New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde

The glorious River Clyde through New Lanark

New Lanark is home to more than just the falls of Clyde. It has Peregrine Falcon's, a rich history in equality, and its very own hydro-electric power source (circa 1768). New Lanark is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and qualifies as such because of its rich history in relation to worker's rights. Nowadays it makes an awesome family day trip... and I've been visiting since I was a kid.

I sometimes think that it is only as an adult that you gain a proper understanding of some things. That being said there is a lot to do for children in New Lanark. They have a lovely play park in the middle of town, complete with picnic area. They have seversl walks you can take that are signposted with the animal and plant species nearby. The museum also runs regular interesting and fun activities. The Annie MacLeod experience - where you go on a tour through time to the good old days - being just one.

So when you arrive you will have to park at the top of the hill and walk down - though there are disabled spaces at the bottom. The photo on the right there is the layout of the town and you are greeted with this at the top of the hill. On a clear day you can match the buildings to the plan. When I visit nowadays I tend to go for the hikes and not the buildings, but if that's what you like it is there.





From there, you head downhill and sort of left. There are some interesting signs pointing the way to the main attraction: the Falls of Clyde. The kids love them. There's also a hydroelectric power plant up there on the way, a secret garden and a giant badger mural. Of course, the river is the main attraction. On a fine day you can get right down beside it and some of the boardwalks take you along through it. On a wet day? Take the high road (haha but literally) and avoid it at all costs. You don't want to be swept away!

Last time I was there the river was in spate!

We'll get to the geology in a moment - we all know I only visit places of geological importance! For the moment I want to talk about some of the buildings, and exactly why New Lanark is a UNESCO site.

I've been putting this blog off because I wanted to avoid the politics of it all. Arguably, New Lanark was the birthplace of worker's rights. This is all down to a Welshman named Robert Owen, who bought the entire town for £60k in 1800.  When Robert Owen bought New Lanark it was nothing more than a tiny village with two working mills. Both mills ran on the electricity provided by waterwheels in the basement. Owen bought the town with the express intention of creating what would become known as a socialist haven.

So what did he provide that was so revolutionary? The first thing was to slash the working day from 14 hours to 10 hours. Still a long shift but unheard of in 1800. He then built decent homes for his workers, introduced a fair wage system and provided them with free health care. In addition he built a 'school' for the worker's children and even created the very first worker's nursery in the entire world.

So yeah. He was alright like.

So nowadays when you visit, New Lanark has been preserved as a little community people still live in. The homes are quaint and fully restored, there is a back-in-time village store. and you can visit both Robert's house and his 'School for Children'. They have the New Lanark Mill Hotel, a lovely place where weddings are frequent. They have a cafe and shop with a roof garden you can see as soon as you start your descent - and they even have millworker's house examples. One is from the 1820's and one is from the 1930's. If you're still bored after all of that you can wander around the working textile machinery and have it all explained to you by a professional... and not a weirdo on the internet.

So once you have exhausted yourself in the village, you can follow the badgers out into the valley itself. Now this is where things get even more interesting.

At the end of the walkway, once you have seen all the animal and plant markers and read about the nesting habbits of the local falcons, you will reach the Falls of Clyde. Now, I sell words for a living and I can't even describe this in any accuracy. 'Breath-taking' comes close, 'stunning' doesn't quite cut it, and 'spectacular' isn't enough. The River Clyde has spent all of eternity carving its way through the valley. It has worn down through so many layers of bedrock that we must surely be running out soon. In the picture opposite you should be able to see the bedrock exposure in the background? It's all like that!

Now, with regards to the rocks, it is all a protected area and if I see anyone down there with a hammer and chisel I will report them myself... but you can still go look at the rough stuff. You might not be able to get to it for all the vegetation and to be honest I wouldn't recommend rock hunting here. It's the Clyde so there will be quartz, calcite, and all colours of jasper. You won't find a diamond. Believe me I have hunted just about every bit of this river.

