Book Review: Walking The Great North Line by Robert Twigger

Any book that jumps around between Stonehenge, Jack Kerouac, Wittgenstein, Pacerpoles, Edward Abbey, stealth camping, T.S.Eliot, Buffalo clothing and a myriad other subjects suggests an author with a lively, intellectually curious, and eclectic mind and that certainly applies to Robert Twigger. His book about walking from Stonehenge (actually Christchurch but then the first line does say “I didn’t start at the beginning”) to Lindisfarne along a straight line linking a series of ancient sites is one of the more unusual walking books I’ve read.

The book’s subtitle includes a reason for the walk: to Discover the Mysteries of Our Ancient Past. Does the author succeed? I have no idea! And I’m not sure Robert Twigger does either. But he does have a good walk with many entertaining companions, encounters and experiences.

Describing himself as a natural nomad the author is happy to trespass where he can without getting thrown off and camps in woods and other hidden spots, sometimes lighting a fire to sit round. Much of his walk is in what’s generally regarded as rural English farmland, yet he manages to find many wild places - though he does also walk through Birmingham.

I found accompanying the author on his walk  interesting and enjoyable. Never being sure where his magpie mind would jump to next was always intriguing. This is a curious but worthwhile addition to the literature of walking. Recommended!

On the Cairngorm Plateau

 

There are many summits on the Cairngorm Plateau, most notably Cairn Gorm itself and Ben Macdui. These summits are high points but not really separate mountains. They may look like it from below but once you are up on the Plateau they are just bumps in the vastness. The mountain is the Plateau. It can be enjoyed, explored and revelled in without visiting any named tops. It is a world in itself. Up here on this huge mountain there are rivers, lochs, glens, corries, grasslands, rocks and more. 

I felt this strongly a few days ago as I wandered the Plateau in sunshine and stillness. I had no clear destination, no summit to reach. Or rather the Plateau was the destination. I went late when I knew it would be quiet and the light warm and golden. I thought it would be cooler too but climbing to the Plateau the heat slowed me down. I met many people descending. One stopped for a chat. “My legs are gone” she said. She’d been down to Loch Avon then up Beinn Mheadhoin and was returning the same way. “A nine-hour day”. There’d been climbers on the cliffs in the Loch Avon basin, but they said the rocks were too wet.

Once I reached the Plateau I was alone and saw no-one else the rest of the day. The heat spoke of high summer, but the fading and reddening grasses spoke of autumn. I looked down on Loch Avon and across at the great cliffs of the Shelter Stone Crag and Carn Etchachan, monumental glacier-carved rock architecture. A distant red spot was a tent not far from the top of the latter. I wondered if this belonged to the climbers I’d heard about. A superb camp site anyway. 

On Hell’s Lum layers of wet overhanging slabs glistened. I ventured as close as I dared to the edge of the narrow gully that splits the cliff and gives its name. Far out beyond the dark slit the silvery waters of the Feith Buidhe crashed down gentler slabs. 

In the shallow valley above the tumble down to Loch Avon the Feith Buidhe was a shining thread stretching out to Lochan Buidhe. Beyond the waters rose Cairn Toul and Sgor an Lochain Uaine, the eastern edge of another great plateau on the far side of the hidden Lairig Ghru pass. 

Clouds drifted by high above, one brushing the top of Cairn Gorm, another making a half-hearted attempt to become a thunderhead. The air was warm. In these conditions the Plateau is benign, friendly and welcoming. Hard to imagine the blizzards raging here but they will be soon.

On the slopes of Cairn Lochan the low sun lit up thin grasses, the seed heads nodding in the gentle breeze. Such delicate plants. Yet they survive up here, survive in the gales and rain, the snows of winter, the frosts and ice. Delicate and tough at the same time. Easily crushed. Storm resistant.

I left the Plateau as the sun approached the horizon. The hills glowed gold. Out towards the sunset they became outlines, layers of dark silhouettes. I reached the car just as the first stars appeared. I’d reached no summits, climbed nothing I could tick off in a book, but I’d had a grand mountain day.

