A belated post about a couple of days I spent at Abriachan Forest, just above Loch Ness, back in March, walking and writing in the forest. Day 1 was working with folk from APEX Scotland, and Day 2 was organised by Moniack Mhor Writers’ Centre. On both days we did a range of things – making ‘sixteens’ in the woods, labelling the landscape, looking close-up at the lichens on a glacial erratic, reading Boswell and Johnson, who’d ridden down the other side of Loch Ness on 30 August, 1773, and writing back at the forest ‘classroom’ over cups of tea. My thanks to Suzann, Christine, Cynthia and everyone else who joined us over the two days.
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The lichen photos are truly extraordinary. Do you know their botanical names? Are they unusual for the area?
Yes, they are pretty extraordinary. Names mentioned, though I don’t know which lichens they refer to, were crotal dhu and cudbear. It was a good moment to catch them. Not unusual for the area, though I think it was unusual to find so many varieties in a small area.