2011 

Greener still. The highlight of the year at Shenval Bed & Breakfast has undoubtedly been the installation of an environmentally friendly wood pellet stove which not only gives lots of heating and hot water but also confirms our commitment to substantially reduce our carbon footprint and enhances our credentials as green B&B accommmodation providers. We no longer burn fossil fuels and the wood pellets we now use are sourced from a manufacturer based in Scotland using only virgin sawmills by-products which no longer end up in landfill sites.

2011 has seen us enjoying walks on day trips in all directions from our little centre of the universe called Shenval  B&B: Handa Island, Fisherfield Forest near Gairloch, Ben Rinnes in whisky trail country, Loch Fleet, Ben Bhraggie and Dunrobin Castle and, of course, Glen Affric and its Munros.

DECEMBER

Why do the Highlands look so devoid of trees and people? The Poor Had No Lawyers -Who owns Scotland (And How They Got It)- by Andy Wightman, is a riveting book for anyone with an interest in how Scotland and more especially the Highlands came to look as they do today. Andy Wightman is an independent researcher and writer and one of Scotland's leading authorities on landownership, landrights and land reform. Andy Wightman will speak at the Royal Highland Hotel, Inverness, on Tuesday 13th December from 7 till 9pm at the invitation of Friends of the Earth Inverness.

SEPTEMBER

On 8th September, just over one hour's drive from Shenval B&B, Golspie and Dunrobin Castle were our destination and with our guests Sabrina and Daniela we got off to a flying start on top of Ben Bhraggie where very strong winds nearly blew us off our feet at the foot of the  "Mannie", the statue of the Duke of Sutherland of notorious Highland Clearances fame. Spread out below, the Moray Firth and Loch Fleet National Nature Reserve and its scores of sunbathing seals. This indeed was a bit of fresh air! Squelching our way across moorland we were rewarded with fine views of dark blue hill lochs overlooking Golspie where we eventually ended this pleasant afternoon walk on the  sandy beach with a glimpse of Dunrobin Castle.

JULY

On 13th July we ventured in an area as yet unknown to us in Moray, the heart of whisky-distilling country. Sure enough, from the summit of the Corbett Ben Rinnes, wherever we looked down, scores of distilleries could be seen. But of more interest to us was our first spotting of ripe cloudberries and of course we could not resist the temptation of tasting these very delicately flavoured berries. The drier climate of the east seems more favourable to these plants than that of our west Highland area where they are rarely seen.
Tors, unusual rock formations jutting out of heather moorland, greeted us on our ascent and the surrounding countryside looked very green and cheerful indeed, in contrast with the ruggedness of our Glen Affric area.

JUNE

On 2nd June, we set off very early with four of our Shenval B&B guests to the Island of Handa in north-west Sutherland. The sun was up by 5am and just never left us all day. Even before we got to the boats in Tarbet, black-throated divers and greylag geese with their offspring heralded our bird watching day just by the road side. A high speed rigid inflatable boat ferried us over to the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s bird reserve in a jiffy. The boardwalk snaking across the middle of Handa took us to the western cliffs where most of the 200,000 nesting seabirds take up residence for the breeding season.
We were rewarded with sightings of great and arctic skua and thankfully we were spared their ominous dive-bombing antics as they were too busy plundering other birds’ nests. The Great Stack was crowded  with thousands of guillemots, razorbills and fulmars while gannets cruised just offshore. A few puffins could also be seen.

The 8th Glen Affric Walking Festival will take place from Friday 3rd till Monday 6th June. This time round, walkers will be invited to learn new skills whilst exploring several Munros and Corbetts, either new Festival hills and old classic favourites via new routes.
Evening talks, slide shows and welcome drinks also form part of the programme.

APRIL

Sunday 3rd. First newly-born lamb spotted in Glenurquhart. Our driving takes us to Nairn where a 16kms walk on the shore to Whiteness Head and back allowed us to spot no less than 50 seals basking on sand banks. Other wildlife spotted along the way included 2 mute swans, a flock of brent geese, innumerable quantities of greylag geese. Full sunshine all day and excellent visibility with views as far north as the twin hills of Morven and Scaraben in far away Caithness.

MARCH

Wednesday 2nd, while walking within the Corrimony RSPB reserve, we saw a male hen harrier flying overhead, scanning the ground for some furry or feathery prey. First sighting of this bird in our area for about twenty years.

Sunday 13th: 27cms of fresh snow has fallen on Shenval overnight. A reminder winter is far from over yet.