The Birnam Hill path works recommenced a couple of weeks ago when the snow had melted sufficiently.  By the end of week 4 Feb, weather permitting, the whole job was scheduled to be largely complete. The steps had been rebuilt in November just before they were covered by snow, but are now visible (see photo 1).

Two weeks ago the contractors built the causeway over the marsh on the top of the hill (photos 2, 3, 4). This has not been done as agreed with the working group. I sent the following email to PKCT:–

The causeway over the marsh has not been built as you said it would. I seem to remember you saying that a bed of larch logs and drainage pipes would be laid on the marsh, then locally sourced material built up on top to create the raised path. This would allow the underlying water to naturally flow under/through the path without disturbing the water table.
What I could see is a ditch collecting the water and taking it to 3 pipes at the north end of the causeway. No sign of larch logs or pipes along the length of the causeway (see photos). What is your reasoning behind this?

And received the following reply:–

The specification for the causeway on Birnam hill was modified slightly to take account of the higher water table following the snow melt, and the severe frost that was in the ground during the work. The causeway does have larch timbers below the built up causeway under the as dug material from beside the site along the softer section. It was never considered necessary to extend the timber platform the full length of the causeway as the southern end is on much firmer ground. The ditch was excavated to allow work to be carried out and for the causeway to dry out and firm up for its long term stability. Replacement of some vegetation turfs on the side of the causeway was not possible at the time due to the frozen ground. It is intended that this will be done during a milder spell when the frost has come out of the ground. The replacement of side turfs will soften the side ditch and slow the water flow through the pipes placed under the causeway allowing the regrowth of wetland vegetation in the ditch itself. Over time this will this will obstruct the drainage pipes and the ditch sufficiently to allow the water table to return the higher level.  As this causeway is above this level it should remain firm and dry in almost all conditions.

Work is currently underway on the steep north side path. On the lower bulldozed section they are creating drainage ditches, and have made short narrow zig-zags up the very steep section (see photo 5). On the upper ‘saved’ section of path they have made minor ‘improvements’ (see photos 6 & 7) and they are in the process of strimming heather – PKCT’s explanation:–

As the existing path on the ascent/decent on the north side is eroded in places, it was agreed that we would strim a new line to allow users to take a different route allowing some of the worst eroded bits to regenerate and recover. It is the intention to strim a new route through the open area of bracken on the south side of the existing path from where the machines stopped. This will then be clearer, although we accept that because of the time of year this route will not be as clear as it would have been when the bracken was higher. It is possible that we will need to revisit this once growth has returned. Hopefully the line of the alternative route will be clearer once strimming has been done. It is noticeable that the line of the path has changed at numerous times in the past, and during the spell of ice and snow, the desire lines to avoid the existing path line were noticeable in the snow. These lines helped to identify the preferred route on the steepest sections. We hope that the group will encourage the use of the alternative route so that the eroded sections will get the chance to recover. It may be that, once this happened, the path may return to on, or nearer to, the existing route.

The bulldozed sections of path are extremely muddy and slippy just now, take care.

Photography: Grahame Nicoll

Greetings Dunkeld and Birnam. I hope you have all survived the winter so far. We have been watching with gobs truly smacked when we see the amount of snow and ice you’ve been having. Oy! We did have a few inches of snow for a few days with subzero temperatures but it disappeared fairly quickly. We do get some heavy duty gales and lots of rain though. Did you see Alan Dickson’s photo of the Cathedral in snow on the Scotsman website? Pretty good, eh?

The man behind this superb website, Phil Brammer, has been nipping my ear about writing a small piece for BAD info, and a moment in my life recently came along that suggests I give it a go. You see, for those of you who don]t know, I’ve just removed myself to Victoria at the southern tip of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. And at the beginning of December I did a “flag run” to Port Angeles, Washington, in the United States and returned to become a landed immigrant – a permanent resident of Canada.

And the moment that suggests I write about my Canadian experiences, is that on the way across the Strait de Juan Fuca, only an hour and a half trip, we were fortunate enough to see a pod of Orcas cross our path. Now you normally pay a wad of dollars to go out on a whale watching trip to see these guys with no guarantee of success, but here I was on a day-trip to get my passport stamped, and here were these fantastic creatures putting on a show. The captain of the ship, the MV Coho, gave us about 5 minutes’ warning of the meeting, and cut the engines as we approached, letting them pass by around us undisturbed. And our friend Lane Braden wrote on Facebook: “you guys are in orca territory!! The ones you will see around Vic are usually transient orcas, the kind that eat other mammals. Up the east coast of Vancouver Island, in the Johnstone Strait, off Telegraph Cove, are the northern resident orca pods, the other kind of orca, that eat only fish. Here’s the url for the research station that’s been up there for years, on Hanson Island. You can listen in, to dolphins, humpbacks, transient orcas, resident orcas when they are around: http://www.facebook.com/l/aae3b;www.orca-live.net/community/index.html. South of you, in the San Juan de Fuca Strait and further south, live the southern resident orcas!”

