I just encountered my first via ferrata on a walking holiday in the Dolomites and loved it! Are there any in Britain? Tony Murombe  

 Andrew McCloy: Via ferrata is Italian for ‘iron road’ and describes an adventurous, mountainous route with fixed ladders, bridges and cables. Although popular on the Continent, there are only a handful in Britain – the oldest being the Elie Chain Walk on the Fife Coastal Path. It consists of a series of eight chains strung along the lower slopes of a sea cliff, some almost vertical. And although only 500 metres long, it’s an exciting scramble, plus it’s free of charge and self-guided – unlike the two existing via ferratas in England. One at Honister in the Lake District follows the cliff-edge path once trod by slate miners across the steep slopes of Fleetwith Pike. Open year-round, it includes ladders and old mineshaft tunnels, and takes two-to-three hours to complete in a small led group (visit www.honister-slate-mine.co.uk). There’s also an instructor-led route at How Stean Gorge Outdoor Centre in Nidderdale, in the Yorkshire Dales, which involves scrambling and even abseiling through a narrow gorge via ladders and beams (visit www.howstean.co.uk).

I walk most days, but have developed plantar fasciitis, or policeman’s heel. What can I do to alleviate the condition? Philip Jefferies  

 Dr Helen Crawley: Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the ligament that joins your heel to the middle of your foot. It causes pain under the heel, which is often worse when you first get up or during a long walk. Fortunately, within a year it usually gets better by itself. In the meantime, rest your foot and take painkillers or rub non-steroidal anti-inflammatory gels on your heel. An ice pack wrapped in a towel held to your heel for 20 minutes might also relieve the pain. Do only short, gentle walks, and wear cushioned lace-up shoes. Your chemist or a chiropodist can recommend heel pads and arch supports, which should be worn in both shoes. Cut a hole in the heel pad at the site of your pain. Stretching exercises can also help (visit www.patient.co.uk/health/Plantar-Fasciitis.htm). If your problem doesn’t improve, consult your GP who may offer steroid injections, extracorporeal shock wave therapy, night-time splints, or surgery.

What advice can you give on walking with my dog over farmland where animals are grazing? How should I react if they approach or threaten to charge us? Mr and Mrs Smith  

 Emily Shaw: Walkers with dogs need to take particular caution when crossing through fields containing grazing animals. Section 1 of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 makes it an offence for a dog to be at large – defined as ‘not on a lead or otherwise under close control’ – in a field or enclosure containing sheep. The majority of attacks by livestock on walkers involve dogs or cows protecting their young, so make sure your dog is kept close to you, stick to the line of the path, and don’t get between a cow and its calf. Be prepared for cattle to approach; they will usually stop before reaching you. If not, just carry on quietly or try to find another way around, and do not run. Should a bull or cow come up very close, turn around to face it and take a couple of steps towards it, waving your arms and speak firmly. If you are charged or feel threatened, let the dog off the lead – it’s better that they go after your dog than you. You should report any incident of an attack to the landowner and the highway authority, and also the HSE (Health and Safety Executive), as well as the police if it’s serious.

I’m considering buying a Platypus. What sort would you recommend?  Rose Janes  

Minnie Burlton: Drinking small amounts, regularly, during longer walks will help to sustain your energy levels, so a Platypus is a good and convenient idea. Virtually all good daypacks now feature a storage sleeve with a route for a tube, making them compatible with the majority of hydration bladders on the market. The CamelBak Antidote or Source Widepac models work well. They’re made of materials with anti-microbial protection, which blocks bacterial growth, provides a purer plastic-free taste and requires less intensive cleaning. Both have a twist lock to prevent leakage, and are very easy to fill. You can also disconnect the hose from the bladder without leaking so you can top up without removing the tube from your pack.

All of the three-season boots you reviewed in the autumn edition have a waterproof lining, but I find it makes the boots smell terrible. Can you recommend any plain leather boots? Callum Johnston  

Minnie Burlton: I spoke to Richard Shepherd, footwear buyer at Ellis Brigham, who said: “Your feet can sweat about a pint a day. The stink caused by bacteria can be dealt with by drying properly after use, switching insoles regularly and by anti-bacterial sprays, but is no worse a problem in Gore-Tex lined boots than unlined leather boots. Using good Merino-based socks and changing them regularly can also help. You will need to treat unlined leather boots with a waterproofer, which can reduce the breathability anyway. However, the Meindl Borneo is a good unlined option.”

I sleep extremely badly after I’ve been out walking. I thought that spending the day out in the fresh air walking 10 miles would relax and tire me out. Should I be worried? Margaret Armitage  

 Dr Helen Crawley: A day spent walking in the fresh air often leads to a good night’s sleep and people who exercise regularly do sleep better. However, exercise-induced insomnia is a well-recognised problem. Your wakefulness could be caused by the excitement, exhilaration and physical stress of your walk. Excitement and stress lead to activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the production of chemicals within the body, which prepare the body and mind for action. Your heart pounds, your blood vessels dilate and energy is released for ‘fight or flight’. Try walking earlier in the day so that you’ve time to settle down before going to bed. Relaxation techniques can also help. Avoid caffeine, smoking and alcohol within six hours of bedtime and mentally demanding activities within 90 minutes. Your bedroom should only be used for sleep and sex so that your mind associates your bed with slumber. If you cannot get to sleep within 20-30 minutes, leave your bedroom and do something such as reading until you feel sleepy.