That being said, the site is fascinating. The gorges were cut in the last ice age - the same one that failed to completely cover the tip of Ben Nevis. Deep down in those rocks you will find the coal and iron that made the central belt of Scotland so productive during the Industrial Revolution. The multiple layers of sandstone and exposed bedrock you can see cause tumbling waterfalls, craggy cliffs, and spectacular ridges. The hike itself is free, too. Also, they are running an exhibition at the moment regarding the local Geology. The recent threat of a proposed new quarry in the area has been met with intense local resistance. It's no wonder. Who could possibly dig into this indescribable landscape? The Industrial Revolution is most definitely over. This area needs to be preserved.

As the icing on top of the cake, Wallace's Cave lies beyond the head of the Falls. As most of you will know, Lanark was the home of William Wallace. New Lanark is the village next door to this. After Wallace killed the commander of the Garrison (Heselrig) he and 25 men went into hiding. Whereas the night before they had hid in a cave near the Cartland Crags (oh my God you have to go there!!) the night afterwards they snuck down to New Lanark and hid in a cave they knew. Nowadays it is too treacherous for your average human to get to. Lucky for us, a gentleman over on Flickr managed to get there and post a picture of it.You can see it by following this link.

So that about wraps it up! I am sure there are things I have forgotten. I have heard you can approach from the other side and take in the Corra castle and the Hall of Mirrors; but I haven't been yet. When I do I will get more pictures and update this blog. I also want to mention the guys over at Clyde Valley Adventures, who do tours and activities in this area and the rest of the Clyde Valley. To us, tourism is conservation. The more areas we promote the more awareness of the beauty of the area. The more awareness there is, the more we conserve the special bits... at least that's the plan, anyway.

Until next time: happy exploring, find some good rocks, and don't forget to stop by Facebook and watch the video I took of the heron we saw on this trip!

Going Freelance... And Being A Better Writer

Wee car selfie - don't worry, I was parked!

So for those that don't follow me on Facebook or Instagram (and why not? I suggest you click the Facebook link above and find me) you won't know that I am currently 'in transition'. No, I'm not in the process of moving house, changing body or anything else of an elaborately complex and stressful nature - but I am crossing over from Chef to full time freelance writer... and that's a level of discomfort I always hoped to avoid.

Why? Why would I give up full time, paying work to sit behind a laptop all day and hope for clients? I genuinely don't know. But since I made the decision the nightmares have stopped... so that means it must be the good thing to do, right?

My lovely friend Kirsty Anderson, Illustrator

On a more serious note... I think sometimes in life you need to take the pay cut just to be happy in your own skin. I've always been the kind of person who values my free time above my work time; but the funny thing about writing is that I just can't see it as work. I can literally hear the other writers gasp at that statement - so before you lose any more breath let me explain myself...

I have spent the last three years of my life (Edelweiss was released in 2016, so we are probably closer to 4 years) waking up, going to work, coming home after a long shift and writing up to five thousand words, then going to sleep again. For all this time writing has been what I did in my free time. It was a hobby (albeit one that I was committed to). It was work, yes; but it was work for me.

The upshot of this is that I invested my time and skill into something that I wanted to do for myself. At no point did I start making money from it and, to be honest, I've sunk more into the books than I have made back. This blog I write entirely for free. My short stories - even though they are published - were all written for free, sent off without payment and published with a nod to exposure or a contributor's copy. But what I am going to say next is going to blow your mind... Writing isn't a profession where you can jump straight on in at the top.

If I were to start in a kitchen tomorrow I would be a dishwasher. I might have 20 years of kitchen experience but I don't have a piece of paper that says I can cook. Double this up with being a woman and I'd likely spend triple or even quadruple the time on dishes than a man with a qualification would. And before the anti-feminists get involved I'd like to point out that my record in this position is 10 years, despite being overly qualified for the position and having to watch less qualified people with no paperwork be promoted over my head. I then moved to a new job and was offered a managerial position within three months... but this isn't an equality post. It's about how to be a better writer.

