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| Falkland Hill from West Lomond, winter 2015 |
When I thought of doing a blog about an artist in the Scottish Hills I wasn't sure which hills to start with. Then I thought "start at the beginning", so it had to be the Lomonds of Fife.
I have a special affection for the Paps, as they are known locally. It was on these modest hills and the nearby Ochils that I first ventured as a teenager. This was at a time when four young lads from Liverpool were climbing not the hills, but the pop charts.
I was a member of Kinghorn Scout troop and four of us were doing the hikers badge. We were now on the second hike, still only ten miles. Now ten miles is hardly a days walk but there was a catch. We had to camp out and cook a hot meal which meant carrying everything on our backs. I had been apprehensive about this hiking lark and didn't know if I'd be able to cope with the heavy load.
When we returned we had to submit individual reports with times, points of interest, map references, list of kit carried, food eaten and hand drawn sketch maps. These short strolls seemed, in fact, quite daunting.
I had prepared for this, not by doing press ups and going jogging but by cutting a stout ash staff from my fathers smallholding and giving it a coat of varnish. This, I imagined, was an essential support for a young explorer. We started from sleepy Scotlandwell which lies below Bishop Hill and looks over
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| The artist as a young hiker. Bistre ink drawing. 29 x 42 cms. |