Send us your questions
Do you want an answer to a health, gear or legal question? Then write to us at walk, Ramblers, 2nd Floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW or email denise.noble@ramblers.org.uk with your name and address. Letters may be edited and may be included on this website. We are not able to acknowledge letters.

The writers of all letters published will win an Oasis Crewe top from Icebreaker, worth £52.95. This raglan long-sleeved top has a higher neck to trap in heat
and flat-sewn seams in the side gusset to keep you comfortable. Visit www.icebreaker.com.

If you are walking by the shore this winter look out for the small shellfish locally available; cockles, mussels and winkles can be enjoyed throughout the winter months too, but do be sure of your identification, ensure the foraged food is fresh and undamaged. If in doubt – leave it out! And remember, you are not allowed to dig up wild plants unless they are growing on someones land that you can ask permission from.

Sheila’s Winter 2011 Recipes

Preserved Horseradish

Horseradish root (pictured left)

Vinegar – white wine is best

Double cream

Horseradish root is usually picked late in the year once the leaves have died down following the first of the hard frosts. Dig up the large, often quite long, tap root and scrub clean before peeling. The root can then be grated, either by hand or in a food processor, then place immediately in a bowl and mix with sufficient vinegar to just cover.  If you leave the grated root too long out of the vinegar it will discolour and be unappetising. You can use it like this, keeping in the fridge for up to 6 months. To make a sauce just drain some of the horseradish off the vinegar and mix with double cream to serve. Watch out – it can be quite hot!

Jelly Ear Hash

Serves 2

6 – 8 Jelly Ears, depending on size

500g potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 onion, sliced

1 small pkt pancetta lardons

15g mixed dried mushrooms

1 clove of garlic, crushed

Stock for soaking

Rapeseed oil

Seasoning

First reconstitute the dried mushrooms by soaking in a little stock for several minutes then wash and thinly slice the Jelly Ears which can also be added to the stock.  Lightly par-boil the potatoes and drain well. In a large frying pan fry the onion and lardons until soft but not browned, add the potatoes and garlic to the pan together with the drained mushrooms, season to taste. Cook gently until the potatoes are nicely browned and the mushrooms cooked through.

Serve with a little mushroom or brown sauce sprinkled over for an extra bit of oomph! Or even better drizzle with a little truffle oil for a really impressive finish!

Click here for more recipes and wild food writing by Sheila Spence.

Where would you wake up on your perfect day?
I’d wake up at home in Highbury, London, have a walk on Hampstead Heath, and then have an agreeable lunch with a dozen friends. In the evening, we’d go to the Emirates Stadium and watch football.

Who’s the perfect walking companion?
My wife and children are great companions, but there’s always a delay in getting started with them. Whereas my dogs, a West Highland white and terrier cross, are always raring to go – they’re such enthusiasts.

You’ve been president of the Woodland Trust since 2004. How did that happen?
I made some enthusiastic remarks about trees and supported the charity on TV, so the chief executive asked me to come on board in a more regular way. Making me president bound me with hoops of steel, but I’ve no great formal powers: I plant a tree and speak at the odd occasion.

I went to last year’s opening of Heartwood Forest near St Albans – the largest new forest of broadleaf trees in England. And there’s nothing better than five minutes of TV ribbing to raise the Trust’s profile, such as when Jo Brand announced on QI that she was president of ‘Shut Up About the Woodland Trust Trust’. Being made fun of – that’s my contribution.

Could conservation organisations do more to harness celebrity support?
Really, the issue should speak for itself, but you do need someone people have heard of to get media attention. Having Princess Anne as the patron of the Trust’s Jubilee Woods project means the proposed 60 woods get into the local papers.

What should happen to England’s publicly owned woodland?
I think the proposed sell-off was a rush job for the Government, with a broad brush of gain, but rather more to it in the details. If the Forestry Commission estate was a drain on the Government’s resources, then it will be a drain on whoever acquires it. The Woodland Trust took a balanced line. You can’t just double the woods a charity owns – you have to account for it – so we’re not chaining ourselves to every wood in the country. No doubt the Forestry Commission estates of quick-growing conifers drew protests at the time they were planted, and now there’s protest at change. The Woodland Trust champions native species, not conifers planted in inappropriate places.

Should Britain be planting 20 million trees a year, as the Trust suggests?
With figures above a million, nobody can really hold the numbers in their head. Doubling tree cover in Britain is a spectacularly high aim, but it would bring us up to the European average. It wouldn’t make the country overwhelmed by trees – it would be restoring the country to what it would be like if there wasn’t so much human activity.

What’s your favourite tree?
Our two native species of oak trees: Quercus robur and Quercus petraea. The Anderson clan has a badge with an oak tree on it, and our motto is ‘Stand sure’.

