Cairngorms 4th June 2018 Glen Feshie


It starts off with no trees, or few. Forest up on the hill - plantation - wide open space, river running through. Then we walk along the edge of the forest, ford a couple of streams, and we're in the forest. 



Lots of tall straight trees, some bigger. 
Across the valley higher up, more pines. The older ones aren't tall and thin, but broccoli tree shaped. 






Under the trees, bilberry growing lush green, like a carpet. 




3.30pm Have been walking through pine forest. Stopped by River Feshie while Johnny looks at moss. The river is sparkling in the sunshine. There is pine forest on both sides of the valley. A breeze. It is literally perfect. Smell of pine, juniper, bilberry, bog myrtle. Wilf would love it here. Johnny keeps talking about how he'd like to move to Scotland, so we're looking at everywhere with those eyes, thinking about the possible. This is very remote. We've talked about Helensburgh, Oban, Inverness, Aberfeldy. Could I live somewhere as remote as this? Not sure. The pines on top of the hill opposite say yes. The river says yes. But I'm not sure the midges would be so welcoming later in the year. 



After a while the trees get bigger, older. Lots of new ones growing up.a bit like parkland, with occasional huge old pines. We're miles from anywhere. 






This song has been in my head all day.





Eventually we reached a bothy. We met a man who runs it, unofficially, lives there, unofficially, is planning to put in running water, unofficially. There was fresh spring water and we filled our bottles. We looked inside the bothy, which was beautiful. The man told us the Glen is owned by Anders Povlsen, the biggest landowner in Scotland. He's managing the glen, keeping the deer out. There are wild cats and pine martens here. 






Walking into Glen Feshie is like walking deep into something ancient, something slower and different. By the time you reach the bothy, you're in an other world, which may be enchanted. 
The walk back was a walk back to the everyday, but it maybe that something has changed within us while we've been there. We might not be the same again.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hartshill Hayes 20 May 2018

Image
4.45am Sitting in the front seat, waiting for the sunrise, which is due in twenty minutes. It's already light. I set the alarm for 3.45am and even then there was light in the sky. I just walked up through the Hayes, through the dawn chorus, between trees where darkness was hanging on in shreds and pools. Up here on the hill the darkness is gone, the fields below have that summer predawn just woken look, no mist but a feeling of mist. The sky is pink, breaking out into gold above the place the sun is going to burst through. I think this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. In the woods they've put something on the main path, maybe sand, which makes it where. A shining white road through the woods. I didn't like it much. 5.10am Better than I could have imagined. In this world of muted greens and whites, the sun has risen bright orange and red, hugely colourful, completely stunning, I am overawed. I want to tell everyone, show every...
Read more

Kielder Forest 29th May 2019

Image
Just been out with Rob, a forester at Kielder. He took me to an area of CCF - Continuous Cover Forestry - where they manage the forest for biodiversity and for public loveliness - three tiers of cover. The trees are often not able to withstand the wind if they aren't close together - there is not enough light for non-conifers - regeneration of natural woodland is a long process. Red squirrels are managing to eke out an existence in the forest - but not grey squirrels - it's the wrong type of woodland for them.  There are lots of deer in forest - all roe. Forestry England is managed by Forestry Commission. In 2010 the government were going to sell it off to commercial enterprises but there was a public outcry, so they backed off. Most of the forest is still commercial - a form of agriculture. Not harvested every year like grain crops, but every 40-50 years. They do it by clear felling. Rob drove me to a working area with machines and piled up logs. I didn't see a harvester w...
Read more

Wistman's Wood July 2019

Image
A sunny day in a dry period, and the moss is dried up and dull-coloured. It would only take a heavy rainfall to pick it all up. Trees dripping with lichens.  People are sitting in this wood, quietly, taking it all in, like a church. Everyone is silents, in their own space, a reverence, a respect of other people.  On the way I told the kids not to accept any food, as it might be from the fairy folk, and then you'd be stuck in their world. Is there a feel of fairies here?  I don't think this is their time, in the middle of a sunny July day. Perhaps at dawn or dusk you might catch the fairies, or if you fell asleep under a tree. That would do it. You'd wake up and the rules of the world would be different, you wouldn't know where you stood.  Next to where I'm sitting is a boulder with a pattern on concentric circles in the moss. Is that the work of the fairies?    I think you need to spend time here. I might ...
Read more