How To Start Being A Writer

So, going with my kitchen example above... why would I accept a new job in a kitchen and expect to be the head chef straight away? Why would I take a job in a store and expect to have managerial responsibilities from day one, having never worked retail before? I wouldn't - of course I wouldn't! So why are there so many people out there who say they don't want to be writers because the pay sucks? Of course it sucks. You're unpublished, you have a name nobody knows and, quite frankly, no matter how many literature degrees you have nobody cares.

Until you have put the time in, until you have started at the bottom and done the free work, until you have edited till 4 in the morning for a project unlikely to ever make you money - you're not a writer. In the same way as you wouldn't step out of catering school and expect a head chef position you shouldn't step out of lit school and expect a book deal. And you're lucky, because you are finding this out now! I had to learn the hard way!

The best piece of advice I was ever given was to write every day (that's Chris Breechen from Writing About Writing, if you don't follow him then start). I started doing this three years ago now and I have a portfolio of work that would put the British Government to shame because of it. I don't want to appear boastful either because I make/have made/consistently fall foul to the same mistakes every other writer makes... but I keep writing. I keep submitting. I keep trying.

Getting Rejected

I have had about five times the rejections that I have had publications made. It might even be higher than that. The chances of you writing a short story and having it instantly published are slim to none - never mind an actual full length book. For every anthology posted on the likes of Horror Tree (another fantastic resource) the editors receive over two hundred submissions. Given that your average anthology is about 12 stories long; you can see how slim your chances are. Worse, anthology work is almost exclusively unpaid, although the Indie industry is on its way up.

So if you manage to get that story published then you are off to a fantastic start. If not? Don't panic, you are in the same boat as the other 88%. That doesn't make you a bad writer, it just means that your story didn't fit. Put it on the back burner, pull it out for another anthology, tidy it up a bit and send it away somewhere else. My record is five submissions to different anthologies before Fangs And Broken Bones accepted "The Spice of Life". At the moment, I have a short story out on it's 10th trip that I absolutely adore and can't understand why nobody wants it... that's just the way the industry works.

My point is that getting rejected should be your default expectation. That way, when something does get accepted, you can celebrate and simultaneously worry that it isn't good enough over a bottle of wine. Keep in mind that the difference between a successful writer and an unsuccessful one is no more than stubbornness. Write every day, get rejected once a week, and after about a year you will start to see improvements.

So all that's left for me to do is apologise to the rock lovers for a blog post about writing and not geology, and stress the point that not giving up is paramount to success in this industry. I am moving forward into freelance writing with the intention of writing a hell of a lot of web content because it actually does make a little money. Wish me luck because I'm going to need it.

One thing is for sure though: kitchens across Scotland will be a lot safer without me in them... although maybe not quite so tidy.

Scottish Crystals - After The Hunt

 Once You've Found Your Crystals - You Gotta Clean Them Up!

So there comes a time, once every few months, where I go through the (literal) bucket in my kitchen and scrub like hell for a few days. Cleaning up the rocks I have found while out on my car-ventures with Kai often turns out to be interesting all by itself. A lot of the time you don't see something properly until it's cleaned up. So though you may throw it in the bag because it has something you like elsewhere, a lot of the time the dirt is hiding something special underneath, too.

At least, that's what you hope for.

So this week was one of those times. I'm making the crossover into full time freelance writer at the moment and I'm doing it with the help of the notoriously slow British Government so it may take a few months. In the meantime I have rocks to wash!... and more time than ever to wash them with...

So I took to the blog, as I do, to show you some of the best examples I found during this wash up. Some of them will be going on my EBay page, some of them will be going to my private collection (which is getting silly) and some of them will go out as gifts because sometimes crystals just want to be with certain people. If you see anything you particularly like then get in touch, but do it quickly because all crystals are unique... which kind of just makes them more special.

Most of these are from around the Dumfries and Galloway area, a few are from the Cairngorms and my nice quartz spots... one or two might be from the south west coast where I have been amethyst hunting a lot this season. A little luck but nothing to write about so far. One of these days...