In the 1980s, how did you combine the day job as a criminal barrister with performing stand-up comedy?
I like having a balance. At first comedy was just a hobby – it took up no more time than playing golf. There was only really three years of juggling TV and a legal career. But then TV took off in a bigger way than I expected. I did think I would resume my legal career after five years, but it’s too late now!

You’ve had some memorable spats on your chat show with Jeffrey Archer, Piers Morgan and the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb. What makes for a perfect interviewee?
I like responsive interviewees, so it’s like a tennis match, back and forth. Politicians are good because they’re combative. Ben Elton is good because he’s quite sharp and the audience has a mixed attitude to him. By offering interviewees criticism, I let them meet that criticism, so it’s not just: “Tell us about your manor house property.” But I want it to be a discussion; not too aggressive. And I do plenty of preparation: I always want to convey that I’ve read their book, done my homework. It’s treating them with respect.

Are you ever lost for words?
Yes – in interviews like this.

For more on the work of the Woodland Trust, visit www.woodlandtrust.org.uk

Have you seen those old VW camper vans? You know, the 1967 fume-pumping, ear-rattling, moss-gathering things that top out at 50mph? With the greatest respect to any owners reading this, why would you buy one when there are more efficient and comfortable modern camper vans available? I suspect it’s a nostalgic hankering for a simpler life on the road, perhaps even a refusal to conform to modernity. VW camper van owners must see themselves as a bastion of motoring tradition.

And so it is with black-and-white photographers. Modern cameras and software enable us to do almost anything with our photography, but some prefer to strip their images right back to basics. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Now, before we go any further, I can drive a VW camper van, but I couldn’t repair one. In the same way, I can have a stab at a decent black-and-white image. But the art – and it is an art – of finely optimising monochromatic images in either the traditional or digital darkroom is not my thing. (It’s a patience issue – as in, I haven’t got any.) So I’m going to keep things simple.

Clean shapes and shadows

There are some images of nature that need colour; they cry out to have their colour celebrated. Poppy fields, sunsets, brightly marked birds or insects – all of these subjects rely on colour. It’s what they’re about, and removing it would clearly detract from the image created. Other subjects are all about mood, drama, texture or graphic simplicity, and these are the ingredients for the black-and-white treatment. It’s often a case of discerning what doesn’t work in black and white, rather than what does.

I look for clean shapes, straight lines, contrasting textures and shadowy curves – subjects that not only don’t need colour but actually benefit from leaving it out. These are subjects that rely on form to bring them to life; they need to be monochromatic in the same way that a rose needs to be a super-saturated red or pink.

The great thing with modern technology is the myriad options available at our fingertips. So for the modern black-and-white photographer, there’s no need for a specialist camera or a trawl around the darkest corners of the internet for black-and-white film. Anyone can create effective images in post-processing. OK, it’s a bit like the 1967 camper van owner having air-conditioning fitted to his vehicle, but I prefer to be outdoors rather than sitting behind a computer.

The image above was taken in the depth of winter when it was almost completely dark. Only the black lines of these Caledonian pines in the Scottish Highlands punctured the stark white of the snow. The low light resulted in a heavy blue cast falling across the frame. But although I quite liked it, I wanted the image to be all about the shape and texture of the trees – it was crying out for conversion to black and white. I used Adobe Photoshop to do this, which many people have on their PC or Mac, but there are lots of different software packages and methods to turn your standard colour image into simple monochrome. Just remember, though, that a computer can’t correct for a badly chosen subject or a poorly composed shot. That’s a black-and-white rule in photography, no matter what the colour.

STEP BY STEP

1. To change any image from colour to monochrome, open the image in Adobe Photoshop.

2. On the tool bar across the top of the screen, go to Image and scroll down to Adjustments, then Channel Mixer. Then tick the Monochrome check box in the bottom-left corner.

3. Now go to Image, then  Adjustment, then Curves and use the crosshairs to fix the line at the centre point of the graph.

4. Then move the top right and bottom left ends of the plotted line for different contrast effects.

5. Be sure to use the software in moderation – remember, subtlety is key.

TOP TIPS

• Train your photographic mind – look for shapes and textures that would work well as a black-and-white photograph. Or, conversely, check out colours that would work as colours.

• Study the work of top black-and-white photographers – why do their images look good? More often than not, it’s to do with a discerning eye rather than any post-processing black magic.

• Don’t be fooled into thinking that you can turn a weak image into a perfect one on your computer – you can’t create a silk purse from a sow’s ear. Much better to get it right in camera, so look, discern and execute to the best of your ability.

Inspired by Peter’s masterclass? Send us your best black & white shot by 21 January 2012 and you could win like an Olympus E-PL3 camera, worth £549.99!

Click here to listen to extracts of this interview as a Podcast Click on the play button to listen to extracts of Julia’s interview with Jean

If I had to pick the point when I fell in love with walking, I’d say it was at the summit of Long Mynd in Shropshire. I was in my teens on a youth hostelling weekend, getting my first experience of proper hill walking. The views were just spectacular; from that moment I was hooked on the outdoors. Even so, I wouldn’t have guessed what a big part walking would come to play in my working life.

