Glendaruel Secrets

Kathryn is an adventurous type and so I tried to pull together a few ideas of things to do that other people might not be up for. I asked if she fancied climbing the hill above the glen up to what I thought was a cup and ring stone - an ancient and mysterious landmark. After an exhausting climb (we've both seen fitter days!) we found some very old ruins of tiny stone buildings. I searched Google but couldn't find anything about them, or any cup and ring stone either. No matter. The day was warm and we were bathed in beautiful sunshine and the top of the hill was serene. I found and recited a lovely poem written about Glendaruel whilst we enjoyed the view of the sparkling, winding river Ruel below. We wandered for a bit and found two lovely little waterfalls and a potential spot for a plunge before heading back down.

This week also saw the first lambs appearing in the fields, which always gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. There were yellow wagtails at the Lover's Walk waterfall, and an inspection of a fallen tree showed remnants of a natural beehive inside.

Then, mid-week, we came home to smoke in the glen. Scottish land managment often includes a muir burn. It can be done between October and March and involves burning off old dry grass and heather to prevent natural forest fires during the drier summer months. It was something I had been wanting to photograph for years. This was on a very small scale but we headed over the field to get closer and found a slightly angry man stalking round keeping an eye on it and yelling at me to not take any pictures of him.

A few days later on my drive home from work in the dark I could see a glow on the hillside in the distance, along the glen towards Clacheranmor. I probably held my breath until I came level with big flames amongst the trees, thankfully still a full mile from our house, but very close to Hosshin's hermitage. All was well, and I assume it was another deliberate fire, although why it was at night I can only suspect...