Until next time: happy crystal hunting in your home country. Let me know if you find anything awesome and add your pictures below!

A little Galena on one corner, pyrite on the other

Drusy Wanlockhead quarts

Pyrite mingling with quartz lines

Galena in blue and pyrite in gold.

Morion is what we call the dark parts of Cairngorm

Almost a point...Caitngorm smokey

That same quartz but with rutile crystals. This one is reserved for a friend in Germany.

 You can view some of the clearer smokey I mentioned above courtesy of YouTube.

Making Bismuth Crystals At Home

Bismuth from Magnametals on Ebay

I bought a piece of Bismuth on Ebay after watching an online tutorial so I am now officially an expert at this... Joking. I just like smashing things up with my hammer... But the multi-coloured, pyramid-like crystals formed by Bismuth when it cools down were just too much of a lure to ignore


The Bismuth I bought was 99.99% pure; I'm not sure what that means but I suspect it is the same as bleach. Since microscopes can't see the smallest bacteria the bleach adverts aren't allowed to say that they are 100% effective, so they always say they "kill 99.99% of all bacteria." instead. From what I have read though impurities will float to the surface once the cooling process begins. You can skim it like you skim the fat off a chicken stock...

I am getting off topic. As you can see the Bismuth is very pretty in the form it arrived in. I figured that it would be easier to melt down if it was in smaller pieces. For this, you should use safety goggles. If you don't have any then wrap the metal in a towel before you attack it with the hammer. This will mean you're less likely to get anything in your eyes or flying off to hit you. Once You have smashed it into pieces you can put it straight into the pot. Make sure it is an old pot because once you have melted metal in it you won't be able to get it clean ever, ever again.


So the process should go something like this:

• You melt the Bismuth in a pan. I found out there is actually no need to smash it after all, since the bigger bits all melted easily.
• You can melt the Bismuth on a normal cooker, since it has a melting point of 271 degrees C (ish). 
• You take the pan off the heat once the metal has become molten.
• As it cools the metal will form into pretty crystals that form in all different colours.
• The colour of the metal will change depending on what temperature the cooling liquid comes into contact with the air. This is why we get a rainbow of colours from Bismuth crystals. 
• This is one of the many YouTube videos I watched before I started... helpful, but proof that not all things can be mastered by watching an instructional video...

I made several mistakes. Firstly, I didn't remove the slag quickly enough. I still haven't got the hang of this. The slag cools exceptionally quickly and you have to move fast once you take the Bismuth off the heat. The unique blend of colours are created through the oxidization process and this is part of the reason that you should cool it as slowly as you can. The greater array of temperatures you cool it at will make for a greater scope of colour. I got stuck with blue, green and purple... but I'm not complaining!

I took a short video just to let you see what the Bismuth looks like when melted... it's pretty fascinating stuff.

My next mistake was not letting it cool slowly enough so that you can catch the colours. I did see one video with the Bismuth pan wrapped in insulation which did seem to slow the cooling process.I also didn't move the crystals that had newly formed around with a fork. If you don't keep the top and bottom layer separate you will end up with a solid block of metal as the crystals join up... unfortunately when you only have a hundred grams of a metal it's not enough for layers. You can see from the video how little it actually is to work with.

All this being said I'm not about to gice up just yet. Next time I will buy a bigger quantity of Bismuth and I guess about a half kilo would be enough to make layers. As you can see from the end result I need a lot of practise at this. I think it would be worth it to investigate further though, as soon as I find the time.

I added a close up below so you can see the beginnings of the crystal formation. This is one project I hope to get much better at over time.

In terms of trickiness I'd give it a seven out of ten. In terms of crystal formation I give myself a two out of ten... however, I would do it again (and probably will) just for the fun of it.

Wild Camping in Scotland (some do's and dont's)

One of 31,460 beautiful Lochs!

