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| View towards Sturdy Hill |
Hill tracks made by moorland estates primarily for management access can either be well made or a complete disaster. Today we found yet another disaster that made me swear, and I am still swearing. Mike was shocked at the sight, saying, 'It's like a scene from the trenches during the First World War'. I love the hills and glens of Scotland and respect them as part of our great nation's natural heritage, nevertheless, there are some who manage these moorland hills that appear to be vandalistic barbarians with no regard to visual amenity and moorland ecology.
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| Mike Groves in the trench |
To own a part of Scotland surely does not mean that the owner has a right to abuse the land to the point of complete desecration. The excavations through a deep peat deposit to carve a track around an estate march are simply excessive in this case when a simple diversion of the track could have saved so much damage to valuable deep peat that traps carbon deposition, and took fifteen thousand years to form. When bare peat is exposed to air, a chemical reaction happens that releases carbon dioxide gas.
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| Unbelievable mess |
Excavations like this require no permission or advice seeking, just going gung-ho with a JCB does the trick. I hear it constantly, 'Leave the running of the countryside to those who live and work there .... we don't want townies interfering in our way of life'. If the carnage we witnessed today is running the countryside then pity help the future and the heritage of a nation. These scars will never heal unless some enforced reinstatement happens.
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| A few metres from Mike is a shallower area of peat where the track could have been diverted |
The excavation is on the south-eastern flank of Sturdy Hill which straddles the boundary between Angus and Aberdeenshire. I will not name the estate concerned but a much larger estate was split and sold off a couple of years ago. Within sight of this mess, an application for a huge wind-farm is ongoing ..... pity help us, or should I say pity help Scotland's landscape.
Notes;........article in progress............
All text, sketches and photos are done on the 25th March 2019 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.
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If
you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please
leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or
discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog
walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck
it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung
on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue
one thrown in the moorland verge....why?
Moorland
birds like Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Ptarmigan and many raptors
nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably
on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during
summer months.
Please
be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors
and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands.
Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about
1000 metres and for short periods of time only.
No
wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the
purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal
hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have
been omitted to prevent persecution or ringing-monitoring disturbance to
named species.
Canon
camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that
the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject
location to camera