SO YOU THINK YOU ARE A HARD MAN? YOU HAVEN''T PLAYED SHINTY.

 I'm not going to add anything to this Shinty report in the Oban Times. This is all in the opening paragraph, of the report of one shinty match.

"Bruised and battered Fort William...."
"Brutal battle with Newtonmore..."
"Steven Mc Donnel sent off, and Niall McFee sent off..."
"Gordie McKinnon sustained a broken hand, but returned to the field of play, to draw a defender..."
"Shaun Cameron broke his ankle..."
"Liam MacIntyre had two fingers and a hand broken in a swing of a caman..."

Don't ever, ever, tangle with a Highland man.

John


GLENCOE OUTDOORS The best walks in Glencoe Ben Nevis, go climb it Munros are over 3,000 feet Some Munros are easy Glencoe rock climbing Skiing in Glencoe is excellent again New cycle tracks around Glencoe There are lovely beaches and bays around Glencoe Accommodation Fort William Golf on the West coast Tour the Highlands You can cruise the West coast Driving around glencoe on snow and ice - Tips

Forget the rich South. If you want SUPERFAST BROADBAND come to the Highlands.

We've got a little computer which our guests can use in the cottage. We have a kindly neighbour who lets us use his router. This is the Scottish highlands. I wouldn't dream of asking our neighbours in the South to let us use their router. They'd shuffle around to find excuses to say no. (I might agree to it if asked, but that is because I've been trained in the Highlands)

No probs with connection in our Glencoe cottage. My own BT router in Sussex was down again this morning, of course.

Put your brain in a cold towel for the next bit. My upload speed in this house in the South is less than 1 Mg/second, download is 1.7Mg/sec. I should be getting nearer to 10. Take the towel off now.

Yet the Scottish Highlands are going to get faster broadband, sooner. They are going to put in 400km of
underwater cables, and across 19 routes to the Islands. Contract just signed. Just wait now.

John
ps. Mind you I might be kidding myself. Search as I might I couldn't find a completion date in the story......hmmm

The magnificent community website for Glencoe Scottish castles in the West Highlands New page in our site about driving on snow and ice Masses of information about the area in our Site map This is about Fort William Appin is beautiful Bed and breakfast and hotels from Oban to Fort William Walks around our cottage Autumn short breaks in Glencoe Ben Nevis walking is a slog, but worth it Cottage holidays Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring The highlands of Scotland Find holiday cottages anywhere Gorgeous photographs of Glencoe Hill walks in Glencoe Munroes in Glencoe Port Appin Barcaldine Accommodation in Lochaber Kentallen Ballachulish Onich How to find cottage owners self catering websites

THE ISLE OF TIREE. WINDSURFING AND CAPERCAILLE. BRILLIANT

You MUST listen to this. Capercaille. That Karen Matheson is wonderful. I once sat next to her at Chichester in the theatre restaurant. Captivating. How many times have we seen them Gillian?




They are going to lead the 15 acts in the Tiree Music Festival. "Scotland's Best Small Festival"
July 20/21. Book early it will be another sell-out. tireemusicfestival.co.uk

Wish we were going.
John
ps. You can windsurf and canoe if you want as well.

Sorry, this has got nothing to do with Scotland or Jazz, but we need the links to these pages from a respectable site like this.
Jazz bands in Sussex The sussex Gershwin tribute jazz band Jazz Smugglers NOSTALGIA show in Sussex The leading jazz band in Sussex, Jazz smugglers Sussex jazz workshop every Sunday Jazz Smugglers plays at all the Sussex Festivals Romantic background jazz in Sussex

A BIG WHALE IN OBAN HARBOUR DRAWS EASTER TOURISTS

The Highlands have had wonderful weather this winter. Absolutely brilliant. Such a shame that there have been so many mountain accidents. Now everyone had decided to visit Oban for a day.

The best restaurant in Oban is on the old North Pier. Called Ee-usk for some reason it does very well. Many awards for seafood.

On Saturday the manager, Chris Kennedy, saw a minke whale in the harbour and took this pic. Now tourists are flocking there over east.

It was initially thought that the young sperm whale had become stranded in shallow water but the Coastguard confirmed on Sunday that this was not the case.