Originally, I started working for the mental health charity BITA Pathways (Birmingham Industrial Therapy Association) as a cookery tutor. At the time they were operating a healthy living project. I offered to help out on the eating side of things and soon got involved with the activities too. That’s when I started walking with our service users, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I’m now a project manager and, as a result of seeing what a positive impact walking has on people, I’ve made it an integral part of what we do.

I lead two groups of around 18 people on walks twice a week. Their problems range from stress and anxiety to longer-term issues such as schizophrenia. Over a period of 16 weeks we measure improvements in their mental and physical health. We start from our centre in Digbeth and walk along the canals and footpaths nearby. After a few weeks, we venture further afield to the 2km Walking for Health routes in the parks of Birmingham. Then, when we really start building up our distances, we move even further out into the local countryside. By doing this, people get a taste of inner-city, suburban and rural walking.

Another walking activity we offer is lap walking. Three lunchtimes a week, groups of service users walk to a nearby park or green space to complete as many circuits as possible in the given time. This often sees huge crocodiles of people making their way along the streets of Digbeth – it’s great fun. A few years ago, we also linked up with the Ramblers’ own programme of short walks on their Get Walking Keep Walking project.

One of the first changes I notice in people will often be that they gain self-confidence. The groups usually haven’t met before, but by the second session they’ll be talking and getting to know each other as they’re walking. This mixing and socialising is really important because mental health problems can leave people very isolated.

One lady who came along was in her fifties and was suffering enduring depression. She said she normally found it difficult to talk to strangers; she’d never even spoken to people who’d been her neighbours for 20 years. The walking group helped her to relax and find her confidence in a supportive environment.

Some of our service users may not have been very active either, so these hour-long walks can really help their physical wellbeing. Over the 16 weeks, I see people moving more easily, walking at a faster pace and even their posture improving. And the benefits carry over into the rest of their lives, too. Success breeds success, as they say.

For me, it’s a pleasure to be able to pass on my love of the outdoors and show people what a big difference walking can make to them. The feedback I get from our service users makes it worthwhile. Take Bill, for example. He’s in his forties and has a condition through which he is losing the ability to see, hear and move. He needs treatment that involves prolonged stays in hospital and is very invasive, which has had an effect on his mental health, so he attends BITA twice a week. He told me going for walks brings him some normality: it gives him a glimpse of what it’s like to be normal again, feeling how fit and healthy people feel and doing what they do. It has given him the motivation he needs to keep going.

What could be more satisfying than that?

As told to Julia Buckley.

Your walk of life
Do you have a story to tell about a life-changing walk or how walking has transformed your world? Contact us at walkmag@ramblers.org.uk

North West: Cape Wrath, Sutherland
GRID REF:  NC259747
Mighty storms lash Cape Wrath, the UK’s most north-westerly point, though the name – while appropriate – actually comes from ‘hvarf’, the Old Norse for ‘turning point’. It refers to its historical role as a landmark for Viking oarsmen. The isolation and scenery are staggering, not least at adjacent Clo Mor cliffs: at 281m/921ft, the highest sea cliffs in the UK.
EXTREME EXCURSION: Cape Wrath is not easily reached on foot. The 20km/12-mile hike from Blairmore is hard going through peat moorland, with no path beyond beautiful Sandwood Bay. The bay, though, is arguably the most breathtaking in Britain. It’s never overpopulated with visitors and is framed by the sandstone seastack of Am Buachaille. Dolphins, common seals, the rare corncrake (a land-based relative of the moorhen) and moody great skuas are among the wildlife attractions en route. Look out for a species even rarer than the corncrake, though: back in 1900, a shepherd claimed to make the last recorded sighting of a yellow-skinned, green-eyed, strawberry-blonde mermaid on the rocks at Sandwood Bay. Don’t linger too long: the connection back to civilisation with the minibus from Durness is tight.
FURTHER INFO: www.capewrath.org.uk

Click here to see more images of Cape Wrath from walk’s Winter 2011 cover shoot!

East: Lowestoft Ness, Suffolk
GRID REF:  TM556937
Lowestoft Ness is where the North Sea bumps into the UK. Ignore the nearby fish factory and instead look out for gannets and skuas. It’s an exposed, breezy place; a sense reinforced by the groynes that fortify the Ness against pounding grey waters.

North: Dunnet Head, Sutherland 
GRID REF:  ND201766
Reaching Dunnet Head enables you to scoff at those who’ve headed erroneously for John o’ Groats. From the latter, Dunnet Head is palpably further north and makes for a glorious walk by sea cliffs and coastal grassland, home to puffins and kittiwakes.

West: Land’s End, Cornwall
GRID REF:  SW341254
Technically it’s called Dr Syntax’s Head. But whatever you call it, Land’s End really is as far west as you can go in the UK without getting your feet wet. Going all that way for the tourist tat-fest? Thought not, so head for the sensational islets of castellated granite to the south.

