I run a band in Sussex called Jazz Smugglers. We have some Festival gigs to run shortly and I need Google to find our web pages. If I run a link from here, then this will help them to do so. Once their little crawler has found it, I'll take out the links.
Chichester Festivities July 7th jazz show
Chichester Festivities, Gershwin and Friends press release
Thanks, sorry to bother.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
You can meet Hamish McInnes at Crafts and Things most mornings
To all intents and purposes, Hamish is Glencoe. To climbers and mountaineers around the world he is a legend. In popular imagination the best known climber would be Chris Bonnington, but that is because of the publicity. Chris has done great things, everywhere, but Hamish is the father of mountaineering.
He invented the lightweight stretcher now used by all sorts of rescue services around the world. I helped to carry a bloke with a broken ankle off Sgurr na Banachdich in the Cuillins, when I was 18. Was that hard going! About 25 yards at a time was all that six of us could manage.
He also started the Glencoe Mountain Rescue team exactly fifty years ago this year.
"It was more dangerous in those days," says to-days leader John Grieve. "To-day we can call on 30 volunteers, have fantastic gear, our own vehicle, and even a helicopter." To-day the tram is trained in diving, for river rescues. People drowned in Loch Awe last year but the local services were hampered by Health and Safety. No Health and Safety is involved with the all-amateur Glencoe Rescue team. Just good common sense and good practice and training.
It used to be true that most accidents were caused on the descent, and when the weather turned bad. Most rescues were of walkers, not well equipped climbers. Most rescues involved people not taking maps, compasses, spare food, and good wet weather gear. Basically, most accidents occurred to idiots. I bet it still is true.
I bet that there are fewer people leaving their route with the B & B owner in the morning, in case they are late back. This would be because they now rely on mobile phones. Tried getting a good O2 signal on the magnetic parts of Bidean these days have you?
John
Ps Hamish and his chums are to be found in Crafts and Things in Glencoe most mornings. Quiet unassuming very gentle. Nice man.
Sorry about this I just want to put in this link for Google to find. Apologies. They are not showing the right title which means that the little demon they use for these things has missed it.
Brighton Festival Fringe jazz
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
Thursday, April 12, 2012
This place is like a treasure trove. 2,300 year old harp found!
This picture is from the Daily Mail.
In ancient Scotland, without written records, the history was handed down from father to son by word of mouth. But the essentials were often recorded in song. Important people had praise songs as a public tribute in the ancient Gaelic culture.
Cave drawings show how important was music. Flutes have been identified as the oldest instrument of all. You can find flutes to-day because they are made from bone. But the harp is made from wood, and does not last. The harp is the oldest stringed instrument known to mankind. This fragment has lasted for 2,300 years.
The fragment of this harp was found near Armadale in Skye opposite the Mallaig ferry. It was made only 100 years after the oldest harp ever found, in Persia.
Pictish stones depict harps from the 8th century. This harp dated back no less than 1400 years before that.
This is a treasure land, Scotland, it really is.
John
Links:
The real story of the Glencoe MassacreLinks:
History around Appin
The Vikings stage a battle in Glencoe?
The Pictish broch. Lismore West of Scotland
Robert the Bruce and the Ardchattan parliament
Robert the Bruce and the Knights Templar
The MacDonalds of Glencoe
Ancient roads of the Highlands
Glencoe, the 4th Wonder of Scotland
Castles in the Glencoe area
VIKING LONGSHIP MAY BE KEPT ON ARDNAMURCHAN
This lovely shot was taken by our guest David Minshall. Ardnamurchan is lovely, remote and mysterious still.
Remarkable place Ardnamurchan. Long lost volcano, few people, reputed hiding place of Robert the Bruce, at Castle Tioram, very scattered communities. The Vikings loved it. Throughout the ages it has been disconnected from mainstream civilisation, because of the difficulty of travel except by boat.
They have recently found the remains of a 1,000 year old Viking longship used as a burial ground for a high ranking Viking warrior. They have found his axce, his sword, his spear, his shield boss and his bronze pin ring. There would have been an early Viking settlement here.
