Wellies on, waterproofs on and off we went, our second visit to 
Tea in the Park. If you are ever in this area in August a visit to Tea in the Park at the Glenlivet village hall is highly recommended and for a few pounds you can have soup, sandwiches, home baking tea and coffee, and you end up so stuffed that you have to go for a walk. If you like a dram, the walk detailed will take you right past the Glenlivet distillery where you can pop in for a free tasting. The folk from the village hold this event each year to raise funds for the village hall etc. and with mums, dads and children all involved it is well worth supporting. 
The whole area is great for getting out and exploring and it is worth having a good look at the OS map before setting out to plan your route. On Sunday we had lunch and then did the circular route shown on the map left, setting off from Glenlivet village (car park by cemetery) and heading south to Blairfindy Lodge before heading back down the hill to the village. It's road walking but great on a day when there had been lots of rain so sticking to the road meant it was nice and dry underfoot. The distillery is open
most days so you could pop in as you follow this route. You will see from the map that part of where we walked follows the Speyside Way "spur" to Tomintoul, so you could extend the walk if needed. The views as you walk gently up the hill are very good looking over farmland and heather moor towards Ben Rinnes a few miles to the north. A walk up the Ben would make a nice alternative and something I must do for a future diary. The houses and castle in the picture belong to Castletown, a wee road running east opposite the distillery. Look also at the blue sky and clouds which lasted all of two hours!
Tea in the Park. If you are ever in this area in August a visit to Tea in the Park at the Glenlivet village hall is highly recommended and for a few pounds you can have soup, sandwiches, home baking tea and coffee, and you end up so stuffed that you have to go for a walk. If you like a dram, the walk detailed will take you right past the Glenlivet distillery where you can pop in for a free tasting. The folk from the village hold this event each year to raise funds for the village hall etc. and with mums, dads and children all involved it is well worth supporting. 
The whole area is great for getting out and exploring and it is worth having a good look at the OS map before setting out to plan your route. On Sunday we had lunch and then did the circular route shown on the map left, setting off from Glenlivet village (car park by cemetery) and heading south to Blairfindy Lodge before heading back down the hill to the village. It's road walking but great on a day when there had been lots of rain so sticking to the road meant it was nice and dry underfoot. The distillery is open
most days so you could pop in as you follow this route. You will see from the map that part of where we walked follows the Speyside Way "spur" to Tomintoul, so you could extend the walk if needed. The views as you walk gently up the hill are very good looking over farmland and heather moor towards Ben Rinnes a few miles to the north. A walk up the Ben would make a nice alternative and something I must do for a future diary. The houses and castle in the picture belong to Castletown, a wee road running east opposite the distillery. Look also at the blue sky and clouds which lasted all of two hours! One of the requirements for a distillery is a local supply of clean 
water and, in some parts of Scotland the distinctive flavouring of the amber nectar comes from peaty water and peat smoke, particularly the Islay malts (peat cutters on Islay right). As we drove over the hills to Glenlivet we saw quite a rare sight locally, someone still cutting peats! Once of
a time many local folk spent much of their summer months cutting, stacking and lifting peats before taking them home from the peat moss to burn. For many families this would have been their main source of fuel, the local landowners at the time, making it illegal to remove wood from the surrounding forests. 
Throughout Abernethy, all the peat areas have signs of earlier cutting and there are few bogs that have not had some cutting over them. The picture left shows a typical peat cutting face in the bog, probably from around the time of the first World War. Peat is formed by the growing and decaying of the plants and sphagnum moss on the surface of the bog and the bog literally grows upwards, year by year, retaining in its make up a wee history book of what has gone on on the bog and in the surrounding area over several thousand years. Some of the Abernethy peat bogs are more than six metres deep providing a direct link right back to the time of the last ice age some 10,000 year
s ago. In Tomintoul Edward Stuart makes a living by cutting peat on a commercial scale selling the dried peat for household fuel or for use in the garden. To do this Edward has a large area of peat several acres in size and the peat is cut using a tractor mounted machine which 
takes the peat from below the bog surface and spews it out in long square sausages across the bog. Hand peat cutters use a specially shaped spade (left) with an L shaped blade to cut their peats. The dried peats (right) show chunks of vegetation trapped within the peat, plant remains that have lain undisturbed in the anaerobic peat for a few thousand years. Trapped pollen grains within the peat also allow a picture to be developed as to what sort of woodland or vegetation grew on or around the bog and how it changed over millennia. A clear picture develops of tree removal (fewer tree pollen as you rise through the peat levels) and heather arrival and dominance once the trees have gone. Amazing. This website explains
the pollen process quite well. http://www.peatlandsni.gov.uk/archaeology/pollen.htm .
