The Geographer: Mountains (Autumn 2015)

The

Geographer AUTUMN 2015

The newsletter of

the Royal Scottish Geographical Society

Scottish Mountains – A View • Weighing the World with Schiehallion • Forests, Farming & Tourism • Water, Wild Land & Wind Farms • Climbers’ Tales • How Our Mountains Formed • Nitrogen, Climate & Health • The Mapping of St Kilda • Reader Offer: Mountains: A Very Short Introduction

“No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.”

Ansel Adams

plus news, books, and more…

The

Geographer

Scottish mountains

M

ountains draw people to them. They are one of those fundamental landscape types which somehow appeal to our souls, and in part shape how we feel about a place and our identity. It is not just the beauty and grandeur of mountain landscapes that affects us, or the sense of insignificance we feel at their scale, but for me it is also their extremes, their changeability, their wildness and their challenge that is so attractive. Each one is a different world, away from our artificial lives and built landscapes, and instead represents an escape into the raw of nature and weather. Maybe there is something fundamental in standing atop a mountain, being able to see (well, sometimes) in every direction, and perhaps finding some primal sense of security in not being able to be surprised. And yet I am constantly surprised – by the joy of a view stolen from between the scudding clouds, or the panorama that suddenly opens up before me. And, as my wife would tease me, by all the other peaks dotting the horizon with their promise of a different perspective.

Mountains, and especially Scotland’s mountains, have become an important part of many people’s lives. But they are of course much more than a personal gamut of emotional connections. They are places to live and work. They are landscapes to manage and protect. They are geo-diverse features which tell a story of Scotland’s past, and which helped explain the world’s geology. They are sources of water and energy, refuges for wildlife, and areas for farming and forestry. And not unsurprisingly, with such a range of features and purposes, they are places of widely conflicting land use and values.

This edition of The Geographer has been compiled with the help of Professor Martin Price, Director of the Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth College UHI. Its publication coincides with the international conference that the Centre and other organisations, including the RSGS, are organising in Perth this October; each delegate at this event will receive a copy, helping to underpin our role in delivering ‘knowledge exchange’. It features a wide range of articles on various aspects of Scotland’s mountains, which we hope you will find insightful and interesting.

Happy reading!

Mike Robinson, Chief Executive RSGS, Lord John Murray House, 15-19 North Port, Perth, PH1 5LU tel: 01738 455050 email: enquiries@rsgs.org www.rsgs.org Charity registered in Scotland no SC015599 The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the RSGS. Cover image: Spidean Mialach, Loch Quoich. © Mike Robinson Masthead image: Lancet Ridge, Ben Alder. © Mike Robinson

RSGS: a better way to see the world

Visit from HRH The Princess Royal On 15 September 2015, just a week after our Patron Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning monarch in British history, we were honoured to receive a visit from HRH The Princess Royal at our headquarters in Perth. As well as conferring the title of Geographer Royal for Scotland on Professor Charles Withers, and presenting the Mungo Park Medal to Lindsey Hilsum, Her Royal Highness took the time to meet small groups of geography academics, schools education representatives, project partners and funders, local dignitaries, local schoolchildren, RSGS volunteers, and Polar Academy sponsors and children, and to view both the visiting Tuareg exhibition and some special items from the RSGS’s collections. The event was most enjoyable – a great celebration of both the vital importance and the endless fascination of geography.

news Geographer The

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AUTUMN 2015

New Geographer Royal for Scotland

We are delighted to report that Professor Charles W J Withers, Ogilvie Chair of Geography at the University of Edinburgh, has been appointed as Geographer Royal for Scotland – the first in 118 years. The title was conferred on him by HRH The Princess Royal, an RSGS Vice-President, at a ceremony at RSGS’s headquarters in Perth on 15 September 2015. Her Royal Highness said “There is no doubt that raising the profile of Geography generally is a very important aspect of what we want to do and what you want to do here… we are grateful that Professor Withers has accepted this title and we hope that it will increase the enthusiasm for and understanding of Geography.

We can celebrate today the title of Geographer Royal for Scotland being reinstated.”

Professor Withers is a world-leading historical and cultural geographer, a Fellow of the British Academy, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. As Geographer Royal for Scotland, he will be an international and national ambassador for geography, helping to promote the subject in research, in education and in society more widely. In accepting the position, which he will hold for an initial six-year period, Professor Withers said “I am honoured for myself, of course and for my University.

But, and principally, this honour is for geography. Now after a period in which the title of Geographer Royal for Scotland has lain in abeyance, the subject again has this further recognition of its standing.”

The first Geographer Royal for Scotland was Sir Robert Sibbald, appointed in September 1682 by King Charles II to provide cartographic advice. One of the leading intellectuals of his day, Sibbald was the first Professor of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and was co-founder of both the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Three other individuals have held the title, the last being George Harvey Johnston, an Edinburgh cartographer and publisher who was Geographer Royal for Scotland to Queen Victoria from 1897.

After Johnston, the related title of Cartographer to The King was bestowed as a corporate warrant on the Bartholomew mapmaking firm, in the period when RSGS co-founder John George Bartholomew was at the helm. Professor Withers is therefore only the fifth individual to hold the personal honorific.

Regarding the announcement, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said “I am extremely pleased that Professor Withers from Edinburgh University will undertake this new role as Geographer Royal for Scotland. He brings several years of relevant experience and has the necessary skills and commitment to act as an excellent ambassador for geographical knowledge. I have no doubt that he will prove to be dedicated to the development and promotion of geographical knowledge, championing the subject of geography in education, particularly to children in our schools, as well as to wider society. After all, the Earth’s landscapes, peoples, places and environments affect us all each day.”

Speaking about the revival and modernisation of the historical role, RSGS Chief Executive Mike Robinson said “Most modern problems are complex and global; they need greater geographical understanding. 2015 is the perfect year for the reintroduction of the Geographer Royal for Scotland, with the heightened importance of various geographical issues including local and international geopolitical change, sustainable development goals, climate negotiations in Paris, migration issues, transport, digital mapping, health and land reform. The need for an informed geographical representation has never been greater.”

Lindsey Hilsum – Mungo Park Medallist At a special event in Perth on 15 September 2015, HRH The Princess Royal presented the RSGS Mungo Park Medal to award-winning journalist Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News’ International Editor and the author of Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution.

Lindsey has reported from Turkey, Syria, Cameroon and Ukraine. She has covered the major conflicts of the past two decades, including the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and in 2011 she reported the Arab Spring uprisings in Libya, Egypt and Bahrain. She has also reported extensively from Iran and Zimbabwe, and was Channel 4 News’ China Correspondent from 2006 to 2008. During the 2004 US assault on Falluja, she was embedded with a front-line marine unit, and in 1994 she was the only English-speaking foreign correspondent in Rwanda when the genocide started.

The Mungo Park Medal is awarded to those who show an outstanding contribution to geographical knowledge through exploration or adventure in potentially hazardous physical or social environments. With her experience of bringing us the latest news from the front lines of conflicts around the world, Lindsey certainly earned her award.

After receiving her medal, Lindsey gave a public talk, entitled Migrants, Travellers and Journalists: The Explorers of the 21st Century, and received a warm reception from an enthusiastic audience.

2 AUTUMN 2015

news

The Tuareg

North Coast 500

In September, photographer Henrietta Butler brought to the Fair Maid’s House a wonderful exhibition of photography, art and artefacts from the lives of the Tuareg, the tribe romanticised by 19th-century explorers as ‘mysterious people of the veil’ but with a reputation as fearsome warriors.

Surviving in one of the most pitiless and inhospitable terrains on Earth, the nomadic Tuareg have been guardians of the Sahara for over 1,000 years. However, 21st-century global politics has fragmented their society and way of life – changes exacerbated by the recent rise of political Islam, jihadism and terrorism. Despite challenges, the unique and distinctive Tuareg culture survives along with its strict behavioural codes, ancient Tifinagh script, and oral traditions of proverbs, poetry and song.

The story of the Tuareg is captured in a beautifully illustrated book of photographs and essays from a range of expert contributors. See tuaregtime.co.uk for more information.

RSGS Education

We are grateful to the Gannochy Trust, the Robertson Trust and Perth & Kinross Council for their support for our education work over the past three years, and to other funders including the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Ernest Cook Trust for their support for specific projects. Although we no longer have a full-time education officer, we will, with help from a small team of volunteers, continue to offer some of the schools education services developed by Joyce and Rachel. We are also hoping to work on several new education projects over the next year or so, but this will depend on our ability to raise new funding.

Thank you to all of you who have supported our schools education work and helped make it such a success. And look out for Rachel at our Edinburgh talks, as she has now joined our Edinburgh Group committee!

The Young Geographer With the new Sustainable Development Goals being launched in New York in September, and the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Paris in December, there is now a critical opportunity to raise public awareness of vital global and local geographical issues, and to involve young people in the conversation. We are therefore planning to work with young volunteers to produce a special edition of The Geographer, focusing on the geographical issues of most interest and concern to people under 25, and helping to ‘join the dots’ between diverse issues.

We are very grateful to the Gannochy Trust for their funding support for this project, and to Young Scot and other project partners who will help us to deliver it. We are still looking for a few more organisations or individuals to help by offering money, support-in-kind or profile: please contact us on 01738 455050 or enquiries@rsgs.org if you would like to get involved.

Mountains of Our Future Earth In early October 2015, the Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth College UHI, in collaboration with the Mountain Research Initiative and the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment, is organising a third international conference in Perth, following previous conferences in 2005 and 2010. This is a contribution to the global Future Earth programme, a ten-year international research initiative to develop the knowledge for responding effectively to the risks and opportunities of global environmental change and supporting transformation towards global sustainability in the coming decades.

Leo Houlding

University News

At the end of July, we said goodbye to our Education Officer Rachel Hay as she left the RSGS to return to classroom teaching.

Rachel had joined us for the last year of a three-year grantfunded post, and her enthusiasm and energy were great assets in continuing the good work and achievements of the previous postholder, Dr Joyce Gilbert. We wish Rachel all the very best, and are sure that she will thrive in her new environment.

Described as Scotland’s answer to Route 66, the North Coast 500 was created in 2014 as a scenic route of just over 500 miles of stunning coastal landscapes, fairy-tale castles, beaches and ruins. Beginning and ending at Inverness Castle, the route naturally follows the main roads across the coastal edges of the North Highlands, taking in places like Ullapool, Durness, John O’Groats and Dornoch. The North Coast 500 is a haven of adventure, with hundreds of things to see and do, whether it be spotting dolphins, climbing mountains, tasting local delicacies or relaxing on the beach. See www.northcoast500.com for details, including itineraries and an interactive map.

Over 400 people from c60 countries are attending, including the Acting Director of the US hub of the Executive Secretariat of Future Earth, and internationally-recognised speakers who are giving the seven plenary lectures. The conference is very interdisciplinary, covering topics from changes in glaciers to urbanization and tourism. See www.perthmountains2015. com for details.

6 On 6 October, as part of October the conference and in collaboration with RSGS, world-class climber Leo Houlding FRSGS is giving a public talk, describing a spectacular journey in which a team of clandestine climbers (disguised as tourists) travelled down the Orinoco River to reach the magnificent Autana Caves and climb the elusive summit above. Tickets are available from www.horsecross.co.uk or 01738 621031. Before the talk, people can view c100 conference posters and browse in a small bookstore provided by Blackwells of Edinburgh.

come to the talk

th

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AUTUMN 2015

A World of Opportunity We are delighted to report that we have produced a new booklet about the benefits of studying geography at school and university. A World of Opportunity was compiled by our former Education Officer Rachel Hay and designed

by Stefano Andreottola, one of the Italian students who visited us in November 2014.

The document, which includes case studies and testimonials (including one from HRH The Earl of Strathearn, himself a geography graduate) is now available on the RSGS website.

Float on the Boat Councillor Willie Wilson once again chartered a boat to take a group of guests along the Tay over the summer to raise money for RSGS. The trip provided welcome and unusual perspectives on the Tay from Newburgh to Perth harbour. We are very grateful to Willie, who organised the trip in memory of his very good friend Bob Scott, an ardent RSGS volunteer. The money raised will help RSGS with small-scale future acquisitions to enhance the collections.

Croll Garden Plans for the Croll Garden are now moving forward again, after various initial proposals were rejected as unworkable.

Being mostly shaded, the likelihood of having significant planting is greatly reduced, and discussions continue about the most appropriate way to commemorate Croll and his scientific contribution to our knowledge of longterm climate variations. Studioarc Design Consultants, who worked with RSGS to create the Fair Maid’s House, have now been appointed, and plans are developing. The garden needs to be practical, flexible and attractive, whilst suitably reflecting something of Croll’s contribution to science.

The Polar Academy 2015-16 Edinburgh team selected After the success of our first Polar Academy expedition in April, I immediately started work on selecting a team for next year.

The chosen schools are all within the City of Edinburgh Council area; they are Forrester, Gracemount, St Augustine’s, Liberton and Tynecastle High Schools. Just before the schools broke up for summer, four pupils and their parents from each school attended Glenmore Lodge for our intensive selection weekend. The results are that we have ten new participants, ready to face months of intensive training in order to slowly build up their fitness and confidence ready to leave for the Arctic in late March 2016.

The North Lanarkshire team may have completed their expedition and have started their various lectures to inspire their peers; however, they all have been so moved by the experiences gained by being part of the Polar Academy that they want to continue to support me. Therefore, I will be joined from time to time by members of the North Lanarkshire team to help out with training and fundraising events, in order to make the Polar Academy a reality for the Edinburgh pupils.