Now they are hoping to stop the artefacts going to one of the major Scottish museums, and keep them on site for all of us to see.
John
The story they don't tell you about the Glencoe Massacre
History around the cottage in Appin
Did the Vikings stage a battle in Glencoe?
The Pictish broch in Lismore
West of Scotland millions of years ago
Robert the Bruce and the Ardchattan parliament
Robert the Bruce and the Knights Templar
The story of the MacDonalds of Glencoe
Ancient roads of the Highlands
John
The story they don't tell you about the Glencoe Massacre
History around the cottage in Appin
Did the Vikings stage a battle in Glencoe?
The Pictish broch in Lismore
West of Scotland millions of years ago
Robert the Bruce and the Ardchattan parliament
Robert the Bruce and the Knights Templar
The story of the MacDonalds of Glencoe
Ancient roads of the Highlands
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
They've found your ancestor's house. 240 generations ago
The first farmers and the first villages in Scotland started probably 6,000 yeas ago. They have just found the remains of some of them, in Oban.
This is how Moira Kerr reported it in the Herald.
"Working on a routine survey of a Scottish hillside archaeologists have uncovered a treasure chest of historic artefacts dating back 6000 years. The find was made during preparatory work for a new housing development in Oban and is the biggest of its kind in mainland Argyll in recent years.
It includes a Stone Age or Neolithic axehead, dating back 5000-6000 years, three prehistoric roundhouses which are up to 3000 years old, and the remains of an 18th-century farmstead and metalwork store."
The little stones pictured lie here to-day on the shore of Kentallen Bay. You can see them from our cottage window. If they are the most recent rocks then they are over 50 million yeas old, the product of numerous volcanos. They are probably considerably older.
Almost certainly, a mesolithic hamlet would have existed here in 4,000bc. The conditions for farming, fresh water and sea fishing were ideal. Temperatures were much warmer, treelines were higher, the lions and elephants had been wiped out, the dog domesticated. Britain was already an island, and chambered cairns were being built - one in Ballachulish. It was savage, but liveable - just. The greatest danger came from other human beings.
They suffered from midgies, too.
John
The story they don't tell you about the Glencoe Massacre
History around the cottage in Appin
Did the Vikings stage a battle in Glencoe?
The Pictish broch in Lismore
West of Scotland millions of years ago
Robert the Bruce and the Ardchattan parliament
Robert the Bruce and the Knights Templar
The story of the MacDonalds of Glencoe
Ancient roads of the Highlands
Glencoe, the 4th Wonder of Scotland
Castles in the Glencoe area
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Mobile phone finds lost walkers. No map. No compass. How do people do it?
"Phone app helps Oban mountain rescue find lost walkers" was the headline in a recent Oban Times story.
It went on:
Oban Mountain Rescue Team was called out on Saturday at around 7pm to search for two walkers who had got lost in cloud as night fell on the Ben Achallader –Ben a Creachain ridge near Bridge of Orchy.
The pair were not carrying head torches,a map or compass and lost their bearings in the dark and cloud. Oban Mountain Rescue Team sent several pairs of team members up to search the ridge from either end.
Fortunately for the lost walkers one of them managed to download a smart phone app that allowed him to find their latitude and longtitude co-ordinates via his phone GPS.
Ian Campbell (leader on this rescue) had been in touch with them when the callout first came in, so they had his number. They called this and gave their co-ordinates to Ian’s wife who relayed them to Ian via Oban police. Ian converted them to ordnance survey grid references and pinpointed them on top of Ben a Creachain. He then radioed the teams on the hill to tell them to make for the walkers location.
They were eventually found just before midnight,cold but otherwise well,and escorted off the hill by 2am.
Good story, nice ending. The bit I didn't like was the absence of a map and compass. Ludicrous.
John
Monday, February 06, 2012
John Taggart. The photographer as artist
We are lucky to have such nice people staying with us, really. I love it when professionals know their craft so well, that they can break the rules. If I took this photograph it would not have the "photographers eye". John has taken one of the most difficult compositions you can think of, the two parallel lines, without a real centre of interest yet it works brilliantly. The eye is not taken off the page as it would be if I took the shot. The reflections break up the hard lines and the denser tree on the left holds in the eye as does the taller tree on the right.
