I spotted this sign on my return from walking over Ben Ledi last week (see here). While we walked round the locked gate easily enough and most cyclists could too, it would be a different matter for anyone in a wheelchair or riding a horse who wants to enjoy the extensive network of forest tracks in…
On Tuesday I went with friends who were staying for a walk over Ben Ledi, a chance to consider further how Forest and Land Scotland (FLS) are managing the land they own in Strathyre (see here) from a recreational perspective. Ben Ledi is one of the most accessible and popular hills and people were…
The judgement of the Supreme Court in the Dartmoor camping case issued last week (see here) was good news for those concerned it might lead to the further erosion of access rights in Scotland. Alexander and Diana Darwall, the owners of the 1,619-hectare (4,000-acre) Blachford estate on Dartmoor where they were trying to stop people…
The provisional decision of the Scottish Government appointed Reporter last week to uphold Flamingo Land’s appeal against the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA)’s refusal of planning permission for their proposed development at Balloch should surprise no-one. Senior management at the LLTNPA had long backed Scottish Enterprise’s wish to use the land they…
On 2nd May Highlands and Islands Enterprise announced (see here) that having re-opened the funicular on 27/02/2025, after one and a half years of repair work, it would be closing it again on 12/05/2025 – just ten weeks later – for another three weeks until 2/06/25: “while the company’s in-house engineering team carries out…
The proposal to plant Coire na Ciste on Cairn Gorm – a new low for conservation in the National Park
The caption reads “A solitary pine clings to the hillside in Coire na Ciste. A rare survivor in an otherwise treeless landscape”. Propaganda credit Spey Catchment IniitiatveA month ago, on 15th April, the Spey Catchment Initiative (SCI), a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), formed in December 2022 issued a news release announcing it was to…
Forest and Land Scotland (FLS)’s landholding Strathyre, which runs north from Callander to Balquhidder, provides perhaps the best example of mixed woodland in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. It is also one of the few near examples we have in Scotland to Continuous Cover Forestry (see here for explanation). Among the main species…
Over the last six weeks or so I have written several posts about how Scotland is being burned to bits by land-managers, many of whom carry on with muirburn whatever the fire risk. The muirburn provisions of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act were intended by the Scottish Parliament to change that for the…
The propaganda The reality First the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) went after the campers, confining them to a few “permit areas” around the loch shores; then they went for the day visitors by shutting down visitor infrastructure and making it harder and harder to get to places; who and what will…
Further to Nick Kempe’s post at the end of March about how satellite technology is rapidly undermining the case for erecting phone masts in Total Not Spots (see here), it is worth highlighting that Vodaphone announced at the end of February (see here) that they are planning to offer satellite enabled, low data rate calls…
Three weeks ago I described the enormous wildfire which burned Morar, the area of land south of the Knoydart peninsular and west of Mallaig, between 2nd and 5th April (see here). I referred to the history of such fires in the area and explained how although almost everyone in the local community knows who is…
On 18th April landowners and land management interests launched a concerted campaign claiming that rather than muirburn being a significant cause of wildfire it was a means of preventing it (see here for BBC coverage). In response I was pleased to have this letter published in the Herald and then when Nan Spowart took up…
The Tinto Hills Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) (see here) was not the only protected area to be destroyed by muirburn during the periods of high fire risk this Spring. The muirburn triggered wild fire considered in this post took place in the glen running north from Glenballoch in Glen Banchor which has previously…
Since my post on how muirburn is responsible for a significant number of wildfires (see here) I have been contacted by a number of readers who have provided further information and photographs including what happened on the Tinto Hills SSSI (formerly a Site of Special Scientific Interest but now, in one reader’s words, “a site…
This post takes a look at Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE)’s response to Gordon Bulloch’s Freedom of Information request of 05/12/2024 (see here) and attempts to explain what went wrong with the funicular repairs. As I said in the last post (see here) both COWI, the design engineers for the funicular, and Balfour Beatty, the construction…
Had this appeared three days earlier I might have thought this was an April fool except the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) doesn’t do humour. There were lots of comments like the one above (see here) on this announcement but such feedback, which shows what the public really think, is never publicly…
On 16th April the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) announced on Facebook (there is nothing on its “news” pages) that it had taken over the management of the campsite at Sallochy from Forest and Land Scotland which had threatened to close it (see here). The campsite has played a crucial role…
After writing about my walk along the Radical Road on 1st April [belatedly published on Parkswatch two days ago – Ed] (see here), I was passed an update (see here) from Historic Environment Scotland (HES), an incredible piece of corporate-speak. I am sure HES believe what they say but this is only because they are…
1st April 2025 Walking home from Holyrood, on a perfect evening, in the clearest air, cool and sunny, I decided to take the scenic route. The north end is still barricaded off with ugly green Cold War barriers, chestnut paling fencing and random signage, all within sight of Parliament. This reminds MSPs how the ‘Right…
I was provided with this incredible photo through a friend who had been Knoydart 2 weeks ago and, for four days between 2nd and 5th April, had watched a fire on Morar to the south. An alert was raised for Knoydart and the community started to muster and prepare a response. It was not long…
Last Tuesday, on a day when the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service had issued very high fire risk warnings for the whole of Scotland, I drove up to Braemar to spend a couple of days in the Cairngorms. The muirburn I had commented on in a post previously (see here) was continuing on both sides…
Its not just grouse moor managers in eastern Scotland who have been ignoring the warnings from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) of very high fire risk (see here) and (here) but also some farmers/crofters and stalking estates on the west. Richard, who sent this photo, commented that it looked like the firea bove got…
On 1st April the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) issued a “Very High to Extreme” warning for the period 2nd till 7th April (see here). It advised the public “to avoid lighting fires outdoors across all areas of Scotland during this period.” The NASA global wildfire data base (see here) enables one to check…
Had the muirburn provisions of the the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 (“the Act”) passed a year ago come into force such fires at hat pictured above would be now illegal. Clause 20 of the new Act shifted the current muirburn season, which dates back to the Heather Burning (Scotland) Act 1926, from…
This post comments further on the heavily redacted replies to Mr Gordon Bulloch’s FOI request of 05/12/2024 about the 2023 closure of the funicular. Email 1, sent on 23rd August at 23.17, was considered in the first post in this series. The emails are between the various parties involved:- Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE); Cairngorm…