We’ve also received a great deal of very positive media coverage recently, appearing in many newspapers and magazines as well as great features on the BBC and STV. This has resulted in many other local authorities and organisations contacting me about conducting a Polar Academy. There is clearly a real need right across Scotland for the benefits which the Polar Academy can bring to the invisible youths in our education system.

The fact is, I could pick any local authority in Scotland and make a real difference, if I can find the special individuals and organisations who will fund us.

Craig

RSGS Explorer-in-Residence

Earth Science Education Scotland Perth Edition An official MONOPOLY board for Perth is being launched at Scone Palace on 9 October.

The Fair Maid’s House is one of 22 Perth landmarks and locations which will replace the famous London MONOPOLY streets; many of the Chance and Community Chest playing cards will be Perth-themed too, and the four train stations from the original London board will have a new ‘travel’ theme.

As we continue to make the case for the reintroduction of Earth Sciences into schools, the SQA have asked for further evidence to support our case. In a study undertaken with Geobus at St Andrews, we found nearly 100 (mostly geography) teachers across Scotland who were keen to teach an Earth Science course in schools, and a potential student audience of more than 900 children. If you are interested in helping, please get in touch with us on enquiries@rsgs.org or 01738 455050.

Ordering is easy. Email or phone today!

Simply contact us on enquiries@rsgs.org or 01738 455050.

Please order by 30th November if possible.

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RSGS Glasgow Group enjoyed a ‘summer’ outing to North Queensferry and Dunfermline, organised by Secretary Frank Norris and Treasurer Gordon Macfarlane, with an entertaining historical commentary by Don Cameron.

Venturing first to Deep Sea World where a great variety of aquatic creatures were viewed and described by a well-informed staff, they headed to Dunfermline for lunch, a tour of the Abbot’s House, an excellent guided tour of the Abbey Church and Abbey, and a visit to the adjacent Palace. These historic buildings have links from Malcolm Canmore through St Margaret, Robert the Bruce, and James VI to Charles I.

Edinburgh 2 Paris

Air Passenger Duty Mike Robinson was asked to attend the recently established Scottish Government forum on Air Passenger Duty (APD) to help represent environmental concerns. Further to the Smith Commission recommendations, APD will almost certainly be devolved. The First Minister announced recently that she will lay out plans to halve it, beginning in April 2018, despite the fact that it currently generates nearly £3bn pa for the UK exchequer and is probably worth £250m pa to Scotland’s tax revenues.

Aviation has grown two-fold since APD was introduced, and whilst halving (and possibly scrapping) APD is expected to further increase demand for aviation, it will undoubtedly increase emissions from flying too. In fact, many of the projections for future growth in aviation would account for almost the entire UK ‘carbon’ budget by 2050.

Fair Maid’s House We are pleased to report that the Fair Maid’s House has seen an increase in visitor numbers this year, with a surge in overseas visitors. We remain open (when we have enough volunteers) on Tuesday to Saturday afternoons, but please be aware that Saturday 24 October is our last day before we close the doors to the public for the winter.

In August, we learned of plans to remove Glen Roy’s National Nature Reserve (NNR) status. Glen Roy is famous for its parallel ‘roads’, three strikingly visible lines partly cut into the bedrock at heights between 250 and 330 metres, which were the source of a great deal of enquiry and debate in the development of geological thinking by many of the greatest minds of the 19th century.

The ‘roads’ are the remnants of a glacial lake that existed in the glen during the last phase of glacial activity (the Loch Lomond Stadial, c10,000 years ago). They indicate three different levels of the lake, each of which lasted long enough to form a shoreline, and they are unique in Britain for their excellent preservation.

Happily, following formal submissions to Scottish Natural Heritage from RSGS and others, including Locahaber GeoPark, Glen Roy’s NNR status was preserved, thus protecting this site of geological significance for generations to come.

SAGT Conference

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October

The 2015 SAGT Conference is being held in Perth on Saturday 31 October. With a theme of Sharing Professional Practice, it includes seminars on Earth sciences, fieldwork, global issues, soils, census data and environmental science.

See www.sagteach.org for details.

New Geography Degree Heriot-Watt University now offers an undergraduate degree in Geography, Society and Environment, offering students the opportunity to study a wide-ranging curriculum of applied social science and technical subjects around a core of geographical material. The programme includes economics, urban planning, housing and property markets, environmental engineering, soils and geotechnics, as well as new geography-specific content. It was launched in 2014 with a small first cohort now entering their second year. See www.undergraduate.hw.ac.uk/ programmes/3K3W/ for details.

The new programme is offered by the School of Energy, Geosciences, Infrastructure and Society, and was launched in anticipation of the creation of the Lyell Centre, a new collaboration between the British Geological Survey and HeriotWatt University, which will open on the University’s Riccarton Campus in early 2016, when the BGS relocates from its Edinburgh and Loanhead sites.

Help Us Tell Our Story Thank you to those members and supporters who have already donated to our latest fundraising appeal, to create resources and publicity materials that will help us to raise our profile. If you have not yet resonded to the appeal, please do consider helping us. Every donation will make a difference.

make a donation

University News

Two Edinburgh friends have decided to show their commitment to combatting climate change by cycling from Edinburgh to Paris to lobby the UN Climate Change Conference in December.

David Atiyah and Martyn Edelsten have been following 28th November - 12th December the debates for years, but feel that a special effort is needed for this meeting. They plan to leave Edinburgh on 28 November, ride down the west side of Britain, feed into one of the London-Paris rides, and reach Paris on 10 December, in time for a huge rally on 12 December. Cyclists are welcome to join them at any stage on the route. Please see edinburgh2paris.org or email info@edinburgh2paris.org if you are interested in riding with them or helping with organisation.

Glen Roy NNR

Scottish mounains

Glasgow Group Outing

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Prof Colin Ballantyne The Ice Age in Scotland Only 25,000 years ago, Scotland was buried by an ice sheet over 1km thick.

Colin will explore the climate changes of the last ice age, the effects of glaciation on Scotland’s scenery, sea-level changes, the ways the landscape is still adjusting to its glacial past, and the evidence for a time when humans first colonized a tundra environment that once supported grazing mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and reindeer.

16 Nov15 in Kirkcaldy, 18 Nov15 in Edinburgh (afternoon) and Glasgow (evening) David Baxendale Altai Mountains of Mongolia Travel photographer David recorded the daily lives of the nomadic groups of the Altai Mountains. He spent three weeks amongst the Kazakhs who have been living in the region since the 18th century, and travelled to other areas where the Kazakhs told him no other foreigner had visited.

The result is a stunning collection of images and a unique insight into one of the world’s last true wildernesses.

21 Oct15 in Glasgow (evening) Alistair Carr Tales of Rebellion, Lost Civilisations and Explorers Alistair, an author, artist and explorer, has lived and travelled with nomads in some of the planet’s most remote wildernesses.

During the Second Tuareg Rebellion, he journeyed with former Tubu rebels across the Manga, one of Africa’s most remote and wild regions, situated in south-eastern Niger in the shadow of the Old Salt Road. Alistair takes us on a dangerous journey across the inhospitable Sahel.

7 Dec15 in Inverness, 8 Dec15 in Perth, 9 Dec15 in Stirling The McCann Brothers Passion, Action, Inspiration This is a story of the inspiration that Niall, Rory, and Finn gained from the life of their dad Seamus.

Father and sons shared adventures (always on a shoestring budget) in the Antarctic, Australia, the Himalayas,

the Seychelles, the Yukon, Iceland, and California, to name a few, developing a great and abiding passion for nature and the outdoors. Filled with humour, this story’s main theme is the joy of being alive.

2 Nov15 in Aberdeen, 3 Nov15 in Dundee, 4 Nov15 in Dunfermline, 5 Nov15 in Edinburgh (evening) Emily Penn Sailing the Line Emily is an oceans advocate, skipper and artist, whose ability to develop and communicate solutions for challenges facing today’s society has been sharpened by her experiences. She has organised the largest-ever communityled waste clean-up from a tiny Tongan island, trawled for micro-plastics on a voyage through the Arctic Northwest Passage, rounded the planet on the recordbreaking biofuelled boat Earthrace, and worked on a sailing cargo ship trading western supplies for coconuts.

9 Nov15 in Inverness, 10 Nov15 in Perth, 11 Nov15 in Stirling John Pilkington FRSGS A Balkan Adventure: Five Months in the Mountains John brings stunning photos and inspiring commentary of his time exploring the Balkan mountains and the remotest villages of Albania and Bulgaria.

“I’d visited Yugoslavia briefly in the 1970s,” he says. “Since then they’ve abandoned communism, suffered brutal conflicts, and taken small steps towards coming together with the rest of Europe. In Bosnia and Kosovo I found people still traumatised, but many were working hard to create a peaceful future.”

23 Nov15 in Dumfries, 24 Nov15 in Borders, 25 Nov15 in Ayr, 26 Nov15 in Helensburgh Mike Robinson James Croll: Joiner, Janitor, Genius Mike extols the life of James Croll, a littleknown 19th-century son of a stonemason who, after stumbling upon the monthly Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, became a voracious reader and self-learner, and went on to make a fundamental contribution to our current understanding of science and the ice ages. Mike will contextualise Croll’s life with a chronology of ice age thinking.

19 Oct15 in Kirkcaldy, 5 Nov15 in Glasgow (afternoon)

Prof Iain Stewart Glasgow (afternoon) Faulty Communications: Living with Istanbul’s Earthquake Threat

Inspiring People 2015-16

This year’s programme is full of stories of adventure, science and imagination.

These are the second and third talks to be given at each local group.

Turkey’s North Anatolian Fault is primed for seismic rupture and it is likely that a future destructive earthquake will be within striking distance of Istanbul. How do we prepare a city of over 13 million people for a potential seismic calamity?

Or translate our scientific understanding of the earthquake hazard into meaningful preparedness on the ground? Drawing on examples from Turkey, Japan and Italy, Iain explores the fault lines between reason and faith in communicating to at-risk communities the myth of solid ground.

30 Nov15 in Aberdeen, 1Dec15 in Dundee, 2 Dec15 in Dunfermline, 3 Dec15 in Glasgow (afternoon) and Edinburgh (evening) Leona Thomas The Russian Arctic Convoys: One Man’s Story

Leonard Thomas’s secret WWII diaries were transcribed by his daughter Leona into a fascinating account of fear, starvation and deprivation while on the Russian Arctic Convoys in 1942.

Leona relates some tales from her father’s experiences, both en route to and from Russia and under virtual imprisonment in the port of Archangel as the ice threatened to trap them for the Russian winter.

21Oct15 in Edinburgh (afternoon) Isobel Williams 21 Oct15 in Edinburgh (afternoon) Bruce: Scotland’s Polar Explorer and Oceanographer William Speirs Bruce made a significant contribution to Antarctic knowledge in the 1890s and early 1900s, collecting a vast amount of oceanographic data, recording information about the wildlife, adding substantially to the map by the discovery of Coats Land, and building the first permanent scientific base there. Isobel will describe his early visits to the Antarctic and Arctic, his 1902-04 Scotia expedition to the Weddell Sea, and his increasing involvement in Spitsbergen.

26 Oct15 in Dumfries, 27 Oct15 in Borders, 28 Oct15 in Ayr, 29 Oct15 in Helensburgh

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Scotland’s mountains: comparable and distinct Professor Martin F Price, Director, Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College UHI, and UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Mountain Development This edition of The Geographer is being published to coincide with a major international conference in Perth, the home of the RSGS. ‘Mountains of Our Future Earth’ is being organised on 5-8 October by the Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth College UHI, in collaboration with the Mountain Research Initiative and the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment. Thus we have a special opportunity to review key themes relating to Scotland’s mountains for RSGS members and other readers, and for the conference participants from over 60 countries. This article aims to introduce Scotland’s mountains and to present aspects that are characteristic of mountains in general – particularly in Europe, but also worldwide – and those that are particular to Scotland’s mountains.

A first question to ask is: where and what are Scotland’s mountains? Soon after I moved to Scotland, I gave a talk to RSGS members in Dunfermline about the global importance of mountains. Afterwards, one member of the audience commented that this was all very interesting, but Scotland had only hills, not mountains. Comparably, the UK government is one of the few in Europe that has not defined altitude and/or slope criteria in order to identify areas that would be considered as mountains under Article 18 of the European Commission’s Less Favoured Areas legislation – thus allowing mountain farmers to claim subsidies.

A number of authors in this edition refer to ‘uplands’, typically defined as the land above the limit for cultivation. Nevertheless, while Scotland’s mountains may not be particularly lofty (Ben Nevis, the highest, is 1,344m high), most people who live in and visit them would recognise them as mountains. According to the widely-agreed criteria of altitude, slope and relief (topographic roughness) used by the European Environment Agency for its 2010 report on Europe’s mountains, 46% of Scotland is mountainous, similar to countries such as Spain (54%), Serbia (53%), Bulgaria (49%), Cyprus (46%), and Croatia (40%).

In general terms, Scotland’s mountains may be divided into three areas: the Highlands; the Islands (there are mountains on many of the Inner and Outer Hebrides, but not Orkney or Shetland); and the Southern Uplands. The Highlands occupy the greatest area and include the highest mountains. Together with the Islands, they have not only their own economic development agency (Highlands and Islands Enterprise) but also the newest university in the UK (UHI). This has 13 campuses and over 70 ‘learning centres’ in small communities across the region, a unique model enabling the delivery of further and higher education to a sparse and widely scattered population of nearly half a million. The lower Southern Uplands have never achieved the same recognition as the Highlands, although the Southern Uplands Partnership was established as a strategic rural partnership in 1999, and now acts in a strategic role and also delivers projects. In terms of population, about 470,000 people live in the Highlands and Islands and about 260,000 in the Southern Uplands – but these numbers include many people living in lowland towns and cities; the rural areas are among the least-populated in Europe.

