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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You couldn't have asked for two more contrasting days this weekend. Yesterday, it was raining well above the summits and much of the snow had been washed away. Today, deep drifts of fresh snow and cold temperatures. I first met Callum in the Indian Himalayas back in 2001, where we climbed...
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Today brought with it a deterioration of the weather, with milder and wetter conditions than of late. I was out with Conrad, who was looking to climb something slightly trickier than Ledge Route, which we did a couple of seasons ago. He's also in training for Mont Blanc, which he'll be...
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I was back on Ben Nevis today, this time with Clay, who had an ascent of Ben Nevis via Tower Ridge on his tick list before heading back to the States. With all the fresh snow we've had recently, an ascent of Tower Ridge was never going to be easy, but we followed a pair up to the approach of...
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As I left the house this morning, the snow was coming down thick and fast at sea level, but as Naveen and I set off this morning, it had stopped, and it soon cleared up to give a very pleasant winter's day. This was Naveen's first time on Ben Nevis, and we decided to follow Dave and...
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For James and Neil's second day, we decided that a classic route on Ben Nevis was in order, and so made an ascent of Castle Ridge. The day started off quite cloudy and with a bit of drizzle low down it felt very different to yesterday. As we reached the start of the ridge, the drizzle had...
Scottish Islands Explorer
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The top end of Unst, Shetland, has attracted The Press and Journal with its article on one of the more remote and extensive postal rounds in the UK. The 30-mile route of Michelle McCulloch serves about 200 houses and 650 people. She calls at Bordanoost Lodge, recently sold, but having provided much...
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According to the Halifax Bank of Scotland Quality of Life Survey, Orkney is considered the best place to live in the UK. Richmond in North Yorkshire came second and Rutland third. See the details on the BBC Website.Scottish Islands Explorer - the best magazine about the islands?Digital Edition: an...
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Were the figure in this image to be walking on Skye some 56 million years ago - a Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, perhaps - then he may have encountered a vast volcanic eruption which had a profound climactic and geological effect. The details of the major activity are on the BBC website.Scottish...
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Love And Music Will Endure is an historical novel by Liz Macrae Smith based on the life, times and words of Mary MacDonald of Skye (1821 - 1898) who became the acclaimed Gaelic poet and activist, Mairi Mhor nan Oran. The author will be giving a talk on her subject at the Museum Nan Eilean,...
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This photograph was taken at 04.44 yesterday morning from Rousay, Orkney, by John Vetterlein. His observations about the phenomenon can be read and further images seen here.Scottish Islands Explorer - comes out regularly, not once in a blue moonDigital Edition: copies streak across the skies to...
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The appeal to re-populate the island of Ulva has stirred many people to think about and to show an interest in re-settling there. Read about this phenomenon in yesterday's edition of The Times or remind yourself of the effort to invigorate the community through an earlier blog.Scottish Islands...
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Here's the Tarbert terminal on Harris without the CalMac ferry in dock. Closure for five or so days is unavoidable and imminent while updated facilities are installed. So the route from Uig, on Skye, will involve crossing to Lochmaddy, on North Uist, and taking the Sound of Harris ferry. Read...
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From 1890 until 1915 a 2ft narrow-gauge railway operated along a 2.7-mile track at Lealt, on Skye, in order to take extracted diatomite to a jetty. It has recently come into the news for part of its track has been footpath which is to be removed. The story is in The Press and Journal....
Hunter Mountaineering Courses and Guiding
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End of 1999? Hell’s Lum on Hell’s Lum Crag with Matt Leggett I only have a few photos of this trip left, and I’m not sure of the date, although I think it was the New Year Holiday at the end of 1999. With a full time job, I didn’t have much time to get away, it was only ever...
Ardtornish Estate and Gardens, Self catering holidays Scotland
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What better way to kick off the Year than an evening with our national dish and our national poet. No other food can lay such a strong claim as Haggis, Neeps and Tatties to being the soul food of a nation, a meal that binds us together as we celebrate what truly makes us Scottish....
Highland Titles
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Female wildcat kitten Only 13% of millennials (16-37-year-olds surveyed) were able to correctly identify at least one of the most endangered Scottish wildlife species, according to a new study. Somewhat surprisingly, only 37% of all people surveyed thought that golden eagles could be found...
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The Ultimate Guide To Rob Roy MacGregor Rob Roy Macgregor: legendary outlaw, raider and cattle stealer, a man who wasn’t averse to blackmail and the subject of several films and movies – why do the Scottish love him? He sounds like a miscreant to our domesticated modern ears. To comprehend...
Nevis Range Blog
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Winter is Here! Things are starting to look just how we like it on the hill! Snow has continued to fall throughout the week. We need a wee bit more before we can get the slopes open! Sledging & Touring also available on site! Sledges can be purchased at the Ticket Office or Hired from Ski Hire...
Treshnish Farm
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Farmer got ahead of himself after New Year and had the sheep through the fank and back to the hill quite quickly. This involves bringing all the sheep in from the fields where they have been over the 6 weeks of the middle winter. The tups are taken off, and the ewes given a...
Simon Willis
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It will be at Glenuig on 16th February.This weekend the tides were almost the same as they'll be on the day of the swim, so three of us did a recce.The video of the swim is below. Oh and if you're a kayaker please come - we need support kayakers!The tide will be coming in so we'll swim with...
