These Boots Were Made for Walking
The film: youtu.be/Qjq47Wiyko8
I've always been quite pleased with the fact that Nancy Sinatra topped the charts in the UK with the song that I've used to name this image in the week I was born. Top of the chart for four consecutive weeks she kept "Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown" by the Rolling Stones at bay in the number 2 slot, with the Mindbenders at number 3 with "Groovy Kind of Love." When she was eventually toppled, it was by the Walker Brothers with "The Sun Aint Gonna Shine Anymore." Darn, music was good in 1966. If I'd been born a few years later my entry into the world might have been heralded by Joe Dolce, or Rene and Renato, or even St Winifred's School Choir. So I'm glad that I arrived in 1966, just in time to witness England win the World Cup and the Beatles take things up a notch with the release of the still fresh sounding "Revolver." Cool Britannia indeed.
The reason for the name of the image comes from the fact that I was hiking when I took this image in the spring of 2018. The West Highland Way is one of the most popular long distance trails in the UK and runs from Milngavie, just north of Glasgow, to Fort William at the gateway to the western isles and the highlands of the far north of Scotland. Officially measured at 96 miles (although two of us with GPS trackers both recorded 108), it will probably take you between 4 and 8 days, depending upon how much you want to enjoy it or whether you're in a hurry to get to the pubs in Fort William before closing time. It will take you across some of the most stunning and remote scenery in Britain as you gradually accumulate the miles, leaving edge of town parkland and passing through gentle pastures towards 20 odd miles along the unsullied east bank of Loch Lomond. Once your time along the famous loch is done, the scenery ahead of you becomes ever more imposing and dramatic as you make your way through the Scottish Highlands towards lonely Rannoch Moor. the largest wilderness in Britain. And then you will arrive here, beneath the Great Herdsman, Buachaille Etive Mor at the gateway to the mythical Glencoe pass, where the Three Sisters stand opposite the Aonach Eagach ridge, towering above you on either side and reminding you how small and insignificant you really are.
We'd been here before more than once, the first time on our first West Highland Way hike three years earlier, and then a mountain walking expedition when I'd stood on its summit before visiting four months earlier than this moment for what remains the most rewarding and productive photography trip of my life. Each time this mountain, possibly the most photographed in the entire UK, has dominated the visit. Its sheer enormity and darkly brooding presence demands attention. This image was a bit of a grab and go affair as I quickly strayed from the path while my fellow hikers ignored me and carried on striding purposefully towards the famed and feared Devil's Staircase. I liked the "mini me" conical rock in the middle of the River Etive that mirrored the giant in the background. Not the sharpest photo I've taken, but one that brings back special memories of a wonderful few days when the usually damp and fickle Scotland basked inexplicably under sultry Mediterranean skies..
I've enjoyed making the most of what I have around me during this difficult year and I know I'm luckier than many in being surrounded by some of the most dramatic coastal scenery anywhere. But when we can travel more widely again, the distant northern echo of the Scottish Highlands is going to be tugging away at the imagination. I can't wait to be able to return.
These Boots Were Made for Walking
The film: youtu.be/Qjq47Wiyko8
I've always been quite pleased with the fact that Nancy Sinatra topped the charts in the UK with the song that I've used to name this image in the week I was born. Top of the chart for four consecutive weeks she kept "Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown" by the Rolling Stones at bay in the number 2 slot, with the Mindbenders at number 3 with "Groovy Kind of Love." When she was eventually toppled, it was by the Walker Brothers with "The Sun Aint Gonna Shine Anymore." Darn, music was good in 1966. If I'd been born a few years later my entry into the world might have been heralded by Joe Dolce, or Rene and Renato, or even St Winifred's School Choir. So I'm glad that I arrived in 1966, just in time to witness England win the World Cup and the Beatles take things up a notch with the release of the still fresh sounding "Revolver." Cool Britannia indeed.
The reason for the name of the image comes from the fact that I was hiking when I took this image in the spring of 2018. The West Highland Way is one of the most popular long distance trails in the UK and runs from Milngavie, just north of Glasgow, to Fort William at the gateway to the western isles and the highlands of the far north of Scotland. Officially measured at 96 miles (although two of us with GPS trackers both recorded 108), it will probably take you between 4 and 8 days, depending upon how much you want to enjoy it or whether you're in a hurry to get to the pubs in Fort William before closing time. It will take you across some of the most stunning and remote scenery in Britain as you gradually accumulate the miles, leaving edge of town parkland and passing through gentle pastures towards 20 odd miles along the unsullied east bank of Loch Lomond. Once your time along the famous loch is done, the scenery ahead of you becomes ever more imposing and dramatic as you make your way through the Scottish Highlands towards lonely Rannoch Moor. the largest wilderness in Britain. And then you will arrive here, beneath the Great Herdsman, Buachaille Etive Mor at the gateway to the mythical Glencoe pass, where the Three Sisters stand opposite the Aonach Eagach ridge, towering above you on either side and reminding you how small and insignificant you really are.
We'd been here before more than once, the first time on our first West Highland Way hike three years earlier, and then a mountain walking expedition when I'd stood on its summit before visiting four months earlier than this moment for what remains the most rewarding and productive photography trip of my life. Each time this mountain, possibly the most photographed in the entire UK, has dominated the visit. Its sheer enormity and darkly brooding presence demands attention. This image was a bit of a grab and go affair as I quickly strayed from the path while my fellow hikers ignored me and carried on striding purposefully towards the famed and feared Devil's Staircase. I liked the "mini me" conical rock in the middle of the River Etive that mirrored the giant in the background. Not the sharpest photo I've taken, but one that brings back special memories of a wonderful few days when the usually damp and fickle Scotland basked inexplicably under sultry Mediterranean skies..
I've enjoyed making the most of what I have around me during this difficult year and I know I'm luckier than many in being surrounded by some of the most dramatic coastal scenery anywhere. But when we can travel more widely again, the distant northern echo of the Scottish Highlands is going to be tugging away at the imagination. I can't wait to be able to return.