My Personal Blog

I have supported independence most of my adult life. The reason is mundane - I am Scottish. Some people think that support for self-determination is small-minded. And it is natural and unsurprising that people who identify as British think this. For me, wanting your country to run its own affairs, and being outward-minded, are not necessarily mutually exclusive. There are uncertainties about

Now Beinn Lair is a remote hill. Guarded by cliffs, lochs, other hills and rough paths, it is an awkward bugger to reach. But Beinn Lair is just the appetiser. There is an even more awkward hill to reach in the 'Fisherfield Wilderness' - Beinn a Chaisgein Mor. And I was heading for it. In Fisherfield: This area is prized by hillwalkers as one of Scotland's wildest. Hidden between Dundonnell

The group of middle aged hillwalkers arrived in the car park with the footsore and haunted look of soldiers fresh from a battle. "Brutal," said one about their nine-hour ascent of Slioch. It was raining stair rods and I had just arrived at Kinlochewe. My two-night solo camping trip in Fisherfield was starting badly. I had nurtured a dream for years. Buy a solo tent, drive to Kinlochewe, walk up

The Cinque Terre coastal villages were introduced last post. But there is something you need to know. The best bit about the 5 Terre is their hill trails. You can walk the 24 miles from Levanto to Portovenere, keep to the wooded hills, and barely touch on the Cinque Terre coast that lies in between. Not only can you do that: if you are in the area, I recommend that you do. Levanto: You start

In my last post I told you about Fife's 'Chinque Touns'. But the real 5 Terre are in Liguria, Italy (where the Alps meet the sea). These are the four quaint coastal villages of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza (plus a fifth relative shitehole, Monterosso - Morcambe Bay with palm trees), heavily pressed by tourists drawn to their colourfully cubist harbours and coastal trails.

Clinging like limpets to the tumbling Ligurian coast, the Cinque Terre are five incredibly picturesque Italian villages. And it was while walking between Elie and Crail that the thought stuck me. This is Scotland's Cinque Terre! In the Cinque Touns: OK, so the East Neuk may not be a world-famous UNESCO World Heritage site, and these pretty villages stand out mainly because they buck the

"Jesus!" you think, as you weave across the M9, nearly crashing your car into a vehicle in the next lane. "What the fuck is that?" It's the Kelpies, that's what. The Kelpies are a 2013 sculpture at the end of the Forth-Clyde Canal. As the dullest and least scenic roads in Scotland, the main arteries between Edinburgh and Glasgow have become repositories of outdoor art. The Heavy Horse, the