Anyhoo, I do believe in synchronicity. I had only just decided on that morning that I should bring my camera with me on the trip. I put up a composite photo as my Blipfoto entry for the day, and a gallery of photos on Facebook, and then Phil gave me another nudge about writing a piece for the website so…

So, after having been associated with the village of Dalguise for most of my life, and after the last decade living in the parish of Dunkeld, I’ve relocated to Victoria at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, with my wife and daughters to help care for my father-in-law who has advanced Parkinson’s Disease. It is a pretty big adjustment for us, from über-rural setting to big city life. From having to make a 10 mile round-trip if we ran out of an essential item, to only a 10 minute walk to buy fresh at the corner store. All of a sudden, from knowing most of the people I met when I was out and about, I now know no-one, and no-one knows me. An almost surreal experience at times.

Canadians just love their country, by the way. Absolutely, totally, and utterly. And they are incredibly welcoming to new faces in their midst, and genuinely delighted to hear where we come from. I know we Scots are awfy proud of our country, and we’re generous hosts, but I have to say the Canadians have us beat. The Scots obviously loved to spread the gladness far and wide when this massive land was first explored and settled by immigrants, because just about everybody we meet here has some sort of connection to a Scottish ancestry. (I even spotted the surname of a young Asian girl as McDiramid the other evening – a slight mis-spell of the original surname, but another Scot at it again!) There are Canadian flags at every turn, and Canadians wherever you look. I even have a book on “How to be a Canadian” just to keep me right! For sure, eh?

Victoria is a hugely varied city full – no two buildings look the same, and it certainly lives up to its name of “Garden City” – you could spend days just wandering the streets enjoying all the fantastic gardens and trees. There is lots of space – streets and sidewalks are nice and wide. To me it is a very cosmopolitan city with people from virtually every ethnicity on the planet being represented here. EVERYONE is always courteous and polite including the beggars on the street, of whom there are many more than you might expect. Nothing is too much trouble for anyone, and this pervades throughout the city. I don’t think I have experienced an unpleasant response to any question I’ve asked since we arrived back in August, and you are always wished a “nice day” or a “great day.” None of the “service wi’ a girn” one receives all too often in the big cities in Scotland. It really helps make your day a good one!

Anyways, I realise that all of a sudden a brief note for the BAD website has turned into an essay, so I’d better fire it off and leave other topics for other entries. If there is anything you are intrigued about that I can answer, you can contact me via Phil Brammer, the webmaster, or post a comment here.

Birnam Oak

I began collecting postcards in 1989.  I picked up my first ever card when I was working down at Forneth. There was a drain that ran right through the road, and a postcard of Birnam Oak came down this drain. I picked it up and my friend said, “You do the stamps, Bill, how do you not do the postcards?” So that’s what got me started.

This Birnam Oak postcard is still special to me, with the old boy standing next to the tree. Later on I came across a card showing the place at Forneth, near Blairgowrie in the Blairgowrie Road, where I’d found my first card, and added it to my collection.

In honour of Perth Concert Hall’s 5th birthday, a carnival took place on Saturday (18th September) as part of the Perth 800 celebrations.

It was sunny when I got off the train and as I made my way to the South Inch more and more people walked alongside me. We were in for a good time. The sound of the drums greeted us and last minute preparations were in full swing. Later I realised that the procession was led by Nana Vasconcelos, the world renowned Brazilian drummer.

As I walked around pleased by all the good vibes and bright colours I started taking photos. Brazilian, Nigerian and Scottish influences were everywhere to be seen.

Than it all started in earnest. The Brazil represntatives began to move and the beat of the drums made everyone dance, sway or walk in the rhythm. Next came the African and Alban processions. The African singing was contagious and before I knew it I was humming along. The familiar sound of bagpipes closed the procession.

Not only a feast for the ears, though. There were colourful costumes to be seen in abundance, expressing the traditions, myths and folklore of each of the three countries represented.

All in all a delightful day: sunny, a great atmosphere and well organised.