|
11th
Nov 2004
FOOTPATH'S
DOUGIE BAIRD (N.T.S.)
Glenmorons foregathered to entertain tonight's Speaker ( & themselves )
in "DiMaggio's", where the food is Italian-ish , and the service
is Glaswegian. Tonight's speaker, Dougie Baird from the N.T. of S. was
joined by John McPartlin, Colin & Monica, Dave & Isobel, Liz
Maitland, Jill & Arthur, and Kate & Alan Stewart for a farinaceous
frolic 'fore the meeting in our usual sacred venue.
Along
in the Wellington Hall a decent crowd of about 30 enjoyed Dougie Baird's
address, with a selection of excellent slides taken on National Trust
mountains and mountain properties, that would inspire us again to bless
the name of Percy Unna !! This led to an exposition illustrating problems
associated with wear brought about by foot traffic being exacerbated by
the actions of water and frost, and some of the slides showed just how
quickly damage could be done, and how extensive it could be. Dougie then
showed how his teams would try to sensitively repair these mountain paths
, and attempt to render such repairs as unobtrusively as possible.
Dougie then showed some of the characters on his teams, who did the hard
work - "characters" was certainly le
mot juste - and the conditions under which they live and
work, including prefabricated 'Flat-Pack' accommodation. Dougie finished by
showing some of the problems and techniques that are being worked on just
now, including repairing motor-tracks in the Eastern 'Gorms by strategies
like moving and replanting palearctic plants and the fundamental principle
of repairing with absolutely on-site materials, i.e. like-with-like, to make
the repairs as sympathetic as possible.
The
meeting was then thrown open to questions from the floor and a number of
polite, not to say innocuous, queries were fielded by our speaker. Lulled
into a false sense of security, Fred Craddock was unleashed and leapt for
the jugular !!! Paths "like ladders " and "motorways "
were rightly castigated, and our speaker had to do a bit of bobbib' an'
weavin' as he dissociated himself, and his organisation, from the efforts
of private landowners, and everyone's favourite bete
noire, the Forestry Commission. Who would have suspected
such an innocent, nay douce, topic such as Footpaths could spark such
passion !! After the Opposition had their say, there were some questions
from the floor, followed by an eloquent Vote-of-Thanks from Colin Farrow.
With
that spirit of adventure that has taken club members from Antarctica, to
Kamchatka, to
Ethiopia, from The Alps, to Zion
Canyon
to the Whangie, we decided to grease our throats in the Hogshead for a
change, assured of suitable refreshment on tap, and space to socialise
in. Our visit coincided with the International Student Night with
wall-to-wall young people (yich !!) - is it my imagination or are
under-age drinkers getting younger year-by-year? However, the venue merits
a second chance, so we shall see................
John MacLean
|
