Munros and Other Walks

  "I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature’s loveliness."   John Muir   This book contains 10 different essays by John Muir which cover a time period of around 30 years. This is the first book I have read by Muir and overall he does well to describe the different hikes and travels he took part in. The essays were published in different magazines or journals in the States from around 1870-1904. The first 2 cover his adventures in Alaska before moving on to Hollow Hill and Mount Ritter. It's with the Ritter essay I found myself becoming more interested in the journey. Some of the essays can be difficult to get into and it's a credit to Muir and his writing style that stuck with the stories. There are some essays which describe the flora and fauna of the landscape that I just wasn't in to. I had perceived the book to be more like a description on different hikes which, the Mount Ritter one is and I feel is the highlight of this book.  "No other ex...

If you search for Backmuir woods you'll probably find the one in Dundee, this isn't it. The correct name for this is Whitehill walk and it is located on the outskirts of Hamilton, near the Whitehill centre.  We started at the basketball court and walked up the slope which took us to a walkway behind a school. From there we took a left and headed into the woods. Time wasn't on our side, with the nights drawn in and the rain clouds advancing, but we walked on hoping that the cover of the woods would shelter us from the elements.  The plan was to try and walk around in a loop. The ground is rather marshy and in one area there is a large puddle that is difficult to negotiate, so we were forced to take a right turn up near the industrial estate. The woods are sandwiched between this estate and the expressway.  We had reached the pipes as the rain finally began to fall. Unsure about going further and having to cross th...

  Book Review A couple of months ago I had sat down to try and catch up with the nightly news cycle. The channel, however, was showing one of their other programs called "Interesting Moments in History" which usually a sign that it is anything but interesting. Dissapointed and about to give up there was a piece about an African in Greenland. Intriged, I watched the 5 minute segment and by the end I had purchased the book online.  Synopis The book follows a young man from Togo who decides, after reading a book on the Eskimos in Alaska and Greenland, to visit the country and to live with the Inuit people. His journey takes him through Africa and Europe to Greenland, a journey of 8 years in total.  The book doesn't spend too much time on the journey getting there, and after about 3 chapters Kpomassie has arrived in Greenland, where the rest of the book takes place. Kpomassie strength here is to reflect the true hardship and nature of the Greenlanders. The book mainly takes p...

  Here we are back at Dalzell Estate, due to Covid restrictions as it was deemed necessary not to travel to far from our home. In this case we decided to travel the short distance and have a closer look at the loch and nature reserve. The last time we had a walk around the Japanese garden and the woods in general, by passing the large stately home that is almost impossible to miss. This time we headed in the opposite direction.  The Route Our route took us west from the car park and out onto open countryside and then south beside some trees. After a 1km or so it joins onto the Wetland route which, next to the loch. We continued along this path a little too long and after the first hide we should have turned left, switching back along the outer end of the loch. We had to double back on ourselves, but we had only gone 100m or so in the wrong direction.  Path Bird Hide On the far side where the path is trapped between the river Clyde and the loch, the vegetation is high here...

 The October  holidays are here and despite further restrictions on part of the county we were determined to make the most of our week off. The fact is we should have been away visiting relatives this week and as this couldn't happen we still wanted to get out and about. Safety is our No. 1 priority, especially with 4 children travelling with us so we booked ahead and took the short car journey to Blackness.  Castle Location There is only one road in and out of Blackness with the castle itself situated at the tip overlooking the river forth. It has been suggested that before the castle built in the 15th century the place was used as a port for the surrounding towns like Linlithgow. Tickets must be booked online prior to turning up. We were allocated a 90min time slot which was just enough time to get around the castle and visit the toilets etc. Inside the castle it is only the south tower that has a one way system, so it is best to visit that one last. We started off with...

  With the car out of action a short train journey was in order to visit Chatelherault country park. The bonus is that the train station is located opposite the park, which make for a very easy trip. As always, the plans in my head were for myself and the kids to have a decent walk through the woods or to a ruined castle, however the kids idea was just to visit the play park. After what felt like a very long 50 mins the kids were bored of the play park and a deal was struck about going for a walk. This is a complicated process of them not wanting to walk very far at all, and me seeing it as a chance to explore. It was decided that a walk to the Wham pond was a good compromise, a distance of 1.8km away, what a long walk! C hatelherault Park Pond Walk Route The pond is located behind the main house, where the shop and information centre is. We followed the signs that led to the overflow car park and then descended down a set of steps to the woods at the bottom of the main flat g...

Okay, so there are many walks around this country park estate and this covers just one of them. This park is situated in the town of Motherwell and includes the refurbished Dalzell House which is a must see attraction when you visit the estate. This is exactly what we didn't do.  From the car park we walked through the woods to the Japanese garden, a lovely tranquil spot. From there we walked back across the Sow Bridge, ignoring the MASSIVE country house behind us. Again, we headed back into the woods.  Japanese Garden There are many walking routes that can be taken around the estate. We managed to get back onto the white walk which took us past the graveyard and Lord Gavin's Temple.  Graveyard There is still so much of this country park and estate that we haven't explored and it is one of those places that doesn't tire of repeated visits. Our 2km walk took us just over an hour to complete. It is a place that you can simply spend hours in.  The Route