Monday, 20 February 2012

Glen Nevis podcasts


One of the nice things about living where I do and working in the outdoor field is being involved in creative projects. Over the past few years I’ve made films and written books but recently I was asked to do something new  for me - produce a series of podcasts!
Claire and I have just finished a series of 6 podcasts about Glen Nevis on behalf of Friends of Nevis. If you haven’t heard of Friends of Nevis, they are the charity that looks after Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis. We were asked to produce and present 6 episodes and interview interesting folk who are connected to the place in some way. They are structured around different low level walks you can do in the glen, but it really doesn’t matter if you walk them, bike them, run them or use them to get to the cliffs!
I spend a big chunk of my life training in the glen, hence being asked to produce the podcasts, but although I know a lot about one aspect of the place (the climbing history and landscape), there are many other areas I had much to learn about; the natural and human history, geology and ecology.
So we had a great time interviewing many different experts in their different fields and putting together the episodes. The first one is uploaded now and you can stream/download it and of course subscribe to the others on the Friends of Nevis site here, or on iTunes here.
I’ll be uploading the episodes weekly. The first one covers the lower part of the glen and in it I talk to Cubby Cuthbertson about almost falling down Five Finger Gully above this part of the glen, Mick Tighe about the first winter ascent of one of Scotland’s longest gullies - Surgeon’s Gully - and how it got it’s name, archaeologist Jennie Robertson about the remains of ancient clan settlements you can find hereabouts if you know where to look and geologist and climber Noel Williams about the upside down geology of the Mamores range of mountains.
By the way if you would like to show your appreciation for this (free) production, the best way would be to make a wee donation to the charity on the Friends of Nevis site here (button at bottom of page). Every year they build the excellent paths you walk on the Ben and in the Glen, remove and carry literally tons of rubbish from these places and work to improve the facilities and the landscape generally. It’s pretty good work!


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