Monday 26 May 2014

Potteric Carr Nature Festival


Yesterday, Sunday the 25th, was the Nature Festival at Potteric Carr nature reserve in Doncaster.Now I love me a good nature festival. Not only was entry to the nature reserve free for the day, but there were plenty of stalls about various things, including herbs, art and crafts, plants for sale and information on how to sign up to be a volunteer.

Black headed gull from Decoy Marsh Hide
I had a quick nosy around several of the stalls before heading off to the bird hides. Some local beekeepers were there with a small selection of honeybees on show. I was fascinated by their lifecycle and they answered many of my questions. I love bees and have read the book A World Without Bees by Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum, which highlights some worrying facts about our honeybees. I recommend it to anyone else interested in bees and their decline.

Pond with irises
Upon reaching the cafe, I noticed a bird of prey stall. There were several species on display including a gorgeous barn owl, a kestrel and an eagle owl.

Kestrel
Eagle owl
I then carried on walking along the wetland walk, a route that takes you past several large areas of marshland, and bumped into this little guy out with his family:

Canada goose-ling
There were five goslings in total, with their parents watching over them diligently. The young ones were snacking happily on grass shoots while mum and dad goose glowered menacingly at each person walking past. I took a quick photo and left them to it.

There were many nestboxes scattered throughout the reserve, but walking past one of them hanging on a tall oak tree I heard a frantic cheeping coming from inside. Retreating to a safe distance so I wouldn't disturb the parents, I waited and watched while both blue tits went about the business of bringing up their kids.

Lunch, anyone?
Table for one, please
Yet another caterpillar meets its doom
Feed me, Seymour!
Being a parent is a dirty business: Removing a faecal sac
Neverending job
After snapping a few photos I moved away and visited the willow pool hide. This hide seems to be quite popular and usually has some wildlife on view, but today there were only three of us in the hide and a squirrel was scarfing down all the seed on one of the bird tables:

Grey squirrel
Male reed bunting
There was also a reed bunting glaring suspiciously towards the hide, and a great tit making short work of the peanuts in the feeder near the trees.

A kind man told me about the pair of kingfishers in the trees over the Mother Drain, which is basically just a long, straight stretch of water. They appeared to be nesting and weren't going anywhere, so several of us got a good look at them. Unfortunately they were too far away and too obscured by the vegetation to be able to take a half-decent photograph, but at least I got to watch them through my binoculars.

Canada goose family
Goose-lings
I wanted to visit the stalls again and buy some of the wildflower plants that had caught my eye earlier. As I turned the corner though I realised I was going nowhere fast, as the goose family were waddling down the road in front of me. They were having a whale of a time, drinking and paddling in a puddle whilst once again their parents stood over them protectively. I inched past slowly, tucking myself well into the grass verge on the opposite side of the road so I wouldn't startle them. Having eased my way past, I headed straight for the plant stall and bought a large selection of plants. I don't entirely trust my wildflower seeds to grow this year, as for some reason my plant-growing skills are sadly lacking. Hopefully I won't kill this lot of plants off.

I spoke to a couple of the volunteers manning the stalls and got some information on becoming a volunteer myself at the nature reserve. I felt like I actually fitted in here, walking around in my walking trousers, boots and baggy top; in my own eyes, dressed sensibly for whatever the weather may throw at me, but once back in Rotherham amongst the throngs of people in the town centre, dressed rather strangely as I don't dye my hair bright blond, plaster my face with warpaint or wear brightly coloured clothes like most people my own age.

Wildflowers on the grass verge
Poppies nodding in the breeze
The grass verges near the bus stop opposite the nature reserve are full of poppies, oxeye daisies and other wildflowers. I hope my own garden becomes as colourful as that this year. I found I had to reluctantly drag myself away from the reserve and start heading home, even though I had spent five and a half hours there. I need to visit these places more often, they are such a tonic for so many things.