South: Lizard Point
GRID REF:  SW699111
The rugged coves and sea mists that characterise The Lizard are the kind of scenery where you might expect to meet a just-landed pirate. Everywhere is north from here, including delightful Kynance Cove, and the walking is gorgeous if often strenuous.

Centre: Whitendale Hanging Stones, Lancashire
GRID REF:  SD641565
According to OS, these bog-marooned and isolated stones in the Forest of Bowland mark the epicentre of the UK, including its 401 associated islands. (Pedants note: this excludes overseas territories such as Bermuda.)

For details and a map of a walk to the Hanging Stones, check out walk’s Routemaster for this walk.

Low: Holme Fen National Nature Reserve, Cambridgeshire
GRID REF: TL192877
Sea level is around eye height at Holme Fen, Britain’s lowest point, where even the trainline towers two metres above your head. This graceful nature reserve, at the western end of the East Anglian fens, is home to bats and dragonflies, along with around 500 species of mushroom.
EXTREME EXCURSION: Grid-like footpaths criss-cross the reserve. Make your way around for a couple of miles before heading for the hide at Burnham’s Mere, in the north-west of the fen. From there, you can spot the attractive goldeneye duck chugging back and forward, along with cormorants, Daubenton’s bats at dusk and up to 18 species of dragonfly. In the skies above are red kites and buzzards.
FURTHER INFO: tinyurl.com/3u5t53s

High: Flash, Staffordshire
GRID REF: SK024671
High drama back in 2007, when the OS was called on to settle the rival claims of Scotland’s Wanlockhead as Britain’s highest inhabited place, and found the Peak District community of Flash was 102ft higher at 475m/1,558ft. Wanlockhead disputes this, but Flash – with its impressive, surrounding gritstone outcrops – isn’t budging.

We’ll be adding more extremes to this article over the winter months, or for the full photo-rich article pick up the Winter 2011 issue of walk, available online at Cotswold Outdoor.

Behind the scenes…

Ever wondered what it takes to get the perfect shot in an extreme environment? Click on the images below to see what it was like on the photoshoot at Cape Wrath for walk‘s Winter 2011 cover shoot!

It was a bright, clear day in late September and, on an isolated vantage point on Raddick Hill, the Tavistock Ramblers were packing away their picnic lunch. There were lovely views towards Cramber Tor and, away to the south, a little stream gurgled down the valley towards Burrator Reservoir in the heart of the Dartmoor National Park.

With an experienced and well-prepared leader in charge, the group had followed the old railway track from Princetown through the fascinating landscape high above the River Walkham, chatting easily and taking photographs as they went. But now, as they prepared for a pleasant afternoon trekking back over the moor, something was wrong. Mary Stevens, normally a calm and capable walker, was in so much pain that she couldn’t stand or walk any further. She felt faint and shaky, and became very pale.

“Mary’s husband and other members of the group helped me to make her comfortable with coats and emergency foil blankets,” recalls the walk leader, Roger Fowler. “She was fully conscious, with no chest pain or breathing problems, and she had a strong and steady pulse. But she obviously needed evacuating from the moor for a proper medical assessment, so I got on my mobile and called 999.”

Roger carefully described the casualty’s condition to ambulance control. He gave a precise National Grid reference and stressed that the group was in a remote location, over a mile from the nearest road at Norsworthy Bridge. But, says Roger: “The operator was obviously inexperienced and seemed unable to locate us, either with a grid reference or from my description of local landmarks. In addition, she didn’t seem to grasp that we were more than 350m/1,150ft up on open moorland that could only be reached with a 4×4 or an air ambulance.”

Eventually, after seeking help from her supervisor, the operator pinpointed the group’s position and an ambulance was dispatched. “She estimated that it would arrive in an hour, and was counting down the arrival time as we talked,” says Roger. “But she still didn’t seem to realise that the vehicle simply wouldn’t be able to reach us.”

Meanwhile, the leader had other things on his mind. The remainder of the group was getting cold and restless and, with an ambulance on its way, someone had to go back to the road to meet it.

Luckily, there were several other competent leaders among the group: two returned to the road to rendezvous with the ambulance, while another guided the less-experienced walkers safely back to Princetown. There was more luck down at Norsworthy Bridge. “The ambulance crew soon realised that they couldn’t get their vehicle any further,” says Roger, “but fortunately a kind and capable man with a well-equipped 4×4 stepped in to drive them up the rough track to meet us. He later evacuated Mary, together with her husband and the ambulance crew, about an hour and a half after the incident began.”

Grid reference frustration

The story has a happy ending as Mary’s condition wasn’t life-threatening and she made a full recovery. Sadly, though, it wasn’t an isolated case: the Ramblers has some 40 similar incidents on file, recording the frustrations and delays caused by ambulance control rooms unable to recognise grid references or the special nature of emergencies in remote locations. And it’s not just frustrating for the casualties and walk leaders involved.