Chris Kennedy, told STV News: “The restaurant is full of people whale-spotting with their binoculars over lunch. I thought it was a humpback whale and others thought it was a sperm whale. There are lots of boats circling in the bay trying to get a glimpse of it.”

Mr Kennedy added: “We’ve been here ten years and we’ve never seen a whale in the bay before.”

A spokesman for Stornoway Coastguard said the whale was not stranded and therefore there was no need to launch a rescue operation.

John

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage 20 brilliant walks around our cottage area Easy hill walks in Glencoe Why not walk up Ben Nevis one day? Easier Munroe walks in Glencoe Skiing Glencoe and Nevis range, cottage is midway between the two Video. Skiing on Glencoe mountain Weather in the West of Scotland Rock and Ice climbing in Glencoe Cycling and fishing Glencoe Spectacular wild life around our cottage Golf in the Highlands, Dragons tooth golf course, Glencoe Cruising the islands, using Glencoe as a base Safe, beautiful beaches and bays in Glencoe area Touring the Highlands by car from Glencoe, Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe Winter breaks, Jan Feb March in the cottage Autumn breaks November December in the cottage Our new Appin blog site

Loch Lomond road will be out for 14 weeks from October

(The connection between our cottage in Scotland and jazz is very tenuous and I apologise for the ps).

Pulpit Rock has been a standing joke for years. These lights convert the road around a 1/2 mile stretch of the Loch Lomond road into one way traffic. They were put up 30 years ago, and described then as "Temporary". Yeah, right, temporary. Of course.

At a cost of £9 million the road is to be converted to a viaduct over the edge of the Loch. Add a few £mill to that if public works estimates are run to order. It will be like the viaduct around the top end of Loch Awe by the Cruachan works built in 1976. So this will take off about 4 minutes from the journey from Glasgow to Inverness via Loch Lomond.

But it will make this route much much more accessible for heavy lorries and big vehicles. The road is already one of the ten most dangerous in Scotland, mostly because of stupid overtaking of slow moving vehicles. This is not the most dangerous bit.

Wait a minute. I agree this is a major road with A road connections to Fort William and Inverness. At present most of the major Highlands traffic goes up the more robust, faster A9 through Pitlochry.

When these major roadworks are completed a lot of that traffic - particularly for Skye, will use the Loch Lomond road. That puts pressure on the Moor of Rannoch, Glen Coe and the awful stretch between the Corran ferry and Fort William. Loch Ness side is a disaster. Overtaking mainly is the problem followed by speeding, motor cyclists, white van drivers - a total nightmare.

The road along Loch Lomond will be closed for 14 weeks after October. I suppose it is progress, but I don't like it. It was never a major problem slowing down, they are not going to get rid of all the twists and turns anyway. Don't know.

Progress. Don'tcha love it?

John
PS Sorry about this bit, but  need to get some pages of a jazz website promoted and if I give them links from here, then that will help.

Jazz bands in Sussex The sussex Gershwin tribute jazz band Jazz Smugglers NOSTALGIA show in Sussex The leading jazz band in Sussex, Jazz smugglers Sussex jazz workshop every Sunday Jazz Smugglers plays at all the Sussex Festivals Romantic background jazz in Sussex Small jazz trio for a Sussex party band How to promote your event and gigs

MACDONALD'S HISTORY. GOING BACK 5,000 YEARS?

I had an email in to-day from Canada. This is what Robert said.

MY GRANDMOTHER ASHLEYS MOTHER WAS A WINKLER FROM NEUSTADT ,ONTARIO.  ROBERT G MAC DONALD. B.A.M.D. retired and living in Quebec,canada.I am Quebec rep for Clan Donald of Canada.I saw your picture to day while looking over Glencoe Viking story. I have Vikings disease. Interesting. (Readers need to see the lowest paragraph on our Viking page in our website to which this comment refers. http://www.bayviewkentallen.co.uk/glencoevikings.html)

Hello Robert. That is interesting.

So you have Viking DNA in you.

And you are a part descendant from middle Europe as well. There was a mass of Central Europeans – Polish many of them – who left the Continent in the mid 1800’s to go to either England or the USA. In both places they were free from the Wars in Europe and free from persecution. The US ones settled mostly in St. Louis. Look at the St. Louis telephone books for the pages of Winklers there.

