Thursday notes

Brilliantly sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. Only some wispy clouds over the Applecross Forest - a range of mountains 60 miles to our southeast. It's chucking it down over northern England and Northern Ireland again.

Bad news for outdoor enthusiasts in Scotland. Landowner Anne Gloag, who owns a castle and grounds in Perthshire, has won the right to ban walkers from her estate. She is well known as the founder of the Stagecoach bus empire. Mrs Gloag erected 7 ft high fencing on her lands for the purposes of security.

Under the Scottish Land Reform Act of 2001 (and please don't quote me), walkers have a right to roam, provided they don't interfere with the workings of those who own the land. Scottish Natural Heritage have published a countryside access code. Mrs Gloag didn't want any of that, and challenged the Right to Roam in Perth Sherriff Court. Which has now ruled in her favour. The Sherriff in question, berated the representative of the Ramblers' Association Scotland for 'provoking' the issue by deliberately walking in the grounds of the castle. The Ramblers now have 28 days to appeal, which they are more than likely to do.

Here in Lewis, I have run into a similar problem on the Morsgail Estate, some 20 miles west of here. Before he fell to his death off a ladder at the end of 2004, the then owner vociferously discouraged walkers from following an age-old route, which links the districts of Uig and North Harris via the (now abandoned) village of Kinloch Résort. When I went that way in March 2005, I encountered the new estate owner. He stopped his vehicle for a chat, and I asked him if it was OK to walk in the area. He said yes, I could walk anywhere I liked. Which I did.

I just don't understand why this "my home is my bunker" mentality has to be exported north of the border, when a perfectly feasible working arrangement (do not disturb, basically) is already in place.

Tags: right to roam