The Bluebell Walkers, an independent club affiliated to the Ramblers, was involved in a similar incident on Hepburn Moor, near Alnwick in Northumberland. Their leader was surprised when the ambulance call handler told him that they did not use National Grid references, but after a 45-minute wait the ambulance finally arrived to deal with a member who’d broken their ankle. Later, the paramedics said that they preferred to use a grid reference wherever possible, and could have reached the casualty half an hour earlier if only the control room had passed that information on to them.

“Our walk leaders first began highlighting ambulance services that couldn’t locate National Grid references about two years ago,” says Karen Inkster, who spearheads the Ramblers’ ‘999: It’s an emergency!’ campaign. “We know of just one incident in Scotland and another in Wales, but the overwhelming majority of reported problems are in England.” Karen, who represents the Ramblers on the emergency services’ Search and Rescue Committee, is also in touch with the Long Distance Walkers Association, the British Caving Association and other organisations working to support the Ramblers’ campaign.

Karen admits that unpicking Britain’s complex network of emergency services – and knowing exactly who to contact in a crisis – isn’t always straightforward. “England is covered by 12 independently managed NHS Ambulance Trusts,” she says. “A further Trust serves the whole of Wales, while the Scottish Ambulance Service covers mainland Scotland and its offshore islands.”

Ambulance services work closely with national search and rescue organisations when responding to calls from incidents in remote or hazardous locations. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency provides 24-hour cover around the UK’s coasts and cliffs, while the police are responsible for inland search and rescue throughout Great Britain. In turn, they rely on more than 80 volunteer Mountain Rescue teams – each one an independent charity – for help in rugged upland areas. In a typical year, these teams attend more than 1,000 incidents involving over 1,300 walkers, while the coastguard responded to 13 walking-related fatal accidents in 2010.

“Walkers in distress can dial 999 and ask for any emergency service,” says Steve West, Director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives. “All of them can and should be able to coordinate an appropriate response.” But the Ramblers’ advice is to always ask for the police if you are well away from a road or in a remote area. A regular ambulance will find it difficult to get to you lost on the moors or stuck on a cliff path, but the police can coordinate a rescue operation.

“Mountain-rescue teams aren’t insured without a police log number,” explains Andy Simpson from Mountain Rescue England & Wales, “but our volunteers have good relations with the statutory emergency services, including the coastguard, and teams are generally on their way within 15 minutes.”

Rapid ‘twin-track’ response

What happens when you make that emergency call is fascinating. “It’s a twin-track process,” explains Steve, regarding the complexities of handling 6.5 million calls each year. “The call handler should answer the phone in about two seconds and, if you’re calling from a landline, the registered address will already be displayed on their screen. Calls from mobile phones will trigger an approximate location, but the degree of confidence does depend on the location of the surrounding phone masts.”

The call handler will ask a series of structured questions to confirm the location and assess the clinical need. Then, they’ll be able to offer advice in looking after the casualty until the ambulance arrives.

While all that’s going on, an ambulance dispatcher will be picking the details off a linked computer and getting a response on its way – typically within 30 to 40 seconds of the call coming in. “It’s a complex decision matching the asset to clinical need,” says Steve. “Our options range from a community first responder with first-aid and a defibrillator to an air ambulance.”

The ambulance service aims to help 75% of life-threatening emergencies within eight minutes. The fastest response might be a paramedic in a car or on a motorbike. But, if the casualty needs transport to hospital, an ambulance should reach 95% of cases within 19 minutes.

Nevertheless, at a meeting with the Ramblers’ Karen Inkster in September, Steve West admitted that – in a small minority of cases – things don’t always work quite so smoothly. “Between them, the various Ambulance Trusts use four different computer-aided dispatch systems,” he says. “They all feature advanced mapping systems, but they don’t currently accept National Grid references in an easily accessible way.”

Following the meeting, Steve has agreed to raise the issue nationally with the NHS Ambulance Director of Operations Group, and to liaise with the national software suppliers’ forum to ensure that all the different systems can use National Grid references. Call handlers will also receive additional training after the software is upgraded. “It’s a fantastic result,” says Karen, “and we expect to have a follow-up meeting in about a year’s time.”

Meanwhile, the Tavistock Ramblers were recently involved in a second incident, when one of the group dislocated her knee near the start of a walk. “This time, South Western Ambulance Service was superb,” says their chairman, Paul Brookes. “They arrived promptly and the paramedics called in the fire service to carry the casualty back to the road. Afterwards, I wrote to congratulate them.”

Some individuals’ names in this article have been changed to protect their identities. Illustrations by Nina Hunter @ Illustration Ltd.

What to do in a medical emergency

Stay calm…

Dial 999 on your mobile… and ask for an ambulance. But if you are well away from a road or in an inaccessible location, then always ask for the police, who will contact the nearest Mountain Rescue service or coastguard.

Tell the emergency services what’s wrong… answer their questions clearly.

Give an accurate location… including the National Grid reference and any prominent landmarks.

If you’re uncertain of your position… Mountain Rescue may ask you to send them a picture message of what you can see.

Be patient… as calls are prioritised and will be handled as quickly as possible.

If there’s no signal on your mobile… send two people for help, if possible. Alternatively, use six quick whistle blasts or torch flashes, repeated after a one-minute interval, to give the emergency distress signal.