Like other mountains around the world, Scotland’s mountains provide many ecosystem services to the population of Scotland, and the rest of the UK. They are ‘water towers’, the main sources of water for Scotland’s people, both urban and rural, and are important for producing hydroelectricity. They are also an increasing source of other types of renewable energy, notably from wind. They are centres of biodiversity and include two national parks and many other protected areas; together, these cover nearly 40% of the area of the mountains. Agriculture

still contributes to the economy, but also plays a key role in maintaining cultural landscapes – a key attraction for tourism, which is very important in providing employment. Their peaks (especially the 282 above 3,000 feet (914m), known as ‘Munros’ after Sir Hugh Munro, who first listed them in 1891) attract mountaineers. In all of these characteristics, discussed in later articles, Scotland’s mountains are quite comparable to others across Europe.

Yet Scotland’s mountains are very distinct in a number of regards, which are closely linked and derive from their particular history. One distinct characteristic is the very high proportion of land in private ownership. Scotland, particularly its mountains, has the most concentrated pattern of private landownership in Europe and possibly the world: some 340 estates in the Highlands and Islands cover 2.1 million hectares and account for 43% of the privately owned land. The main use of most of this land is for hunting red deer and grouse, principally for pleasure (ie ‘sporting’), although the market for venison is expanding.

Again, this dedicated use of mountain land for hunting is very distinct to Scotland; hunting is widespread across Europe’s mountains, but is typically integrated with other land uses, particularly forestry, and usually not on land owned by private individuals.

Although more than a quarter of landowning families can trace their landowning ancestry back to at least the 16th century, Scotland’s ‘sporting estates’ are a relatively recent phenomenon, which emerged in the mid-19th century. Until the mid-18th century, the land now in these estates supported a subsistence economy similar to that of other European mountain areas, with farms in the valleys and summer grazing on communal pastures at higher altitudes.

A complex set of factors drove the depopulation of the Highlands and Islands over the next century, generally known as the Clearances, which ranged from forced eviction to resettlement to voluntary departure. These factors included the policies of the British government following the Jacobite rising of 1745; processes of agricultural improvement from the mid-18th century, which had started a century earlier in the Southern Uplands; rapidly rising demand (and thus prices) for wool from around the turn of the century; famine, most critically the potato famine in the 1840s and 1850s; and poverty, so that opportunities for paid employment in industrialising and rapidlygrowing urban centres, and in other parts of the British Empire, were particularly attractive. Major processes of depopulation and emigration from other mountain areas in Europe have also taken © Mike Robinson

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place, particularly in the wake of the two world wars and the end of communist states. However, these were later and tended to be driven by rather different factors, though the prospect of well-paid employment has long been a driving force for people to leave mountains all over the world. As the numbers of people decreased in Scotland’s mountains, they were replaced by even larger numbers of sheep. However, wool prices collapsed in the 1870s, releasing cheap land. This occurred as interest in using Scotland’s mountain land for hunting was growing, a social process whose beginning is typically marked by Queen Victoria’s purchase of the Balmoral estate in 1848. By the end of the century, much of the land had been bought by newly-rich industrialists and others who could afford it, and the patterns of land ownership that characterise most of these mountains today were in place.

The third distinct characteristic of Scotland’s mountains derives from the other two: its open cultural landscape, particularly grouse moors.

This open landscape has a far longer history linked to the expansion of agriculture and grazing from about 4,500 years ago. By 1600, only 4% of Scotland was forested, and its mountains remain unusual in the European context because of their low proportion of forest cover. This is also true for the mountains of Iceland and Ireland, which have comparable land use histories. Across Europe’s mountains as a whole, forests are the most frequent land cover, accounting for 41% of the total area, with proportions over 50% in 17 countries. As described in a later article, while the forest cover of Scotland’s mountains has increased considerably in recent decades, it is still far below the European average. Much of the land that was once forested is now open ‘deer forest’ (named because it is used for hunting, though there are few trees, as the preference of deer stalkers in Scotland is for open country) and grouse moors. These constitute a particularly Scottish landscape, as their patchwork of different ages of heather is maintained by burning, ideally on a 10-15 year rotation. Heather burning to provide grazing for livestock is practised in other countries, but only in Scotland (and less extensively in other parts of the UK) to provide habitat for a species to be hunted: red grouse.

Thus, while Scotland’s mountains are similar to other mountains in many ways, they are distinct at a European – and even global – scale because of their high proportion of private ownership of land of which much is dedicated to hunting, with the unique cultural landscapes of grouse moors. These concluding points are, as always, a simplification; for instance, there are considerable differences between past

and current trends in the Southern Uplands and those in the Highlands and Islands, and within each of these areas; large areas of mountain land are owned by conservation organisations, as well as government agencies; and some private owners consider hunting as only part of a multi-functional business portfolio or are more interested in management to create more ‘natural’ ecosystems and are thus reducing numbers of deer.

In other words, Scotland’s mountains are like all others: very complex and dynamic systems which defy simple description, with diverse conflicts and opportunities, which the many stakeholders must work together to address!

Professor Price is the author of Mountains: A Very Short Introduction (see back page for details, and for our reader offer).

“Scotland’s mountains are very distinct in a number of regards.”

8 AUTUMN 2015

Scotland’s land, water and mountains Dr Andrew Black, University of Dundee

Scotland’s mountains provide the harvesting-grounds for much of the country’s river flow: the uplift arising from Scotland’s topography probably accounts for more than 50% of the national runoff. The mountains are therefore rightly considered as natural water towers.

“Changes in the timing and intensity of rainfalls could lead to increases in both drought and flood risks.”

Hydro power generation has a major effect on some river systems, particularly where water is stored, and uses runoff from more than 20% of the land mass, often including inter-catchment transfers. However, only a tiny fraction is put to consumptive uses, mainly in lowland areas for arable agriculture and dairying.

The river flow of Scotland’s mountains is of principal importance to the ecology of the river systems which drain them. Climate change threatens significant implications for the ecology of these systems. Increases of more than 20% in annual precipitation are envisaged in some parts of Scotland, especially over the West Highlands, although the Cairngorms may experience reductions of 10-20% in both winter and summer precipitation totals. The details of any changes will be important. Changes in the timing and intensity of rainfalls could lead to increases in both drought and flood risks. A study of salmon numbers in the Spey suggests that the occurrence and timing of spates may exercise a major control on fish numbers. On the west coast and the islands, loss of supply has affected whisky distilleries in recent years, and there was widespread flood damage in the 1990s.

The balance between snow and rainfall may be particularly important. The release of snow melt in spring is important for sustaining flows in headwater river systems and for their ecology. The spring river flows of the River Dee, draining the Cairngorms, increased in the later 20th century, but this may be reversed in coming decades. If trends similar to those in the USA occur here, reductions may be more marked than expected, with years of low snowfall linked to reductions in river flow, perhaps arising from increases in evaporation.

Some medium-sized catchments may experience reductions in flood risk if precipitation falls as rain, rather than creating transient snow packs which accumulate over only a few hours or days and cause floods when subsequent rainfall melts them.

In relation to patterns of land ownership, some owners’ sporting or other priorities mean that some mountain areas are in poor condition, characterised by eroding land surfaces and impoverished ecology; elsewhere, some progressive private owners see their ownership as an opportunity to advance conservation objectives in a decisive and integrated manner at a landscape scale. The rejuvenation of native woodlands and the species that depend on them in Glen Feshie, following a major reduction in deer numbers, is unmistakable. Improvements in peatland condition and woodland regrowth will enhance water-holding capacities at a landscape scale, benefiting habitat, species and flood management interests.

Peatlands are a current government priority, as a result of carbon, habitat and biodiversity concerns. Growing numbers

of hill tracks to service wind farms and various recreational interests have caused concern relating to peat degradation and changes to the patterns and quality of runoff. Evidence of impact at a catchment scale is difficult to obtain, but local effects may still be important. Planning control for the construction of new vehicular tracks was introduced only in 2014.

There is little doubt about the importance of mountain areas to Scotland’s river systems, although the march of wind farms (and their associated road networks intersecting many peatlands and hydrological pathways) into areas of wild land calls their effective protection into question. Despite this importance, the accurate monitoring of water resources in the mountains remains a real challenge – threatened by the effects of wind on rain and snow measurement, and the practical and financial costs of undertaking any monitoring in remote and harsh environments. Meanwhile, recreational access to the Scottish mountains has been rising for decades, particularly among those with higher levels of environmental awareness. There has to be an opportunity there.

Scotland’s natural water towers are sure to remain as vital areas for the sustenance of the country’s principal rivers, and are equally sure to be the focus of change, arising from climatic and land management effects. While some change may threaten ecosystems and human activities, there is clear scope for positive change in the areas of conservation, restoration and climate change mitigation. Getting people involved in generating the evidence of these changes represents an opportunity to achieve forward progress.

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Snow: never enough, except when there’s too much?

Dr Martin Kirkbride, University of Dundee

Many of us look forward to the first winter snowfall, but soon find that snow becomes a nuisance, even a problem: that’s the fickle nature of snow in Scotland, and our relationship with it. Snow is both a resource and a hazard. The more severe winters of the 1960s and 1970s helped the growth of commercial skiing, which in good years now provides revenue of £20 million to the Highland economy outside the main tourist season. The flip side of the natural resource coin is the natural hazard. Snow presents the greatest danger when it accumulates on moderately steep slopes to depths which avalanche. A trend to windy winters, with heavy snowfalls interspersed with thaws, is a recipe for increased avalanche activity, and recent winters have seen some large avalanches releasing across hundreds of metres of slope. While the visibility of avalanches has become greater due to online reporting and photography (notably by the Scottish Avalanche Service), trends in winter climate are consistent with conditions favouring full-depth spring avalanches.

In a world where projections of warmer climate pervade so much thinking, it is unsurprising that much has been written about declining snow cover in Scotland, not least the likely demise of the ski industry. The chief government advisor with the Met Office has predicted the collapse of the Scottish ski industry by 2060. While current winters in the mountains may not see the deep long-lasting snowfields of past decades, they are now characterised by stormy winters of heavy snowfalls interspersed with midwinter thaws. Snow-lie and snow-depth statistics may not be recording that, while plenty of snow still falls, it doesn’t accumulate throughout a whole winter to depths seen in the past, and therefore snow-free mountainsides appear earlier in the spring. Downhill skiing depends on reliable winter snow cover above 600 metres. Snowfalls below this altitude commonly block the higher roads in the north-east, and occasionally even motorways in the Central Belt (a rushhour blizzard on the M8 famously cost a Transport Minister his job), but tend not to lie for as long as before.

Climate records over recent decades show that, while winters have become warmer, precipitation has also increased.

This pattern holds for both western and eastern Scotland, especially for January and February. Data since 1927 for the number of days with snow lying at Braemar show much variability between years, with a marked three- to five-year cycle between winters with less than 40 snow-lie days and those with over 70. A recent decline in snow-lie on valley floors may not be consistently mirrored in higher corries. The ski industry has been accused of climate change ‘denial’ for taking a professionally optimistic stance on its future. Yet the data on recent and projected climate change in the Highlands cannot be interpreted so simply. Indeed, both the climate trends and the ski

industry’s adaptation to the nature of the local snow climate will determine the industry’s resilience.

We need to apply some basic geography to these trends of warmer but wetter winters. Above 600 metres, wetter generally means snowier. Combined with strong winds, deep drifts accumulate on slopes that are lee to the snowbearing winds. The snow fences which line the hillsides of the ski centres are effective at capturing wind-blown snow and concentrating it where it is needed.

So effective is the industry’s snow management that it is not uncommon, on warm spring days, to see skiers gliding down white lanes of snow on brown hillsides, sometimes as late as June.

The industry has had to adapt, diversify, and reduce costs – and some centres have found ways of generating revenue in summer too. A small number of busy ski days in the Christmas, February and Easter school holidays can sustain the business over the whole year. Luck is involved in hoping that incursions of warm air masses do not thaw the snow cover just before these periods. Centres now have such a flexible cost structure that a single very profitable season, such as 2009-10, compensates for a run of poor years. The Scottish ski industry may prove to be as resilient as the skiers who brave the slopes.

Paradoxically, perhaps the most predictable aspect of our snow climate will continue to be its unpredictability.

Images: © Mike Robinson

“While winters have become warmer, precipitation has also increased.”

10 AUTUMN 2015

Scottish uplands: a place of peace or conflict?

Professor Mark Reed, Centre for Environment and Society Research, Birmingham City University

Scottish uplands, and the peatlands that cover much of their area, evoke many different responses from people.