I’ll tell you something about the MacDonald's you probably don’t know. No one knows this because it is a very modern theory put forward by the most renowned archaeologist in the country.

There is a period of pre-history called the Obanian period. This is where they found remains of Mesolithic people in the five caves. They date these remains to the period between Mesolithic and Neolithic, the only remains of this kind of this period in the country. Why? Because the rest of the similar sites around the country have sunk without trace below the rising sea levels. Around this time and later they found goods which were imported, particularly so much later when metal came to be worked.

Cunliffe points out that the trade in goods between Spain, Britanny and the rest of the continent and Scotland would have caused great wonder to the communities seeing these things for the first time. The men who brought in the goods were seamen, they knew about boats, tides, weather, stars, currents, navigation and suchlike. Because of this they would have had great status in the community. They would be very highly respected because of their deeds, and their stories and their knowledge. Leaders. All the coastal communities would have had high status compared to the new farmers inland.

In Scotland, in the West, these people became known as the MacDonald's – almost an independent kingdom – not for nothing much later were they called the Lords of The Isles. No one dominated the waters like the MacDonald's until the Vikings came. 

John

WEATHER WEST COAST
Weather Misconceptions Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
January February Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
March April Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
May June Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
Jul August Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
September October Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
November December Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
Wind in the mountains and West Coast
What to do about Rain in Scotland
PHOTOGRAPHERS GLENCOE
Glencoe is the photographers paradise
Photographic locations Glencoe
Winter Photography Glencoe

Michael Palin says the West coast is the most beautiful place on earth. We agree.

Travel presenter and Monty Python star Michael Palin believes the west coast of Scotland is the most beautiful place in the world.

Palin, who has explored the globe for the past two decades, said the remoteness of the Scottish countryside and its “breathtaking” beauty were two of his reasons for his love of Scotland.

The 69-year-old is currently presenting a series for the BBC on Brazil.

The Herald newspaper reports Palin’s interest in Scotland goes all the way back to his days with Python, which made stars of him and several others including John Cleese and Eric Idle.

He said: “Our director was a guy called Ian MacNaughton, who came from Helensburgh.

“He was always trying to persuade us to do some filming in Scotland we finally agreed and went up to Glen Coe. I quickly fell in love with the magnificent landscape.

“We used to jump on the sleeper from London and get off at the tiny station in Bridge or Orchy.

“It’s an area I’ve returned to time and time again and its my favourite part of the world.

“In recent years I’ve travelled to places such as Iona and I have found that breathtaking as well.

“I love talking to people and getting to know them but I am not a fan of big crowds.

“I think that’s why I like the remoteness of Scotland so much. There are beautiful landscapes such as the Himalayas but they’re inaccessible.”
John

WEATHER WEST COAST
Weather Misconceptions Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
January February Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
March April Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
May June Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
Jul August Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
September October Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
November December Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
Wind in the mountains and West Coast
What to do about Rain in Scotland
PHOTOGRAPHERS GLENCOE
Glencoe is the photographers paradise
Photographic locations Glencoe
Winter Photography Glencoe

REAR WHEEL DRIVE SUCKS IN SNOW

Look at this hilarious BMW in snow.





My car has rear wheel drive. So in snow I creep off at 2mph and the rear end slides sideways. In slight snow conditions this morning I saw more than 12 abandoned cars overnight on gritted roads cleared of snow.
All newish cars.

Gillian's car is 24 years old. Micra. Been out in the rain, fog, cold, snow untouched for three months. My CostafortuneGT had been abandoned, but Gillians car purred into life at the touch of the button.

TIP
If you have a RWD car, then stick 2 or 3 heavy sandbags in the boot. It get more traction then. Or a fat person will do.

John

WEATHER WEST COAST
Weather Misconceptions Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
January February Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
March April Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
May June Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
Jul August Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
September October Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
November December Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
Wind in the mountains and West Coast
What to do about Rain in Scotland
PHOTOGRAPHERS GLENCOE
Glencoe is the photographers paradise
Photographic locations Glencoe
Winter Photography Glencoe

VIDEO OF THE GLENCOE AVALANCHE TRAGEDY

Dreadful. They were normal, happy people, it was a a fine afternoon and they were undoubtedly looking forward to a drink in the Clachaig in a couple of hours's time. Not much wind. But the wind direction was from the South. This is where the danger lies. This wind had probably blown snow up the windward side and deposited it on the lee side on top of older snow, where the climbers were. A nasty slab of snow like this slides easily, and does not take much to dislodge it. 