I am first to trumpet the beauty of our Scotland. It's stunning. Glencoe is breathtaking, Killin is stunning, The Cairngorms are like unexplored diamonds and the Highlands are like no other country on earth. Even the lowlands and the central belt wield some spectacular sights... not to mention some of the best crystal specimen locations in the world...

...But should you want to go exploring (and I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so) there are a few rules you should follow, just to keep you safe and out of trouble. Upsetting the locals is a sure fire way to never be invited back. Well this last few weeks I had the pleasure of going on my first wild camping trip of the season, something I do often and without real consideration for my safety. I love a good campfire; but I sleep with my rock hammer by my pillow *just* in case. At least we don't have any wolves... yet.

So let's dive in and get to work. Just because we don't have wolves doesn't mean it's safe and tame. Here are a few do's and don'ts for wild camping in Scotland that should keep you safe.

Rule Number 1: Do Avoid Pine Forests

 

 The Scots pine (and other assorted, non-native pines) make up many of our forests. They look pretty, are home to loads of wildlife and the bed of old needles looks soft and inviting to any camper having to sleep on a roll mat on the ground.

While truly comfortable to sleep on; pine forests in Scotland aren't 'tended' at least for the most part. One of my favourite forests at Braidwood has two unofficial woodsmen - and I've still seen fully grown trees blow over on a windy day. The taller the pines the more likely they are to fall on you. The winds get high up here.

Don't fall asleep in a pine tree forest unless you want to wake up with a tree on your tent. OK, so the chances are slim, but any chance is too much when you are out of mobile and Internet range.

Rule Number 2: Don't Camp In Someones Farm/Land/Garden Without Permission

 

This sounds like common sense but it's not. Really. There are vast areas of Scotland known as 'common ground' and these areas belong to the common... that means everyone. Quite often you find these areas in deep forest, in the middle of nowhere or on the side of mountains.

It's fairly easy to tell whether or not you are on someones land. If you are a stone's throw from a town, village, or property then you are probably on owned land. If you are in a field - owned land. If you are in an area marked by a boundary like a fence then you are probably on owned land. If the remains of a five hundred year old stone dyke mark the land then you might be safe.

There are two rules of thumb. 1: use Google Earth or the satellite view function on Google Maps before you go and pick a large area you can camp in. They are easy to find because there is no farmland and it looks like scrub on the map. Stick to this area and you should be OK. 2: Do not start a fire within view of any houses. You also need to be more than fifty meters from a roadside to BBQ or burn. There are a few other fire rules, let's do them next.

As an additional, don't camp too close to reservoirs... you don't want to be accused of tampering with the water supply!

Rule Number 3: Do Have A Fire!

 

By all means, have a fire! Just make sure you do it safely. Dig a small ditch, ring it with big stones and keep the flames inside the stones. Easy! Not only does this help contain the flames it also builds a pit of ash in which your ashes will stay warm as long as possible. The ashes at the bottom of the pit should only need a stir and some kindling to get going again.

• Don't start a fire near houses or within sight of a road.
• Do use other people's fire pits before starting one of your own. Chances are other people will have camped where you are and will have left traces. Wood that has been burned before, and charcoal, will light faster than a fresh pit (plus it's better for the environment).
• See this article for instructions on effective fire lighting.
• Take TWO lighters, firelighters and an old notepad you don't mind burning for help to get it going.
• When it is raining, the bottom branches of a pine tree will be shielded from the rain by the thick branches above. These are perfect for starting a fire in the wet.
• If you don't have a fire a disposable BBQ is fine - but TAKE IT AWAY WITH YOU! I pick up one of these a week.
• Better yet, pick up a small portable cooker that works on a gas bottle. They are cheap and make sure you always have hot food, even in the rain.

Rule 4: Don't Let Your Animals Wander

Kai in the Ochils last year

Dogs are the goodest and purest creatures on this earth; but any dog is tempted when a fat sheep wanders over. Don't let them off the lead if they are prone to chase, and sometimes even if they aren't. There are still parts of Scotland where dogs chasing sheep will be shot dead by the farmer - and not just in the highlands, but in the central belt.

