Parkswatch
The Parkswatch website and blog welcomes contributions from people who wish to make constructive criticisms of Scotland’s National Parks or simply to provide information that might not otherwise be available. This website has been created to help hold the National Parks to account.
It aims to:
• increase awareness of where things are going wrong in our National Parks
• provide information which would not otherwise be widely available
• provide a platform for constructive criticism
• promote open and democratic decision making in our National Parks that is informed by evidence and values everyone
Notes on contributors
Nick Kempe
Nick spends most of his leisure time out of doors, rock and ice climbing, hill running and walking, ski touring, birdwatching or enjoying the company of other people.
He has campaigned on access and conservation issues for over twenty years. He served his apprenticeship on the Committee of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland for 4 years, under the inspiring leadership of Bob Reid, then served a further four years as President when he helped negotiate the agreement that led to our access legislation. He went on to chair what is now Mountain Leader Training UK and served on the Board Member of Scottish Natural Heritage when it was developing the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
Nick is co-editor of Hostile Habitats http://www.smc.org.uk/publications/other/hostile-habitats and is writing a book on natural and human history for walkers of the West Highland Way. He was a Director of Paths for All 2014-2020 http://www.pathsforall.org.uk and a member of the Executive Committee of the Scottish Campaign for National Parks http://www.scnp.org.uk/
Nick Halls
Nick is a mountaineer who worked in outdoor education and has spent many seasons in the Alps. He routinely travels through LL&T NP to Glasgow from the family home in Cowal. He is currently a member of the Argyll and Bute Local Access Forum and serves on the Board of a Housing Association.
Dave Morris
Dave is the former Director of Ramblers Scotland, during which time he played a key role in the establishment of national parks and right to roam legislation in Scotland. In 2020 he was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and received the Excellence in Mountain Culture Award at the Fort William Mountain Festival for his contribution to mountaineering and the environment (see here).
Ron Greer
Ron was, by profession, a freshwater biologist with a 40 years specific interest in Arctic Charr, Ferox Trout and the management of the large glacial ribbon lakes/hydro-electric reservoirs that are their primary habitat. He is co-author of several seminal papers on Scottish Arctic Charr and author of the book ‘Ferox Trout and Arctic Charr’. He is one of the Scottish representatives in the International Society of Arctic Charr and has been a participant in and co-organiser, of their international conferences over the last 25 years Outside of work, he developed a parallel interest in strategic land use/tenure reform, riparian silvicultural management and Boreal biogeography. He initiated the Loch Garry riparian woodland project in 1974 and was co-founder with Derek Pretswell, and others, of the Loch Garry Tree Group in 1986. He was a member of the Highland Forum team who helped organise the 1987 Land and Community conference at Drumossie and considers the outcomes from it as a work still in progress. He was co-founder and initial Convenor of Scottish Native Woods and worked with Derek in its formative years. He is widely travelled in North America, Fennoscandia and Northern Europe, both in relation to study trips pertinent to freshwater and land use issues and as a guest lecturer in these subject areas at various universities/colleges, NGO institutes and sporting organisations
George Allan
George is Deputy Chair of the North East Mountain Trust and a member of the LINK hill tracks group.
James Fenton
James is an ecologist with a strong interest in landscape policy. He was elected to the Board of the National Trust for Scotland in 2015. He is author of several books and many papers, including “The continuing attrition of the landscape of the Scottish Highlands or A Tale of How Wildness is lost”. They can be accessed via his website http://www.james-hc-fenton.eu/index.html
James Fraser
James Fraser is chair of the Friends of Loch Lomond and Trossachs. He is a qualified planner and a tourism specialist with a lifetime’s experience in tourism having held senior positions with tourist boards for almost 30 years. He was Chief Executive of Tourist Boards and VisitScotland Regional Director, covering the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and a wider area from 1983 to 2006, after spending spells with tourist bodies covering the Thames & Chilterns and Grampian Region. James owns and manages a self-catering holiday business with his wife in the Cairngorms National Park, runs a successful tourism consultancy business and is a member or adviser on several bodies including the Scottish Campaign for National Parks and Love Loch Lomond Destination Organisation.
Mary Jack
Mary Jack is a retired principal teacher who has lived close to Loch Lomond all her life and has an interest in its history and the present day. She has been an RYA certificated boater on Loch Lomond for many years and is currently a member of the Committee for the Loch Lomond Association with responsibility for research (Internet, Media, National Park Authority Planning and National Park Authority document/publications etc
Bill Stephens
Bill is now retired after 44 years in environmental planning and engineering, including working on many derelict land reclamation and mineral development projects.
Duncan Bryden
Duncan Bryden is a past convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, on whose Board he served from 2003-15, is main author of the recent feasibility study into a National Park in the Borders (see here) and has a particular interest in strategic policy and planning in rural and mountain areas of the world.
Gordon Bulloch
Gordon has a PhD in Chemistry. After many years in chemical production and associated marketing and commercial work, Gordon, for 15 years, managed an environmental consultancy and contracting business as part of a multi-national company. The work involved investigating contamination of brownfield sites and developing remediation plans to facilitate redevelopment: the business also managed remediation of major sites throughout the UK and overseas. As well as dealing with contamination, this work involved decontamination and demolition of buildings and major earthworks to create the required landform for redevelopment, including the creation of SUDS ponds. For over 10 years he was a member of the Soil & Groundwater Technology Association. The remediation work was usually closely linked to the planning process, consequently, Gordon gained experience in dealing with planning authorities and supporting redevelopment planning applications throughout the UK.
