Sunday, 3 February 2013

Our New Backyard

Last weekend we went for a walk in the Pentlands with David Hine, aka Gridnorth.  It was a good day of chat and soup and 3 or 4 easy summits, a late start and an early finish.


When I first moved here, I was pretty sniffy about Edinburgh's backyard.  ''Pah!'' I snorted (to myself - the grumpy hiker always walks alone), ''sheep country''.  I did a few day walks over the main summits, but nothing stuck.  An over- grazed desert, a tamed waste ground.  It was a bit unfair of me.  Perhaps I'd been spoilt by a 2 month through hike.


They still aren't wild hills, but I've since discovered a few odd corners inbetween farmland and grouse moor and the burns full of dead plastic and empty shell cases, long evenings under moonlight in the quieter southern stretches, geese migrating overhead.  And under snow they do transform into something else.  Something not quite as benign.  Even if it's just illusion, it's not a bad one.  The Kips are pretty elegant in their winter velvets.



29 comments:

  1. Great photos David. It looks a bit like the Howgills. I have mixed feelings about sheep, especially when there are no flowers compared to other mountain regions. But on the other hand i guess a lot of places might be covered in scrub without them.

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  2. In England they would be a National Park with a 100 guide books to boot. Landscape is more than meters gained, and wild remote locations. Enjoy that which you find yourself in at any given time. Its the now we are in. So enjoy it.

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  3. Cheers Greg. I still have mixed feelings about the Pentlands, but there's alot more to them than I thought initially.

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  4. When I was based in London this would have been a big day out. Just getting somewhere like the Pentlands would've taken hours. Things change, thankfully. It was good to be reminded that this might only be 40minutes away now, but it has alot to offer despite it not being the big hills further north.

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  6. That's the problem with London - everything starts to get worthwhile about 3hrs away. The South Downs are nice but not exactly wilderness on your doorstep. Great images as usual, I especially like the WB/colour cast in number three - won't ask how you took them though ;-)

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  7. Aye, the big smoke did feel pretty hermetically sealed to me, but then again I was more central than you - took 1.5hrs just to get out to the m25.



    Another non secret about the photos - 99/100 times the WB is left to 'auto' when I take the shot! Luckily the 5d is cleverer than I :)

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  8. Not a bad backyard David. I have to admit that although the Peak District is only an hour away I can get a bit sniffy about it ,preferring to travel a couple of extra hours for something a bit 'wilder'. Easy to overlook what is on your doorstep.

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  9. tis that. Scarba is a 'bit' further than 2 hours though ;) Hope you had fun, despite the beach flotsam

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  10. Takes me 3mins to get to the M25 if there's no traffic which is great for Gatwick, Europe and Wales (being on the southern aspect as we are). I kid myself the motorway noise is a babbling brook nearby.
    And of course I never have mine set to 'auto' although shooting RAW gives you more flexibility in this regard than any other. I have a whibal card which I use to great effect when I remember to take that initial first photo in given light - sadly that's about 1 in 10...

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  11. Every back yard has its wild corners. In the words of GMH ..."let them be left, wildness and wet ... long live the weeds and the wilderness yet". Pauline, www.theoutdoordiaries.blogspot.com

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  12. First heard that poem recited last year at Inversnaid itself ;) No bad, no bad at all. Portobello looks kinda poetic too, cheers Pauline.

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  14. Cracking photos David. I should take a few more b/w shots to expand my own posts. I had a mate who lived in Edinburgh but we never really explored the Pentlands for similar reasons. Looks like we should have given them a go

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  15. They are a good day out, especially the further south and west from Edinburgh you get. Not as good as somewhere/anywhere north of Perthshire though!

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