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Continue reading →: Glen AffricThe last time I was in Glen Affric was August 2023, when my son and I climbed Tom a’ Chòinich & Toll Creagach. At around 17km, it was a superb introduction to the easterly hills of Glen Affric. However, the walk was quite far north, so we didn’t really see…
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Continue reading →: Dundreggan Rewilding CentreDundreggan hunting estate is a patch of 10,000 acres of the Scottish highlands situated between Drumnadrochit and Kintail. It was purchased 16 years ago by the charity Trees for Life with the purpose of restoring a diversity of native trees and other biospheres to increase the biodiversity of the land.…
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Continue reading →: Aigas Field CentrePrior to my visit to Aigas, I was only aware of it’s existence through my mother-in-law, who currently works part time in the House of Aigas. Sir John Lister-Kaye purchased it, and its estate, in 1976 with plans to create the first field studies centre in the Highlands. Currently, it…
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Continue reading →: Geal Chàrn (Monadhliath)Geal Chàrn is one of those unusual Munros which you can actually see the summit from the car park. The Walkhighlands website estimates 5-6 hours, but standing on the today bridge, looking at the hill, gave me the impression it would be a short walk. Spoiler…it was. The Monadhliath is…
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Continue reading →: Scotland’s temperate rainforestThe purpose of this post is to outline my plans for June, the final month of my sabbatical. June is ramping up to be a busy month for my family. It’s my daughters last year of primary school, so there are lots of events, shows and meetings relating to that,…
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Continue reading →: Sweep netting take two!After two days of very heavy rainfall, particularly in the east of Scotland, Friday 24th May turned out to be a fine day for inspecting sea trout for lice in Kanaird Bay. Kanaird bay is just a few miles north of Ullapool, and Peter Cunningham regularly monitors sea trout in…
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Continue reading →: The Mullardoch MunrosHaving a slight hesitancy about the cycle into Glen Affric, despite my desire to see some rewilding taking place there, I decided on Tuesday 21st May, the day after completing the South Glen Shiel Ridge, to venture into Mullardoch. Walkhighlands claims it’s a 29km day, and after my 28 km…
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Continue reading →: The South Glen Shiel RidgeOf all the hills west of the Great Glen, the 7 Munros on the south side of the road as you journey westward through Kintail are the Munro baggers dream. A seemingly never ending ridge that rewards the determined walker with seven new Munros in one day. I was keen…
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Continue reading →: Ben Oss and Beinn DubhchraigLast week felt like a break from the sabbatical. It’s SQA marking season and so I was busy most of the week marking papers. However, Friday looked like the best day for a walk in the wild, so I travelled over to Crianlarich and bagged a couple of Munros. If…
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Continue reading →: Big net 0, fast fingers 1Wednesday 8th May was a quiet but very special day. After spending the previous day on the hills, I spent much of the day reading a book that Peter had lent me, Revival of the Land by Paul Ramsay. It tells the story of the first 10 years during which…
Hello,
I’m James Spence
I’ve been a teacher of physics for 22 years in Edinburgh at George Watson’s College. I’m currently on sabbatical learning about how to deliver inspiring environment education to young people.
This is the place where I plan to keep a record of what I’m doing on my sabbatical from physics teaching during the spring of 2024
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Physics teacher’s sabbatical 