Sheep worrying is a big problem in Scotland and we need to be careful. If your dog chases a pregnant ewe she can miscarry, even though you may think your beloved pooch has done no harm. If they are in the tent be sure they can't escape (the little b$gger above can slink under the door of my tent!) and if they are outside keep them on the leash.

Rule 5: Do No Harm.

 

Rather like the Hippocratic Oath a Doctor takes the first and foremost rule of wild camping in Scotland is that you do no harm. Respect your surroundings. We have the freedom to roam in this country and the common belongs to all of us - but the second you damage property you are in the wrong and may be asked to leave.

This means making sure all fires are properly extinguished before you move on, damaging no crops and hurting or scaring no livestock. When you cut through a field you don't trample it, you go around the side. There is no law preventing you from crossing someones land to get to where you are going - unless you do damage. So don't do any damage and you should be fine!

Rule 6: Do Leave Everything As You Found It!

 

Waterloo pond... one of our few flat waterways

The most important thing is that you leave everything as you find it. If you can put that fire out and prevent a forest fire, then take down your gear and get off without leaving the place looking a mess then you have obeyed this rule.

We are big on litter picking right now (and hopefully forever more) so take all your rubbish with you. If you are camping in an area you have particularly enjoyed, then picking up any litter others have left is a great way to say thank you to the land that has homed you.

Rule Number 7: DON'T Camp From October To March

 

You can get away with it in the lowlands, but people die doing this. It's cold. If you don't have proper gear you just can't do it. What you can do is look up one of the many bothies and use the building (if you really must have some free camping in the winter) but even I don't do that and I consider myself pretty hardened.

I can't stress this enough... don't camp in winter. If you absolutely must then take a double skinned or army grade tent, a winter sleeping bag (not just a normal one, you will freeze), plenty of fire materials and a few emergency blankets. I would also suggest some thick bedding to put something between yourself and the ground. I use a heat reflecting roll mat, but it's nowhere near good enough for winter in Scotland. Prepare as if you are going on an arctic expedition and you might just live to tell the tale...

 

Rule Number 8: Obey Camping Protected Areas

These are assigned by the Forestry Commission (and other governing bodies) to protect particular stretches of land, species or habitats. They also cover areas of Special Scientific Interest, which you can camp on but which you need to check the individual rules of before you go.

Put simply, check the area you want to wild camp on Google just to be sure there is nowhere to avoid. Get a feel for the area before you go, stop yourself wasting time hunting for a good spot and make sure you aren't on a camping protected area before you go. Google is great. Often, you can find other wild camper's have reviewed particular areas and this can give you inspiration.

A Few More Hints And Tips

 

• Stay out of the wind if you can, it gets bad on hillsides, look for a valley and camp on the side of it.
• There aren't always trees - and even if there are you should damage healthy branches for burning. One of these camping stoves or a bag of kindling is a good backup just in case, and picking up wood from the forest floor is fine.
• Always tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.
• Invest in a solar charger for your phone. Many places in Scotland are off the Internet grid - but you can usually make a phone call in an emergency.
• Don't go alone (I'm never alone with Kai!) but if you do make sure people know where you are.
• If you find one of these:

                                                 ...There are people around and possibly drunks. Move on.

• Avoid electric fences/try to cross at turnstiles. Because common sense said so.
• Never pitch your tent at the bottom of a valley, you may wake up wet or far downriver.
• Try to pitch your tent with the door at an angle, if it faces uphill you may be flooded out.
• Take extra water, you will always use more than you think you will.
• Put a light on your pet. I'm serious...

Until next time - enjoy camping season! I've already got my bags packed...

Ben Nevis...without the hike

Ben Nevis (and Kai)

So I booked an overnight stay up north this week to go have a look at some crystal sites. I found one or two interesting nooks on my travels; but I didn't turn up much in the way of rocks... however, on my way back down I swung over to Glencoe (which will get a blog of it's own for Clan reasons) and saw a sign for Ben Nevis.

