CAMP - US? ASHTONISHING!

Well, who would have thought it? Nicola said that up to 15 people could meet outdoors for organised exercise. It was a bit of a stretch to suggest that what we were doing was actually exercise, or, even more improbably, organised. Some passers-by looked a little askance at us, but we were not arrested by the Covid Cops, so we must have been within the law.

Organised, or not, we were ready for a walk together and everyone turned up at the campus ready to get going.

As with every walk we ever do, there was a lot of milling about beside the cars as we wait for the last people to turn up. We almost never leave anyone behind.

There was a little bit of a delay, so Susan decided that she would try and start a line-dancing class.

Nobody else joined in!

The cause of the delay turned up soon enough, in the form of Sue and Charlie!

Then, we were off. Charlie and Jacque, perfectly in step as if they were on the way to a rally at Nuremburg.

Although we were not super organised we weren't exactly like headless chickens, or swans. Our guides, Pam and Hugh knew where we going.

No swanning about for us.

Here we are walking over the railway line, blissfully unaware that we have just passed over a huge amount of archaeology. At almost the start of the new road we are walking on, there was a prehistoric settlement, with evidence of pottery and flint working. There is also evidence of later Bronze Age/Iron Age occupation. Some of this is thought to be contemporary with Pictish remains found nearby on the campus.  You just never know what lies below. 

Our new bridge was not the only crossing of the railway line. The metal structure is an aqueduct and it carries a burn, which runs from away up in Milton of Leys, under the A9, across this aqueduct and then out by the Retail Park and into the Firth.

The stone bridge beyond that does not seem to come from or go to anywhere. Nor is it attributed with any historical value in the usual places. All I can think of is that is associated with Stoneyfield House, which sits close to Howdens Garden Centre. The usefulness of the bridge would have ceased when the A9 was built. Stoneyfield House was built about 1790. The name Stoneyfield derives from the nearby Scretan Burn - which flows just past our and Hugh and Pam's houses. The Gaelic name is Sgriodain, which means stony ravine. The old name for Stoneyfield is sgriodain-sgrad. The sgrad part is of unknown origin, but the Stoneyfield area was a regular and popular site used by travelling people.

I thought for a moment that Hugh and Pam had organised lunch, but I was to be bitterly disappointed. What would the nearby Neolithic, Pictish and travelling people have thought of a drive through Burger King?

Some socially distant waiting around due to a toilet stop in Tesco and a decision to take the A96 route rather than the car park way. 

The social distancing went out the window when Maureen opened up the sweeties.

Hugh tries to track down the lost dinosaurs.

I spent the time taking photos of pussy willow. This is one of the first signs of spring. These are, despite the name, the male catkins of the goat willow. Before they fully form flowers they are covered in this grey fur which is said to resemble cat's fur.

It seems that branches of pussy willow were used in place of palm fronds at Easter time as palms don't grow in Northern Europe. They still are used in many Eastern European countries, such as Ukraine.

Once we were joined by the wayward women from Tesco, we were able to head up Ashton Farm Lane. Where the Lane joins the A96, it crosses our old friend the Scretan Burn. Not much of a rocky ravine by this time.

Off we go up the lane.

More signs of spring

A baby Monkey Puzzle tree. I was asked by my walking partners at the time, Maureen and Agnes to find out why these are called Monkey Puzzle trees. Well, that was an interesting rabbit hole to disappear down.

As I'm sure you all know, this is sometimes called the Chilean Pine and is a native of South America. The scientific name is araucaria araucana. The Araucana derives from the South American native peoples who live on the nuts of the tree. They produce large nuts, very similar to pine nuts. It has even been suggested that they could be grown commercially in the Highlands for that reason. A group of 6 female and 1 male trees would produce several thousand seeds in a year. The cones fall to the ground, so harvesting is easy. However, they don't produce seeds until they are 30 to 40 years old, so the upfront costs and the long wait, means nobody has taken up this exciting commercial opportunity.

As for the name. Are you excited?

The trees started to be grown in this country about 1850, and then, only rarely. One young specimen was owned by Sir William Molesworth at Pencarrow Garden in Bodmin, Cornwall. He was showing it to a group of his friends when one, the noted barrister Benthamist Charles Austin remarked that it would puzzle a monkey to climb that. The trees did not have a popular name at that time and monkey puzzle stuck.

What about the men mentioned?