What I've Been Reading Online No. 24

 

The Cairngorm Plateau, September 6    

Another month has passed since I last shared online pieces I've enjoyed reading. Here's the next selection.

OUTDOORS, MOUNTAINS, WILD PLACES

Reforming Scotland's outdoor economy

Sensible look at this summer's problems with 'dirty camping' and littering by Andy Wightman MSP. 

What do we love about Mountains and wild places.

Heavy Whalley looks at why we go to the hills. 

Half traverse of Cuillin Ridge to six northerly Munros

FionaOutdoors finds the Cuillin Ridge challenging.

Is it time to stop climbing mountains? Obsession with reaching summits is a modern invention

A controversial piece from historian of mountains in Europe Dawn Hollis. I don't agree with it all (for a contrast see the Heavy Whalley piece listed above). It is thought-provoking though.

The Big Routes: South Letterewe Ridge

James Roddie has an overnight on one of the finest ridges for hillwalking - even though it has no Munros!

June 1960 – TD Gap call – out. No helicopters then? The way it was? Respect as they came off the hill

Heavy Whalley describes a tough rescue in the Cuillin in the days before modern gear and helicopter assistance.

Interview: Donnie Campbell smashes fastest Munro round record

The Munros in 31 days 23 hours? That's the record set this summer. Fiona Outdoors interviews Donnie Campbell and looks at the story of fast Munro rounds.

Flung into Highlands on bog myrtle 'trip'

Ben Dolphin on the power of smell to take you places

One step beyond: the ascent of mountain runner Kilian Jornet

An interesting interview with an amazing mountain runner by Alex Moshakis. 

Planning for a day on the hills? The love of maps. 

Heavy Whalley again. In praise of maps.

Birch, September 5

NATURE & CONSERVATION 

Toads, spiders, daddy long legs, even mice: let them all share our homes 

Ros Coward says rewilding should begin in our houses and gardens.

UK nature-lovers invited to join fight against litter

Tom Hill looks at Dom Ferris's projects Trash Free Trails and Selfless Isolation Project.

'It's going to be our way now': the guerilla rewilder shaking up British farming

Phoebe Weston profiles Derek Gow

How we lost our green and pleasant land 

Mark Cocker looks at nature, access, and land ownership with short reviews of several recent books including Nick Hayes' The Book of Trespass. 

A stranger's Short Diary on encountering the grouse and pheasant shooting industry for the first time. 

A guest writer on Mark Avery's blog describes her encounter with the dismal reality of the game shooting industry.

Species in peril: Loss, Love and Protection

Environmentalist Subhankar Banerjee on Trump's war on nature and the communities fighting back.

OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Examples of photographers' paranoia #1 - FOLK (Fear of Lesser Kit)

Mike Prince writes about the lie that a better camera will make you a better photographer. 

Fieldcraft and Ethical Wildlife Photography 

Good advice from professional wildlife photographer Craig Jones.

Top tips for creating outdoor films with your smartphone

More good advice, this time from James Cox on making smartphone videos.

A Stormy Trip to Glen Feshie and Mullach Clach a'Bhlair

With a forecast for stormy weather and plenty of work to do at home I hadn’t planned on anything but a few short local walks this week. Then I heard from Carey Davies, editor of The Great Outdoors. He was coming up to the Cairngorms for a few days’ hillwalking and camping. Yes, I said, I could come along, especially as it was to Glen Feshie, a place I’m always happy to visit whatever the weather. 

So after hastily packing a rucksack I met up with Carey at the Auchlean car park for the walk up the glen, past the bothy, and into the woods where we camped amongst a wonderful mix of ancient and new pines, a forest reborn. The evening was dry with enough of a breeze to keep the midges off. At first. Then the wind dropped and out they rushed. The air was warm and humid, just the right conditions. The breeze stirred again occasionally but kept fading away, so we were soon zipped into our tents and cooking in the porches. With a temperature inside of 17°C and clouds of steam wafting around my tent soon resembled a sauna. Better that than let the midges in! If only it had a two-way door zip so I could let some of the steam out at the top I thought.  

