Joe Blogs

Is this what they mean by "achieving best practice" ?

Joe Dorward — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 09:01:02 +0000

While it may be true that the National Trust of Scotland do not intend to diminish the wild quality of Mar Lodge Estate nor damage its ecology, the following is another example - in a long line of examples - that show why I was naive in 1995 to welcome the news that the National Trust for Scotland was taking over the management of Mar Lodge Estate

Seton Gordon : The Life and Times of a Highland Gentleman

Joe Dorward — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:05:03 +0000

I bought this 'biography' of Seton Gordon in the hope I’d learn more about his earliest expeditions into the Cairngorms than I already knew from reading his books. I wanted to know something about how he worked up from (perhaps) a first casual visit, to expeditions over the summits, and Làirigs. I also wanted to know more about his first encounters with the people who lived, and worked there - I was sadly disappointed

The Cairngorms

Joe Dorward — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 08:53:43 +0000

The first edition of this Scottish Mountaineering Club guide by Henry Alexander was published in 1928. This is the 1975 edition - a re-publication after a major revision by Adam Watson

The problem with 'Gaelic' place names on maps

Joe Dorward — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 07:09:43 +0000

The main difficultly in discussing the derivations of Gaelic place names in the upland of Mar (at least) is the fact that the common-names - the names that places are 'known by' - often bears no resemblance to their 'true' Gaelic names. Often, even when a Gaelic place name survives, its spelling has been so mangled that the meaning of the place name is changed entirely ; with others the spelling has been so mangled that its meaning is completely unknown, and unknowable

The Cairngorm hills of Scotland

Joe Dorward — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 15:00:59 +0000

By 1925 the ornithologist, and writer Seton Gordon had been visiting the Cairngorms for almost two decades. Over those years he had developed such an intimate knowledge of the Cairngorms (it seems probable) that no other writer in the country was more qualified to write on the subject

The path to Ben Macdui

Joe Dorward — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:55:06 +0000

The first photograph in Alexander (1928) is a striking, and famous photograph by Henry Duggan of Gleann Doire and the path over the pre-historic Derry Dam named The path to Ben Macdhui.

Leaves from the Journal of our life in the Highlands

Joe Dorward — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 12:57:26 +0000

You might think that Queen Victoria couldn't be any kind of a source for information about the Cairngorms ; but the fact is she was one of the area's earliest 'tourists'. It's true she was no mountaineer ; she probably didn't really climb, any hill, nor walk very far, nor carry any equipment - but she was out there, crossing watersheds, and reaching summits decades before the formation of the Cairngorm Club. Her first visit to Deeside was in 1848, and she soon began exploring the area, although she did not venture into the Cairngorms until 1950. She recorded each outing in her diary, and this book comprises 'leaves' from that diary. Because Victoria had unlimited access to the hills, and because she was among the area's earliest 'tourist' these 'leaves' give valuable insights into the everyday life of the people living among the hills of western Aberdeenshire about the middle of the 19th century. It's not about her ; it's about the places she went, the things that she saw, and the people she met

Sole Trading

Joe Dorward — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 12:14:31 +0000

I'm sceptical about our ability to intervene in the 'wild landscape' without doing more harm than good. I'm unconvinced that any of the track 'maintenance' work done by the National Trust for Scotland on Mar Lodge Estate is necessary. I think the National Trust for Scotland knows it's unnecessary and I think I know why it's carried out anyway - although I don't know anything for sure - I suspect the work is funded by public money and that more money comes in that goes out

The place names of upper Deeside

Joe Dorward — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:48:39 +0000

It has been known for at least a century that the proper collection of Gaelic place names was more than problematic - experts in the field have know all along the difficulties involved. In 1915 the (even then) noted expert on Gaelic place names William Watson was asked by the editor of the Cairngorm Club Journal to comment on their proposed collection of place names in the Cairngorms - his response hit the nail on the head

The Cairngorms : a range by any other name

Joe Dorward — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:33:34 +0000

There are many people with no clear idea what, or where the Cairngorms are. Evidently the place name ‘Cairngorms’ is surprisingly misunderstood. Surprisingly since Aviemore's south-eastern skyline is dominated by a hill named An Carn Gorm ; and yet not surprising since the creation of the Cairngorms National Park co-opted the name while encompassing parts of eastern Scotland (including other clearly defined hill-ranges) many miles away from the actual ‘Cairngorms’ hill-range.