Sir William Molesworth was a Radical politician living between 1810 and 1855. He served in government despite being a Radical. The Radicals were republicans who wished to widen suffrage to the likes of common people like us and even women. He also wanted to see the colonies govern themselves. He was sent down from Trinity College, Cambridge for fighting a duel with his tutor! He was a member of the London Electrical Society. This was dedicated to allowing amateur electricians to dabble in this new science. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. He died without children and the Baronetcy passed to his cousin. His family probably thought that apt, as he had married a singer of lowly birth, of whom they most certainly disapproved.

Benthamist Charles Austin - what a name. At least, that is what I thought. His name was actually Charles Austin and he was a lawyer and a Benthamist! He was exceedingly rich as he was a lawyer investing in the massive expansion of railways in the 1840's. This turned out to be a stock market bubble. Huge numbers of railway schemes were granted approval by Parliament. Investors piled in, increasing the value of shares. More investors piled in pushing the price to unsustainable levels. A third of the schemes were never built and share values collapsed. Charles made a fortune, though. He was thought to be making up to £100,000 a year in the 1840's - over £10million at today's value.

Finally, before you all fall asleep - what is a Benthamist? A follower of Jeremy Bentham, of course. He was an atheist philosopher with some very radical ideas. Equal rights for women, freedom of expression and the decriminalising of homosexual acts. He never married, but he did court a great many women, apparently. He wanted the abolition of slavery, capital punishment and physical punishment of children. His axiom was that it was the happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.

Sounds like he was woke before his time.

The things you can learn because of a simple monkey puzzle tree.

Whilst we were contemplating the monkey puzzle, a sheep wandered over for a drink. Maureen has a, frankly bizarre, idea that sheep look demonic, or at least some of them do. I can't see it myself. They do seem to be particularly dozy creatures. Who counts devils to try and go to sleep. The very thought would keep you awake.

This one seems positively somnambulant. 

Once at the top of Ashton Farm Lane, we head further uphill via Tower Brae North. Tower Brae has been cut by Tower Road and is now split into Tower Brae North and South. The Road and the Brae are named after the Tower at the end of Tower Brae North. The tower itself is actually called Raigmore Tower and dates from the early 19th Century. It was built as a folly with commanding views over the surrounding countryside.

We crossed the Highland Railway Line. This section of the line is a little unusual in that most of the line is single track and northbound and southbound trains are timed to arrive at stations at the same time to take advantage of very short sections of double track. This is not the original route of the line from Perth to Inverness. The line originally went via Forres until the Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway opened in 1898. This new line includes the Culloden Viaduct, which at 1800 feet in length is the longest railway viaduct in Scotland.

Looking back towards Inverness. An interesting fact is that the sleeper from Inverness to London becomes the longest locomotive hauled passenger train in the UK, once it joins up with sections from Fort William and Aberdeen. It comprises 16 passenger coaches.

Here we go downhill on Caulfield Road. I think I may have mentioned this before and if anyone was paying attention, they can let me know, but it should be Caulfeild Road. All the Caulfeilds in this area are named for Major, later Lieutenant Colonel, William Caulfeild, who built many more miles of road and bridges than the more famous General Wade. He built Cradlehall House, which still stands today. He is thought to have spent up to £9000 on roads up to 1747. That would barely fill a pothole these days.

We are heading back to the Campus. Of course, this is not the only campus of the University of the Highlands and Islands. It is unique in Scotland and one of only a few tertiary institutions in Europe. It has 13 campuses throughout the Highlands and Islands, Moray and Perthshire. it has over 40000 students. The 13 campuses are recognised in the University coat of arms, which depicts 13 hazel leaves, one for each campus. Hazel is associated with learning and wisdom in Celtic culture and mythology.

We were naturally interested in learning.

Learning what goodies Pam had made for us all for our afternoon tea, in fact. Indeed, it may have been the promise of sticky cakes that ensured a full turnout.

Hugh and Pam had ensured that there would be adequate socially distanced seating available for us in their outdoor restaurant and we soon settled in.

Some of us were better at judging 2 metres than others.

It was all very convivial, although it was a bit open and everyone could count how often we might have got up for another cake or biscuit.

This was Maureen's fourth time.

Some people even had solid silver flasks and china mugs for their Earl Grey.

Once we had all eaten our fill and sipped our tea, it was time to say goodbye and head for home. It had been a great first walk this year and also the first for months. Having said that, it was very easy just to pick up as if we had been doing this for years.

Oh! Wait, we have!

I expect we'll be doing it for a few years to come.

Thanks to Hugh and Pam for organising everything and a special thanks to Pam for the fine cakes and biscuits.