I’ve spent the morning saying sad farewells to most of the Ramblers Scotland office staff, a fantastically talented bunch of people who have built up a huge knowledge and experience of Scottish conservation politics over a long period of time. Now, on the whim of a London-centric board of The Ramblers, most of them are gone. What a waste of talent.

I’m relieved that the ex-Director of Ramblers Scotland, Dave Morris, is considering applying for one of the two downgraded posts that will be left. I’m also hopeful that one of the other staff members will apply for the other job, for the sake of continuity if nothing else. Both of these new officers will report to some Director of Campaigning in London who, you can be sure, will have little idea of Scots countryside and landscape legislation. Indeed, I’m tempted to ask what campaigning takes place from the London office of The Ramblers at all? Since the days of Alan Mattingly (ex-director) there has been an appreciable fall-off in the profile of the Ramblers, and even the redoubtable Kate Ashbrook (ex-chair) seems to do all her campaigning through the relatively obscure Open Spaces Society.

I wonder how much it cost the Charity to change it’s public profile recently - what was the charge for coming up with the revolutionary name change from the Ramblers Association to The Ramblers? How much did it cost The Ramblers to produce their recent book of British views? How much does it cost the charity to sell their members’ magazine WALK through the newsagents of Britain? And the biggest question of all - what is the bill for the Get Walking- Keep Walking urban walks programme? What’s the raison d’etre of that programme - surely it’s the job of the Government to fund and encourage inner-city exercise programmes, not the job of The Ramblers? While they’re spending their resources on that project there is a very important access appeal coming up shortly which could change the face of Scotland’s Land Reform Act; wind factories are being built on wild land throughout the country (you rarely hear a sniff of protest about windfarms from Ramblers London) and good ‘ole Donald Trump continues to try and keep people out of his golf club development in the north-east. The Ramblers need to be fighting all these issues, and they can’t be fought from London.

I’m meeting Ramblers boss Tom Franklin and the chairman of that London board next week. I certainly won’t mince my words and I want to tell Franklin that he and his southern cohorts are in grave danger of bringing about the demise of the Ramblers as we have known it. The legacy of that once proud organisation has benefited  all of us who go to the hills or walk in the countryside. The reputation of that once proud charity, which dates back to the Kinder Trespass, is now in tatters. Members groups from throughout England, Wales and Scotland are hugely concerned about the London-centric attitude of the Chief Executive and his southern board and I’m not sure the Ramblers can recover from this recent bout of mis-management.

Our book, The Sutherland Trail - a journey through north-west Scotland, will be published in September. We’re pretty excited about this book. Richard Else has taken the photographs and they really are a stunning collection of images. While the book can be used simply as a guide to The Sutherland Trail, I’ve added a lot of information about all the hills adjacent to the route, plus a lot oif information, anecdotes and some interviews that all go some way to show that Sutherland is a vibrant and fascinating place, with strong community, and is definitely one of Scotland’s thriving adventure destinations.

The book will be distributed through Cordee, or can be purchased through this website, or from our Mountain Media website. And Robert Macfarlane has written a marvellous foreword…

The next Adventure Show will be broadcast on Sunday June 28 at 7pm on BBC2 in Scotland or Sky Channel 990 in the rest of the country. I’ll be taking a wander up Perthshire’s Ben Lawers, the highest mountain in Scotland south of Ben Nevis. We had a cracking day when we filmed it and the views were outstanding.
Meanwhile, many thanks to all those who came along to my AV presentation in Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre last night. I really appreciate the fact you all came out on a glorious, sunny, summer’s evening to listen to my ramblings in a dark auditorium…
Just had some glorious days on the West Highland Way. This might be the most popular long distance trail in Scotland, maybe even in the UK, but it’s certainly one of the most beautiful. I was working on a DVD that should be released later this summer. Incidentally, we’ll have another 4 or 5 DVD’s out before the autumn and our book The Sutherland Trail, a Journey Through Scotland’s North-West, will be published in September.

I’ll be popping down to one of my favourite lecture theatres this week to give a talk on wilderness.

The Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal is a great place to meet, eat and generally chill out, and there’s always somthing interesting going on. I spent a week there last Autumn during the Kendal Mountain Festival, a fantastic event, and on Wednesday (June 24) I’ll be back to give an AV presentation on The Wilderness World of Cameron McNeish.

I’ll be taking a look at various aspects of wilderness, the recreational, the cultural and the historical, and how the loss of these areas can affect all of us. The talk starts at 8pm, and the tickets cost £10. I’ll be bringing a few books and DVD’s down for sale too. Hope to see some of you there…

The following email was sent to Ramblers Scotland office - a sad response but the kind that you’d expect from some of the right-wing dinosaurs that still exist out there…

Afore Ye Go
There must be many smug smiles at the possibility of the Ramblers Scotland’s collapse through lack of funds.

If the Ramblers Association disappeared overnight it could transform the perception of walkers from jack-booted militants to welcome guests in the countryside.
Angus Macmillan

This is the kind of attitude that makes it essential that Ramblers Scotland survives.