If you are deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired, you can register your phone at www.emergencysms.org.uk. This will allow you to send an SMS text message to the UK 999 service, where it will be passed to the police, ambulance, fire rescue or coastguard.

Winter on a freshwater loch is a great time for wildlife-watching,” says Ian McCallum, of Strathkelvin Ramblers in central Scotland. “The sight and sound of thousands of geese flying in from Iceland and Greenland is one that you never forget.”

Pink-footed and greylag geese make for Scotland’s lochs in huge numbers over the winter months. One place in particular to see them up close is at the RSPB’s Vane Farm reserve in Perth and Kinross. “It’s centred on Loch Leven,” says Ian, “and there are paths and hides around the shores, plus some good walks in the area.”

Similarly, Loch Lomond hosts large flocks of wintering wildfowl, as well as uncommon visitors such as Greenland white-fronted geese. More unusual still is what lies under the water: as well as the typical trout and salmon, a rare freshwater whitefish called powan lives almost exclusively in Loch Lomond and is a relic of the last Ice Age. Meanwhile, along the shallower reaches of Lomondside you can find a range of rushes, sedges and the rarer whorled caraway, which thrive in damp meadows.

Lochs higher up on the moors are often more acidic and low in nutrients, so tend to support fewer plants. But some of those that do survive manage to supplement their diet in an unusual way. “On the boggy fringes you can find ‘midgie-munching’ carnivorous plants such as butterwort and sundew,” explains Ian. “They trap and digest small insects and invertebrates.”

He also suggests looking for wildlife where rivers feed into the lochs. “You might see goosander, a large diving duck that feeds on salmon and trout in particular, but also look out for mammals such as water voles, water shrews and even otters.”

Find out more

The Winter 2011 issue of Walk Magazine features a species-by-species guide to the wildlife of Scotland’s lochs– click here to order a copy or why not join the Ramblers to receive it free four times a year? Walk Strathkelvin by John Logan includes an introduction by Cameron McNeish and nature notes by Ian McCallum. It features over 70 varied walks and costs £7.99 from Strathkelvin Ramblers, 25 Anne Crescent, Lenzie, Kirkintilloch G66 5HB (cheques payable to ‘Strathkelvin Ramblers’).

“There’s always a sighting of the monster at the start of the tourism season,” admits a tourism official in Loch Ness, who’d best remain nameless. Nessie’s latest appearance was, fortuitously, in May. In the visitor information office in Fort Augustus there’s a blurry photograph and an account by a Mr William Jobes, who describes a “large, hump-like shape travelling towards the middle of the loch”.

The monster myth dates back to the sixth century and is still very much alive. One man, Steve Feltham, has lived in a camper van on the loch shores for 20 years, doing ‘independent monster research’ and selling knick-knacks to the tourists. Business must be good. When I visited in September, I found his neighbour feeding the cat. Feltham had flown to Cyprus for the winter.

Nessie has brought international fame to this 244m/800ft-deep loch. According to the same tourism official, a 1992 article in the South China Post that listed ‘Ten facts about Britain’ stated as number three: ‘In the north of the country is a lake with a monster.’ (Fact number one was: ‘Britain is ruled by Queen Margaret Thatcher.’)

No wonder, then, that the 37km/ 23-mile-long loch attracts hundreds-of-thousands of visitors each year. Most stay on the north shores, having hurtled along the busy A82. The majority of walkers also head north, following the route of the 117km/73-mile-long Great Glen Way that joins the Atlantic to the North Sea.

Along the south coast of the choppy waters, meanwhile, there are only small roads – often single-track. “The south is still relatively wild and unexplored,” says Graeme Ambrose of Destination Loch Ness. “Hardly anyone goes there, compared to the north, and there’s a real feeling of emptiness.” But now, thanks to an initiative by Graeme’s employers, the south is preparing for more visitors – of the rambling variety.

Boost for less-visited south

A new hiking path, the 45km/28-mile-long South Loch Ness Trail, opened in August after two years of negotiations, fundraising and manual labour. “Much of it connects lengths of existing paths, bridleways and small roads,” says Graeme, who hopes that the £200,000 trail will boost the economy of this lesser-visited area and encourage visitors to stay longer.

“Ultimately, the aim is for the trail to link up with the Great Glen Way to create a footpath all around Loch Ness.” For the moment, though, the blue posts with a squirrel that waymark the trail run between Loch Tarff, four miles north of Fort Augustus, and Torbreck, three miles south of Inverness.

Although walkers can roam almost anywhere in Scotland, landowners may not want to actively encourage hikers across their land with a designated footpath. This means that, as well as stopping short of the towns, there are stretches of the route that follow the ‘main’ B road (though a quick look at an OS map shows more pleasant alternatives on minor tracks). This is a sensitive issue and one that Graeme is reluctant to discuss, fearing that encouraging walkers to go off-trail may jeopardise development of the route.

“We see what we’ve done so far as Phase One,” he says. “Most landowners – the biggest one being the Forestry Commission – have been very cooperative, but we’re still negotiating with some.”

