that it makes their work much easier, it lifts the spirits, so there was a very cheerful atmosphere on site when I arrived this morning.Having two skilled joiners around is resulting in some beautiful...
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October is often the best month of the year in the west Scottish Highlands, and this one is working hard to make up for a rather dismal summer. This morning's low sun was ideal for showing off the repointed and repaired eastern wall of the castle - and it does look good! Other than the 18th century...
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Thick mist blanketed the site this morning yet people commuting in to work from outside Kilchoan were reporting bright sunshine a few miles up the road. This must have been the sunniest week of the summer, even though we're now well into autumn, and it has enabled the builders to press on with...
Lochaber Guides
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It's definitely been a case of 'better late than never' with the weather this Summer. Whilst the first part of the Summer was pretty grim September and October have been outstanding with lots of days of amazing weather.I took the opportunity to get some more teaching climbing days logged towards my...
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It's been a while since my last blog post and as the Summer feels like it's drawing to a close, it's good to catch up with the last few months. Since then, there's been lots happening with some superb high points and some definite low points... I had a great week working on this years Ben...
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It's been a whirlwind few weeks over June and July! The highlight has been the birth of my second son, Glen whose been keeping us very busy (and just a little bit tired!!!).Away from home, some great trips have included 3 days on Skye with Steve at Vertical Fever, some mountaineering days in...
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Curved Ridge in sun, hail and lightning with Al, and clients Mike and Malcolm!Drier on the Aonach Eagach.... Even better on the Forcan Ridge! :)Ruaraidh giving me some practice for the day!Meanwhile, Hannah was on the CMD with Eric and Liza....Three peaks for Ascents of...
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It's finally been a great start to the Spring here in Lochaber with the much awaited high pressure. During the last week or so, I've been working with 1st and 2nd year students from the Adventure Tourism Degree at West Highland College, UHI. We've been looking at coaching climbing, with the first...
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This time of year can be strange with one day in the mountains feeling like Spring, the next day feeling Winter. Saturday was definitely one of the latter! I was out with Matthew, Elaine and David on Ben Nevis. It was Matthew's 14th birthday so he was celebrating it with a day to remember! There's...
Go Mountain Goats
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Finlay Wild - British Fell Running Champion 2015This year one of my main goals was to have a good crack at the British Champs. I was second equal with Morgan Donnolly in 2013 (to winner Rob Jebb) in quite a close final result, decided on the fourth and final race of the series - the fantastic Peris...
Highland Titles
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In anticipation of the fantastic Scottish tradition of Burns Night on the 25th January, we are hoping some of our Lords, Lairds and Ladies out there in the wider world will join us to celebrate. To help you prepare, we are featuring some Burns Night recipes this week. “Haggis” by Bernt...
Unsworth Photographic
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Mountain Hardware have been smashing it on expeditions this last year, particularly in Alaska with their Absolute Zero Parka. Closer to home and its their micro baffled down jacket, the Ghost Whisperer that I love wearing again. This is a layering piece, or a top layer depending on the...
Go Glencoe Guiding
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I don't guide on snow and ice so it's a great time to get out and have fun with friends. Today was my first trip of the winter and I went out with Dan Parry who runs the excellent Strath Lodge B&B just down the road from me.Dan enjoying the views. The weather was way better than...
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I got a call out of the blue a while back asking if I would be able to show Mark Stephen from BBC Radio Scotland round the area. He was specifically interested in the industrial history of the area and I was keen to show there is more to Glencoe and Ballachulish than Munro's so we agreed on a...
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I had a wonderful walk with Dan Rubenstein in early November. The trip was booked through Visit Scotland as Dan is a journalist who was working for the Canadian Mercedes Benz magazine.It was booked as lunch with a low level walk to allow his photographer to get some snaps but when he saw the...
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It was a lovely day today - cold, clear and crisp with snow capping the mountains and lovely colours on the hills and mountains.Melissa had booked me a while back to take her friends out to explore the area so we definitely struck it lucky! They wanted to stay lower down so we took a walk...
Wild About Lochaber
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Scottish wildcats have been making the news on the BBC over the past week with an announcement of a grant of almost £1million pounds to Wildcat Action, a collaborative project involving more than 30 organisations. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are taking the lead and recently issued a news...
