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“Who possesses this landscape?
The man who bought it or I who am possessed by it?”

– Norman MacCaig, A Man in Assynt

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Sandwood Bay . Without question I had one of the b

Sandwood Bay
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Without question I had one of the best days in memory on Friday. @_mermaid, @ckkiely, @wallithewalrus, @gav_inh and I travelled to the very north west of Scotland for a four mile hike out to one of the best beaches in the UK, mayyyyybe THE best.
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I’ve wanted to explore Sandwood for years. During that time it has become much more famous, but an even more important place to my family, after my cousin, @duncanchisholm, regularly regarded as one of the best fiddle players in the world, spent a year travelling to it in all seasons, lights and weathers while composing his award-winning album Sandwood. Going felt like a pilgrimage, for that reason amongst others, which makes perfect sense because Duncan’s album’s opening track is called exactly that.
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As you might expect, it’s Sandwood’s history that equally stirs my heart. Sandwood has been known to humans for millennia. A Pictish settlement’s ruins are nearby and indeed this part of Sutherland is thought to have been the earliest inhabited area of this part of what is now Scotland. Vikings, sailing around Cape Wrath from Scandanavia, would stop here and drag their longboard across the beach and into the loch behind the beach.
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The first maps of this area were made in the 17th century and describe the land as an "extreem wilderness" through which wolves roamed. As you beat the path across the brown and green peat moor, you understand why. You pass lochans and hillocks, desperate for a peek of beach or coast. Just when you think you’ll never seen them, you’re on a hilltop above them, and as you look down upon the dunes and the shore, your heart leaves your chest. Photos do it no justice. The white-pink sand is glorious and the sea so green that they belay the truth about this place, that it’s as savage as it is beautiful. Below the sand and in the bay are myriad shipwrecks, a WW2 spitfire and supposedly a Spanish galleon laden with gold and treasure.
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#sandwoodbay #beach #scotland #sutherland #highlands #visitscotland #scotspirit #thisisscotland #lovescotland #insta_scotland #hiddenscotland #loves_scotland
#ig_scotland #ScotlandIsNow #scotlandsbeauty #unlimitedscotland #takeninscotland

Loch of the Island . Set amongst the glorious Scot

Loch of the Island
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Set amongst the glorious Scots pines of Rothiemurchus Forest, Loch an Eilein (‘loch of the island’) is one of my favourite places in Scotland. The dark waters engulf several secrets, not least the ruins of a simple but stunning castle ruin which it is said was once home to The Wolf of Badenoch, and if that’s not the best title/name you’ve heard today I’ll be stunned!
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Another of the loch’s secrets is fabled to be a zig-zaging underwater causeway which linked the castle’s island to the shore, but no evidence has ever been found. The loch’s water level was raised after a dam was built in the 1700s and it is possible this explains the hidden path.
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Rothiemurchus Forest itself is one of the last remnants of the Caledonian Forest, which was Scotland’s ancient temperate rainforest. 7,000 years ago this forest was at its most impressive, covering huge swathes of Scotland, estimated to be around 15,000 km2 (which is around 1/5th of all of Scotland’s 80,000 km2 mainland and island land). Nowadays it covers just 180 km2. Tales from the times of Wallace and Bruce suggest the Forest was still significant 700 years ago, with both having reportedly hidden in parts of it during their times ‘underground’. As you might expect, the Forest has been lost due to human impacts for thousands of years. Grazing effects of sheep and deer haven’t helped but industry and changing climate have been huge contributors.
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It goes without saying that we have a vital duty to protect beautiful parts of Scotland, but also the remnants of ancient ones. What remains of the Caledonian Forest is the result of 9,000 years of Scots pine evolution, and it is extremely previous. Our lochs, castles, Cairngorms and country are precious too.
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#scotland #lochaneilein #castle #aviemore #highlands #visitscotland #scotspirit #thisisscotland #lovescotland #insta_scotland #hiddenscotland #cairngorms #loves_scotland
#ig_scotland #ScotlandIsNow #scotlandsbeauty #unlimitedscotland #takeninscotland #great_wide_somewhere #simplyscotland #scotlandmagazine #thescottishcollective