View from the parking lot

Well you know me... I can't pass up the opportunity to drive up a mountain. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Scotland and it has a year-round activity centre. With it being a fine February day I decided to go have a look. There's bound to be some interesting rocks up there, right?

So we reach the activity centre and there isn't really anywhere else to go. The other road leads to a working quarry and they don't like people like me sniffing around without a hard hat and a high viz vest on. So we pulled up in the car park and went for a look.

The Top Gondola Station

Luckily for me there is a cable car you can take halfway up the mountain... I originally thought it took you all the way up but nooooo. 650m out of a possible 1,344m (which is 4,406 ft). The photograph on the right is the top 'Gondola' station. They say they are the only mountain gondola ride in all of Scotland and I see no reason to disbelieve them.

However strangely, there is also a restaurant in this building (I kid you not) and a 'summer chair' lift that you can take out over the forest. I had Kai so that was a no-go. From this halfway point you can also take a chair lift up to the slopes. It's been dry for days but there was still snow up there.

If you look real hard you'll see my car!

In Scotland we call all mountains over a certain height 'Ben'. If you follow the blog you will see that I visit Ben Lawers quite often (and stopped on the way past this time!) and you might wonder why. The simple reason is that 'Beinn' is the Gaelic word for 'mountain'. In Gaelic the mountain is actually called 'Nibheis' meaning venomous or malicious. Why? It's the most hostile mountain in Scotland. It's the biggest, it's the hardest and it's the one we have fought the longest to tame. Every so often it still kills people.

Getting closer...

As recently as New Year's Day 2019 a young female student plummeted 500m to her death while climbing Carn Dearg (not to be confused with Carn Dearg to the north. Mountain Coward Adventures have a great slide show of this ridge for those interested in climbing it...carefully). A month beforehand another student plunged 1,600ft and sadly didn't make it. This student was an experienced mountaineer. This incident happened when he and his buddy were trying to climb an overhanging ice cornice in Tower's Gully. The Tuesday before that another couple were stranded and needed rescuing from the pitch black, icy conditions. I can't even imagine how terrified they must have been. The mountain really is as malicious as its name makes out.

The first peek over the trees

Ben Nevis isn't alone either. The winter before last there were a reported ten deaths in the mountains in Scotland - one of them in the seemingly tame Ochil hills where I spent my holiday. It's kind of scary. The most obscure death I have heard about was when the body of a Derby man was recovered from an isolated Bothy on New Year's Eve in 2012. This particular man had gone to live for a year off the land and decided to do so in the Highlands of Scotland in November. Do we need to establish ground rules?

When you get to the top there are more hills!

I am the first to point out what a beautiful country we have... but it's deceptively cold and especially at height. Summer is a great time to visit, Spring is glorious (or wet) - even September and October are awesome for climbing. But it takes a certain type of madness to go for the summit in November, December, January or February. That being said Ben Nevis is the best mountain in the UK for ice climbing; hence why there are so many experienced climbers up there in all weathers. As you can see - even the experienced ones run into trouble so the rest of us need to be extra careful.

No seriously... like another 800m of hills...

As usual I am getting a little grim. I don't mean it there's something wrong with my storytelling ability. It's set to 'dark' permanently. Really there are all sorts of fun things to do on the mountain, you just have to be aware of the caution. There is a treetop adventure course, mountain biking, skiing and snowboarding, you can hike it, you can chair it, you can eat... the two ladies in the gondola next to me didn't even get out, they were just eating sandwiches and drinking tea from a bright red flask.

...so...many...more...hills...

Now my days of hopping out and climbing the mountain are over, plus I really wanted to get to Glencoe (my grandpa's middle name was Campbell, there's a story in there somewhere) but I did get a few pictures of what you can see from the way station. On top of that there is a wee video of us on our route up in the cable car that might give you a laugh or two. Kai seemed to like it. I didn't so much. I'm freakin' terrified of heights but the chance was too good to pass up. I'm a coward but a few likes on the Facebook page gave me enough courage to go for it!