water and, in some parts of Scotland the distinctive flavouring of the amber nectar comes from peaty water and peat smoke, particularly the Islay malts (peat cutters on Islay right). As we drove over the hills to Glenlivet we saw quite a rare sight locally, someone still cutting peats! Once of
a time many local folk spent much of their summer months cutting, stacking and lifting peats before taking them home from the peat moss to burn. For many families this would have been their main source of fuel, the local landowners at the time, making it illegal to remove wood from the surrounding forests. 
Throughout Abernethy, all the peat areas have signs of earlier cutting and there are few bogs that have not had some cutting over them. The picture left shows a typical peat cutting face in the bog, probably from around the time of the first World War. Peat is formed by the growing and decaying of the plants and sphagnum moss on the surface of the bog and the bog literally grows upwards, year by year, retaining in its make up a wee history book of what has gone on on the bog and in the surrounding area over several thousand years. Some of the Abernethy peat bogs are more than six metres deep providing a direct link right back to the time of the last ice age some 10,000 year
s ago. In Tomintoul Edward Stuart makes a living by cutting peat on a commercial scale selling the dried peat for household fuel or for use in the garden. To do this Edward has a large area of peat several acres in size and the peat is cut using a tractor mounted machine which 
takes the peat from below the bog surface and spews it out in long square sausages across the bog. Hand peat cutters use a specially shaped spade (left) with an L shaped blade to cut their peats. The dried peats (right) show chunks of vegetation trapped within the peat, plant remains that have lain undisturbed in the anaerobic peat for a few thousand years. Trapped pollen grains within the peat also allow a picture to be developed as to what sort of woodland or vegetation grew on or around the bog and how it changed over millennia. A clear picture develops of tree removal (fewer tree pollen as you rise through the peat levels) and heather arrival and dominance once the trees have gone. Amazing. This website explains
the pollen process quite well. http://www.peatlandsni.gov.uk/archaeology/pollen.htm .This week has been a bit dominated by looking down at FUNGI! It would appear that this years crop of (some) fungi is developing quite early and though not an expert I have been looking at one particular group of fungi known as the "tooth" fungi. The technical term is stipitate hydnoids the term covering a group of fungi that don't have gills (like the mushrooms you may regularly eat) but have spines below the cap, producing spores just as in the normal gill fungi. There are 15-18 species in the UK, two-thirds of which have b
een found within Abernethy Forest making the site one of the more important sites within the UK for this particular group. The two fungi right are the blue corky spine fungus Hydnellum caeruleum a real beauty when fresh. Over the years I was involved in the discovery of Sarcodon glaucopus being found in the UK for the first time. More recently, a dark-blue spine fungus found during a 
lunchtime walk, has sparked off a check via DNA techniques. Also, dried material from America has been sourced to try and identify another "oddity" possibly Phellodon atratus (left). So it is with the latter species in mind that I have been wandering the forest over the last few days. If you would like to see something of the work on DNA check out: http://authors.elsevier.com/offprints/MYCRES269/cc196648dce29bf1590827ccb00054e1 though this site is only available for a few weeks, and for spine fungi in general: http://www.ukbap.org.uk/ukplans.aspx?ID=338 .
een found within Abernethy Forest making the site one of the more important sites within the UK for this particular group. The two fungi right are the blue corky spine fungus Hydnellum caeruleum a real beauty when fresh. Over the years I was involved in the discovery of Sarcodon glaucopus being found in the UK for the first time. More recently, a dark-blue spine fungus found during a 
lunchtime walk, has sparked off a check via DNA techniques. Also, dried material from America has been sourced to try and identify another "oddity" possibly Phellodon atratus (left). So it is with the latter species in mind that I have been wandering the forest over the last few days. If you would like to see something of the work on DNA check out: http://authors.elsevier.com/offprints/MYCRES269/cc196648dce29bf1590827ccb00054e1 though this site is only available for a few weeks, and for spine fungi in general: http://www.ukbap.org.uk/ukplans.aspx?ID=338 .Another outing this week saw me visiting Loch an Eilean but via the
"back door". The walk itself again, makes quite a nice circular walk taking in a bit of farmland, amazing views over Cairn Gorm and Braeriach, through a part of Rothiemurchus forest and Loch an Eilean. The start is from Blackpark along the Whitewell road which is off the Aviemore to Cairngorm road, 
there is usually just enough room to park your car on the bend. From here, just walk up the road to Whitewell enjoying the views out over Rothiemurchuis Forest.