Soon after night fell heavy rain started and hammered down for several hours. At first, I couldn’t sleep in the hot, stuffy tent. Then the rain eased off and the temperature began to fall, a great relief. I woke at dawn to a cloudy sky and enough of a breeze to deter the midges. It was still warm. The overnight low was only 9°C and even though there was no sun the thermometer soon rose to 15°C.

Overhead the clouds raced past, rising and falling over the hills. There was a light shower and more rain seemed likely. However there were bursts of sunshine too, brightening the landscape. Above the glen rose the steep bulky eastern slopes of Mullach Clach a’Bhlair, the first Munro I’d climbed on my first camping trip after the Covid 19 lockdown was eased back in July. It had been stormy on top then. Perhaps today there’d be a view, if we could stand up in the wind. 

After another bout of rain the skies started to clear as we walked up the track to the Moine Mhor. A walker descending said ‘looks like you’ll be there at the right time’. We paused to look into the depths of Coire Garbhlach, the only distinctive and rugged corrie on this side of the Cairngorms. 

The blue sky and touches of sunshine didn’t last long. We reached Mullach Clach a’Bhlair in driving rain and a very strong cold wind. There’s no shelter on the summit, just a small cairn, and there were no views. We didn’t linger but were soon heading down the Druim nam Bo ridge. An estate worker in an ATV stopped and told us he was counting deer and had seen many in the corries to the south. We’d seen none, no wildlife at all in fact. Later though we twice had sightings of golden eagles high in the sky hanging in the wind along the edge of the glen. A raven hassled one of them but failed to drive it away. Eagles! Always exciting.

As we descended the visibility began to improve though the rain and wind didn’t lessen. This was more than a shower. Dark hillsides appeared under the clouds tearing across the sky. Waves raced across little Lochan nam Bo. A hollow provided shelter from the wind so we could finally stop and have a snack and a drink. As so often I was surprised at how dropping a few feet below a bank suddenly cut the wind. Sitting there in the heather it was hard to believe how powerful the wind was just above. 

The rain only stopped as we reached the first trees. It was much warmer down here too and we were soon stripping off layers of clothing. On the floor of the glen there was no wind at all and back at camp the midges were biting. I packed up and set off down the glen, leaving Carey to spend another night in the forest. There were two more showers before I reached the car, and two more bursts of warm sunshine. I’d lost track of how many times my waterproofs had been on and off. My shoes and socks were soaked and the pleasure of donning dry ones at the car was unreasonably satisfying.  

Despite the changeable weather, or maybe in part because of it, I’d enjoyed the trip. Having a companion, for the first time since early March, had been a key factor too. I wouldn’t have been there otherwise and if I had been here alone I certainly wouldn’t have gone up Mullach Clach a’Bhlair in that weather. Carey had never been to Glen Feshie before either and I always love introducing people to this special place.

  

Into the Arctic and the Winter: The Final Stage of My Yukon Walk, September 1- September 8, 1990

 

When I left the Eagle Plains Hotel (see my last Yukon post) I knew I was on the last part of the walk but I didn't know exactly where I would finish or how long it would take me to get there, wherever it was, so I set off with two weeks supplies and the heaviest pack of the trip. I was pretty fit of course and the load was not the burden it would have been at the start of the walk.

My plan was to follow the remote Richardson Mountains north at least as far as the pass where the Dempster Highway crossed them into the Northwest Territories. Autumn colours and cold temperatures showed that summer was over. Chilly rain fell frequently and I was glad of the tarp I'd brought as a cooking shelter.

After crossing the Arctic Circle I climbed up into the Richardson Mountains. These are built of sedimentary rocks and form long undulating ridges that make for superb walking and I had one of the best days of the whole trip striding along the crest.