Bit of a hazy day...that view though!

Hopefully you will be able to zoom in on the picture on the left and get an idea of how far you can see. The video demonstrates it a little better. They say that on a clear day you can see for up to 125 miles. They also say that it is one of the Three Peaks National Challenge mountains. This challenge sees climbers tackle Ben Nevis, alongside Mt. Snowdon in Wales and Scafell Pike in England. Climbers do all three of these mountains within 24 hours or it doesn't count (including travel time). My conclusion? Mountaineers are madder than crystal hunters by about 800 metres, give or take a few thousand feet.

Last but not least: there's no way I was going all the way up there without getting a look at the rocks! I found a small stream and had a paddle around to have a look. I expected to find tough granite but instead I found a sort of talc substance which had flecked off all through the soil. There is a lot of pink granite in the water, a few pieces of quartz and a lot less of the sparkly, schist/mica type of material you find all around that area. I nabbed one or two to bring home simply to say I have a rock from Ben Nevis, but neither are spectacular. I learned afterwards that basalt and granite are the two main groups up there. Interesting fact: the last ice age wasn't thick enough to cover the summit of Ben Nevis. Most of the mountain is igneous and, according to Ben Nevis.com itself, the mountain is about 400 million years old... that's some pretty ancient granite in my kitchen.

I think that is enough for one page. I'll get to Glencoe at some point... Though Is still have to write about Dunure castle... the locations are stacking up!

The standard Kai pic. Think he enjoyed himself.

Ardrossan Castle...is it Haunted?

Ardrossan Castle: I had to stick my hand through the bars in the fence to get a good shot.

I know posts have been a little slow so far this year. I've had a few health issues that have kept me indoors. I've resolved to take better care of myself because i get severe cabin fever. So instead of my planned trip gold panning this week I took the physically easier option of going on a mini road-trip.

I headed west for a change, sick of not finding the Elie Bay Rubies I've been out three times to look for. I decided instead of doing anything strenuous I would find something creepy to go look at - and that's how I ended up at Ardrossan Castle.

Ardrossan Castle sits on Canon Hill; a ridge above the town itself. Visible from the bay at Saltcoats (a popular tourist town) it was first constructed in the 12th century. It was partially destroyed after the Scottish Wars of Independence and then it was rebuilt by the Clan Montgomery in the 15th century - only for Oliver Cromwell and his cronies to come along a couple of hundred years later and steal all the masonry to build the Ayr Citadel. The less said about this historical fiasco the better.

What interested me in this tourist spot was not the history - but the legends! In my constant quest to find spooky locations I came across a story about William Wallace wandering the ruins on stormy nights. Now I have lived in both Ayr and Lanark: two very creepy towns both associated with Wallace. So it peaked my interest. There is a second legend regarding a famed horseman known as Sir Fergus Barclay. Nicknamed the De'il o' Ardrossan, this man reportedly traded his soul with the devil in order to be a better horseman. The Devil gifted him a magical bridle which allowed him to become famous - but Barclay later tricked the devil into giving back his soul. In anger the devil attacked his castle, leaving his hoof prints embedded in the very stones themselves.

As well as the lovely view and the castle (which is now all sealed off from the public because it is in ruins, although you can walk around the fence) there is a monument up there. This was erected to Alexander MacFadzean (pronounced Mac-Fad-Yin) in the 19th century. Dr MacFadzean contributed to turning the town into a Burgh, helped install a police station, contributed to the gas, water and electricity supply outside of town and was a general all-round good guy. A monument seems fitting.

Alas I saw no hoof prints, saw no ghosts, and the spectacular view from whence I should have been able to see Arran, the Ailsa Craig and other stunning craggy mountains actually looked like the photo on the right there because it was windy and miserable. I'm sure it's stunning on a nice day!

So After a look around and a bit of a climb I got back in my car and headed down the coast to Dunure... which also has a castle and which deserves it's own page. Until next time; happy crystal hunting, Scotland loving and writing... you are a truly diverse bunch!