Hills of the North, Rejoice

This new title is a collection of evocative accounts of journeys through the landscape and seasons of the remote and beautiful Far North of Scotland. The book is based on material from the column ’Out and About with Ralph’ which has appeared in the ’Caithness Courier’ over many years and is illustrated with delightful drawings by Moira Webster.

Ralph’s exploits, on foot and by bike, take you through the lesser-known parts of the Scottish Highlands and Islands in sunshine and in storm, as well as occasionally to Northern England and even the Alps. From Millennium night on a mountain top to swimming all the lochs in Caithness, from the West Highland Way in January to the wild flowers of July, the book is well summarised in Ralph’s motto: Live adventurously! The book is a must for anyone who loves the outdoors and especially the Highlands of Scotland.

Reviews of this book

On a long, hot drive north of over 400 miles, tired and with a headache, I turned off the main road for a break. Here was a secret little bay with golden sands, seals sunbathing on rocks, caves, thyme growing in the short grass, a little waterfall. The fresh sea air soon cleared the cobwebs and after half an hour I was revived enough to continue. Three small children were just leaving the beach on their way home for tea. The oldest was a girl of perhaps six, with a boy of four, both with little dogs on leads. Behind trotted a wee boy of at most two. They were talking quietly, happily, along the sunny lane between high banks of July grasses and flowers. Of such is the kingdom of heaven!

Central Sutherland. Here the vast Fountain Forestry plantations finally give out into the high, remote, flow country. August now, most of the birds have flown, the moors are quiet. The wetter areas, with deep peat and dubh-loch, look much as they would at any time in the last few thousand years. Here too is a strange, circular pit in the peat, perhaps ten feet across and as deep, with a stony bottom. Fall in there and you¹d never get out again... The drier slopes would naturally be covered in birch and willow, as witnessed by a small wooded island in a loch where the native trees have been protected from browsing deer. An enticing objective for a morning swim! The little island bore a dense undergrowth, completely unlike the bare country around the loch and precluding much exploration. Over the whole vast area, the insects were king. Clegs homed in all the time, flies buzzed, midges gathered downwind. For hour after hour I cycled, long dusty tracks through endless plantations, August sun beating down, insects attacking whenever I stopped. It could have been Finland or Canada.

In the recent days of beating sun, Caithness and Sutherland could rival anywhere in the world for sunbathing. On a hot Bank Holiday, with a breeze to disperse the insects, the sandy beaches of Loch More could not be bettered anywhere, the distant mountains and flow-country horizons sharp under the dark blue sky, the warm peaty water ideal for swimming. Yet there were only a couple of families on the whole beach.

The flowers on the Dunnet Links have been particularly spectacular this year. It¹s not well known that some of the best displays are across the road from the carpark halfway along the beach, just over the fence. A few weeks ago the breeze carried the perfume of thickly growing scented orchids, now the harebells are at their best, a blue haze across the grass. Even the common eyebrights make a fine display, while the area is studded with grass of parnassus like daisies. Look closely at the grass and it’s almost all flowers!

After a sweaty afternoon at work and a hot ride back to Thurso a dip in the sea, off the campsite, seemed a good idea. The tide was a long way out and I paddled across sand below the rocks, noticing the occasional flatfish dart away under the water. Then I trod on something very sharp. I looked, annoyed with myself for not wearing something to protect my feet against broken glass and the like, but couldn’t see any damage. After swimming just a few strokes my foot began to hurt, so I retreated to the beach. There was a tiny hole in the sole but it looked nothing, nevertheless it got more and more painful as I hobbled back to the bike and pedalled off. Something had stung me. Within ten minutes it felt like my foot was immersed in boiling water; fortunately the pain then gradually dissipated with no after-effects. A small stingray, lying in the sand below the low-tide mark, perhaps? One should always wear light footwear when swimming out-of-doors!

A lovely clear, early morning at Murkle bay, low tide, creels stranded on the sand with crabs inside. Groatie-buckies in the shell sand, fossil fishes in broken rocks to the east, the blue oyster-plant rambling over slabby rocks to the west. Tiny waves lap onto the beach, the cliffs of Dunnet Head and Hoy glow in the sun. Dense grass grows around the headlands. A bit of scrambling is needed to get along the shore; in one place you can crawl, if you’re slim enough, through a hole in the rocks like the eye of a needle. Easy slabby rocks and beaches then lead all the way to Castletown. Rock pools and anemones, a hundred varieties of seaweed. Two very large, and very dead, seals. A tern shrieks. Meanwhile traffic hurtles at 60 mph along the main road to Thurso, just half a mile away.

Another early morning, fog has rolled in from the sea but our hill is an island above it, looking much as it will if and when global warming melts the Antarctic ice-cap. I pedal down into the cold damp fog, a white fog-bow ahead before the sun fades. Further west it’s clearing, sun reflects off the windscreen of an oncoming tractor to illuminate intervening mist like a lighthouse beam. It’s already clear and sunny; at Dounreay it will be a long, hot day.

IF you are keen to get off the beaten track in Caithness, and elsewhere in the Highlands, then you should look to Ralph MacGregor for inspiration. The popular Caithness Courier columnist has just published Hills of the North, Rejoice! (£14.95, softback, Curlew Cottage Books) and, for those who want to explore the wonderful diversity of landscape that can be found in the Far North, this is one to buy.