For walkers, they represent a place of freedom and release, where they can watch raptors soar. For many communities, they represent a way of life and the smell of a peat fire on a cold winter’s night. For water companies, they are a source of brown discolouration, which is a cost to them and their customers to remove from drinking water. For the forester, they represent an opportunity to meet ambitious afforestation targets, as long as they avoid deep peat. For those with sporting interests, uplands represent an opportunity to connect with nature and friends for a day’s shooting. For conservationists, uplands are a treasure trove of important habitats and species that are internationally rare and in need of protection. For many hill farmers, these landscapes and the sheep that roam them are their identity.

populations. Others have expressed concern about research published last year by the University of Leeds, linking moorland burning to changes in water quality and aquatic ecology. Wildlife blogger and former RSPB Conservation Director Mark Avery suggested that this research presented “a clear message that as well as affecting wildlife through killing it, driven grouse shooting affects the environment through altering it in ways that are generally harmful – and all for a few days blasting away at Red Grouse.” Responding to this, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust compared controlled, cool burns to ploughing: “We can’t ban ploughing because it is a really important land management tool, [and so] the challenge is to find ways of mitigating the impacts [of rotational burning]… its demise would be a disaster for the landscape, biodiversity, global warming and many small but locally important rural economies.”

Whether we realize it or not, we are all bound together with the future of our uplands. The waterlogged conditions of a healthy upland peatbog mean that plant material decomposes very slowly, and accumulates as peat soil. This process locks up carbon absorbed from the atmosphere by the vegetation that grows in these areas. In this way, peatlands have withdrawn vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere over past millennia, making them the world’s most efficient terrestrial carbon store. A quarter of the world’s soil carbon (around 550 gigatonnes) is held in peatlands. The boreal and subarctic peatlands alone contain two to three times more carbon than the world’s tropical rainforests. Healthy peatlands can continue absorbing carbon dioxide year after year, over millennia, and have a net cooling effect on the global climate. Conversely, a loss of just 1.5% of the world’s peatlands is equivalent to all the carbon emissions humans create worldwide in a year.

There is no simple policy response to these debates. What is clear, however, is that uplands are highly complex social and ecological systems that sometimes respond to changes in land management in unexpected ways. Using a combination of computer models and interviews with stakeholders, the Sustainable Uplands project (www.sustainableuplands. org), which I led from 2005 to 2012, suggested that, without regular burning and/or grazing, many upland areas (particularly in warmer and drier parts of the UK) may revert to scrub and forest. If this happened, it would compromise the species and habitats for which many parts of the uplands are legally protected. Unless managed carefully, a succession to forest may also increase fuel loads and risks from wildfires.

Earlier this year, the DURESS project (nerc-duress.org) characterized this as a choice between ‘abandoning’ uplands to go wild, versus a ‘managed ecosystems scenario’ in which carbon and biodiversity management are the main purposes of upland management.

So what are the UK’s uplands for? The answer is that it depends who you ask. The uplands mean many things to many people, and this diversity of uses leads to many of the current conflicts. For example, the RSPB is currently campaigning for tighter regulation of grouse moor management in England to help in the recovery of hen harrier

If we want our uplands to be a place for everyone, we need to bring together as many as possible of those who have conflicting interests, and help them communicate together more effectively to build trust and make transparent decisions about the future of our uplands.

Cairngorm. © Mike Robinson

“Whether we realize it or not, we are all bound together with the future of our uplands.”

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Pressures and conflicts: some ecological priorities Professor Des Thompson, Principal Adviser on Biodiversity, Scottish Natural Heritage

In 1988, the British Ecological Society published Ecological Change in the Uplands. In this popular textbook there is not a single mention of wind farms, renewable energy, carbon storage, ecosystem services, or conservation conflicts, although carbon dating, ecosystems, wind, and game shooting all feature, and sheep farming is mentioned throughout. Today’s changes and pressures seem very different.

Historically, we have tended to think of ‘ecological pressures’ on Scotland’s mountains in terms of six ‘anthropogenic’ periods since the end of the last Ice Age: forest clearance (3900-300 years BP); grazing range expansion (1750-1830 onwards); land ‘improvement’ – grouse moor management (1840 onwards) and ploughing, re-seeding and fertilization (1820-40 onwards); persecution of predators related to sheep and game management (1760-1914 onwards); industrial acidification (from the 1780s); and conifer afforestation (from 1919). To these, we can add renewable energy developments (hydro, and wind farms from the late 1990s) and climate change (arguably from the 1970s). Of course, there are many other pressures: nature conservation and species reintroductions (from the 1940s), rewilding, community ownership, and various forms of recreational and amenity influences have all left imprints.

ensuring many more people connect with nature and speak up for its importance; and adding value to the benefits of nature, so that more is done to restore degraded ecosystems.

In all of this, we encounter conflicts over the different values we attach to different parts of the upland ecological jigsaw. Management options involving intensively managed grouse moors, wind farm developments, and rewilding and restoring large predators each have proponents and detractors. One challenge is to devise ways of debating the issues using shared evidence, and overcoming legal, ethical, socio-economic and other pinch points in reaching resolutions. Engendering mutual trust and shared ownership of the evidence is incredibly important; this is arguably not a hallmark of past ecological work in the uplands.

We also need to look ahead and think about changes and opportunities. The growing interest in carbon accounting and peatland restoration is very encouraging, as in Scotland’s

“Diversity… is one of the most appealing attributes of the uplands.”

For some observers, none of this matters greatly – we live in a changing world coping with natural and humanrelated forces. For others, what you grew up with in terms of landscape and wildlife defines your place on the yardstick of change. Many conservationists adhere to this, with bird population changes, for instance, recorded from a starting point in the late 1960s (raptors affected by pesticides in the food chain suffered in the 1950s and 60s, but recovered Ptarmigan at Suilven, Northwest Highlands. © Mike Robinson by the early 1980s). A pressure on the ecological interest through one pair of eyes is a management National Peatland Plan published in August. The ‘ecosystem necessity through another pair. approach’ offers some exciting ways of giving due regard to a wide range of environmental processes which underpin the Our upland habitats include some that are globally landscapes we enjoy being a part of; but we must keep the important: blanket bog, wet and Calluna-dominated heaths, language simple and jargon-free.

Racomitrium lanuginosum moss-carpeted summit heaths, and bryophyte-rich rocky woodlands. Ongoing monitoring points to poor condition across some habitats, especially in the acid and calcareous grasslands and heaths, though there are encouraging signs of relatively recent improvements.

Comparably, the breeding range and densities of birds, particularly waders, have contracted more in upland than in other habitats. Redshank, common snipe and golden plover suffered more than 20% range contractions, with curlew and lapwing close behind. Heavy grazing pressures and conifer afforestation were the main causes.

Looking ahead, we need to ensure we tackle the adverse pressures and support those more favourable forces. The inimical pressures include pollution, land use intensification, spread of invasive species and wildlife diseases, and climate change. Two others could be viewed as opportunities:

What will feature heavily in the textbook of the future – Ecological Change in the Uplands 2050? Who knows? We may have many more settlements of people in retreat from flooded cities; extensive arable cropping unimaginable now; heavily wooded landscapes; and assemblages of livestock and large grazers wholly different from those of today. There may be many more renewable energy devices. On the other hand, we may see abandoned landscapes bereft of houses, schools and people. We need to think keenly about all of this and see if we can plan now for Scotland’s uplands, which most of us hope will continue to be the envy of the world. Diversity, of course, is one of the most appealing attributes of the uplands, so above all we must never succumb to a ‘one size fits all’ mentality.

12 AUTUMN 2015

What future for farming in Scotland’s mountains?

Professor Davy McCracken, Head of Hill & Mountain Research Centre, Scotland’s Rural College

Farming in Scotland’s mountains varies markedly from place to place. But whether tenanted farms on large estates or small crofts in the Scottish islands, these are all livestockbased systems, with each farm or croft heavily dependent on the grazing of sheep and cattle on large areas of less productive moorland grazings.

Upland farmers today face many pressures, including difficulties in maintaining livestock productivity on such poor grazings, conflicts with native and reintroduced bird and mammal predators, and an increase in diseases associated with the increasingly wet climate. Such pressures are important and need to be tackled effectively. But I also see three key wider issues which must be addressed if our upland farming systems are to be sustainable into the future.

Fragile economic viability The natural and semi-natural nature of the forage on which these upland farming systems depend limits the number of animals that can graze throughout the year. This need to graze extensively constrains the number of lambs and calves that can be produced for the market. Hence, upland farmers have historically relied on agricultural support policies for a major component of their income. But both market prices and agricultural support policies can, and do, change for the worse, leaving upland farmers very vulnerable to such changes. There is increasing recognition that upland farming has a role to play in providing high-quality, sustainable food while delivering wider benefits to society such as carbon sequestration, flood regulation and maintaining biodiversity.

But while payments for ecosystem services are increasingly seen as the way forward, such schemes are not being developed and put in place fast enough to help maintain the economic viability of the majority of upland farmers currently providing those services across Scotland.

Competition with other upland uses While farming is not the only land use in Scotland’s mountains, most of our current upland land management systems have three things in common.

• They tend to concentrate on a single large-scale form of ‘production’, such as farming, forestry, game or nature conservation management.

• As a result, each enterprise is very vulnerable to external pressures and shocks; for example, extreme weather events can kill livestock or damage trees; the largescale production of sheep or sitka spruce leaves each system very vulnerable to any disease epidemic.

•T hose practising any one of these systems generally view the others as a ‘threat’ to their way of life, with the result that the systems all tend to pull in opposite directions.

At the moment, forestry is being highlighted as more economically viable than upland livestock farming. But simply replacing one large-scale form of production with another will not be any more sustainable in the long term. Nor will it provide the scale and range of ecosystem services that society is asking for from our uplands.

Rewilding good, farming bad A large part of the current surge of interest in rewilding the Scottish and UK uplands stems from the magnitude of habitat and species loss associated with agricultural intensification in the lowlands. While this is a concern, it does seem rather perverse for all farming systems to be tarred with the same ‘bad for the environment’ brush. In particular, the ongoing rewilding debate contains little or no recognition that our High Nature Value upland farming systems not only already maintain many habitats and species of high nature conservation value, but also already deliver many of the wider ecological processes that are, incorrectly, seen as only being deliverable through rewilding. This should not, however, be taken to suggest that current Scottish upland farming systems are perfect from both an agricultural and an environmental point of view. Far from it.

I am confident that farming will continue to play an important role in Scotland’s mountains. But I am also confident that the farming systems will need to change and that future upland farming systems will involve greater integration with other land uses. This will not only help diversify the income sources on those farms but also serve to increase their resilience to climatic and economic shocks.

“While payments for ecosystem services are increasingly seen as the way forward, such schemes are not being developed and put in place fast enough.”

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Forests amidst Scotland’s mountains Professor Chris Quine, Head of Centre for Ecosystems, Society and Biosecurity, Forest Research

Although a chartered forester, at times I call myself a geographer – reflecting my initial training and because 21st-century forestry is about so much more than trees.

An overarching paradigm of sustainable forest management – including the potential contribution of forests in combating climate change, and aspirations to make forests resilient to extreme weather, pests and diseases whilst still delivering multiple benefits (aka ecosystem services) – hints at the breadth of current forestry. Here I give some personal views on key issues relating to forests amongst Scotland’s mountains.

“Ancient woodlands constitute less than 5% of the total woodland area.”

Scotland doesn’t have much woodland or forest; while it has more than other countries of the UK, it has considerably less than much of Europe. What it has typically comprises large upland Carron Valley. forests, many established in the 20th century, together with fragmented lowland woods. The original forest cover, as evidenced in pollen and macrofossils, was extensive and may have covered more than three-quarters of the land area at a post-glacial peak, but only remnants remain, notably in the Caledonian pinewoods, the Atlantic oakwoods, and ravine woods. The Native Woodland Survey of Scotland (www.forestry.gov.uk/nwss) showed that these ancient woodlands constitute less than 5% of the total woodland area. The iconic treeless mountain tops of Scotland reflect the extreme nature of the climate, but at more moderate elevations, the lack of woody vegetation reflects an unhappy combination of past centuries of exploitation and the development of wet organic soils hostile to tree growth during periods of climatic cooling. Through a long lens, Scotland’s woody vegetation may seem a sorry tale, but in recent decades there has been progress in woodland restoration and forest expansion. Some of the early attempts were clumsy and not to everyone’s (or anyone’s) taste, but those responsible for owning or managing or researching these forests are learning through experiences and from others. The learning will go on, and unlike agriculture, where trial and error can be achieved annually, more patience and a longer view are required – after all, the oldest Scots pines are at least 500 years old, and the Fortingall Yew may be more than 2,000 years old.

These strong spatial and temporal dimensions to Scotland’s upland forests provide much material for geography – and geographers have much to offer forestry. Those with a physical focus may be intrigued by the sheer variability of the upland climate and how wind, as well as temperature, controls treelines so their elevation varies by 500m between north-west and south-east Scotland; by the control of site type on tree species and growth; on the prospects for appropriately located woodland contributing to slope

protection and control of flooding (in the face of concerns over increased intensity rainfall events); and how foresters use the latest climate projections to examine suitability of species 50-100 years hence.

Geographers with a political bent may focus on the ebb and flow of woodland cover; the role of private estates and the state in the restoration of forests, from perhaps 3% of land area to almost 20%, and the contribution of grants, subsidies and tax relief in this; and the contemporary challenge of squaring land use policies which seek both enhanced carbon sequestration and improved food security, and for whom the ‘squeezed middle’ somewhere between the mountain tops and the lowlands becomes a key arena. From a socioeconomic angle, there is the rise of a domestic wood-using industry, the recent conversion of forest into renewable energy sites (especially wind turbines), and how to devise payments for ecosystem services which reward owners and support multiple benefits for society. Also of interest are the communities which were established in remote areas for post-war employment; use for recreation (prompted by Forest Parks from the 1930s and mountain bike trails from the 1990s); collective action to reforest Scotland; and growing community involvement in woodlands through ownership, management agreements and social enterprise. At wider scales, there is the impact of global trade as pathways for new pests and diseases; and futurists may examine whether globalisation and technological development will render locally-grown fibre a resource that may be either irrelevant or valuable, underpinning the restoration of a woodland culture.

