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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For the penultimate day of our 5-day Introduction to Winter Climbing Course, we decided to tackle the ENE Ridge of Sgurr Bhan, AKA School House Ridge. Overnight, the temperatures had dropped further and we were also treated to a sprinkling of snow down to sea level. Access to School House Ridge...
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What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, our Introduction to Winter Climbing Course team of John, Jim and myself made an autumnal ascent of Curved Ridge on Buachaille Etive Mor. Whilst enjoyable, there wasn't much to suggest it was winter. Today was completely different, with plenty of...
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Ben Nevis was looking far more like it should as John, Jim and I walked in this morning on the first day of their 5 Day Introduction to Winter Climbing Course. A good dusting of snow down to 900m made things much more wintry. We could do with a bit more, but things are looking promising for...
Simon Willis
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Why have they used my Dad's photo on my bus pass? Oh. Yeah. Right.After 2018's year of monthly challenges to mark my 60th year on the planet comes official recognition of this event in the form of my National Entitlement Card, otherwise known as my Bus Pass.I've used it twice,...
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This is a great phone case for a cyclist and it's made by Cycle Of Good. Even if you read no further, please click that link and check them out.The pouch is 'weatherproof', by which I mean it would be fine in a rear pocket, under a rain jacket, but don't try submerging it.It's made from...
Scottish Islands Explorer
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Young children on the beach at Lionacleit, Benbecula, contrast with the recent remarkable old finds by archaeologists in the vicinity. The BBC website gives full details of ancient objects unearthed.Scottish Islands Explorer - brings incidentals and images to the surfaceDigital Edition: what will...
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Here's an appeal. Scottish Islands Explorer has exhausted its stocks of the DVD compiled by the late Chris Mylne, who was a teacher and missionary on St Kilda before becoming a film producer. So if anyone could sell or direct us to a copy of his Sea Stacks and Solitude featuring St Kilda in 1966...
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It looks small and is such - Inchmarnock - beyond Bute deserves further exploration through Lonely Isles. Once 30 residents, now zilch.Scottish Islands Explorer - ready for revivalDigital Edition: ready to access
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There's something about starting the week slowly and thinking of what there is to do rather than what has to be done. Take the attitudes of Aga, for example, and follow her Worldering Around blog when it presents views of the Isle of Mull and some of its off-shore islets. It could involve going...
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The name of Jura may have come from the Norse for the 'Island of Deer' or from the Gaelic work 'diura' meaning resilient or durable. The herds of deer have been both resilient and prolific, with early writers mentioning some 300 of the creatures and the current number of around 7,000. The image...
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There's a new custom in Shetland - cross the Sound of Bressay from Lerwick and take the Parkrun. Some 40 people a week are doing just that and they are coming from far and wide. The BBC website has the story.Scottish Islands Explorer - why not run for a copy from your newsagent?Digital Edition: it...
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Here's an interesting contrast. Objections have been raised concerning the proposed building of new houses close to the Clickmin Broch, Lerwick. See Shetland News. Separately, 40 acres of land and a demolished valve house adjacent to a Shetland loch remain on sale at £60k, but without, as yet,...
Marc Calhoun
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Here's a taste of Rum. My two favourite spots on the island are Kilmory, near the north end, and the summit of Hallival, near the top end. The hike up to Hallival, from sea-level, is a climb of 2,700 feet, just shy of a Munro. The last 300 feet is an exciting scramble up its steep, rocky...
Lochaber Chamber of Commerce
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Responding to the Parliamentary defeat of the Meaningful Vote on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration, Liz Cameron OBE, Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: “With just over 70 days to go until the UK exits the EU, business communities will be left...
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Well-known local businessman Frazer Coupland, stalwart of the Lochaber business community and passionate supporter of Lochaber business and tourism industry, has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Lochaber Chamber of Commerce. Frazer brings substantial and wide-ranging business...
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Through a variety of appointed fund managers, SMEs across Scotland will have the chance to apply for financial support, which includes microfinance loans of up to £25,000, debt or loan finance of up to £100,000, and equity investment in deals of up to £2m. As part of this phase of the initiative...
The Sunart Diaries
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Ardnamurchan has an unwanted squatter, an evergreen cancer spreading inexorably along the shores of Loch Sunart and – triffid-like – extending its tentacles up the steep, narrow valleys leading up onto the hills. The invasion is particularly bad around Glenborrodale, the northern bulge...
Glenloy Wildlife
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A Happy and Prosperous New Year from Glenloy Wildlife! I realise it has been some time since I wrote an update, but as usual things have been hectic since the tail of last season. At the end of October we visited our eldest son in Washington DC. Managed to get some wildlife watching in along [...
Hunter Mountaineering Courses and Guiding
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December 2001(about)? Tower Ridge, Ben Nevis with Ed & Matt Ed Abbley, Matt Leggett and I had a great 3 days of climbing at the beginning of winter back in December 2001. We stayed in the Glen Nevis SYHA Hostel. We left every morning in the dark, hours before dawn. Our first day was to climb...
Dave MacLeod
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Here are three strategies I use in my own climbing to reflect on the previous year and plan for better results in the coming year, with some examples of how to implement them. Near the end of this video, I discuss some supplementation I do while recovering from tendon/ligament injuries. The paper...
