Scottish Landscape
A headline attraction for foreign visitors, and a source of intense pride to Scots ourselves, the natural beauty of Scotland’s landscape is a marvel to behold. Most people’s strongest impression of the scenery in Scotland would be of forbidding mountain tops, tranquil glens, and dark, enigmatic lochs; and while this vision is a reality, it is only part of the picture. Scotland’s landscape is richly varied, often surprising, and never disappointing. In this feature we will examine Scotland’s unique geography, the impression it has left on those who have dwelt and visited here over the generations, and its crucial place in the future wellbeing of her people.
Mountains, Glens, and Moors
The image of Scotland that dwells in the popular imagination is of the Highlands. The lands to the north of what geologists call the Highland Boundary Fault are the most mountainous in the British Isles, thrust skywards 430 million years ago by the collision of three great continental plates. All two hundred and eighty four of the famous “Munros” (Scottish mountains exceeding three thousand feet in height) lie in the Highlands and Islands, and the challenge of climbing all of them (“Munro bagging”) draws enthusiastic hill-walkers from all over the world. The iron will of the determined Munro bagger, however, is by no means essential to appreciating these mighty bens: many have gentle slopes that can easily be ascended in a long summer afternoon by even the most inexperienced mountaineer.
Only a small fraction of the Highlands’ hills qualify as Munros, with lesser peaks numbering more than a thousand; so there is always somewhere new to discover, some fresh height to conquer. The summit of a Highland hill is the perfect place from which to view the stunning vistas the terrain creates. Long glens carved from the living rock by ice-age glaciers unfold before your eyes as you leave the tamed earth of sea level behind you.
The glens and moors that lie between the crags have a beauty of their own that can be enjoyed close-up. The lower slopes of the Highlands are extensively wooded, with many forest walks to delight explorers of all ages, and down from the hills flows the water that feeds Scotland’s celebrated lochs. There are five hundred and sixty one freshwater lochs (and one lake) in Scotland, of which the most famous is of course Loch Ness. Although it is neither the most extensive (coming second to Loch Lomond) nor the deepest (again second, to Loch Morar in this case) loch in Scotland, it is the largest by volume and contains more water than all the lakes of England and Wales combined. Its enormous size, and the distinctive cloudiness the peaty soil of the area imparts to the water, lends Loch Ness a shroud of mystery; anything could be hiding in those murky depths, even the legendary monster.
Another low-lying attraction of the Highland landscape is Rannoch Moor. Fifty square miles of natural marshland lie between Loch Rannoch in the east and Glen Coe in the west. Surrounded by towering mountains, the scenery of Rannoch Moor is striking and dramatic. To lovers of wildlife, Rannoch Moor is known as the only British habitat of the rare Rannoch-rush flower; to those of a literary bent, as the setting of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure tale Kidnapped. Rannoch Moor is crossed by the West Highland Way, the perennially popular 95-mile footpath from Milngavie to Fort William, and the West Highland Line. Regularly voted one of the most scenic railway journeys in the world, the West Highland Line has been seen by millions on the big screen as the route of the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films.
The way of life in the Scottish highlands has always been dictated by the contours of the land. Habitable glens divided by daunting peaks fostered the old clan system, with communities separated only by a few miles as the crow flies living in comparative isolation and developing fiercely independent characters and rivalries often equally fierce.
The Spectacular South
Although arguably the most spectacular, the Highland scenery is by no means all the Scottish landscape has to offer. The smoother soil of Scotland’s sunny east coast is home to some of the world’s finest golf courses, such as Carnoustie and St Andrews. Travel south across the iconic Forth Bridge and you can witness the ancient volcanic landscape of Edinburgh where city streets bustle alongside the cliff faces of Castle Rock and the Salisbury Crags, and climb Arthur’s Seat for a taste of the Highlands in the comfort of the capital.
Further south lie the Southern Uplands. Sometimes unfairly viewed as the poor relation of the Highlands, the Southern Uplands offer less challenging climbs than their brothers to the north, but many visitors find the gently rolling hills where livestock has been farmed since prehistory equally rewarding. Lochs and woodland abound in the Southern Uplands, particularly to the west, giving the opportunity for nature trails, off-road cycling and all varieties of water sports, all within striking distance of the major urban centres of Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The scenery of Scotland has been an inspiration over the years to the myriad artistic and literary figures who have weaved romance and excitement inextricably with the land. From Burns’ paeons to the flat and fertile soil of Ayrshire, to Scott’s breathless tales of highland derring-do the land has been eulogised by the wordsmiths of every age. In the visual arts, the highland landscape has practically become a genre of painting in itself, one that has been carried on into the newer tradition of photography.
A Renewable Energy Powerhouse
In the years to come, we can expect Scotland’s landscape to continue moulding her people and economy. The natural history of Scotland leaves her poised to become a powerhouse of the twenty-first century as a leading generator of clean, renewable energy. At the Western edge of Europe, we profit from our rugged Atlantic coast: as the ocean air’s first encounter with land we are constantly the meeting point of high- and low-pressure systems, manifesting as wind that can be harnessed for the production of electricity. Scotland is already a world leader in wind energy, both on- and offshore, but less than a third of our potential wind power resources are currently tapped.
As the mountains rise to meet the incoming air, the currents cool and their trapped water is precipitated as snow and rain on the peaks. This water flows in trickles into highland burns, which join in furious torrents, and on their way back to the sea flow through Scotland’s many hydro-electric facilities. 85% of the UK’s hydro-electric power is generated in Scotland, and thanks to the massive engineering works of the 1950’s it is our best-exploited source of renewable energy.
One avenue of interest being explored by researchers into new sources of renewable energy is the massive, largely unharnessed power of the tides. It has the advantage over wind and hydro of being by its nature both dependable and predictable.
Continuing investment and advancing technology, exemplified by the world’s largest offshore wind farm, currently under development off the east coast, will contribute to significantly boosting our renewable harvest in future.
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