A perfect pitch

It turned out that our day could and did get better!  The camping spot we'd originally planned on was a few more kilometres up the coast, and given the wind direction we realised that it would be right in the wind.  So when a flash of white sand backed by bright green woodland caught our eye at the back of a small bay, we had to take a look.

Landing near low water we found ourselves in an enclosed bay, sheltered from the wind and in full sunshine.  A few folk were enjoying the late afternoon sunshine, indicating that the bay was fairly accessible, but it did look very promising as a wild camping spot.  Our preference is for fairly remote areas which are little used, but never look a gift horse in the mouth!

As the day visitors started to leave, we pitched our tents, Donny and Douglas pitched on the level turf above the beach itself - where there was even a picnic bench......

Allan and I chose spots in a beautiful wood of birches at the back of the bay which was alive with birdsong.  At the time and in the memory, this felt a perfect pitch.

Once we'd pitched up we wandered the bay, just enjoying the sunshine and the location.  We came across this lovely piece of beach art which must have taken both patience and real creative talent to produce.  Transient and perfect, it would be washed away by the evening's high tide.

Much of the beach was covered in pieces of white "coral" - actually Maerl, a corraline algae which when living is a purplish colour.  When they die, the calcereous remains of Maerl are broken and crushed by wave action, then bleached in the sun to form dazzling white "coral" beaches such as this one.  

A rare and fragile environment, Maerl beds have comprehensive protection, but are at risk from scallop dredging - one pass by a scallop dredger's bottom gear can destroy a bed which might be hundreds of years old.   Loch Carron has some of the best examples of Maerl beds and as a result is protected by designation as a Marine Protected Area (MPA).  

In the wood, Primroses were in flower on sunny banks - perhaps my favourite of the early Spring flowers; such a cheery sight at the back of a long winter.

After dinner we wandered over to the edge of the bay and climbed a rocky outcrop to photograph the setting sun - it was a really lovely evening.

Our fire below the Spring tide mark was lit to get going while we took our photographs and brought snacks and drinks down from the tents.

 Across the sea, beyond Skye and Raasay, the setting sun slipped down to the horizon to end a truly great day on the water.  We sat with a dram by our fire and chatted into a glorious evening.

Note: Since we camped here, the bay and its beach have been featured in a national newspaper and on a well known travel website as "one of the most beautiful and accessible in Scotland".  This is undoubtedly going to increase it's popularity and perfect as it is, we will avoid camping here for the foreseeable future in order to go a small way to reducing future pressure.

Leuchan, Looking

October in Scotland can have some stunningly good weather, and a warm, clear early October day was too good to miss.  Allan, Lorna and I met up in the Deeside town of Ballater for a round of a hill suggested by Lorna, and one which I hadn't previously walked.  We left the town and crossed the River Dee on the fine stone Royal Bridge and left the road to join an old track through pines and larches, the track a cushion of fallen needles dappled with sunshine.

The track climbs very steadily at an easy-to-walk angle out of the wood and takes a curving line towards a distinct notch on the skyline.  Below us (to the left in this image) a very large "parcel" of red Deer hinds moved across the grassy ground with two huge stags in attendance.  the stags were roaring repeatedly and one charged the other, sending it trotting away.  In reality one stag has absolutely no chance of keeping a group of over fifty hinds through the rut - he has his hands full!  As we climbed further we saw numerous groups of hinds marshalled by stags, the hill slope echoing to their roar.

A chat with an estate stalker who was driving down the track gave an excuse to pause on the climb and we got some really interesting insight into management on this piece of ground.  A group of clients were out with the head stalker shooting grouse, we asked whether our route would be a problem - which it wasn't.

The views were really starting to open up as we reached the skyline notch and climbed above it towards the summit of our hill, Cairn Leuchan.  On a knoll above the path, the distinctive shape of a mountain hare could be seen...but something didn't seem right....it was stock-still.  we walked up to investigate....

..and found this fine fellow called "Leuchan" from the hill, looking fixedly across Glen Muick to the distant Lochnagar.