All in all, there’s plenty of interest for the geographer in the forests between Scotland’s mountains – whether as a subject of study exemplifying the interaction of social, economic and environmental forces; a foreground for views of the high tops; or an environment within which to be active.

14 AUTUMN 2015

Scottish mountain views Mike Robinson, Chief Executive

As a country with arguably the greatest geological diversity in the world, Scotland offers many beautiful and diverse mountain panoramas. I have tried to capture a flavour of these in my photographs, reflecting my personal passion for Scotland’s outdoors.

Cuillin Ridge, Skye.

A’ Mharconaich, Drumochter.

Gleouraich, Loch Quoich.

Beinn Ghlas, Lawers range.

Main image: View from Ben Vrackie, near Pitlochry.

Culra Bothy, Ben Alder.

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Bynack More, Cairngorm.

Beinn a’ Bheithir, Glencoe.

Lancet Ridge, Ben Alder.

Buachaille Etive Mòr, Glencoe.

View from A’ Mhaighdean, Letterewe.

Ben Starav, Glen Etive.

16 AUTUMN 2015

Schiehallion and the weight of the Earth Dr Liz Auty, Biodiversity Officer and Schiehallion Property Manager, John Muir Trust

Rising straight up from the heart of Scotland, where the bleak expanse of Rannoch Moor meets the rolling hills of Perthshire, the famous conical peak of Schiehallion dominates the Southern Highlands.

This popular Munro, 1,083 metres high, is steeped in myth and legend. Its name derives from the Gaelic Sìth Chailleann, meaning ‘Fairy Hill of the Caledonians’.

Numerous archaeological remains show that people lived here from around 3000 BC until 200 years ago. For centuries, Schiehallion was held in awe, its caves believed to be inhabited by supernatural spirits, and its slopes haunted by the ghost of Cailleach Bheur, a feared witch whose “face was blue with cold, her hair white with frost and her plaid grey as the winter fields”.

The mountain was also the site of one of the most exciting scientific quests of the 18th century, when Dr Nevil Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal, set out to discover the weight of the Earth. Schiehallion’s nearsymmetrical shape meant that if its weight could be calculated, this could be scaled up, to work out the weight of the entire planet.

mountain’s summit and east side. As one of Scotland’s most accessible Munros, just two hours’ drive from both Glasgow and Edinburgh, Schiehallion attracts around 20,000 people each year to its summit. By the time the Trust took over the estate, the main footpath had been churned into an ugly scar slashing its way down the eastern ridge. The underlying problem was the steepness of the ascent, which encouraged water to pour straight down the slope, eroding and gullying the ground, and forcing walkers to spread out to the sides. In some places, the path had become 30 metres wide.

Over five years, the Trust created a more gradual and less intrusive footpath by realigning the route with the contours, using locally sourced materials. Deploying staff and volunteers to carry out pre-emptive maintenance work on the footpath to prevent erosion remains a key part of the management of Schiehallion.

“The mountain was also the site of one of the most exciting scientific quests of the 18th century.”

The team, which included scientists, mathematicians and labourers, spent a summer on the mountain attempting to determine the gravitational pull of the mountain using a plumb line. In order to work out the deflection of the line, sight of the stars was necessary – and the diabolical weather proved to be one of the biggest challenges. As Maskelyne said in his report to the Royal Society in 1775, “There was almost constant rain, mist, high wind, to obstruct the use of the theodolite: indeed all the people of the country agreed, it was the worst season that had ever been known.”

Schiehallion. © Keith Brame

Despite everything, the experiment was successful. The team calculated the mean density of the Earth as 4,500kg/m3, a remarkably accurate figure given the limitations of the technology Purple saxifrage. © Liz Auty available. The actual figure has since been established as 5,515kg/m3 . One spin-off from the experiment was the development of the concept of contour lines, devised by mathematician Charles Hutton to simplify the process of surveying the mountain.

During the experiment, two observatories were constructed to the north and south of the mountain, while a bothy was built to accommodate the scientists and their equipment (the labourers camped out in tents). The remains of these structures, and other cairns used during the project, can still be seen today.

Since 1999, the John Muir Trust has owned and managed the

The Trust also conducts wildlife and habitat surveys. Part of the mountain is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its distinctive geology, the quartzite ridge and underlying limestone. The influence of the limestone means there is a wealth of wild flowers, including purple saxifrage, rock rose, and Scottish asphodel. The abundance of wildlife includes mountain hares, black grouse, roe deer, red deer, water voles, pine martens, red squirrels and hen harriers.

The Trust works closely with two neighbouring estates – Kynachan estate to the north, and Dun Coillich, the community-owned woodland to the west – with a view to expanding the existing pockets of native woodland on a landscape scale.

See www.johnmuirtrust.org/trust-land/east-schiehallion for more information about Schiehallion and the work of the John Muir Trust.

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Deer management under the voluntary principle Richard Cooke, Chair, Association of Deer Management Groups

It is something of an anomaly that deer are the only species of our diverse fauna that has merited a dedicated public agency, the Deer Commission for Scotland – until it became part of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) in 2010.

Although individual species policies are emerging, for example for geese, red squirrels, and capercaillie, we have lacked a comprehensive and rational approach to species management. We would benefit greatly from a context-setting Vision, Policy and Action Plan for the conservation and management of all species at ecosystem scale. The recent production of a wildlife management framework by SNH is thus very much welcome. In the meantime, we continue with our arguably obsessive attention to the minutiae of deer management, often overlooking the fact that deer interact with other species, both wild and domestic, in modifying their habitat.

often challenging task of reconciling a range of different management objectives which require different deer densities, which is done in the form of an agreed deer management plan (DMP). While some DMPs have been in place to a greater or lesser degree over many years, all DMGs are currently either reviewing or replacing DMPs and extending their scope to reflect the public interest aspects of deer management.

At least nominally, deer are managed under the voluntary principle by the managers of the land over which they range. Some have argued that the voluntary principle is insufficiently robust to ensure sustainable deer management, and that argument will be tested again when the Scottish Government carries out its intended review of deer management in 2016.

In summary, deer management takes place across the whole of Scotland in a very wide range of different geographical and social circumstances.

It is evolving and developing rapidly to respond to population change (broadly, red Deer Management Groups (DMG) deer numbers declining, Upland DMG areas Lowland DMG areas roe deer numbers increasing). The voluntary approach is essential in maintaining a degree of flexibility within the constraints of the existing legislation and policy framework. The Scottish Government will hopefully conclude at the 2016 review that our system of deer management in Scotland is not only fit for purpose but also something in which we can take some pride.

Certainly, a more regulated one-size-fits-all approach to deer management would be counter-productive.

“…the often challenging task of reconciling a range of different management objectives.”

The voluntary principle – that is, the freedom for individuals to manage deer on their land as they may wish, with or without consideration of the effects on neighbours or on the public interest – is very considerably constrained. First there is the legislation, the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, as amended by the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011, with further amendments coming forward in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill. Second is the Scottish Government policy document Scotland’s Wild Deer: A National Approach, a 20-year plan which recently had its first five-year review. Third, the SNH Code of Practice for Deer Management sets out the broad principles of sustainable deer management and the duties, responsibilities and obligations of those involved, and defines the public interest in deer management. Fourth, Wild Deer Best Practice, a suite of around 80 guides for practitioners, prescribes the practical aspects of deer management in detail.

In addition to the hierarchy of legislation, policy direction, guidance and advice from the Scottish Government and its agencies, the Association of Deer Management Groups (ADMG) has published the DMG Benchmark which sets out in detail how a Deer Management Group (DMG) can function effectively to deliver both private and public benefits while ensuring sustainable deer management and securing deer welfare. ADMG has also published its Principles of Collaboration, to assist DMGs in avoiding or resolving conflicting management objectives between landholdings which share a deer population.

DMGs are the established mechanism for collaborative deer management across the mainly open-hill red deer range; currently, 45 cover almost all of the open range in the Highlands and Islands. Many have been established for several decades; some are much more recent. All have the

In the lowlands, where roe deer are predominant and land management patterns are much more fragmented and complex, often including urban areas, a very different management approach is required. Increasingly, Lowland Deer Groups (LDGs) are being formed, mainly by vocational deer managers rather than landowners.

© Mike Robinson

18 AUTUMN 2015

Scotland’s wild mountains: addressing key challenges Dr Rob McMorran, Environment and Countryside, Scotland’s Rural College; Dr Jonathan Carruthers-Jones, Wildland Research Institute, University of Leeds Remote mountain landscapes characterise interpretations of Scotland both within and beyond Scotland, and represent a fundamental draw for visitors. It is thus no surprise that ‘wild land’ has risen up the political agenda since the early 1980s, starting with the emergence of charities such as the Scottish Wild Land Group and John Muir Trust in response to concerns about proposed developments in mountain areas. Recognition of the importance of wild land has increased since, with recent surveys evidencing a high level of public support for its protection. In 2002, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) defined wild land as “limited core areas of mountain and moorland and remote coast, which mostly lie beyond contemporary human artefacts such as roads or other development”, but protecting wild land has proved difficult, due to a lack of clarity regarding where it is and the legal basis for its protection.

Onshore windfarms have arguably represented the greatest threat to wild land in recent years, with turbines visible from 20% of Scotland in 2008 and 46% in 2013, and 70% of all current onshore wind proposals in the UK in Scotland (see map). Windfarm construction, particularly on peatland, can result in loss of soil carbon and impacts on wildlife, including raptors and migratory birds, and from energy transmission infrastructure. The UK Government’s recent decision to exclude new wind farms from an onshore subsidy scheme a year earlier than expected indicates a shift in direction for wild land. The Scottish Government has also refused permission for a number of windfarm proposals in or around wild land in recent months, signalling that its protection has become an important aspect of planning decisions.

particularly limited for some sectors of society.

Mapping wild land represents a major step forward in ‘legitimising’ this resource and providing a basis for protection from development. However, the WLAs map is fundamentally focused on perceptual dimensions of wildness. The parallel emergence of the rewilding movement in the UK and an increasing number of large-scale ecosystem restoration projects suggests that wider discussion is needed around the potential of WLAs for protecting and restoring ecological wildness. A forthcoming review of SNH’s wild land policy represents an opportunity to explore the wider ecological potential of WLAs. The map may, for example, offer a basis for identifying core ‘reservoir’ areas for a large-scale ecological network, incorporating natural habitat corridors between core areas, and identifying priority areas for ecological restoration, facilitating ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services delivery at larger scales across Scotland.

Recent advances in mapping have been an important element in some of these planning decisions, most notably when Leeds University’s Wildland Research Institute produced a map of 42 Wild Land Areas (WLAs) in 2014 (see The Geographer Winter 2014-15). This map now constitutes a basis for protection of wild land areas through the Scottish Planning Policy and National Planning Framework, which recognises wild land as a ‘nationally important asset’. It also provides a basis for research on socio-economic impacts, community and wider stakeholder perceptions, and ecosystem services linked to wild land.

An ongoing challenge for wild land is the apparent conflict between ‘traditional’ land uses, such as forestry, sporting and agriculture, and the protection and restoration of biodiversity.

High densities of red deer in certain areas, in particular, have impacted on the condition of SNH designated sites, and grazing and heather burning continue to impede native woodland regeneration in some wild areas. Other areas of tension include illegal raptor control, and hill tracks on sporting estates, which have received criticism for their impacts on landscapes and the environment. Nevertheless, sporting estates provide employment and investment in marginal areas, and outdoor enthusiasts accessing wild land often use hill tracks – and can also have impacts on wild land, through path erosion, disturbance of wildlife, and irresponsible access. Yet, despite increasing numbers of people heading for the hills, wild land remains outside most people’s direct frame of reference, with opportunities to experience wild land

“Advances in mapping have been an important element in some of these planning decisions.”

A Loch Quoich evening.

Wild Land Areas shown in relation to mountain areas (as defined by the European Environment Agency) and windfarms in Scotland.

FURTHER READING SNH (2015), Condition of Designated Sites (www.snh.gov.uk) RSPB bird-crime reports (www.rspb.org.uk) Brown C (2013), Track Changes. Tracks constructed under Permitted Development Rights: the need for planning control (www.scotlink.org)

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Renewable energy in Scotland’s mountains Dr Charles Warren, University of St Andrews

Scotland’s mountain landscapes are internationally renowned, but the uplands are also valued as a setting with huge potential for generating renewable energy. These competing values have caused increasing tensions in recent years. Renewable energy from the Scottish hills is, of course, nothing new. Traditional biomass (woodfuel) and water power have been harnessed since time immemorial, and hydroelectric power generation began with the Victorians. In the middle decades of the 20th century, ambitious hydro schemes brought ‘power to the glens’.

What’s new now is the motivation, the scale and the technology.