Despite the tarmac stretches, local hikers are happy that the region – known as Stratherrick – is opening up. “It’s a wonderful walk, varying between upland fields, rough pasture and small hills,” says Harry Lakeland of Inverness Ramblers. “There are terrific views, but only one or two steep gradients.” After a comfortable night’s sleep in Fort Augustus, I can’t wait to start.

Hide-and-seek with Ness

I leave my luggage with a local baggage- transfer service and set off in a taxi to the trailhead at Loch Tarff. The wind ripples this small loch, and the sky is grey as I hike up through heather along the newly gravelled path. Other walkers, descending, warn: “The wind will blow your head off at the top!” Before long, I’ve made the easy ascent to the trail’s highest point, at 393m/1,289ft. Clouds scud past a rainbow-arched landscape of hills, forestry plantations, a handful of houses and the small B862 meandering off into the distance. There are lochs in all directions but, surprisingly, none are Loch Ness.

Despite its name, the South Loch Ness Trail is not a water-side route and for much of the time the mile-wide loch is not visible, hidden behind hills or forests. But when you do get to see Ness, it’s truly spectacular. The wonderfully named Fair Haired Lad’s Pass (333m/1,093ft) reveals the vast expanse of water between swathed curtains of purple heather, as you look across to Urquhart Castle and up to Inverness and beyond. It’s not always so dramatic. For much of the trail, the beauty   is in the detail: bearded lichens on trees; a garden of mosses on an old stone wall; autumnal grasses waving in the wind. Deer are common, as are red squirrels, apparently (alas, I didn’t see any). There are old stone bridges, built by 18th-century General Wade, and small, isolated crofts.

All these notes build towards various crescendos, of which the Falls of Foyers – a small detour from the trail – is one. The main waterfall gushes with force through a narrow opening to cascade 50m/165ft. As early as the late 19th century, hydro power was being harnessed for aluminium manufacturing here. Foyers was such an important producer that the factory was bombed in World War Two. Although the damage was soon repaired, the industry didn’t last much longer.

Turbine trouble

The next day, Harry joined me with fellow Rambler Ed Simpson. On our hike up and out of Foyers, we talked of controversial plans for windfarms in the hills around Loch Ness. More than 200 turbines are proposed on four sites: 130 on moorland at Balmacaan, on the west side of the loch, with turbines 135m/443ft high; 23 units at a new farm on nearby Druim Ba; and an expansion of an existing farm in Glenmoriston. The third site is in the Monadhliath Mountains, to the south-east, whose rugged, wild flanks we viewed from rocks among heather and birch. The 31 turbines would be 125m/410ft high and fall just outside the boundary of the Cairngorms National Park.

It’s an ongoing threat to the country’s wild land, which Ramblers Scotland is keen to protect from further encroachment. “We need Scottish MPs to persuade the coalition government to modify the financial incentives around windfarms so the massive developments go off-shore, where there is less impact,” says Dave Morris, the charity’s director. “On land the focus should be on community, farm and croft developments with turbines of under 50 metres. If you carry on putting these huge turbines up around Loch Ness, there will come a point when tourists stop coming.”

It was a full day’s hike to the village of Dores, with only a small section among conifers above Inverfarigaig where more waymarkers would have been helpful. The panorama from Fair Haired Lad’s Pass is the high point, literally, and a perfect picnic spot. Such heavenly scenery contrasted with Harry’s tales of Aleister Crowley, the infamous “practitioner of the dark arts”, who early last century lived in a big house on the lochside below and relished upsetting the God-fearing population with his ‘occultist’ ways. Some locals are still ‘Sabbatarians’, as Harry calls them, and object to people hiking on the Sabbath. Thankfully, none seem to live on the route of the trail.

By the evening I was ready for my feast of haggis, tatties and neeps in the lochside Dores Inn, and a peaceful night’s sleep undisturbed by either evil or monsters. The next day I completed my walk, along quiet roads and pine-fresh forestry tracks with fine loch views. I didn’t spot Nessie. But they do say that you never see the monster on your first visit. I’ll be coming back…

Images and video by Steve Morgan.

TIME/DISTANCE: The 45km/28-mile South Loch Ness Trail takes around two-and-a-half days to complete at an easy pace, with some 400m/1,312ft of ascent.

MAPS: OS Explorer 416; Landranger 34.

TRAVEL TO: The nearest trains stop at Fort William and Inverness. A Citylink bus connects Fort William with Fort Augustus (& 0871 266 3333, www.citylink.co.uk), but you’ll need to take taxis to/from the trailheads. Loch Ness Travel provides a baggage-transfer service, as well as taxis (✆ 07711 429 616, www.lochnesstravel.com).

GUIDEBOOK: South Loch Ness by the South Loch Ness Heritage Group (£3, plus £1.16 p&p. ✆ 01456 486691 to order). A Country Called Stratherrick by Alan B Lawson (£9.99, South Loch Ness Heritage Group, ISBN 978 0955318801).

FURTHER INFO: www.visitlochness.com/south-loch-ness-trail.