Tuesday 20 May 2014

The Great Glen Way: Day six - Drumnadrochit to Inverness


This was the last day of our walk. As the week went on, I was excited as each day drew to a close about being one day closer to the finish. Yet as I woke this morning, to the rather unnerving sound of horses galloping close by, I found myself reluctant to leave my sleeping bag and feeling slightly melancholic. However when my watch showed the time was half seven, I decided it was time to get up. I opened both zips on the tent as quietly as possible, trying not to disturb the other campers. I rather missed the solitude and privacy of wild camping, but at least this site had showers.

Morning, campers!
Last night whilst washing and showering before bed, the hot water caused my nose to bleed. Now I know I have a fairly sensitive nose, but I think it's slightly abnormal for a nose to start bleeding just because you washed your face. It finally stopped before bed and this morning I gingerly washed my face again, checking for signs of blood. Fortunately there were none so deciding it must have been a one-off I packed our tent away for the last time, as that night we would be staying in a B&B, and we were off.

Floral Urquhart Castle
And the real thing
As I still had no way of lighting my stove I was relieved that a cafe was open in Drumnadrochit for breakfast. I ordered the most delicious vegetarian fry-up with Quorn sausage and devoured it sitting outside in the glorious sunshine with Sybil. In the cafe I noticed a bookshelf full of books and a notice above saying that the books were on sale for £1 each and all proceeds were to go to an animal charity. I bought a book by an author I liked (it's a shame I couldn't have carried more) and feeling happy, fed and charitable we turned right out of the village along the road. We had a slightly later than planned start at 10am but after roughly forty minutes of road slogging we finally turned into the woods where there were views of Urquhart Castle in the distance.

Urquhart Castle
Through the forest
Sybil spied another red squirrel in the trees and telling her to leave it we headed up through the cool, dense forest. The day was starting out to be really warm and I was glad of the shade provided by the conifers. The path was really steep in places as it zigzagged up through the trees. Perhaps the walk was finally taking its toll on me as the backpack seemed to weigh a ton, and indeed I had to have several rest stops after each steep climb. Sybil, bless her soul, kept checking to see how I was and every time I sat down, came and sat at the side of me. Towards the end of each day Sybil had also started feeling the miles, but today she seemed to have recovered and was happily tearing back and forth between me and the path in front.

Odd one out
The long climb mostly over, we bumped into a total of eight walkers in a space of fifteen minutes. One group of them recognised us from the first day back near Gairlochy and we had a chat about how we had all fared. They had chosen a slightly different approach for the last day, by taking a taxi out and walking back to Drumnadrochit. I mentioned that one of my boot laces had snapped an hour or so ago, and two of them immediately offered me their spares. I told them thanks but I'd be fine, managing to tie it temporarily and thinking how nice people out walking were compared to the other tourists in Fort Augustus and, no doubt, Inverness.

Farewell, Loch Ness

The forest gave way to moorland after giving us our last views of Loch Ness. We had the route to ourselves again as we passed through a large metal gate and into Abriachan Forest. I was ready for a rest and sat down on a conveniently-placed boulder at the side of a large pond. Looking at my watch I realised it was already half past twelve and we still had a huge amount of distance to cover. Today's walk was quoted in my guidebook as being eighteen miles long, but several people on the internet have said it is longer, more like twenty-two miles.

It's a long way to Inverness
More mountains
In fact we weren't even halfway, as a nearby signpost informed me. At least most of the climbing was done now and I started to pick up the pace a little. We past a sign declaring this was the highest point of the footpath; at first glance I thought the sign said "Can't get lost". I found myself wondering if the sign-makers were aware who was reading the sign, then I realised what it actually said. Better get my contact lenses checked.

I actually believe that back home my family and friends were placing bets all week on how long it would be before I did get lost. Getting lost is something that happens quite frequently to me, as those of you who read these blog posts regularly will know. Whoever placed their money on me getting lost on the first day to Gairlochy, you can collect your prize now. There was a slight "detour" just before pitching my tent that first night, but I soon put us right.