Ralph takes his motto "live adventurously" to the limit in Scotland and will tackle precarious routes in all sorts of weather with an enthusiasm for the great outdoors which is shared by all those Prepared to camp in the rain when they could be sitting in a warm room at home with their feet up, watching EastEnders, a glass of their favourite tipple in hand.

If, on the other hand, you wish to live the outdoor life vicariously, then this is a book for you as well.

It's difficult not to get caught up in Ralph's journeys as he tramps and cycles adventurously through some of the most remote and most beautiful of locations. His love of the landscape, its flora and fauna, its history and its weather is evident on every page and if you do insist on experiencing this world second-hand then there's no-one better to guide you through it than Ralph.

His attitude is one of "can do" rather than "won't do", and he is constantly bemused by those of us who never venture anywhere except by car and who are unaware that just a few miles out of the town or village is a place wild beauty where nature rules Supreme and there's a challenge round every corner - or on every hill, in Ralph's case.

It's not even as if he's very fit, he maintains. "I've always been utterly useless at team Sports or anything involving catching, kicking or hitting bouncy objects. If I take part in an real athletic event, like the Wick triathlon or Caithness half marathon, finish last or near the back of the field.

"Swimming - that's another area, where people sometimes question my sanity I simply like outdoor swimming, in the lochs and the sea when the weather isn't too cold. I've no layers of fat to provide insulation so can't stay in for long, but again, swimming outdoors is another way of appreciating this amazing creation we are part of.

"My swimming is slow and inelegant, less than half the speed of the keen members of the swimming club, but so what? It's another nice way of getting about.

"Surely if anybody is mad it's those who ruin their health through lack of exercise, overeating, smoking, alcohol or drugs. Surely those who tour by car totally insulated from the environment, are deluded when they think they've seen the countryside.

"Surely it's mad to sit watching soap operas or drinking in a pub when you could be out watching the sunset, or fishing the loch, or listening to the greenshanks over the moor.

"Surely those fortunate enough to have full use of their arms and legs or eyes are mad not to use them walking, running, cycling or swimming instead of adopting a lifestyle which could be lived by the disabled or a man or woman in their eighties. "Somehow I don't think many people will agree with me..."

Maybe they won't, but there's something refreshing about someone who's prepared to live life to the full and take every opportunity to discover more about the wilderness around him. For Ralph's treks into the hills are not always carefully~planned expeditions. Instead they can be impromptu outings inspired by nothing more than having a spare day

Take the time he had 24 hours to kill from being in Crianlarich to having to be in Edinburgh. Instead of driving straight to the capital city and spending the night in an hotel he decided to climb two peaks above Lochearnhead.

According to him, the rain was light but persistent. But it did manage to damage a camera by seeping through a case and several layers of polythene, so perhaps that weather description errs on the side of generous. In the end he didn't quite make it all the way up. But never mind, Edinburgh awaited.

Now faced with some spare time in Edinburgh, I would have indulged in some retail therapy - but then I'm not Ralph. And anyway, why stay in an hotel when there's a perfectly good tent in the car and the Pentland Hills on which to pitch it? He says: "It always pays to be adventurous. Two (nearly) Munros, a walk over the highest tops of the Pentland Hills and a good night's sleep in a tent amid the ring-ouzels and curlews had been far more rewarding than a wander round the shops and an expensive night under the tame roof of some luxurious guest house or hotel."

There's always an opportunity for some cycling or walking if you're Ralph. An invitation to a committee meeting in a bothy in the wilds of Wester Ross is naught but a train ride to Dingwall and a twisting cycle through Strathconon. It meant two nights away from home for a Saturday evening meeting but was well worth the trip or maybe it was the trip itself that was the best bit and the meeting just an excuse to make it.

You've got to admire the man. He cycles happily around Caithness following obscure trails, swims in hidden lochans in indifferent weather and hikes through rain, wind and snow to reach some of the country's most awe-inspiring landscapes.

With such enthusiasm for the great outdoors, how about completing the much-followed John O'Groats to Land's End route? Ralph admits it's a possibility but only if he could take the quiet roads and cycleways. This from the man who decided to do the West Highland Way but in the depths of winter to make it a bit more of a challenge.

With Ralph's light and entertaining style of writing, Hills of the North, Rejoice! a collection of articles drawn from the many published in the Courier over the years - is an appealing book into which you can dip occasionally, like the author in his hidden lochs, or read from cover to cover. Either way, with its entertaining tales and evocative sketches by Moira Webster; as well as a few of Ralph's own photos, it's got a lot to offer.

It's a combination of personal anecdote, travelogue and guidebook with a touch of county promotion thrown in. And the enthusiasm almost seeps from the pages.

Personally, I think the tourist board should employ Ralph to market the great outdoors of the Far North. Or, failing that, send out copies of this book to all who express an interest in walking, cycling or even birdwatching in the Highlands. There's no better advert for the area.

In fact, the book even includes a list of lochs and lochans in which it is possible to swim, and details of the Caithness coastal walk and how to get round some of the county's important archaeological sites by bike.

But even more importantly, I suspect that if the book inspires just one person to get up and explore the area in which they live, and maybe make their way round that coastal walk, Ralph will be a very happy man.