"back door". The walk itself again, makes quite a nice circular walk taking in a bit of farmland, amazing views over Cairn Gorm and Braeriach, through a part of Rothiemurchus forest and Loch an Eilean. The start is from Blackpark along the Whitewell road which is off the Aviemore to Cairngorm road, 
there is usually just enough room to park your car on the bend. From here, just walk up the road to Whitewell enjoying the views out over Rothiemurchuis Forest. Tullochgrue is the next landmark though the farm and buildings ha
ve seen better days. Some restoration work has been started at the farmhouse, but progress is slow. In winter a field of birdcrop attracts lots of chaffinches, greenfinches, the odd brambling and a couple of yellowhammers along with a few noisy pheasants! The map tells of 'hut circles' to your right. Eventually you reach Whitewell which used to be home to Desmond Nethersole-Thompson (another Highland Naturalist)and now owned by his daughter. If only walls could talk!
Just off the road to your left is a memorial to two young men who
perished in the Cairngorms way back in 1928. I am not sure if the booklet is available but "Mountain Shadows The Tragedy of Baird and Barrie" covers what happened during that fateful new year expedition all those years ago. The inscription reads 'Erected in proud and affectionate memory of HUGH ALEXANDER BARRIE M.A. interred here and THOMAS BAIRD M.A. interred at Baldernock who lost their lives on January 2nd 1928 whilst climbing these hills. "Find me a wind swept boulder for a bier". The last few words were written by Barrie during his last summer term at Glasgow University as part of a poem titled When I Am Dead, the full text of which is worth including here.
ve seen better days. Some restoration work has been started at the farmhouse, but progress is slow. In winter a field of birdcrop attracts lots of chaffinches, greenfinches, the odd brambling and a couple of yellowhammers along with a few noisy pheasants! The map tells of 'hut circles' to your right. Eventually you reach Whitewell which used to be home to Desmond Nethersole-Thompson (another Highland Naturalist)and now owned by his daughter. If only walls could talk!Just off the road to your left is a memorial to two young men who
perished in the Cairngorms way back in 1928. I am not sure if the booklet is available but "Mountain Shadows The Tragedy of Baird and Barrie" covers what happened during that fateful new year expedition all those years ago. The inscription reads 'Erected in proud and affectionate memory of HUGH ALEXANDER BARRIE M.A. interred here and THOMAS BAIRD M.A. interred at Baldernock who lost their lives on January 2nd 1928 whilst climbing these hills. "Find me a wind swept boulder for a bier". The last few words were written by Barrie during his last summer term at Glasgow University as part of a poem titled When I Am Dead, the full text of which is worth including here.When I am dead
And this strange spark of life that in me lies
Is fled to join the great white core of life
That surely flames beyond eternities
And all I ever thought of as myself
Is mouldering to dust and cold dead ash
This pride of nerve and muscle - merest dross
This pride of nerve and muscle - merest dross
This joy of brain and eye and touch but trash
Bury me not, I pray thee
In the dark earth where comes not any ray
Of light or warmth or aught that made life dear,
But take my whitened bones far, far away
Out of the hum and turmoil of the town.
Out of the hum and turmoil of the town.
Find me a wind swept boulder for a bier
And on it lay me down,
Where far beneath drops sheer the rocky ridge
Down to the gloomy valley, and the streams
Fall foaming white against black beetling rocks,
Where the sun's kindly radiance seldom gleams;
Where some tall peak, defiant, steadfast, mocks
The passing Gods: and all the ways of men forgotten.
So may I know
Even in that death that comes to everything
The swiftly silent swish of hurrying snow;
The lash of rain; the savage bellowing
Of stags; the bitter-keen knife edge embrace
Of the rushing wind: and still the tremulous dawn
Will touch the eyeless sockets of my face;
And I shall see the sunset and anon
Shall know the velvet kindness of the night
And see the stars.
Hmm, it was as though he knew what was coming? The memorial is in a wonderful spot, so if ever you get there admire the view, and think of the lives lost in the mountains then as well as now. Check your map and then make your way to Loch an Eilean where you can include a circuit of the loch if you are feeling fit and then back, via the Croft to Blackpark.
That's it for another week.
Enjoy the read
Stewart & Janet
Don & Tracy our first Chalet visitors to come by motor bike
All photos © Stewart Taylor