Abriachan Eco-Campsite and Cafe
Most delicious snack-stop of the trip
Fighting through some trees that had little idea about giving a walker some personal space, we stumbled upon several wooden signs guiding us to a cafe, each promising a different tasty refreshment. I think I would pass on the bovril and ovaltine, though. I leashed Sybil and followed the woodchip path to an eco-cafe with a wonderful host. I bought a hot chocolate and the lady came back with a huge mug of the delicious drink and some yummy homemade snacks on the side. Sybil took advantage of the break for a drink and a lay-down.

It had by now turned 2pm so we picked up the pace again and finally hit the road I believe the lady from the day before was telling us about. It was a quiet road, but long and harsh on the feet. The only vehicle we met during our road slog was a huge logging truck. On either side of the road was heather moorland, with good views over to the left of Ben Wyvis. I'm not sure if it was down to altitude, although we weren't that high, or something in the air but all of a sudden my nose began to bleed badly again. Luckily I had plenty of tissues with me and walked along for ages with my head tilted slightly back and my nose buried in tissue. It seemed it would never stop and I had visions of arriving in Inverness looking like a cheap extra for a walking dead film.

The road slog ends!
Male reed bunting
Not long now
The road slog and nose bleed finally both began to cease as I noticed a left fork heading parallel to the road over more moorland and finally into forest again. We followed an old drovers' road through a mixture of trees including Scot's pine, rowan and birch. A couple of the conifer trees I passed looked as spiky as the gorse bushes that were also common on this walk. I went up to one and gently touched the needles, but surprisingly they were quite soft to the touch.

Bilberry bush in flower
Beauly Firth: We are getting close now






I was really enjoying this part of the walk; the trees were quite thinly planted so plenty of light filtered through, yet there were enough trees to still give one the feeling of solitude I often feel when walking in a woodland. There was a delightful drystone wall to my right with moss and bilberry growing upon it. Making the most of the weather butterflies were fluttering all over the place, landing and feeding on the plants at the side of the path and chasing each other through the dappled sunshine. I recognised mainly small white butterflies and the occasional green-veined white.   

Eventually through the trees to our left we caught a glimpse of the Beauly Firth. Excited that we were closing in on Inverness I looked at my watch and realised that we would not be at the B&B for 4pm, as I had told the owner. I called her and explained we were still a few miles away. She was fine with that and told us that once we finished the walk at the castle, if I visited the pub opposite and told them I had walked the Great Glen Way I would receive a certificate. I thanked her and we focused on finishing the last few miles. We left the wood through a gate and were directed down a path between yards and yards of gorgeous yellow gorse bushes.

A picturesque pond among the gorse
 Suddenly we turned a corner and there, to our right, was the wonderful sight of Inverness. I gave a huge whoop and start laughing with delight, much to Sybil's bemusement. We were so close now; there was no way we would not finish this walk. The sight of the city gave me the last push needed to ignore the blisters and burning pain in my feet and the weight of the backpack dragging me down. We followed the path through the gorse bushes, winding slowly down towards civilisation.

Inverness!
A cheerful almost-end to the walk
Only four miles to go!
People started to appear on this attractive stretch above the city; joggers out listening to their Ipods, couples out for a gentle stroll and children walking with their families. The weather was glorious, blue skies ahead with not a cloud to be seen. We saw another red squirrel in the trees shortly before leaving the gorse to hit asphalt as we reached the outskirts of Inverness. Crossing a busy road we threaded our way through suburban parks and footpaths, passing houses and ducking through a subway until we emerged by the familiar canal again. Eventually we found the River Ness, where we crossed a footbridge and headed for the B&B where I would drop my backpack off then finish the walk to the castle.

The River Ness
As I expected here in the city it was every man for himself and, unlike ourselves, people seemed reluctant to give way or even to obey the signs and dismount from their bicycles whilst crossing the footbridges. Luckily I have trained Sybil out of lunging and barking at bikes as she did when she was an unsocialised young rescue dog, but we still didn't appreciate them rushing past us with no warning on a narrow bridge. I found myself wishing I was still up on the forest paths but didn't let it spoil the bubble of euphoria that was growing inside of me at having so nearly finished the walk.

