The China Penguin

waddling from rice fields to ice fields

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Life in Walkdown - Rough Castle

Another in my Life in Walkdown series of blog posts - this time featuring Rough Castle in Bonnybridge

Autumn at Rough Castle, Bonnybridge During much of the past twelve months we have been limited to travelling in our own local authority area, and at some points during that period, been told to stay as close to home as possible. As a result, most of my walking in that time has been done in places that I have also had to reach on foot. I have called this time ‘walkdown’ (short for ‘walking in…

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Life in Walkdown - Denny Reservoirs

Another in my Life in Walkdown series of blog posts - this time, the Denny Reservoirs

For much of 2020 travel was restricted to one’s local area and so many of my walks during ‘lockdown’, as it was called, took place within a relatively short distance, in fact mostly walking distance, from home. A few of my walks in lockdown – or ‘walkdown’ as I came to call it – took me up to the reservoirs above Denny: Little Denny Reservoir and Drumbowie Reservoir. Little Denny Reservoir,…

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Life in Walkdown - Dales Wood

Life in Walkdown - a meander around Dales Wood

Dales Wood, near Denny In a poll organised by the Ramblers Association in 2019, Falkirk was voted Britain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood. It’s easy to see why (and yes I’ll admit to a little bias!) as there are over 600km of well-signposted paths, Roman heritage sites, two major canals, many areas of woodland and, of course, the Falkirk Wheel, the Helix Park and the Kelpies. (I see another series…

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Life in Walkdown - Chacefield Wood

Life in Walkdown - a meander round Chacefield Wood

With travel restrictions still in place as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic many people, myself included, have taken to exploring their local area, often on foot. I have called these local excursions ‘walkdown’. This is the fourth in a series of blog posts about some of the places I’ve visited on my local meanders. Today’s location is Chacefield Wood, near Denny. Situated between Bonnybridge…

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Life in Walkdown - Bonnyfield Nature Reserve

Another blog post in my Life in Walkdown seires - this time it's Bonnyfield Nature Reserve

During those months when travel was restricted, the use of public transport discouraged and people encouraged to stay at home apart from one bout of exercise outdoors each day, a period known as ‘lockdown’, I explored a fair bit of my local area on foot. I termed this experience ‘walkdown’ and decided to blog about some of the places I visited. This post is the third in the series and features…

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Life in Walkdown - Seabegs Wood

Life in Walkdown – Seabegs Wood

During the recent restrictions on travel I have been exploring my local area on foot, an experience for which I have coined the term ‘walkdown’. I have also started to create a series of blog posts as a record of my walks; this is the second in the series and features Seabegs Wood, near Bonnybridge.

Seabegs Wood, to the west of Bonnybridge, is the site of part of the Antonine Wall, built by…

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Life in Walkdown - Banknock Railway Path

Life in Walkdown – Banknock Railway Path

Since travel restrictions were imposed in March 2020 and we entered a period that became known as ‘lockdown’, all my walking activities have taken place within about a two-to-three mile radius of my home. I have coined the term ‘walkdown’ for this exploration of my local area. I hope to create a series of blog posts where I can share some of the local scenery that has been my world for the past…

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Coast to Coast - Part 2

Coast to Coast walk - Part 2

Earlier this year, in February to be precise, I set out on a project to walk the length of the Forth and Clyde Canal from east to west. I had previously walked the length of the Canal from west to east in late summer, but this year’s walk was intended to take place in the spring of 2020.

The first leg was undertaken on 12th February and is documented in my earlier Coast to Coast blog post. Part…

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Coast to Coast - Part 1

Coast to Coast – Part 1

Between August and November 2018 I walked the length of the Forth and Clyde Canal (in a number of short stages) from Bowling to Carron Lock. Since then, I’ve been intending to repeat the walk in a different season of the year and also to do it from east to west. Well, earlier this week I started out on that quest.

I took a bus into Falkirk and another over to the Helix Park from where I walked…

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Blackness and the Bridges

Blackness and the Bridges

One of our Ramblers walks in January started and ended in Abercorn, West Lothian and took us past Hopetoun House, along the River Forth foreshore with views of Blackness Castle and past a small settlement called Society. Our return route brought us back past Midhope Castle, which seems to have gained some recent prominence as one of the filming locations for Outlander.

The different locations we…

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Alloa

Our first Wednesday walk of 2020 with Cumbernauld & Kilsyth Ramblers was a pleasant, if occasionally muddy, walk in Alloa.

What a difference, though, in the weather compared to yesterday’s walk! Tuesday’s rain was replaced by blue skies and, although it was a few degrees colder, this was no great hardship.

Our route took us past Alloa Tower and later afforded good views of Clackmannan Tower (see…

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Broadwood Loch

Our first Ramblers Tuesday walk of 2020 took us from Condorrat to St Maurice’s Pond and then around Broadwood Loch (pictured).

It was wet! Although, to be fair, it was mild for the first week in January and the rain did ease off towards the end of the walk. (File that under the ‘every cloud has a silver lining’ category.)

There was quite a bit of birdlife on the Loch, however the gloomy…

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Hello 2020!

Brought in the New Year at Stirling Castle, watching the wonderful fireworks display in the company of some of my cousins.

It was a spectacular show (photos don’t do it justice) and the Hogmanay entertainment by the Treacherous Orchestra was pretty good too.

The rest of the year is a blank canvas. Here’s hoping it’s a good one for everyone.

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The Beast from the East

The Beast from the East

It was near the beginning of February when some amateur meteorologists noted that Sudden Stratospheric Warming might occur towards the end of the month and the beginning of March, bringing severe wind chill and heavy snow to the UK. Sure enough, around 27th February it started snowing and by 28th February / 1st March Central Scotland was in the grip of what became known as the ‘Beast from the…

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Lights, Camera, Action!

February was a month that took me (among other places) from the House for an Art Lover in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, to the Scottish Snowdrop Festival display at Gargunnock House, near Stirling. Add on several visits to Plean Country Park, between Larbert and Stirling, as leader of a Ramblers’ walk there, and a glorious day with friends walking along the Hermitage of Braid path and up Blackford…

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White, Yellow and Amber

January always seems the longest month. Short days and long, dark nights without December’s distraction of the anticipation and excitement (or the busy-ness) of Christmas, January just seems to go on and on. Yes, other months also have 31 days, but these 31 days just passed seem to have gone on for ages. January 2018 was particularly notable for the snow and ice that brought much of the country…

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Picture, Picture On The Wall

Had a short weekend break in Aberdeen in early January; a chance to relax and recharge the personal batteries. Inspired by the excellent and extensive displays of murals in Glasgow, which I had spent much of 2017 seeking out and visiting, I did an internet search to see if Aberdeen had something similar and discovered to my surprise and delight that there was a whole festival devoted to them.…

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