The weather however did not let me stay on the crest for long. Snow began to fall and soon a blizzard was raging. I was blown off my feet once and could then only progress by almost crawling. This, I realised, was crazy so I descended cautiously down steep and slippery moss and boulders to easier terrain. I camped in heavy rain and strong winds on open ground with little shelter. The storm battered the tent, easing towards dawn as the rain turned to snow.

I left that camp in a white-out and slogged through soft deep snow to a final camp. Somewhere during the day I left the Yukon Territory. Another desperate day in driving snow and hail staggering through ankle- to thigh-deep snow led to the Dempster Highway. A truck slowed and stopped. The walk was over.

The walk had taken 83 days and I reckoned I'd walked well over 1,000 miles, though as I couldn't trace some of my route exactly on the map I didn't know for certain. The distance didn't matter though. It had been a great adventure.

I wrote a book about the walk. It’s long out of print but I expect there are second-hand copies around.

Photographic Note: I carried two SLRs, the Nikon F801 and FM2, with Nikkor 35-70, Nikkor 24mm,and Sigma 70-210 lenses, plus a Cullman tripod. Films were Fujichrome 50 and 100 slide ones. The total weight with padded cases was 4kg. To digitise the slides I photographed them on a lightbox with my Sony a6000 with a Sony E 30mm macro lens.

Book Review: Skye's Cuillin Ridge Traverse by Adrian Trendall

 

The most challenging hills in Scotland are undoubtedly the Cuillin on the Isle of Skye, a tangled mass of spectacular rock architecture.  There is no easy way up most of the summits. Scrambling and in some places rock climbing are required to reach many of them. 

So much complex rock detail is crammed into this small area that maps cannot cover it adequately. This is the only mountain range in Scotland where I would say a guidebook is essential. Having been going to the Cuillin on and off for forty years I've a small library on the region, including a succession of guidebooks. This one came out earlier this year and is the best of them all. The author, Adrian Trendall, is a mountain guide on Skye and clearly knows the Cuillin intimately. He and his wife Bridgette run All Things Cuillin, a guiding and photography company, and a Facebook group with the same name.

The book is in two parts, both contained in a plastic sleeve. The first part covers necessary information such as navigation, grades, and logistics and then ten classic scrambles. Each route is described in detail and clearly marked on photographs and sections of  Harvey's Superwalker Skye: The Cuillin map. There's also a chapter on the Cuillin traverse in winter for those with the experience to attempt this. 

The second part is a detailed topo booklet to the complete Cuillin Ridge Traverse with Harvey 1:25,000 and 1:12,500 mapping and again routes marked on photographs. The information is well laid out and easy to follow. I wish I'd had this on my one almost ridge traverse (Sgurr nan Gillean to Bealach Mhic Choinnich where we bailed out as a storm began) and on shorter ventures along sections of it. 

The guide is illustrated with the author's excellent photographs, which show both the splendour of the scenery and the nature of the scrambling and climbing. 

A highly recommended book.

A Spectacular Display of Clouds At Sunset

Evening is one of my favourite times and I often go out for a stroll at dusk and watch the day fade into night. Sometimes there is a red sunset, sometimes clouds glow with the last light, sometimes greyness just fades into black. And sometimes magic happens and the sly is ablaze with glory. 

That was the case on the second day of September. After a day of wind, rain and an overcast sky sunlight finally cut through the clouds, lighting up the Cromdale Hills. I wandered down the track through the woods below our house. A chat with a neighbour was cut short by the appearance of midges - they haven't gone yet. 

Leaving the woods now seemed a good idea so I walked back up the track and out into the fields, where I hoped the breeze would deter the midges. Looking back I could saw a rainbow arcing over the darkening Cromdale Hills. 

Towards the now vanished sun great swirls of cloud caught the last rays, turning orange and gold. The clouds were layers of twisting fantastic shapes. Out in the fields I stood and stared, entranced by one of the most glorious skies I have ever seen. This was magic indeed.