Contrary to popular opinion, the official avalanche warning was not of the greatest danger, it was one below below. They were on a fairly easy Winter route, they were expert people, properly equipped. There were probably a dozen other parties out on the hills in the area that day. There will be more out next weekend. As there should be. It is called the human spirit.

Glencoe is not a dangerous place. All winter sports are liable to these objective dangers. They had bad luck. Not for nothing are we reminded that this can still be called the "Glen of Weeping"

You have to hand it to the Rescue Teams there. Nothing short of heroic what they do. For no reward at all. Sometimes they go home and cry, too. 

SO TERRIBLY SAD. FOUR PEOPLE DIE IN GLENCOE AVALANCHE

From the Daily Mail. This is Bidean. The avalanche was in a valley - as ever - and they were on their way down - as ever

Webcam showing the area now

This is a webcam from the Kingshouse Hotel, which lies in a moorland area, about 5 miles from where the accident took place. You can see very little snow, even high up on the mountains looking South. The accident took place in the Glen itself. They must have been swept away, their feet going from under them sliding down the hill.  

It is so sad this. So awful for their families, and friends. Awful for the survivors, too.

The Scottish avalanche warning system had warned of wind-swept snow lying on top of soft snow in  the Glencoe area together with warnings for the other districts of Lochaber, and in the Grampians. This can easily be dislodged by human movement. At this time of year it is not unusual to have this warning. It does not need deep snow, just unstable snow. To-day six winter climbers dislodged it. Four people have died, a woman is badly injured and one escaped. Apparently other walkers raised the alarm

They do not have to be idiots, they do not have to have bad equipment, they do not have to be inexperienced. They can be totally expert in every sense. But they had bad luck. Like probably 40 others people in the area  they were just out on the most wonderful mountain on a fine day, enjoying the spectacular scenery. They were walking home, towards the area where the infamous "Glencoe massacre" took place 330 years ago, in February.

The usual advice is to move one at a time in an avalanche prone area. You can often "feel" it to be unsafe, just an instinct. Climbers learn to rely on it. 90% of avalanches are caused by the movement of people.

This one was in a dangerous area. The wind direction was from the South, that leaves drifting snow on the lee side of the mountain which is where they were. It would look safe, but snow lies in layers of different ages. When one of these starts to slide, you get catastrophe.

Yes, I know it puts a big strain on the rescue services. They are truly good people, and truly expert. One of their big problems is to avoid starting another avalanche themselves.

The accident happened in the area of the highest mountain in Glencoe, Bidean. It took place at a place called  Church Door Buttress at about 2pm. The Central gully, next door to it, is known as an easy winter climb. This is probably where they were. The area has had beautiful weather and not even a lot of snow.

There has been a run of avalanche accidents in the past five years in this area.. 3 climbers were killed in January 2009 at the notorious Buchaille Etive Mhor.The following year near the same spot  two climbers were killed and one escaped from an avalanche.

The avalanche forecast for Glencoe was
"Poorly bonded windslab will persist, mainly on West through North to East aspects above 800 metres. These deposits will mainly be hard windslab, often overlying a weak softer layer. Soft windslab will also be present in places. The avalanche hazard will be Considerable."

The website for avalanche prediction is
http://www.sais.gov.uk/

So terribly terribly sad. Winter climbing carries these objective dangers with it. Don't stop them. Don't stop Formula 1 drivers either, nor soldiers in Afghanistan, nor horse riding come to that. They are all dangerous. Including cycling in London.

John
WEATHER WEST COAST
Weather Misconceptions Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
January February Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
March April Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
May June Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
Jul August Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
September October Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
November December Weather Glencoe Oban Fort William and West Coast
Wind in the mountains and West Coast
What to do about Rain in Scotland
PHOTOGRAPHERS GLENCOE
Glencoe is the photographers paradise
Photographic locations Glencoe
Winter Photography Glencoe