-
Recent Posts
Archives
- January 2026
- December 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- May 2025
- January 2025
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- February 2024
- August 2023
- September 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- November 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- April 2020
- March 2020
- January 2019
- June 2018
- April 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- July 2017
- January 2017
- November 2016
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- November 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- September 2013
- August 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
Categories
Meta
Author Archives: moselman
Alps at the Crossroads: Green Utopia or Developers Paradise ?
It all looked great; a traditional apartment in the alpine village of Oberjoch, located at 1200m in the Eastern Allgaü region of Bavaria and close to the beautiful Tannheimer Valley in neighbouring Tyrol. With Germanic diligence I scanned the latest version of Google satellite maps for any items … Continue reading
Posted in In Europe, Mountain Treks, Trees & Greenspaces, Wild Places
Tagged Allgäu, architecture, Bad Hinderlang, bavaria, Bavarian Alps, climate change, farm tourism, forest education, Green Tourism, Hintersteinertal, local distinctiveness, Oberjoch, Schattwald, ski developments, Slow tourism, Sustainability, Sustainable tourism, Tannheim, Tannheimertal, timber constructure, Vilsaplsee, wellness resorts
Leave a comment
Range of Light
A week in Scotland at the end of August gave me the chance to revisit some old haunts around Stirling and the Trossachs. I am reminded that the light in Scotland is not quite like anywhere where else; a seemingly … Continue reading
New Life in Scotland’s Ancient Forests
On the banks of the River Tay by Dunkeld in Perthshire stands the ancient “Birnam Oak”, reputedly the sole surviving tree of the famed Birnam Wood of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In Shakespeare’s “Scottish” play, Malcolm’s soldiers camouflaged themselves with branches from Birnam Wood before capturing Macbeth’s stronghold … Continue reading
Posted in History & Culture, In Scotland, Trees & Greenspaces, Wild Places
Tagged ancient woodland, birch, Birnam Oak, Cairngorms, Caledonian Pine Woods, charcoal making, community woodlands, coppicing, Forest of Spey, forest schools, Glen Finglas, Glenmore Forest, Highland Birchwoods, highland clearances, Highlands, history, Loch Lomand and the Trossachs National Park, Loch Tay Woods, Macbeth, native woodlands, oak, Pass of Ryvoan, Perthshire, Scots pine, spirit of place, tanning industry, Trossachs, wood pasture, wood turning, Woodland Trust
Leave a comment
Secrets of the Wild Wood
Like a scene from a distant lost world, the damp woods of the Inde valley between Hahn and Walheim hang with a mass of tangled ivy. Dead branches, rotten tree stumps and slippery, moss-covered rocks litter the ground, making for treacherous conditions underfoot. Ominous, … Continue reading
Posted in Aachen & Euregio, History & Culture, In Europe, Trees & Greenspaces, Wild Places
Tagged Aachen, ancient woodland, Blaustein, Bluestone, brophytes, Camperdown Elm, Devonian limestone, Eifel, Eifelsteig, Hahn, Inde, Konelimunster, Lime kilns, mosel, nature, nature conservation, outdoors, Raeren, saproxylic species, spirit of place, venwegen, Walheim, woodlands
Leave a comment
Meeting a Himalayan Legend: the Man who Conquered Everest
Mountain tourism in Nepal has been very much in the spotlight recently following the tragic deaths of 16 Sherpa guides on Everest last April. In October last year, unseasonal snow storms in the Annapurna region accounted for a further 43 deaths, including many … Continue reading
Posted in History & Culture, Mountain Treks, Trees & Greenspaces, Wild Places, World
Tagged Adventure Tourism, Bon Po, Chomolunga, Climbing, Community Forestry, Community Forestry Program, Everest, Everest Base Camp, Gokyo Ri, Himalayan Trust, Himalayas, Kathmandu, Lukla, Mani Rindu, Namche Baazar, Nepal, Nepal Earthquake, Phaplu, Reforestation, Sagamartha National Park, Salleri, Sherpas, Sir Edmond Hillary, Solu Khumbu, Sustainable tourism, Tengpoche, Tibetan Buddism, Tree Nurseries, trekking, VSO
Leave a comment
“Away With the Fairies” – The Legend of Doon Hill and Robert Kirk
As a child I spent many, happy summer Sundays sailing on my Dad’s boat at Loch Ard; a scenic forest-fringed loch, located in the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park within the Trossachs region of Scotland. In 2002, this area became part of Scotland’s first National Park, Loch Lomand and the Trossachs, … Continue reading
Posted in Family, History & Culture, In Scotland, Trees & Greenspaces, Wild Places
Tagged Aberfoyle, Atlantic oak woods, Bonnie Banks, clootie wells, clooties, Doon Hill, Elves, Fairies, Fauns and Fairies, heritage trees, In Scotland, legends, Loch Lomand and the Trossachs National Park, magic and mystery, nature, outdoors, Rev Robert Kirk, sacred groves, spirit of place, The Little People, Trossachs, Trossachs Trail, woodlands
2 Comments
Caribbean Colours of Scotland’s Wild West
On my wall hangs a picture by Scottish landscape painter John Lowrie Morrison, showing a brilliant white shell sand beach washed by a sea of aquamarine and turquoise. Although almost childlike in character, the picture buzzes with latent energy, the brooding peaks of … Continue reading
Posted in History & Culture, In Scotland, Wild Places
Tagged aquamarine, Basalt, Book of Kells, Bottlenose Dolphins, Cadell, Carribean, Celtic Christianity, colours, Fingal's Cave, Giant's Causway, Inner Hebrides, Iona, Lords of the Isles, Mendelsohn's "Hebrides" overture, Mull, Peploe, Scotland, Scottish Colourists, Sir Walter Scott, St Columba, Staffa, turquoise
1 Comment
Charlemagne’s Warriors
A haunting spectacle could be viewed in recent days behind Aachen’s ancient octagonal cathedral; ranks of solemn, stately figures could be seen lined up in neat rows, oddly reminiscent of the terracotta Emperor’s Warriors or the Lewis Chessmen. The figures celebrate the 1,200th birthday of Charlemagne, the Dark Age … Continue reading
Bernkastel Kues
We spent Easter around the little historic wine town of Bernkastel on the middle Moselle. I love the town’s ancient little market place, (very reminiscent of “Trumpton”) along with its winding streets and leaning half-timbered houses. The steep South and SW facing slopes produce … Continue reading
Posted in History & Culture, In Europe, Trees & Greenspaces, Wild Places
Tagged Andel, Bernkastel Doctor, Bernkastel Kues, mosel, Moselle, Mulheim, Riesling, Vineyards, woodlands
Leave a comment
Off the Beaten Track 