Blog Archives

Book review: The Beaches of Scotland

The Beaches of Scotland: A selected guide to over 150 of the most beautiful beaches on the Scottish mainland and islands. 2022 By Stacey McGowan Holloway. Vertebrate Publishing. 186 pp. Softback and ebook. £20 RRP. ISBN 9781839810787 Disclosure: Stacey, the

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Posted in Book reviews, Books, Geodiversity, Scotland

Advanced First-Aid revalidation with BASP

My Mountain Training Association account helps keep the insurance and first-aid certification up-to-date by sending me emails to remind me when these things need to be renewed and updated on my profile. I may have in fact renewed them but

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Posted in Outdoor first-aid, Scotland, Trips

Ochils geological trip

After running another of my Pentland walks for Mountain Training Association members, based on the Lothian and Borders GeoConservation leaflet Pentland Rocks!, I got some interested parties for a trip to the Ochils on a day that suited some people

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Posted in Geodiversity, Geological Walks, Mountain Training, Pentlands, Woodlands

A walk in the Craigmillar WIAT (Woods in and Around Towns)

The days are getting shorter, so the chance to get out and top up the Vitamin D whenever I fancy is one of the undoubted benefits of self-employment. When I can combine it with some geological work, even better. Hills

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Posted in Geodiversity, Geological Walks (urban), Scotland, Woodlands

Slouching towards e-Commerce at Hills of Hame to offer some discounted urban walks on 4, 11 & 18 November

  The sun is shining here in Edinburgh,the air is pleasantly chilly and I am looking out of the window at the southern side of Salisbury Crags and the Lion’s Haunch and Sampson’s Ribs from the window while I work

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Posted in Geodiversity, Geological Walks (urban), Scotland

Clapper Bridges near Cashel Dhu, NW Highlands

Clapper bridges are something I’d previously associated exclusively with Dartmoor; there is a famous large one at Postbridge but there many more examples spanning watercourses on the moor. A recent tweet from Forestry Commission Scotland alerted me to the fact

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Posted in Geodiversity, Scotland, Trips

To work – by chairlift!

At the end of May I did a couple of days work with Rescue Medics up at Glencoe Mountain Resort (http://www.glencoemountain.co.uk/) to help cover a downhill mountain bike event. I arrived pretty late, having driven down from Skye. The pop-up

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Posted in Outdoor first-aid, Scotland

Visiting Edinburgh’s seaside- Seafield, Portobello, Joppa

The car had been booked in for a service, so Shadow and I went out to drop it off and visit his old pre-adoption part of Edinburgh, Seafield. My previous experiences in the area have mostly been running or geology-related.

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Posted in Geodiversity, Geological Walks (urban), Scotland

Harlaw Reservoir wanderings

Harlaw is part of a network of reservoirs that were built in the 19th century to supply the city with clean, fresh water. The network now extends deep into the Scottish Borders around Talla but the Pentland Hills contain numerous

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Posted in Geodiversity, Geological Walks (low-level), Pentlands, Scotland, Uncategorized

Kettleton Byre with the kids

My youngest daughter, Alligin, does not so much ask for things as make demands. ‘Dad, when are we going to a bothy again?’ was her refrain for some of this winter, so the arrival of the school break made my

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Posted in Scotland, Trips
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