“The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordin

“The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty. And yet our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise. In the last few millennia we have made the most astonishing and unexpected discoveries about the Cosmos and our place within it, explorations that are exhilarating to consider. They remind us that humans have evolved to wonder, that understanding is a joy, that knowledge is prerequisite to survival. I believe our future depends on how well we know this Cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky.”
- Carl Sagan
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After climbing Mayar’s 928 meters with my soulmate and friends, Beth and I had to pose for the obligatory ‘we made it’ photo. Truth be told the true beauty of climbing Mayar and Dreish is in the hike to and through Corrie Fee, which you do before ascending the Munro. We lucked out with the day but I can’t imagine any weather which would dampen Glen Clova’s charms.
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With great thanks to @wallithewalrus for snapping this one of us. Go check out his beautiful account 😍
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#corriefee #mayar #scotland #visitscotland #hiddenscotland #roamresponsibly #exploretocreate #livefolk #visualsoflife #vscocollective #vsco #stayandwander #folkgood #travelstoke #lifeofadventure #master_shots #ig_today #adventurethatislife #instascotland #folkscenery #artofvisuals #insta_scotland #igmasters #visualscollective #oftheafternoon #landscape #landscapephotography

Where is the True Stone? . Have you heard of the S

Where is the True Stone?
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Have you heard of the Stone of Destiny? It’s what the Kings of Scotland were coronated on. This tradition came from the Kings of Dál Riata (one of the three kingdoms that would later make up Scotland/Alba), who used it in this fashion first. In fact, it’s highly likely the stone has been used for coronations for 1500+ years. After arriving (from Ireland) on the Isle of Iona, where 48 early Scottish kings are now buried, it was moved to the mainland due to the frequency of Viking raids.
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It was stolen from Scone Palace, near Perth, in 1296, by Edward I of England (the ‘baddie’ in Braveheart) to help legitimise his power grab of Scotland during the ‘Scottish Wars of Independence’ (caused by the untimely death of the last and most obvious in-line for the throne, a six year-old princess who died sailing from Norway to take up the crown - but that’s a story for another day).
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Taken as a spoil of war to Westminster Abbey, it has been used for English/UK coronations ever since. It was returned to Scotland in 1996, as a gesture, but will be called upon for future coronations.
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The stone was stolen from the Abbey by 4x Scottish nationalists in 1950. This is also a great story, but not the one I’m telling. After accidentally breaking it, the stone was returned four months later.
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I was taught that Stone of Destiny was either a black meteorite, or possibly marble. It was used because it was special; it was unique, unlike anything else around. I’ve heard myth that it may even have been 'Jacob’s (biblical) pillow’. The stone that Edward I stole was not like that though. It’s a simple sandstone block. There are those who believe that Scone Palace swapped the ‘true stone’ for a local sandstone block and that Edward knew no better.
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I grew up hearing Nigel Tranter type tales that the Knights Templar, or nationalists, or secret keepers of some sort, had the ‘true stone’ hidden.. That’s why, when I visit remote and beautiful places, like Corrie Fee, I almost automatically imagine ‘what if’ the ‘true stone’ is or was here... I let my mind wander, picturing it hidden in a lost glen, covered by a vine curtain, or behind a waterfall.......

From the bottom of the deepest ocean trench to the

From the bottom of the deepest ocean trench to the top of the highest mountain, the zone that covers nearly the whole of known, intelligent life in our *entire* universe is just 20km thick (99.5% of which humans can't survive in). 20km in the infiniteness of the cosmos 😳
I say all this to remind us all that we're so fortunate to be here. To be together.
I hope you’ve had an amazing week and that your weekend is a belter.
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Photo by @wallithewalrus, who can take a better photo than anyone you know. If you don’t follow him, TRUST ME, sort it out 😎
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#visitscotland #pentlands #breakwater #scotland #hiddenscotland #ourplanetdaily #goexplore #modernoutdoors #scotland #ig_captures #artofvisuals #discoverearth #thegreatoutdoors #natureaddict #earthfocus #livewild #visualsoftheearth #vsco #natgeotravel #folkcreative #letsgosomewhere #liveauthentic #visualsoflife #keepitwild #wildernessculture #roamresponsibly

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