Who would imagine that Scotland in January would be so wonderful to look at?
You can find more of John's photographs at, John Taggart Antrim, photography
I'm going to post the others he sent me at our blog site for the best photographs of Glencoe
Hi
John
The
cottage was great, lovely place with some great walks, weather wise it was a
mixed bag but a few good days. I have attached a few images for you to use as
you wish. I haven't had a
chance to edit through all the images yet as I need to catch up on some work
but am happy with some of the results. When I get more edited I will pop a few
on the email.
We had a day up round Loch Arkaig which was beautiful,
never been there before. Great walks round Cuil Bay and Kentallen Bay and a
nice meal in the hotel across the road.
All in all we had a great stay, many
thanks for the use of your lovely cottage, hope to be back some time and very
best wishes to you and Gillian.
John
& Pamela.
COTTAGE ATTRACTIONS
FOR LASTMINUTE BOOKINGS
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Snow and Ice driving. Preparation is absolutely vital.
We published this page in our website last year and it had a big response. Could be needed again. Best to prepare thoroughly if you are going drive on Snow and Ice John
DRIVING THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS IN SNOW AND ICE
From November until the end of April there can be snow on the hills.. Even so, more often than not the main roads will be clear of snow. Higher snow probability on the roads lies between the middle of January and the middle of March.
You can get massive variations in snow level even with a few miles. Our little hamlet at Kentallen is often clear of the snow which clogs up the main road to Glasgow, about 4 miles away.
Plan how to get to and from the West Highlands in snowy conditions. It is tempting to think of the Moor of Rannoch as being the main hazard, with its snow poles every few yards.
Well, that road is very seldom closed, and when it is they clear it and open it quickly. You are more likely to run into a deer, than you are to be stuck there in snow.
No, it is the steep, curving hill beside Crianlarich station which is the main trouble spot.
Take the coastal road through Kentallen and Appin, then, just after Dalmally, go to Inverary. Then take the Rest and Be Thankful pass over to the lower half of Loch Lomond. This avoids the worst of the acccident bottlenecks on the Loch Lomond road as well.
For novices on snow and ice driving, here are our tips
Five Don'ts
Don't overtake on snow and ice
Don't rev the engine or accelerate quickly
Don't allow the battery to run down. It is very vulnerable
in the cold.
Don't use washing up liquid in the screen wash
Don't run on thin tyres
Twelve Do's
Drive very slowly, particularly around corners
Avoid steep hills, particularly those with bends
Go into corners slowly
Accelerate very slowly
Use 2nd gear if possible on ice
Keep the driving wheel as straight as possible
Leave a massive amount of room between you and the car in front
Fill the petrol tank more frequently than usual
Keep your mobile phone topped up
Use WD 40 to ease the door locks
Watch out for extra cold temperatures in low lying valleys, and on
tree lined roads
Choose a coastal route if possible rather than an inland route.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Can no one stop this wind?
Skiing conditions are brilliant at Glencoe. But the wind is wrecking everything.
I would hate to run a ski resort in this country. Fancy having brilliant snow but no access to it! Andy and his team are working flat out to repair 5 lift sheds blown away in the wind, only to find more damage with the next gale.
Their new Microlodge development should open in the Spring. Its way behind schedule because of all the storm damage
Once the wind settles down they should be in great shape for the season with a deep base on the top and mid mountain.
Andy, you and the team are heroes. And the forecast for wind looks ok for next week.
Skiing Glencoe- have a look
John
Some links.
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, cottage is about 25 minutes
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
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
John is staying with us next week
The Winter is a wonderful time for photographers in Glencoe. We have one of the top ones staying with us next week, John Taggart of Antrim. Hope it is cold and crisp for them. Look at these shots of his taken from a previous visit.
These shots for me are of the highest order. Works of art. I ave permission from John to publish them. Here is John's professional photographer's website. I'm going to put them on our other blog site, Glencoe Photographs after he has stayed with us.
Have a lovely time John. Would it be too cheeky to ask for a wee pic?
John
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