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After three weeks of fine weather the day was just about perfect
for walking, a thin cloud with a slight breeze. There was
a fine turnout this time, with everyone in good fettle: Amie,
Bernadette, Catherine, Claire, David John, Iain, JD and Yasmine,
with Heather to help us and Lugh, at only three years, the
youngest to ever attempt a full expedition.
We started with a familiar start, a drive to the school gate,
but we then left the car and carried on up the track with
Catherine keeping an eye on the compass and Iain carrying
the first aid kit. At the top of the hill we reached the site
of the old Acharacle Tip, now covered with rushes and occupied
only by a couple of old tractors. John showed the explorers
the layer of big stones high up on the hill which indicated
a past flood of water through the gap now used by the track.
From here we carried on along the old track, originally the
only way to Arivegaig, between two areas of treacherous bog
with some old peat cuttings in it.
On the east side of the track the explorers looked at some
old railway line which was said to have been used when wood
was cut around the time of the first World War. A little further
on was the chassis of an old commercial vehicle, probably
a small lorry. There was a stream by the road and everyone
looked for caddis fly larvae but we only found a single dragonfly
nymph, which John held on his hand for everyone to see.
As we walked up the road, several of the explorers found pieces
of pottery and tile among the stones of the road. We left
the road at the old fank and several explorers posed like
sheep on the four clipping platforms while Claire took a photograph.
Then we turned east and walked up the hill to a pretty little
valley where David John spotted the outline of an old house
so everyone stood in the house while Claire took another picture.
The expedition took a long time to walk through the woods
where we saw an old turf dyke, areas of cultivation and David
John found another house outline. We reached the end of the
wood, our furthest point from Acharacle and turned to climb
the hill. Several of the explorers were feeling the strain
by this time and the nurses were hard at it treating scratches
from the heather. Lug was feeling fed up by this time since
his boots were full of water so the explorers found him plastic
bags to keep his feet dry and he was carried by Heather for
a bit.
The climb around the hill was quite exhausting and we had
several stops, but when we reached the top, everyone recognised
the area as being close to home and the pace accelerated,
with Lugh fully rejuvenated and covering the last kilometre
at a run. The whole walk took three hours.
We went to the Resource Centre where everyone did a fast picture
before heading to Mave's for lunch.
The Pictures
Lug showed a wee beastie, which was probably the dragonfly
nymph, although he said the large shape in the background
was a dinosaur, which nobody else saw. Amie did a drawing
of the old school well which we saw right at the beginning
of the trip, and JD showed John's hand with the dragonfly
on it. lain also showed the nymph, plus a view of the old
truck as he thought it would have looked and John on the hill
in his jeans, check shirt and jerkin. Claire showed the sheep
on the hills, every one of which seemed to have a lamb, and
Catherine showed a large tree in the wood. Bernadette did
a picture of the contents of her lunch box with a little poem
saying what happened to it all - the shading is decoration.
David John had picked up some deer bones on the hill and he
and Yasmine did fine drawings of the jaw bone with separate
studies of the teeth. John Dye
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