Loch Lomond is arguably Scotland’s best-known stretch of water, no doubt due to its proximity to Glasgow and the large population centres of Central Scotland. It is dissected by the Highland boundary fault line, and has some unique characteristics.

1/n The loch is divided into two distinctive parts: the broad and shallow Lowland section with many islands, and the narrow and deep Highland section.

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A stellar day above Glen Lyon today, with sublime views. However, the North Chesthill estate does everything it can to dissuade/scare walkers from even leaving the car park.

Here’s what I found today.

1/6 Directly below the rip-off car park (£8.20, thank you. KERCHING) signage, the first misrepresentation/bastardisation of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code is displayed prominently, telling people to walk elsewhere. A clear breach of the code.

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Today I fulfilled a long-held ambition. I visited the wilds of upper Glen Lyon to see the pagan shrine which houses stones used in the only Celtic ritual in Europe that survives in its original form, possibly since the Bronze Age (1200 B.C.).

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Tigh nam Bodach is a rare surviving pagan relic. A small stone structure shelters a set of smooth, human-like stones, thought to represent an ancient family: the Bodach (old man), the Cailleach (old woman), and their children.

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On this day in 1692, one of Scotland's most infamous episodes took place at Glen Coe. Government troops, under the leadership of a Scottish captain, Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, attacked and killed the hosts of the houses they were guests in.

1/n After the 1688 Glorious Revolution, William III required Scottish clans to swear allegiance by 1 January 1692. Alasdair MacDonald of Glen Coe attempted to take the oath but was delayed by bad weather. Despite swearing fealty on 6 January, his clan was marked for punishment.

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Aberdeen is Scotland's third largest city. Its name is ancient, and taken from the river that drains into the sea close to where the city stands. However, despite what many people think, it's not the River Dee that it takes its name from.
1/n Slightly farther to the north from where the Dee spills into the sea, the much less grand River Don quietly drains into the North Sea. It does so near the area now marked on maps as 'Old Aberdeen'.
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In deepest, darkest Essex —a county not normally noted for being deep or dark— on the isolated Dengie peninsula, lies a hidden gem.

1/n A Northumbrian monk called St Cedd was sent from Lindisfarne to evangelise the barbarian East Anglians in around 654 AD. He quickly built a church. But it was no ordinary church.

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The town of Falkirk has had many different names over the centuries. From ancient Celtic, through Latin, to modern English. However, all of these names have a fascinating, identical meaning, all related to a small, stone-built church that was constructed ~1,300 years ago.

1/n The first recorded name of the town is ‘Egglesbreth’, which appears in 1120AD, as recorded by Symeon of Durham.

Egglesbreth is made up of two parts: Eggles and breth. These two words are of Brittonic (i.e. old Welsh) origin. The first part means ‘church’, and is a

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To most people, the town of Stenhousemuir is little more than a funny-sounding name they'll have heard on the Saturday classified football results. Few will give it a second thought. However, its origin makes for one of the most intriguing place-names in Scotland.

1/n The third part of the name, muir, is straightforward enough. It simply means "moor": an area of uncultivated land, usually of questionable agricultural quality. However, it's the first two parts of the name that are so interesting, and whose geneses go back 2,000 years.

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Though the name Glasgow is largely agreed on, the story is not the same for Scotland's capital, Edinburgh. Local folklore will tell you it's named after the 7th century king of Northumbria, Edwin, but this is probably nonsense. Edinburgh's name is way older than that.

1/n The second part of the name burgh, is not controversial. It's simply a modern rendering of an Old English word burh, meaning "fortification", doubtless referring to an old fort where the castle now sits. The hard part is Edin. A personal name? A landscape feature?

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The name Glasgow, that of Scotland's largest city, is so old that it predates the era when Gaelic was spoken there. It is, rather, a derivation from Brittonic, a language related to Welsh. It was spoken for over 1,000 years in the Glasgow area. The name Glasgow means:

1/n Grey green hollow, from glas, meaning "grey-green or grey-blue" and cöü "hollow". The greeny hollow in question is likely to be centred around the cathedral, which was the earliest settled area to bear the city's name. Intriguingly, though, Glasgow may have an earlier name.

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Across the Central Belt of Scotland lie the remains, often in plain sight, of a 1,900-year-old Roman boundary - the Antonine Wall. Building commenced in 142AD, and here are the best sections of it (IMHO) that are visible from the roadside.

1/n Blinkbonny Road, Falkirk. The little depression in the grass is the silted up remains of the old ditch that ran the full length of the wall, from Old Kilpatrick to Bo'ness. The wall itself ran along the grassy bank in front of the houses.

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google.com/maps/@55.99961…

This is Beinn nam Fuaran (hill of the wells), near where I was walking today. On first inspection, a hill like any other. Green, boggy, 806 metres high, with streams running off it. So what? Well, for geography lovers it has a great deal of interest.
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Look closely at its north slope. A stream juts off to the left, and another to the right. In the middle there’s a fence. But why go to such much bother to erect a fence all the way up a steep, grassy hill?
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On June 1st 2015, two walkers neared the summit of Sgùrr na Lapaich, an isolated Highland peak. The mist was thick, and visibility poor. Suddenly, they heard a thunderous noise in the distance. Spooked, they continued their walk.

But what made the mysterious noise? (1/n) A few weeks later, two women approached Sgùrr na Lapaich from the east during a walking trip. On the hill's eastern flank they noticed what appeared to be the remains of a huge landslip on the headwall of the corrie just below the summit plateau.

They walked towards it. (2/n)

Unprecedented times.

Today’s visit to the Sphinx snow patch at Braeriach will be my last of 2023. It is now critically small and likely to vanish in the next few days. This will be the third consecutive disappearance and unheard of in the historical era (post 1750s). (1/3)

Since at least the mid 1700s, it has melted in the following years. 1933, 1959, 1996, 2003, 2006, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, and now 2023. It does not take a genius to work out the direction of travel. Not so long ago, this patch was considered semi-permanent. No longer. (2/3)

Not good news for many looking forward to doing some spring hillwalking from late April.
New Scottish Government rules mean that it will become much harder for local authority areas to drop down tiers. The number of positive cases will need to be much lower than when (1/5) ..the system operated in 2020. Positive Covid cases would need to drop down to 50 per 100,000 in a local authority for it to fall to level 2, the tier which permits travel to other local authority areas. In 2020 it was *150* per 100,000. For some (e.g. Aberdeen) this is not (2/5)