Leuchan appears to be made from resin or a similar construction and even has his own stone name plate.  I've come across a similar sculpture on a hill the other side of Glen Muick previously and I still have no idea who installed them - but as pieces of art in the landscape they're fine by me!

We left Leuchan, looking, to his contemplation and continued towards the summit of Cairn Leuchan.

It's a short but steep climb to the outcrop forming the summit of Cairn Leuchan.  At 700m/2297ft it's neither a high hill or on any particular list of hills, but it is a very fine viewpoint.  The object of Leuchan the Hare's gaze, Lochnagar, is very prominent and draws the eye to the south west.

To the south east is another Munro, Mount Keen, the most easterly of Scotland's 3000ft hills.  The path which leaves the traditional "Mounth" route between Deeside and Glen Mark to climb to the summit is clearly visible as a pinkish line.

After resting a while and taking in the view we headed back down to the skyline notch, passing the shooters at their lunch.  We exchanged pleasantries with the head stalker and his staff but were roundly ignored by the clients.

We intended to keep to the high ground and took a short detour onto Craig Vallich, which is a fine viewpoint above Ballater.

The final high point of the day was the 601m/1972ft Pannanich Hill, which was possibly the best viewpoint on the walk.  A wide view through the northerly arc with the glacial lochans of Loch Davan and Loch Kinord as foreground with our "home hill" of Bennachie as backdrop made a super panorama while we sat and enjoyed a coffee.

It had been a great day, with lovely weather - t-shirts on high ground in October is definitely not the norm!  The walk had a final treat for us too.....

Another hare sculpture, also looking towards Lochnagar - maybe there's a pattern here, it's an intruiging puzzle!

The descent from Pannanich Hill back down to the valley of the River Dee is very steep and hard on the knees - we felt that our ascent route had been much the better way.  Soon though the roofs of the town and the fine church tower were in view and we strolled back along more level ground through a lovely wood.

What a great day it had been, another "wee hill" which had given a route of real quality and interest - a good choice by Lorna!

 

A white world

Over a week of heavy snow has left much of Scotland under a thick blanket of snow.  Here in Aberdeenshire we've measured an even cover of 54cms/21 inches, mostly unconsolidated as the temperatures have been so low.  

The drifting has been quite spectacular on higher routes and even at lower levels the quantity is remarkable.  This part of Scotland is one of the snowiest, and February has a reputation as a snowy month but the present amounts are unmatched for ten years.  Mobility has become a challenge....

...unless of course you can adapt your mode of mobility! The quality of light in the very low temperatures, particularly around sunset,  has been really special.

The night of 10-11 February was exceptionally cold.  Just after daylight we registered -21.4 Celsius on our weather station and nearby Braemar recorded -23C.  This makes it the coldest February temperature since 1965, and the lowest temperature of any night since 1995.  To put it into context, -21C is four degrees colder than the inside a domestic freezer!

Stepping outside in the morning was to step into a gripping chill.  Fingers exposed for more than a few seconds became painful and unresponsive.  Many vehicles wouldn't run because the winter engine coolant which is commonly used here may not be quite extreme enough, or because diesel fuel has become waxy. 

Image courtesy of Alastair Murray

Extreme as the cold has been, it's so beautiful.  The frost has been so intense that the crystals are the size of small postage stamps, panes of crystal brilliance.  Trees have become works of art in this white world.

Look carefully and there's beauty everywhere; a strand of barbed wire on a fence has become a twisting string of the most delicate crystals.

The frosted stems of last year's Rosebay Willowherb are now a piece of abstract art.

At the edge of the River Don, the white world seemed even more intense, the air completely frigid to the point that any exertion caused the throat to burn as cold air was inhaled.  Here the trees were frosted to a depth I've not previously encountered, it was like white fur.

Ice floes have formed on the sides of the river and the water itself has partially frozen, a rare sight in Scotland.

 The fields which in late summer are a golden bounty of ripe barley have become white sheets of deep powder snow; crossed with the evidence of animals which normally would go unnoticed. Many folk here own XC skis and we've had more use out of them in the last 20 days than perhaps in the last 20 years! The opportunity to ski right from the front door and make long tours has been most unusual.