We got a little lost whilst trying to find Cavell House but another quick phone call soon got us heading in the right direction and we were welcomed warmly and shown to our room with a four-poster bed and some dog biscuits set out ready for Sybil. After dumping most of my gear down, we set off for the castle before we could get too comfortable and spent some time taking end of walk photos and admiring the tame wild rabbits that hopped around the tourists' feet.

We did it! At Inverness Castle
The sign for the end (or beginning) of the Great Glen Way
Baby wild rabbit
Mum wild rabbit
The other tourists eventually drifted off to wherever they were staying for the night. I feel I attracted a few strange looks for my dishevelled hair, muddy trousers and grubby, sweat-stained face but I really didn't care. I had walked all the way from Fort William and that was a massive achievement for me. There were a couple of times on the trip when I thought I wouldn't make it and wanted nothing more than my own bed, but as the days went on I enjoyed being so close to nature and feeling part of an exclusive club, the Great Glen Wayers. Other people have walked for much longer distances and over much more difficult terrain but I'm sure the sense of achievement when you get to the end of wherever you are walking is much the same.

River Ness from the castle, and looking back towards the Great Glen
River Ness in the city
We limped across the road to the Castle Tavern where I bought a pint of Pepsi and asked about the certificate. Whilst I was waiting for it I had a chat with one of the staff about the walk, who had done it himself. I finished my drink outside with Sybil and we soon headed off back to our bed for the night. We both had one thing on our minds: sleep. And a nice long hot shower for me.

In the morning after my delicious breakfast of tattie scones with cheese and tomato we headed straight for the train station after a quick walk for Sybil. Although Inverness is an attractive city with its sandstone buildings and with the river running through its heart, I just couldn't warm to it. I don't know if it was because I was away from the generous walkers I had gotten used to or because the lack of green spaces for Sybil in the morning and evening before bed (we passed Whin Park on our way into the city, and a sign outside declared No Dogs), but I had little of the melancholy I felt the morning before back at Borlum Farm. I would miss the lochs and the forests, along with the satisfying solitude I had for most of the walk, but who knows? Perhaps this long distance walk will be one of many Sybil and I will complete in the future.

Tired at Inverness Castle

Monday 19 May 2014

The Great Glen Way: Day five - Stone Seat, Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit


I was woken at what I assume was shortly before dawn, when the night was still black enough so I couldn't see the time on my watch. A quiet bubbling sound was coming from behind the tent, which I quickly realised was the sound of a black grouse. It seems I had rather stupidly pitched my tent on or near a lek. This is a site where these rare birds perform their courtship display, rather like the red deer stags sizing each other up and battling to acquire a harem of females.

I could hear the birds' wings flapping very close to my tent and although I would have loved to see this wildlife spectacle from a reasonable distance, I resisted opening my tent to have a peek as, truth be told, I was a little scared. I had visions of the fairly big, stocky birds peering into my tent and pecking at me. Well, with all that testosterone flying around you never know what might happen. So I decided to sit tight and not disturb them, eventually drifting back off to sleep.

On our way
My next alarm clock was a song thrush perched on a tree next to my tent, uttering his cheerful if repetitive song and rousing us both from a pretty deep sleep. Again there was a light shower whilst I was getting us both ready for today's journey, but it soon ceased and after stuffing yet again a wet tent into its bag (it is rather difficult) we had a quick breakfast before getting an early start. Unsurprisingly things didn't go to plan and there was to be no hot drink for me, as last night I stupidly put the matchbox (brand new, bought in Fort Augustus) down on the bench, only it landed straight into the pan of water I had ready for boiling. I had flashbacks to that morning at Clunes when my stove only just managed to light, but this time I got not a spark from the matches and eventually decided to give it up as a bad job and got moving.