The motivations flow from concerns about energy security, climate change and ageing power stations, concerns which have combined to make renewable energy a strong policy imperative. Alex Salmond, Scotland’s former First Minister, famously declared his ambition to make Scotland “the Saudi Arabia of renewables”. This flows partly from a desire to capitalise on Scotland’s extraordinarily rich potential for renewable energy, and partly from a recognition that, with North Sea oil past its peak and nuclear power being wound down, renewables have a critical role in preventing the country sliding into a dark, cold hole.

new proposal is fought tooth and nail by local communities and environmental groups, surveys throughout the last 15 years have consistently found substantial majority support for the Scottish Government’s pro-renewable policies. For example, a YouGov survey earlier this year found that 71% of Scottish adults support more wind power. Equally, it is easy to paint the controversies as simple black-and-white showdowns between power companies and anti-windfarm groups. The reality is much more ‘shades of grey’ – or even, as I have previously described it, ‘green on green’, involving conflict within the pro-environmental lobby. This arises from disagreements over what should be protected and at what scale. Those who adopt a global perspective and are concerned about the impacts of climate change on mountain environments typically champion renewable energy, whereas those who campaign to protect local upland environments and to safeguard a sense of wildness rail against the ‘industrialisation’ of the Scottish hills.

“Renewable energy from the Scottish hills is, of course, nothing new.”

Together, since the late 1990s, such considerations have led to a striking resurgence of hydro after a 50-year lull, to rapid growth in biomass energy from upland forests, and to a dramatically accelerating rate of windfarm construction in the hills, involving ever-larger turbines in ever-greater numbers. From a standing start 20 years ago, onshore wind power capacity now exceeds 5GW. Backed by the UK’s Renewables Obligation (RO), the proportion of Scottish electricity demand met by renewables reached the equivalent of 49.6% last year, rising swiftly towards the Scottish Government’s challenging target of 100% by 2020.

Although the UK Government announced in June that the RO for new onshore windfarms will be terminated next April, a year early, a further 2GW of capacity may yet be installed.

The impacts of these developments have been dramatic. At least one windfarm is now visible from most mountain summits, and from some you can see several. Whenever society is forced to confront major change, intense public debate is unavoidable, and certainly the speed and scale of the spread of renewables have generated power and controversy in almost equal measure.

But while media coverage can give the impression that every

This highlights the central importance of issues of scale and location in the debates over renewables in Scotland’s mountains. The large scale of hydro dams, the way that modern wind turbines dwarf their surroundings, and the need for windfarms to be in exposed sites can stir up bitter opposition from those who value traditional and/or wild landscapes. But the arguments can look very different depending on the spatial and temporal scale within which they are framed. Locally and short term, hydro schemes and windfarms can easily be seen as environmentally damaging, whereas globally and long term – especially in the context of climate change – they can plausibly be argued to be a means of saving environments. Neither view is ‘correct’, but the contrasting perspectives explain some of the rancour in the debate.

An encouraging development in recent years has been the shift towards making community benefit payments standard practice.

Such payments can make significant contributions to the sustainable rural development of the remote areas in which they are typically located. Windfarms are now paying out £8.8 million every year to local communities, mostly in the uplands. But such payments do not magically create consensus. Steering a path between the multiple competing values in the Scottish mountains remains a fraught policy challenge.

Bowbeat Wind Farm, near Galashiels.

20 AUTUMN 2015

Guiding in Scotland’s mountains: mediating between nature and people Jelena Farkić, PhD Candidate, Centre for Recreation and Tourism Research, West Highland College UHI As the UK’s most mountainous region, the magnificent landscapes of the Scottish Highlands attract urban recreationalists, escapists and nature lovers from all over the world. This majestic scenery, a sense of wildness (though much contested) and the rich biodiversity can all be experienced by visitors, along with physical challenge, testing weather and voracious insects.

Yet for many, the visceral, immersive and embodied experience of Scotland’s mountains is always slightly out of reach due to a perceived lack of physical, intellectual or experiential capital. Indeed, this perceived distance is often emphasised in popular media suggesting that the great outdoors is at once dangerous and distant. It is perhaps for this reason that many visitors and tourists over the years have turned to guides of various types to make their adventures possible.

For urbanites visiting these ‘rough bounds’, the draw comes from the disconnect between their frenetically paced metropolitan lives, constantly tapped into various © Mike Robinson communications networks, and the perception of the untamed wildernesses of Scotland’s mountains, its remote communities and distinctive rural traditions. Beyond this, however, there is often also a desire to sensually experience the natural phenomena at work in these regions.

Increasingly, the guides’ role is to encapsulate the essence of place, to be mediators between nature and local culture, and eventually to win hearts through particular interpretation.

Acting as conduits between people and nature in a highly empathetic way, guides can help visitors find a meaning in what they do and see.

Some of the most powerful tourist experiences come from interactions with other people during journeying, with tourists learning from guides and vice versa. The trend towards informal guiding, where both parties are able to embed their personal narratives and lifestyles into a more general discourse, is invaluable in adding the authentic, contingent and transformative element to the whole guiding concept.

This creates opportunities for mutually-enriching, first-hand cultural exchange in the outdoor context, and contributes to better understanding of and emotional attachment to Scotland’s mountains.

It is hoped that the findings and conclusions drawn from the study will influence the design of learning programmes for both existing and new members of the guiding and outdoor tourism community, and will ultimately become a training product for Scotland.

The motives for such experiences may be driven by a range of other personal and social dynamics, including the maintenance of a public social identity, for example via posting of ‘selfies’ on Facebook, or the more reflective solipsistic enjoyment of peace and quiet in natural surroundings. Many are also keen to encounter wildlife, particularly the Scottish ‘big five’ (red squirrel, red deer, harbour seal, otter, golden eagle), and still others are searching for adventure in the form of kayaking, climbing or hiking, or just simple, slow journeying through the rolling landscapes.

Whatever the reasons, the fact that many of these visitors purchase the services of a professional guide has led to a new critical study, supported by the Moffat Charitable Trust, into the ways in which these services are delivered using skills that could also be applied to the interpretation of the great outdoors for this crucial part of the Scottish tourism industry.

Guides might be regarded as the human capital part of a product mix which can maximise the tourism value and economic potential of Scotland’s wild places, offering tourists unique outdoor-living experiences. Having high levels of technical outdoor expertise is no longer sufficient anymore.

It has now shifted towards interpersonal, co-created practice, where guides are the key actors in the process of facilitating experiences, ‘exoticising’ a destination, crafting positive emotions via stories and learning.

“Some of the most powerful tourist experiences come from interactions with other people.”

Beinn a’ Bheithir. © Mike Robinson

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Mountains and Scotland’s communities Dr Jayne Glass and Dr Ros Bryce, Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College UHI; Dr Annie McKee, Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences, The James Hutton Institute Rural areas cover 98% of Scotland and are home to nearly a fifth of the population. Upland areas (essentially mountains) cover 43% of the country (3.4 million hectares) and are the most sparsely populated, with some of the lowest population densities in Europe. Nonetheless, these landscapes are widely seen as an iconic and valued national asset, inspiring people and forming part of Scotland’s cultural and national identity.

People living and working in Scotland’s uplands face challenges common to other mountainous areas around the world. Making a living from relatively unproductive land is not easy. The limitations on land use, due to factors such as climate and altitude, mean farming is generally marginal and less profitable than in more fertile, lowland areas. Other factors, such as increased mechanisation and changes in agricultural subsidy regimes in recent decades, have led to a shift away from the production of food and other resources, resulting in declines in forestry, fishing and agricultural employment and training. Nowadays, most employment in the Highlands and Islands relies on tourism, and rural wages are generally lower than in urban areas.

Remote rural areas also have the highest proportions of second home ownership in Scotland which, combined with rising house and land prices, and a shortfall of housing stock, lead to a lack of affordable housing. This affects young people and the elderly, who often struggle to remain in their home areas.

Many rural communities in upland Scotland have an ageing population, due to net out-migration among young people. A lack of access to key services, poor transport provision and leisure opportunities, and limited employment opportunities combine to push young people away. In tandem, urbanto-rural migration has led to a reconstruction of many rural communities, creating a demographic profile skewed towards those who are no longer economically active. These ‘incomers’ can bring ideas, experience and capital which can be of great benefit in developing local economies. But they can also create tensions because of new practices and ways of thinking, and by driving up property prices.

Despite such challenges, rural life continues to be attractive, and rural communities have shown an ability to adapt – and continue to grow. Quality of life and environment are increasingly cited as important reasons for staying in, or moving to, rural and upland areas. More rural residents tend to express a greater sense of ‘belonging’ to their community than in urban areas. To survive in challenging economic conditions, many rural businesses have succeeded in diversifying, leading to increased tourism and recreation provision, and new opportunities for renewable energy production. Derelict farm buildings have been converted to housing and industrial units where planning policies allow.

Improvements in communications technology have boosted opportunities for businesses to locate away from urban areas, though improving access to high-speed broadband in remote rural areas is a key priority.

There is a growing movement of organisations, groups and individuals working hard to ensure that those living and

working in rural Scotland are not disadvantaged by their location. November 2014 saw the first biannual meeting of the Scottish Rural Parliament, which will allow people and decision-makers to work together on priority issues and develop solutions. Giving a new voice to Scotland’s rural communities, the focus is on enabling rural communities to be empowered, connected and sustainable. Community development trusts now exist in many remote upland areas to support diverse activities such as community renewable energy schemes, development of local infrastructure, arts and heritage projects, and environmental protection. Several landscape partnership projects in mountain areas seek to enhance the benefits these areas provide in terms of recreation, heritage, biodiversity and economic opportunities.

These projects are supported by improved communication and collaboration between communities, public and private landowners, and other organisations.

The recent Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act puts more power into the hands of communities through opportunities to take ownership of land and buildings in rural (and urban) areas, and places increased duty on public bodies to ensure communities can influence decisions about services and funding. The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, introduced to the Scottish Parliament in June 2015, challenges all landowners to consider the impacts of management decisions on communities, requiring increased community involvement in the ways land is owned and used. Ultimately, community empowerment related to land management can foster a sense of environmental stewardship, which is of particular significance in Scotland’s iconic yet sparsely inhabited mountain areas. Community-led developments have led to significant improvements in social, economic and environmental conditions in some mountain areas, through the recognition that communities can become more confident and resilient by leading the way.

“Most employment in the Highlands and Islands relies on tourism.”

22 AUTUMN 2015

Every mountain tells a story: how Scotland’s mountains were Peter Craig, Earth Science Education Services

Most of us would find it difficult to name just one favourite Scottish mountain, when there are so many wonderful ones to choose from. Scotland is blessed with an amazing array of different mountainous landscapes, each with its own special character and attractions.

You may never have thought about why we have such a diversity of upland landscapes in Scotland. Most of us don’t.

We just enjoy the opportunities they provide for escaping from the more crowded parts of our nation to enjoy the ‘freedom of the hills’. Whether we ramble, scramble, climb, bag, bike or photograph them, many of us have Scottish mountains and their landscape profiles deeply embedded in our psyche.

What native of Buchan would deny the joy of seeing once again the Mither Tap of Bennachie when returning after a period of absence, even if they have never actually set foot on it!

precipitation is higher in the west side of the country, mountains tend to have much sharper topography due to more prolonged and energetic ice movements, whereas some areas in the east escaped significant glacial erosion and have smoother profiles that have origins dating back long before the Ice Age.

It was my curiosity as a youngster about why these mountains ‘were there’ that triggered my life-long passion for geology and the marvellous insights it provides. The answer to why our mountains have such widely differing appearances lies in the long and complex geological history of the piece of the Earth’s crust that we call Scotland.

Just one of many iconic peaks in the Northwest Highlands, Suilven tells three geological stories. Its foundation is Lewisian Gneiss, Scotland’s oldest rock formation with origins dating back as much as three billion years, two-thirds of the age of our planet. This rock had already been subjected to two billion years of complex plate tectonic upheavals before the distinctive horizontal layers of Torridonian Sandstone were laid down on top of it. Standing on the summit of Suilven, it can be hard to get your head around the fact that the layers of rock immediately beneath your feet were laid down by rivers flowing in a rift depression not very far from the Equator. Even more mind-boggling is the likelihood that the more ancient Lewisian Gneiss that forms the base of the mountain has wandered over virtually every corner of our planet during its unimaginably long existence.

The concept that the Earth’s crust is dynamic and constantly on the move as a series of vast rafts of rock underpins our understanding of all the varied geological processes that have shaped the world we inhabit. The rocks that form our continents are less dense, on average, than those that form the ocean floors. They are thus naturally buoyant and have largely survived the endless recycling process during which denser rock that is formed at mid-ocean ridges is, after two hundred million years, returned to the Earth’s deep mantle at subduction zones.

The third geological story told by Suilven is of much shorter duration and is more recent. It is one of glacial erosion.

During the repeated ebb and flow of ice over the last 2.6 million years, ice swept away rock from the surrounding landscape to create the distinctive narrow tear-drop shape and majestic ice-scoured slopes that make this such an especially spectacular mountain. Mountains are simply parts of the landscape that have resisted the processes of erosion more than the lower areas around them. All Scottish mountains have been shaped, to a greater or lesser extent, by the rock-shattering action of frost and the erosive power of grinding ice impregnated with rock fragments. Where

Paddling home from Suilven. © Mike Robinson

Further north, at Ben Hope, we find a distinctive mountain largely formed of tough rocks belonging to the Moine Supergroup that dominate the spine of Scotland, stretching north of the Great Glen. Moine rocks were originally mostly sandstones and mudstones laid down in a shallow sea between 1,000 and 800 million years ago. These sediments gradually turned into sedimentary rocks as groundwater slowly filled pore spaces with precipitated minerals. Much later, they were caught in a slowly closing geological vice as two pieces of continental plate collided about 420 million years ago. Such collisions have been instrumental in creating a large proportion of Scottish rocks, particularly the more resistant crystalline ones that tend to form our higher landscapes. What is most surprising about Ben Hope is that, along with the entire Moine outcrop north of the Great Glen, it was pushed about 50 kilometres westwards as the vice closed. It is really hard to imagine an entire landscape being transported in this way, although it must be remembered that this occurred at a time when the Moine rocks currently exposed at the surface were buried under several kilometres of younger rocks.