The build-up of snow may have reached a peak and the extreme temperatures are due to moderate over the coming days.  The conditions are certainly causing difficulty for many, but this white world is certainly dazzlingly beautiful.

Water colours and watercolours

Iona has long been a magnet for artists; indeed it's perfectly possible to imagine how the monks of the Abbey could have gained inspiration for their work illuminating manuscripts from the unique and special light of the island.

In particular Iona has become known for watercolours painted by artists from the "Scottish Colourists" movement including Francis Cadell who had a long association with the island, and Samuel Peploe, who was first introduced to Iona by Cadell and became a regular visitor.

As Douglas has noted, Colourist paintings of Iona became very popular in the second half of the 20th century, and the tradtion of both painting and appreciating views from the cluster of beaches at the north tip continues......

This large watercolour by Jan Fisher is just such a work. When we saw it displayed at her gallery in the Fife village of Pittenweem some years ago it had such impact that we returned an hour later to purchase a limited print - it's hung in one of the lightest rooms in our home in order to show the colour to its best and has, in our view, captured the essence of Iona's light and colour.

In the upper part of the painting, set in the sea between Iona and the hills of Mull, is Eilean Annraidh with its distinctive spit of white sand.  

Approaching Eilean Annraidh was to understand why artists are drawn to the place - the quality of light was astonishing.  A dramatic banner of cloud streaming from Ben More on Mull added a huge dimension of sky, and itself altered the light as the aftenoon sun was alternately filtered through cloud.....

...and then shone fully, changing the colours in the water from turquoise to an iridescent jade green and lighting the sand to a dazzling intensity. 

Here, solas (light) reached a pitch rarely encountered and after landing on the inner part of the sand bar in order not to disturb a nearby Tern colony, we just wandered about separately, taking it in.

Beyond Eilean Annraidh lay a widescreen view to the "Wilderness" coast of Mull's Ardmeanach peninsula  which we discussed for a future visit........

......as we sat on the rocks of Eilean Annraidh enjoying the watercolour water colours.....

The Kelpies - "stretch up your long necks to greet the sun"

Since they first rose out of the regenerated industrial landscape of the Helix Park we’d been intending to visit the much talked-about sculptures at the heart of the project.

On a bright day early in the Spring we travelled to meet family and visit the park.  Approaching from one of the car parks, the Kelpies are an astonishing sight….

 

At 30 metres tall, they simply dominate the landscape, towering over their surroundings.

Close to, the scale and ambition of these wonderful horse head sculptures is really impressive.  They face the canal system running through the heart of Scotland and welcome visitors to both the canals and to the Helix.  The intention was to reflect both folklore and the industrial heritage of the area – the Clydesdale horses used as the models for the Kelpies were once the prime movers of the industrial revolution.

Each piece is made up of individual stainless steel panels fastened to an intricate framework. The sculptor, Andy Scott, and the construction firm have done a superb job.

Although architectural and even industrial in scale, there is real grace and intricacy in the design and construction – and realism too.

The panels are sufficiently spaced to allow sunlight to stream through the structure, adding texture.  At night they are floodlit and I’m assured that they are quite a sight looming through the mist alongside the motorway!

In Scottish folklore, a Kelpie is a water-horse; a shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs and rivers.  In the sculptures this legend is intertwined with the strong industrial heritage of this part of Scotland.   Sculpted stone panels around the Helix are carved with phrases connected with folklore and with the sculptures – the one which struck me as most appropriate reads “Stretch up your long necks to greet the sun”

Scotland, and particularly the Stirling/Falkirk/Clackmannanshire area has been gaining a reputation as the home of some great recent works public sculpture.  There’s the elegant “Arria” (also designed by Andy Scott) alongside the M80 between Glasgow and Stirling, the many sculptures on traffic roundabouts through the “Wee County” of Clackmannanshire and now the jewel in the crown, the Kelpies

The Kelpies are a real achievement and are becoming, rightly, a great attraction.  But there’s more…..  the stretching of the necks, the latent power and the scale of these works is something for the Falkirk area and the whole of Scotland to be proud of.  

We'll certainly visit again!