The Stone Cave
Loch Ness
We soon passed the Stone Cave, which apparently was built as shelter for a washerwoman on her frequent journeys between the villages. Luckily this morning we didn't need shelter as the sun was out. The track once again ran between trees, both deciduous ones such as birch and oak as well as conifer trees. I occasionally caught a wonderful wild, almost spicy scent which I assume came from the pine or cedar trees.

Starting to climb
Looking back over Loch Ness
Another willow-chaff
There were great views over Loch Ness at one point, and turning round as I heard a bird calling high above me I noticed a steep cliff about 400m high clinging onto an impressive amount of trees. I believe the birds were ravens and they seemed to be mobbing a bird of prey that was possibly a buzzard. I didn't have room to take my binoculars on the trip, which was a shame as I'm sure there would have been much more wildlife to see if I had.

Loch Ness
Sunday sailing on Loch Ness
Looking back again
The path started to climb pretty steeply after passing Alltsigh, zigzagging up the hill and amongst the conifers until the views over the loch became better and better. This was easily one of my favourite walks of the trip. The loch stretched away into the distance and also in front of me, indicating that there was still a while to go yet.

Waterfall
At this point another walker passed me, a man not much older than myself also heading towards Drumnadrochit that day. As the path climbed higher and higher we kept overtaking one another as each of us stopped to catch our breath. I stopped to take some more photos before the trees engulfed us, erasing our views of the loch. The Way now wound through trees, passing a couple of pretty waterfall before spitting us out across the loch from Foyers where we stopped to have a rest.

Suddenly I wondered what had happened to the man we passed with the yellow raincover on his backpack. I had already become somewhat fitter on our walk as my body got used to the ridiculous weight of my backpack each day and I had managed to overtake several walkers on some of the days, so how come this guy had disappeared into the blue yonder? Perhaps the Loch Ness monster had eaten him. Or he had just put a sprint on to get away from the likes of me and Sybil.

They smelt delicious
We met a fair few walkers heading in the opposite direction to us today. One of them, also a lone woman walker, warned us that the final day into Inverness was a big road slog. Hmm, something to look forward to then. Well she was in for a treat later today as the views over Loch Ness we had gloried in a couple of hours ago would open up right in front of her, instead of having to look behind her as I had done.

The last stretch of track through the trees was easily the most amazing smelling, even stronger than earlier on in the day's walk. Several of the trees had been chopped down; I wonder if that's why the scent was so strong? Either way, I could stand there all day and bask. Sadly though I didn't as Drumnadrochit was waiting for us.

View of the hill Meall Fuar-mhonaidh (bless you)
We soon reached the tiny civilisations of Grotaig, Balbeg and Ancarraig where the fun ended. Onwards from here the road went on, and on, and on...so much so that I took my guidebook out twice to check we were heading the right way. Thankfully the road wasn't busy, but Sybil was still on-lead and with our water running low and our feet complaining we started sniping at each other. It was a huge relief when I finally spotted a sign directing us off the road through a wood, where Sybil gleefully disposed of her lead and I spied an welcome sight in the distance:

Lewiston and Drumnadrochit
The village of Lewiston was the nearest to us and it was here we would hopefully camp for the night. Both villages are pretty tiny so are all just one really, but it felt slightly bigger than it should whilst I was looking for the campsite. Yet again just as we reached the village the heavens opened. Sybil quickly dove for cover in a nearby bus shelter and I put on our coats as we waited for the rain to ease a little. Unable to find Borlum Farm I asked a local couple, who said I was heading in the wrong direction and wanted the other side of the village. Well, what's a couple more miles to us seasoned walkers?

We found the farm with little more trouble and I booked us in at reception, whilst skilfully blocking Sybil's view of the rider-clad horses. I pitched the tent in a field where there were two other campers. Returning to the campsite that evening after tea I noticed two more tents had been set up in our absence. Before turning in for the night I was half-hoping for a Great Glen Way sing-a-long around a cosy campfire, but we had no such luck.