South of the Great Glen and north of the Highland Boundary Fault lies Scotland’s other major series of metamorphic rocks, the Dalradian Supergroup. Potential favourite mountains from this area include Ben Lomond, Creag Meagaidh and Schiehallion. Dalradian rocks are much more varied than their Moine cousins, having formed from limestones, basaltic lavas and turbidites as well as ubiquitous sandstones and mudstones. Turbidites are formed when

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formed sediments deposited by rivers on continental shelves become unstable and pour down into deeper oceanic environments as fast-flowing currents of dense suspensions of mud and sand. The presence of thick sequences of turbidite, in particular, indicates accumulation in much deeper ocean floor environments than is typical of Moine rocks.

“Many of us have Scottish mountains and their landscape profiles deeply embedded in our psyche.”

A ‘Scottish Rock Box’ prepared by Earth Science Education Services.

In a relatively short period of geological time, the part of the Earth’s crust that we now call Scotland was ever-so-slowly ravaged and torn into strips by two separate plate collisions.

It is not surprising that it has taken the combined efforts of many hundreds of geologists over almost 250 years to unravel the complexities of this part of Scotland’s geological story.

The same plate collisions that generated the Moine and Dalradian metamorphic rocks also resulted in localised melting of the Earth’s crust. The magma thus formed rose upwards in large masses, with localised plumes tending to rise ahead of the main body of magma. The slow cooling at depth of this magma produced the granitic rocks that compose most of our highest mountains. Granites are tough rocks with crystals that interlock in three dimensions, making them very resistant to erosion. The roll-call of favourite granite mountains is thus a long one, which covers the entire country from Ben Nevis in the west to Bennachie in the east, and from Ronas Hill in Shetland to Criffel in Galloway. Most of these granite peaks represent the exposed tops of localised plumes. Lochnagar, for instance, is made up of nine concentric annular and crescent-shaped bodies of slightly different composition and appearance. Were erosion to remove a few more kilometres of roof rock in the north east, the huge granite bodies below would be revealed and Cairngorm-type landscapes would stretch from Speyside to the coast of Buchan.

All of Scotland’s hills and mountains have their own stories to tell about the country’s geological past, and are generally good places to find the cleanly exposed rock outcrops that contain the clues that help us to work out those stories. Next time you start climbing upwards, have a look for yourself – and remember that, if the selected examples above are anything to go by, the stories unfolding beneath your feet may be stranger than your wildest imaginings!

Suilven. © Mike Robinson

“In a relatively short period of geological time, the part of the Earth’s crust that we now call Scotland was ever-so-slowly ravaged and torn into strips.”

24 AUTUMN 2015

Sixty years in the mountains Robin N Campbell

My first acquaintance with mountains grew from flight from the dullness of weekends at home, especially Sundays, and fed on the romance of exploring unvisited crags and finding a place in a small history. I began with camping and hill-walking trips with friends in the Scouts, then learned to climb rocks on Craig a’ Barns, the little hill above Dunkeld, and soon joined the local mountaineering club in Perth. This functioned mostly through day meets. A Sunday morning bus collected us from points around town, took us to the mountains, and returned us in the late evening. Our far point on these excursions was Glencoe. As petrol rationing eased, and cars could be afforded, we added weekend outings to Derry Lodge in the Cairngorms and to the Scottish Mountaineering Council (SMC) hut on Ben Nevis. In the school holidays I was able to reach Arran and Skye. I recall a week in Glenbrittle Lodge there in 1960 for six guineas all found.

The publications of the SMC, and WH Murray’s Mountaineering in Scotland and Undiscovered Scotland, defined the world I sought to master, and taught me how to behave in it.

“For how long can this kernel of lasting virtue withstand the crushing effects of universal prosperity?”

After a few years of activity, I knew our mountains tolerably well, summer and winter, and loved them all. In a very small space, we found a great range of types of rock to climb, and mountain forms of all sorts, book-ended by the prickly Skye peaks and the rolling Grampian hills. I felt a strong sense of ownership, a common feeling among mountaineers. It has its drawbacks. We find it difficult to tolerate others who presume to own mountains.

There is always some new enemy of beauty, solitude and free movement: deer-stalking, crop forestry, hydroelectric plants, ski facilities, and now giant pylons, electric fencing, and windfarming. How dare these ignorant barbarian users of mountains, animated by greed rather than love, intrude and despoil!

But if you take your place in this history, you are soon drawn in to the ‘politics of the environment’, as Malcolm Slesser put it.

I passed my 40s and 50s in Committees, Councils and Trusts, and began to see the mountaineer in a different light: the user who takes the greatest pleasure from our hills, but who pays the least for the privilege; the user who demands free access, free car-parks, free footpaths and bridges, yet deplores any financial easement granted to commercial use of mountains; the user who inveighs against wind-farms, but who built the first mountain wind-turbine at 700 metres in the bosom of Ben Nevis; the user who deplores the ugliness of other mountain uses, but who – in the recesses of his garish clothing – carries a phone that defaces hilltops with masts, and a GPS navigator that pollutes the skies

with satellites.

Although my perception shifted during those years, so did mountaineering.

There has been a loss of virtue. We were once an elite, which embraced Percy Unna’s doctrine of ‘the mountains shall not be made easier or safer to climb’, which preached and practised selfreliance, and accepted the price of long approaches, river-drownings and deaths from hypothermia. We are now a mob, and the mob counts life as sacred, demands deliverance, and expects to pay no price, expect perhaps the price of a guide who will ensure our safety and carry our luggage up the hill.

Much has changed since I started climbing mountains, but the mountains are more or less the same, and the principles that regulate acquaintance with them haven’t changed unduly: boots, anorak, map, and compass work just as well today as they did 60 years ago. The climbers – increasingly pagan, selfish, and hypocritical – still like to hear the 121st Psalm at their funerals.

They get something from the hills that other parts of their life fail to provide. For me, and for thousands of others, our regular pilgrimages to the hills remind us that there are some things that don’t change, and that shared hardship and dependence on others for company and assistance still have a place in a world dominated by easy comfort and independent living. The puzzle, of course, is to know how and for how long can this kernel of lasting virtue withstand the crushing effects of universal prosperity and instantaneous global communication? And how and for how long can our mountains – invested by legions of climbers, baggers, boulderers and bicyclists, and ploughed, mined and built on – retain the beauty and mystery that drew people to them two centuries ago?

Images: © Mike Robinson

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Tooth Fairy on the Fox Jaw Cirque: climbing in Greenland Cath Alldred

I often find myself daydreaming of the days I spent in 2014 in the Kua Valley in East Greenland, an area which is rarely visited and which still holds many secrets. I had a burning urge to climb on rock that only a very few people in the world had ever seen. My good friend Craig Mathieson told me about the Fox Jaw Cirque, and even before I had seen a photo I knew it was the challenge I’d been looking for. Now all I needed to do was work out how!

It took two years of planning, dreaming, hoping... and training. It was not just the hours of training that consumed my time, but the hours I spent researching and planning for this trip and poring over maps in the RSGS Explorers’ Room. With assignments due at university, three children and a husband to look after at home, and two of my climbing partners pulling out, it was not easy but somehow it all came together.

Then finally it was time to go. After delays, lost luggage, and travel from three countries, our climbing team converged in Kulusuk Airport, a dirt strip with a small building. It was a 20-minute walk to the only village on the island... no bus service here!

Soon I was standing in a valley so vast and humbling, I paused to take it all in. I could see the Fox Jaw Cirque in the distance, our final destination just a few hours’ walk away.

I felt so small in this environment, each peak giving way to an even bigger one behind, with endless moraines. I soon realised that when people described the valley as ‘flat’ they meant ‘relatively’. Hiking over this terrain was not easy, and I am thankful for all the hours of training I put in before leaving the UK. It was sometimes gruelling with our heavy packs, and unforgiving wide-open spaces with little vegetation to shelter under. However, with the light breeze which kept the mosquitoes away temporarily, and the sun shining down, there was a strong sense of satisfaction and I was thankful for the good weather.

In the weeks that followed, I repeated a route set previously, called ‘Tooth Fairy’ on the ‘Baby Molar’, with team members Robert Durran and Pat Ingram. There was a failed attempt on a new line too. The following day, I headed up the slopes again with Sion Brocklehurst and Simon Smith to second a new route we named ‘The Long Distance Call’ (E3 5c, three

grades above my best leading grade). It was challenging, scary and exhilarating to reach the summit of both of these routes, and I felt a great sense of achievement. The challenges, the stress, the ups and downs were all worth it.

There were days in that valley that were some of the best of my life, and there were others where I wondered if I deserved my place there. One day I remember heading back before the others, crossing crystal-clear streams en route to base camp. I was momentarily complacent and as I stepped over the rocks, one of them toppled over and I landed painfully on my hands and knees in the ice-cold water. I picked myself up, only to do a repeat performance not 20 feet further on.

I stood up and screamed at the top of my voice, ‘what is this God-forsaken place I am in!’ Not a soul could hear me over the sound of the thundering glacial water pouring down the valley. I sat on a rock and cried. It was my breakdown moment. But rather than a moment of weakness it was a moment of growth, of finding out how much I really could be pushed. I blew my nose, stood up, and carried on back to base camp.

Every day in this environment is a challenge. You must work for everything; even a simple task like having a wash requires strength of mind. I felt at my most vulnerable standing beside the river in my birthday suit, preparing myself to duck under the fast-flowing ice-cold water. It was painful yet necessary, and gave a sense of vitality back to my weary body.

I was sad to leave the valley. But I have discovered two things about myself which I had suspected but now confirmed: I am definitely a people person, and I absolutely come into my own in challenging environments. What better place to be than a remote part of East Greenland? I will be back to explore more, without a doubt!

“Rather than a moment of weakness it was a moment of growth.”

26 AUTUMN 2015

Cutting emissions and improving health Dan Barlow and Declan Finney, Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe)

In December, world leaders will come together in Paris for a meeting that hopes to bind nations to a new global agreement aimed at avoiding the worst effects of climate change. The Scottish Government have stated that Scotland is ‘ready to play its part’ and that meeting its own emission targets is an important contribution to the global action required.

With work underway to prepare Scotland’s next plan aimed at keeping the country on track to meet its climate targets over the coming decades, there is scope to reflect on approaches that not only help cut emissions but also provide significant health benefits too.

“…approaches that not only help cut emissions but also provide significant health benefits too.”

Transport emissions make up around a quarter of Scotland’s total emissions, and cars make a major contribution to this. In 2010 the Scottish Government set out a desire that by 2020 at least 10% of all journeys in Scotland would be by bike. The most recent data shows that achieving this goal will require a five-fold increase in the number of cycle journeys.

For the traveller, a switch from the use of cars to walking or cycling over short distances can help tackle heart disease and obesity. For the wider community, a reduction in car journeys can help reduce air pollutants that contribute to respiratory diseases including asthma and heart disease.

The Government’s advisors on climate change have suggested that the current programme aimed at changing the travel behaviour in a number of communities in Scotland should be extended. Elsewhere, innovative approaches to boost cycling include Copenhagen’s ‘Green Wave’ that provides cyclists with a set of green lights on the routes in and out of the city during rush hour, in Groningen traffic lights turn green more often for cyclists when it is raining, and Paris’s bike loan scheme now includes children’s bikes.

Agriculture accounts for almost a quarter of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock emissions associated with the production of animal feed, the animal digestion process and manure form one component of this, and are equivalent to more than two-thirds of those from cars in Scotland. To date, the

Scottish Government have focused their efforts aimed at cutting agricultural emissions using a voluntary approach to encourage farmers to develop renewable energy, use fertiliser efficiently, manage manure and optimise livestock feeding.

A number of studies have highlighted the scope for industrialised nations to reduce the amount of meat we consume in order to help reduce emissions. From a health perspective, research also suggests that substituting half the amount of meat and dairy in the UK diet with fruit and vegetables could also delay or avoid a significant number of deaths from heart disease or cancer alongside cutting emissions.

Scotland’s National Food and Drink Policy does identify the need to link environmental, food and nutritional goals, and the Food Standards Agency in Scotland have developed examples of a healthy diet that meets recommended energy and nutrient intake and has emissions that are significantly less than the current UK diet.

Home energy efficiency schemes have boosted efforts to make our homes more efficient, and emissions from Scotland’s housing sector have reduced by 12% since 1990. However, over half of our homes have less than the recommended levels of loft insulation, and the majority of Scotland’s solid wall properties remain un-insulated. Cold and damp homes have also been found to contribute to a range of health problems, including circulatory diseases and respiratory illnesses, and impact on the mental health and wellbeing of people too.

The Scottish Government have recently agreed that improving the energy efficiency of Scotland’s homes should be a national infrastructure priority. Experts have also proposed that minimum standards of efficiency for private homes should be adopted and longer-term funding security provided for energy efficiency schemes to enable complex projects to be undertaken.

There are many routes that Scotland can take to meet its climate targets. By considering opportunities that can also boost public health, job creation or biodiversity, Scotland can reap additional benefits beyond those associated with helping to safeguard the climate.

FURTHER READING SPICe (2015), Good for climate, good for health (www.scottish. parliament.uk)

This map shows the estimated numbers of deaths per million people that could be attributed to global climate change in the year 2000, compared to baseline 1961-90 climate.