Nowadays, Gordon with his wife, runs a successful luxury B&B within the Cairngorms National Park. He has had a lifelong interest in hillwalking, mountaineering and gardening.
David Taylor
David Taylor was for many years a history teacher in Kingussie High School where his interest in the local history of the area began. After retiring he undertook a PhD with the UHI studying economic and social change in eighteenth-century Badenoch. This was subsequently published under the title, The Wild Black Region: Badenoch 1750-1800.
Susan Matthews
Susan has been Convenor of the Cairngorms Campaign for 4 years and also does some more hands on volunteering for other environmental groups finding that being outside on the hills getting your hands dirty is usually more rewarding than writing objections to planning applications, responding to management plans and trying to influence government to take care of our environment. At work she was a Mechanical Engineer in the nuclear medicine industry for 30 years working with cancer, heart and lung diagnostics both in manufacturing and research and development. Work provided the opportunity to live in the USA and Sweden for some years, giving a chance to enjoy their outdoors too. Born in the south of England for some reason she was aware she wanted to live in Scotland sometime in her early twenties and has been based near Ballater for nearly 30 years.
James Graham
James has fished the River Leven since 1965, regularly responded to National Park/Interim Committee consultations and planning matters since 1998 and been a member of the National Park Fish and Fisheries Forum for 10 years.
Alan Brattey
Alan has been a keen skier for years and is an active member of the Save the Ciste Group. He was a founder member of the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust and is an active member of the Aviemore Business Association.
Anne MacIntyre
Anne is a keen hillwalker who for many years served on the Committee of the Scottish Wild Land Group
John Digney
John was involved in the Scottish Wild Group for many years, has had a long-term interest in land issues http://www.landisfree.co.uk/the-scottish-land-problem/ and along with that has been a long-term advocate for Land Value Taxation. He is currently Hon. Secretary of the Scottish Land Revenue Group (see here).
David Gibson
David Gibson was Chief Executive Officer of Mountaineering Scotland for 12 years and is now a trustee of the John Muir Trust. He is an active hillwalker and member of the Grampian Club.
Tim Ambrose
Tim is a hillwalker and Chartered Accountant who, in a voluntary capacity, is the Treasurer of the Scottish Wild Land Group, the Cairngorm Campaign, Royal Scottish Georgraphical Society and Scottish Environment LINK.
Drennan Watson
Drennan founded the North East Mountain Trust in 1980, was very active in the discussions which led to the creation of the Cairngorms National Park and was Convener of the Cairngorms Campaign for many years. He has written extensively on the Cairngorms and its local communities.
Graham Garfoot
Graham learnt to ski on Cairngorm when he was 11 y.o and apart from a few trips to
Norway has only once skied anywhere else. His family used to travel from
Tyneside almost every Friday night and every Easter in ski season, some times
for only one days skiing. He was too old at eleven to start serious racing, but
his youngest brother was taught by Ian Finlayson and in 1982 was ranked as No1 by
the English Ski council. He and his brother used to work for their lift passes to keep costs down
and he worked f/t for a while in the 74/74 ski season. He rated Cairngorm as the
best ski area in the U.K., but sadly no more.
Jane Meek
Jane is passionate about protecting wild land and landscape in Scotland, a keen hillwalker and for the last year has been an active member of Save Glen Etive, which has been campaigning to stop the proposed hydro schemes there ruining the glen.
David Windle
David is chair of the North East Mountain Trust and is a keen hillwalker and climber with a strong interest in upland conservation.
David Jarman
David is a geomorphologist studying mountain landscapes, especially large ancient landslips. He writes the New Twists for Old Hills series in Scottish Mountaineer. He recently compiled a Powerpoint ‘rogue’s gallery’ of poorly-executed run-of-river hydro schemes, which is on the Save Glen Etive website.
Andrew Sharpe
Andrew has lived in the Scottish Borders for more than thirty years. He is a keen walker, occasional cyclist, and, pandemics notwithstanding, likes to explore Scotland and the rest of Europe with his family and trusty motorhome.
Calum Macintrye
Calum grew up in Scotland but has lived in Norway for the last 6 years. He is a snowboarder and climate change campaigner – mainly working to represent the voice of the outdoor recreation body at the political level on climate and environmental issues. He is interested in the ways in which Scotland can learn from Norway on issues such as land reform, climate policy and access rights.
Mike Dales
Mike Dales was the Access and Conservation Officer with the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (now Mountaineering Scotland) from 1995 to 2005 and Access and Environment Officer with the Scottish Canoe Association from 2005 to 2011. Mike has worked as a freelance consultant since 2012 and works on a range of projects relating to outdoor access. He is also the author of a self-help book, Find Time for Exercise.
Douglas MacMillan
Douglas C MacMillan is Emeritus Professor of Forestry and Land Use Economics. He is an Aberdeen Forestry graduate, had a brief spell as forest manager at Tilhill Forestry, Sauchieburn and has worked at the Universities of Aberdeen and Kent, the James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen and was the Leibniz Chair of Environment, ZMT Bremen (2015-2018). His research is primarily concerned with the economics of sustainable land use and management and he has published extensively on Scottish policies concerned with land reform, community land ownership, biodiversity conservation forest management, and wildlife conflict.
Robert Craig
Robert Craig is a retired engineer, who has mis-spent much of his spare time stravaging up and around Scotland’s hills. He’s also a paddler, starting in sea kayaking as a means to get to distant hills and then getting into paddling for it’s own sake. In his declining years, he keeps his interest up by introducing the next generation to the hills, hopefully so’s they can carry his knapsack for him.