Cyclists gear up for Sunday’s Etape Loch Ness

A TOTAL of 6,000 riders are gearing up for the Etape Loch Ness cycle race on Sunday. Slots to take part in the race sold out within 50 hours, with 26% of the competitors coming from Scotland, and nearly 2% from overseas. Event director Malcolm Sutherland said: “The 2023 Etape Loch Ness looks set to…

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Loch Ness hosts world’s first rewilding centre

DUNDREGGAN, the world’s first rewilding centre, opens tomorrow at Glenmoriston near Loch Ness. The site will act as a visitors’ centre for the 10,000-acre Dundreggan estate, where conservation charity Trees for Life is restoring the Caledonian forest to help wildlife. The centre includes a café, a space for events, and 40 bedrooms. Steve Micklewright, Trees…

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Loch of the Lowes ospreys return on same day

BOTH breeding ospreys at the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s (SWT’s) Loch of the Lowes nature reserve in Perthshire have arrived back on the same day for the first time. Female NC0 arrived on the nest at 7.43am today, followed by male LM12 at 1.43pm. The SWT’s Perthshire ranger, Sara Rasmussen, said: “This is the earliest NC0…

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Highlands Rewilding buys Argyll’s Tayvallich Estate

THE Highlands Rewilding project today revealed it has raised the £10.5 million it needed to buy the 3,500-acre Tayvallich Estate in Argyll. The initiative, which already owns Beldorney in Aberdeenshire and Bunloit near Loch Ness, raised the funds ahead of last night’s deadline. Highlands Rewilding announced in December that it was in exclusive talks to…

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Book review: ‘Wee Unicorn’

Wee Unicorn Meg McLaren Hachette THE unicorn has never gone out of fashion and its magical presence has long been rendered in children’s books in all manner of ways. However, in Wee Unicorn, Inverness-based writer and illustrator Meg McLaren transform’s the fabled creature from a being with mystical powers to a lonely protagonist who yearns…

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Wildlife news round-up: Rewilding, capercaillie, and more

Peter Ranscombe rounds-up the latest wildlife news from Scotland. A MIXED picture has emerged from Scotland’s national nature reserves (NNRs) this season, with bird flu decimating great skuas – or bonxies – and gannets at Noss on Shetland, with kittiwake  and Arctic terns fairing better. Terns of all varieties – Arctic, common, little, and sandwich…

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‘Monster meets mountain’ as Cobbs runs Nevis Range cafés

LOCH NESS-BASED hospitality group Cobbs is taking over the eateries at Nevis Range. Cobbs will run the Snowgoose and Pinemarten cafés, a gift shop, and the hotel being built at the moutain’s base station. The 26-bedroom hotel – along with a bar and restaurant, bike shop, gift shop, and a covered courtyard with events space…

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REVIEW: A taste of the Highlands at The Lovat by Loch Ness

Morag Bootland visits the Station Road restaurant at The Lovat hotel in Fort Augustus. A SHORT break in Sutherland behind us, we decide to cushion the blow of returning home to the daily grind with a rather indulgent stop off at Station Road restaurant at The Lovat hotel in Fort Augustus. The restaurant is currently…

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Whisky news round-up: Talisker, Glenlivet, and more

Peter Ranscombe rounds-up the latest whisky news from Scotland’s distilleries. TALISKER ambassador Ross Edgley is attempting to break a swimming world record to promote the distillery’s partnership with conservation charity Parley for the Oceans. The long-distance swimmer aims to break the world record for the longest tideless open water swim. Edgley wants to swim for…

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Three days, two wheels, one sceptical cyclist

Kathi Kamleitner of Watch Me See explores Scotland’s west coast by bike. As I cycle down the hill through Glencruitten towards Oban, my hair is flying in the wind. My chest is filled with pure joy and my mind is flashing with childhood memories of sunny family outings on two wheels. But then, a thought…

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