Drawing from data from the World Health Organization, this map was created by a team of climate and health scientists led by Jonathan Patz, associate professor of environmental studies and population health sciences at University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison). © The Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, UW-Madison

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Janus-faced element: the twin faces of nitrogen Professor Dave Reay, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh

The faces say it all. Tell people you work on climate change and they’ll have an opinion. They’ll comment on their memories of childhood weather, the price of oil and the hand-wringing convenience of air travel. Tell them you work on nitrogen and at best you’ll get a blank look; more often it’s a poorly disguised yawn. The very word ‘nitrogen’ sounds flat, an echo of radio gardening programmes and the more mundane corners of the periodic table.

Common as muck, most often lacking any smell, taste or colour, there would seem little point in telling its story. But, just beneath this dull veneer lies the stunning truth about a world-changing substance. Scratch the surface of the global challenge that is climate change, peer further into the perfect storm of population growth, food shortages and water pollution, and it is the layered and interconnected threads of nitrogen that shine through.

huge challenge for human society in the 21st century.

Away from the deliberate drenchings of fertiliser experienced by many managed soils, the impacts of increasing reactive nitrogen inputs on natural ecosystems can be no less stark.

Carried many miles downwind from their farm or factory sources, the flushes of nitrogen that are then deposited on forests, moorlands and meadows make an unholy trinity with climate and land-use change as the leading drivers of biodiversity loss in the 21st century. Likewise in rivers and lakes, excess reactive nitrogen can contaminate drinking water and promote blooms of harmful algae, while in the atmosphere it can degrade air quality, enhance low altitude ozone formation and threaten human health.

Our past and present as a species are intimately tied to the flow of reactive nitrogen around the planet, and our future to how well we manage this flow. Scientific understanding of nitrogen’s myriad interactions with climate change is still incomplete, yet the power it can exert for good or ill in a warming world is all too evident. Its story is of the peculiar and the mundane, of water turning red and people turning blue, one of climate friend and pollution foe, of meaty feasts and looming famine. For humankind, nitrogen is truly Janus-faced.

“Agriculture alone introduces around 120 million tonnes of reactive nitrogen directly into the land.”

More than three-quarters of Earth’s atmosphere is made of it – about four quadrillion tonnes – but it is the vanishingly small amount that is available for most life to use that makes it so precious. This so-called reactive nitrogen is an integral part of proteins and amino acids; it is the building block for genes and the basis of all DNA and RNA. Without it, life simply would not exist.

It has been 100 years since a German scientist named Fritz Haber came up with a large-scale way to convert more of the sea of nitrogen gas around us into a usable form. Before then, how much food we could produce from the world’s fields was largely down to how well we recycled manure and made use of the nitrogen-fixing magic produced by plants like peas and beans.

Haber’s invention has allowed us to green the world’s increasingly exhausted fields and put food on the table of billions. A staggering two out of every five people alive today are thought to owe their continued existence to his process, yet millions still go hungry. Producing enough food for a burgeoning human population in the changing global climate of the 21st century will test how well we use this precious substance to the limit. To date, our record is not a good one.

Each year, agriculture alone introduces around 120 million tonnes of reactive nitrogen directly into the land in the form of fertilisers and nitrogen fixation by legumes. On top of this comes an intensifying shower of reactive nitrogen from the air, with the noxious emissions that are belched from countless power stations, factories and vehicles, falling back to Earth in rain, snow and dust. Too often we have been wasteful in super-charging the fields of the world. The rich doses of nitrogen intended to grow more crops have instead served to boost emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, driving further damage to global food production through climate change at the very time it needs more protection. Set against a backdrop of rising food and energy demands, widening global access to supplies of nitrogen while also increasing the efficiency of its use is a

Dave Reay is professor of Carbon Management at the University of Edinburgh.

This article is adapted from his new book, Nitrogen and Climate Change: An Explosive Story, published by Palgrave Macmillan.

28 AUTUMN 2015

John Mathieson: surveying St Ki Kenneth Maclean and Tony Simpson

2015 marks both the 80th anniversary of the death and the 150th anniversary of the birth of John Mathieson (18551945). A Gaelic-speaking native of Durness, his working life was spent with the Ordnance Survey in Scotland, rising through their ranks from chain-boy to Division Superintendent. Retiral in 1920 did not mark the end of a notable career; for 25 years he travelled, researched, wrote and lectured on a range of geographical, historical, archaeological, cartographic and toponymical interests, mainly for the RSGS, whom he served variously as Council Member, Honorary Map-Curator and Librarian, and VicePresident. Unsurprisingly, mapping continued: as surveyor and expedition leader in the early 1920s to Svalbard, which he first visited as topographic surveyor for Arctic explorer William Speirs Bruce on his 1909 and later expeditions; and on his own initiative in undertaking the first survey of the St Kilda archipelago in 1927, at the scale of six inches to the mile and at a larger scale for the Village.

The St Kilda Expedition Although the whole of Scotland was covered by the Ordnance Survey at 1:10,560, no attempt had been made similarly to map St Kilda. Doubtless such cartographic omission reflected issues of cost and isolation – the island group lies 196km (110 miles) from the Scottish mainland, with a challenging topography and frequently storm-girt environment. To support him, 73 year-old Mathieson enlisted the help of a friend: an enthusiastic young geologist and ornithologist, Alexander Cockburn. Together they would spend five summer months surveying the archipelago, and producing a more detailed plan of the Village of St Kilda, whose 48 residents would be evacuated voluntarily only three years later in 1930.

Sailing to St Kilda on a northward-bound trawler from the Lancashire fishing port of Fleetwood, it appeared to Mathieson that “all the islands are surrounded by an inaccessible wall of cliffs”. These islands are the fragmentary remains of a Tertiary volcanic complex, initiated c60 million years ago, and whose igneous rocks have been further shaped by rain, ice, and especially wind and waves. Hirta, the largest of the four islands, has five peaks, three of which are over 350m above sea level, including the 430m (1,397 feet) Conachair, with its vertiginous cliffs, the highest in Britain. Precipitous sides similarly characterise the three other islands, Soay, Dùn and, especially, Boreray, whose scenic starkness is enhanced by adjacent stacks (Stac Lee and Stac an Armin) rising sheer from the ocean. Such was the topography that was to be surveyed.

Mapping St Kilda

A section of John Mathieson’s map of St Kilda.

Mathieson’s experiences were published in the Scottish Geographical Magazine in 1928 (Volume 44, pages 65-90).

Visitors to the RSGS’s visitor centre in the Fair Maid’s House can see a fine copy of the map, as well as Mathieson’s surveying instruments, displayed and catalogued by Tony Simpson, an RSGS volunteer and a former Surveyor and Team Leader with the Ordnance Survey.

After arrival in Village Bay, islanders shipped ashore supplies and equipment for storage in the factor’s house that served as Mathieson’s base. Surveying began the following day, 22 April 1927 – a testing task at every stage, each of which posed challenges.

Firstly, trigonometrical stations were erected on the Hirta summits. Ascending and descending even the limited gentler slopes with heavy instruments was demanding, not to mention the sleet and snow on that first day, and later periodic gales, so Mathieson was grateful for Cockburn’s assistance.

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ilda in the nick of time Secondly, baselines were measured. The first used a level stretch of land at the end of Village Bay; to ensure accuracy, this was measured twice, using a 100-feet steel tape and a speciallymade 300-feet steel wire. Later in the summer, when weather conditions improved, a second baseline was measured along selected peaks.

fix the position of the water line. Additionally, landing on Soay or Boreray was no task for the faint-hearted; even on relatively calm days there is an Atlantic swell. Attempting a survey on Boreray involved a four-mile crossing by boat crewed by two St Kildans; suitably roped, these men in turn made the tricky leap on a rising wave from the boat to the slippery stack, from where they assisted Mathieson and Cockburn, similarly roped, ashore. The group then climbed over 300 feet to one of several turf houses where they stayed for six days with burrowing puffins and noisy petrels for company.

“These men in turn made the tricky leap on a rising wave from the boat to the slippery stack.”

Thirdly, a primary triangulation grid was observed, using as standard the more accurate second baseline. From it, over a hundred positions were computed throughout the archipelago and used as control points for the topographic survey and contouring of the islands. Use was made also of bearings based on observations from Beinn Mhòr on South Uist and Clisham on Harris, and obtained from the Ordnance Survey and the Hydrographer of the Navy. These allowed an accurate fixing of the archipelago’s location in relation to the Western Isles.

Fourthly, using plane table, tape and offset methods, a detailed topographic and contouring survey was undertaken, enabling all physical features and place-names to be depicted.

Finally, the continual need for accuracy required that almost all observations were duplicated “from at least three independent points”. The main island’s coastline and the outer islands were particularly challenging. Weathering and erosion of the coastal granite and basalt “into all kinds of fantastic forms” made it virtually impossible to observe and

Mathieson’s finished map of St Kilda, published in 1928 by the Ordnance Survey, was a fitting tribute to his surveying and mapping skills, honed during a distinguished career, and appropriately marked that same year by his being awarded the RSGS’s Gold Medal for services to surveying, exploration and the work of the Society.

The main trigonometrical survey.

© Lorne Gill

“These islands are the fragmentary remains of a Tertiary volcanic complex.”

BOOK CLUB

30 AUTUMN 2015

Travels into Print

Exploration, Writing, and Publishing with John Murray, 1773-1859

Prisoners of Geography

Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To Know About Global Politics

Innes M Keighren, Charles W J Withers and Bill Bell (University of Tim Marshall (Elliott & Thompson, July 2015) Chicago Press, May 2015) All leaders are constrained by geography. Their In 18th- and 19th-century Britain, books of travel and choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and exploration were much more than simply the printed concrete. Yes, to follow world events you need to experiences of intrepid authors. They were works of understand people, ideas and movements – but if artistry and industry, captivating the reading public and you don’t know geography, you’ll never have the playing a vital role in creating new geographical truths. full picture. If you’ve ever wondered why Putin In that age of global wonder and expanding empires, is so obsessed with Crimea, why the USA was no publisher was more renowned for its travel books destined to become a global superpower, or why China’s power than the House of John Murray. Drawing on detailed base continues to expand ever outwards, the answers are all here. examination of the John Murray Archive of manuscripts, In ten chapters (covering Russia, China, the USA, Latin America, images, and the firm’s correspondence with its many the Middle East, Africa, India and Pakistan, Europe, Japan and authors, this fascinating study in historical geography and book Korea, and the Arctic), using maps, essays and occasionally the history takes readers on a journey into the nature of exploration, personal experiences of the widely travelled author, Prisoners the production of authority in published travel narratives, and the of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer an creation of geographical authorship. essential insight into one of the major factors that determines world history. It’s time to put the ‘geo’ back into geopolitics.

Local Discoveries for Great Escapes Alastair Humphreys (William Collins, June 2014) Alastair Humphreys is a British adventurer, author and blogger. He spent over four years cycling round the world, has walked across southern India, rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, run six marathons through the Sahara desert, completed a crossing of Iceland, and participated in an Arctic expedition.

Now he introduces the exciting world of microadventures – adventures that are close to home, cheap, simple, short, and yet very effective. A microadventure takes the spirit of a big adventure and squeezes it into a day or even a few hours. The point of microadventures is that you do not need lots of time and money to meet a new challenge. Go on a night hike; follow a nature trail; take the plunge with wild swimming. This practical guide is filled with great activities and days out, and over 150 stunning photographs, plus tips and advice on safety and kit.

Environmental Conflict Management Tracylee Clarke and Tarla Rai Peterson (SAGE Publications, May 2015) Environmental Conflict Management introduces students to the research and practice of environmental conflict, and provides a stepby-step process for engaging stakeholders and other interested parties in the management of environmental disputes. In each chapter, the authors introduce a specific concept or process step, and provide exercises, worksheets, role-plays, and brief case studies so students can directly apply what they are learning. The appendix includes six additional extended case studies for further analysis. Students will develop techniques for public involvement and community outreach, strategies for effective meeting management, approaches to negotiating options and methodologies for communicating concerns and working through differences, and outlines for implementing and evaluating strategies for sustaining positive community relations.

Reader Offer - 30% discount

Offer ends 31 December 2015

Mountains A Very Short Introduction

Martin F Price (Oxford University Press, September 2015)

Mountains cover a quarter of the Earth’s land surface and are home to about 12% of the global population. They are the sources of all the world’s major rivers, affect regional weather patterns, provide centres of biological and cultural diversity, hold deposits of minerals, and provide both active and contemplative recreation. Yet mountains are also significantly affected by climate change; as melting and retreating glaciers show. Given the manifold goods and services which mountains provide to the world, such changes are of global importance.

Martin Price outlines why mountains matter at the global level, and addresses the existing and likely impacts of climate change on mountain, hydrological and ecological systems. Considering the risks associated with the increasing frequency of extreme events and ‘natural hazards’ caused by climate change, he discusses the implications for both mountain societies and wider populations, and concludes by emphasizing the need for greater co-operation in order to adapt to climate change in our increasingly globalized world.

Readers of The Geographer can purchase Mountains for only £5.59 (RRP £7.99). To order, please visit ukcatalogue.oup.com, search for ‘Mountains VSI’, and quote the code ‘RSGS15’.

RSGS: a better way to see the world Phone 01738 455050 or visit www.rsgs.org to join the RSGS. Lord John Murray House, 15-19 North Port, Perth, PH1 5LU Charity SC015599

Printed by www.jtcp.co.uk on Claro Silk 115gsm paper.

100% FSC certified using vegetable-based inks in a 100% chemistry-free process.

Microadventures