The Ordesa gorge is one of the great natural wonders of the Pyrenees, a sort of European version of the Grand Canyon but carved out by ice not water. It was designated as Spain’s first National Park a hundred years ago in August 1918 and since then has also been designated a World Heritage Site…
Tag: CNPA
Between 18th and 21st September the Cairngorms National Park Authority are hosting the Europarc conference (see here) for “protected area professionals” . The theme of this year’s conference is “reconnecting young people with nature”. All attendees are being encouraged to bring a young person as part of the International Year of Young People and my…
The replacement extension to the Cairngorms National Park Authority HQ, which is now close to completion, has been attracting some critical comments in the Strathy. The building, which the Cairngorms National Park Authority leases, is owned by Reidhaven, more commonly known as Seafield Estates, which owns much…
I am away for a two week walking holiday through the Pyrenees and, while I have scheduled a few pieces for the first week, am then going to take a complete break. I’d like to thank regular readers for your support and comments and apologise that I have been unable to cover half the issues…
Restoration on North Drumochter Estate section of the Beauly Denny Anyone who has driven along the A9 recently and taken a passing look out the window will be aware of the extensive scars across the hillside north of Drumochter summit, scars created by the Beauly Denny construction tracks which SSE were supposed to have fully…
Savill’s, acting on behalf of the Pitmain Estate, submitted in early June a retrospective Planning Application to Highland Council for the new unlawful track in Glen Banchor which I had featured last November and which I had reported to the Cairngorms National Park Authority. They had been forced to do this because the CNPA had,…
Skiers won’t be the only people amazed at Natural Retreats’ announcement that they were – after consultation with public agencies but NOT the public – going to introduce car parking charges at Cairngorm last week. While the basic £2 charge adds insult to the injury done to skiers at Cairngorm by Natural Retreats’ last winter…
Yesterday I was out running with my daughter over the hills west of Glen Shee, trying to avoid the rain further west, as part of preparations for her first mountain marathon. We headed out over the Cairnwell, across Carn Gheoidh and then descended north west of Carn Binnein to the Allt Elrig heading for…
A planning system stacked in favour of developers The Cairngorms National Park Authority called in the planning application (see here) for a large extension to the Ptarmigan Restaurant at Cairngorm financed out of public funds on the 14th May. Under their current standing orders they will only report on Objections to Planning Applications which are…
Tilhill Forestry is changing its approach to access A few days after my post on forestry industry signs and access rights, I was contacted by Kirsty Adams, Head of Health and Safety at Tilhill Forestry asking to speak because “Tilhill Forestry are currently running a public awareness of safety in the forest project and one of…
On April 26th 2018 the media (see here for example) reported a fire on the Glen Tanar Estate, Deeside, flames on a front 5km long and at a remote location. Nick Kempe contacted the Cairngorms Campaign, of which I am the Convener, about this and I agreed to visit the site and did so in…
There have been numerous recent reports of failures to enforce long term planning obligations within the Cairngorms National Park – these are conditions of planning permissions which remain in place after the permitted work or development has been completed. They often cover the re-instatement of temporary works after the work has been completed or the…
Reviewing our National Parks Ten days ago, writing in the Sunday Telegraph (see here) or (see here for Guardian article), the Westminster Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, who currently has no powers to speak of in Scotland, announced a review of National Parks in England chaired by Julian Glover: “The goal of Julian’s review is not…
On Sunday, hoping to have missed the worst of the thunderstorms, I set with my daughter for a two day round of the ring of Tarff as training for her first mountain marathon. I had not thought of checking the state of the Bruar hydro restoration (see here) and (here) and had planned to approach…
After the record temperatures in the Highlands it may seem strange to write about what’s happening to downhill skiing at Cairngorm and the impact on the local economy but its all related to the current planning applications at Cairngorm. The first, the application to install a dry ski slope above the Coire Cas carpark (see…
The section of the Speyside Way between Kincraig and Speybank is a beautiful walk through oak and birch woodland, with a scattering of aspen, hazel and rowan. Though not far from the pinewoods of Glen Feshie, somehow the very occasional pine looks out of place. The strip of woodland along the river is regenerating…
Following my post before the first May holiday weekend If you come across an access problem this weekend report it! which featured a fence on Loch Gynack in the Cairngorms, the Cairngorms National Park Authority alerted me that they had a form to report such problems. The link is at the bottom of this page…
Nestled in the hills behind Newtonmore, Glen Banchor (pronounced Banachar and meaning the horn or bend in the river) is, like so many Highland glens, both beautiful and desolate, a part of that ‘wild land’ image that the Cairngorms National Park Authority and others like to promote as one of Scotland’s great assets. But Glen…
Following the disappearance of a sea eagle on the Invercauld Estate, Raptor Persecution Scotland provided some excellent coverage of the disappearance (see here) along with subsequent commentary. So far this has covered the welcome statement from Grant Moir, Chief Executive of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, condemning the disappearance (see here) and then a commentary…
I was struck by the contrast been this story in the Herald last week and the story the week before about the children from the east end of Glasgow who had never seen the sea (see here). While Kelvinside Academy has set up its own outdoor centre in what used to be the Allargue Arms…
Looks like many other SUDS schemes ….but why would they not want photographs taken? Read on……………… This SUDS scheme looks like many others, but could it really become a national icon and the ‘go to’ place for water technology as claimed by the British organiser of an Icelandic delegation visiting to the Cairngorms National Park? …
After construction On Monday, I dropped by the Corriemulzie hydro scheme a few kilometres west of Braemar to see what progress had been made on restoring the landscape destruction caused by poor oversight of the contractors who had built the scheme in 2016 (see here). I was pleasantly surprised. Now The terrible scar in the…
Last Sunday I took a walk around the Pitmain Estate on the higher ground between Newtonmore and Kingussie. There is a deer fence which runs between the ugly, and recently upgraded track, and Loch Gynack which prevents people from reaching the loch shore. This area could, and should, provide a high quality recreational experience…
SNH are currently consulting on a new plan for the Invereshie and Inshriach National Nature Reserve (see here). The NNR covers the land between the road up the east side of Glen Feshie (and the moor of Feshie) and the fine ridge which extends from Carn Ban Mor over Sgurr Gaoith to Creag Dubh. The…
Just like our National Parks, the Vanoise National Park has a duty to preserve the cultural heritage. A while back they surveyed all the traditional buildings in the area and found over 200 building design features that had evolved over centuries and which helped people survive and indeed flourish in a hostile mountain environment. Those…