Sponsored Walk 2010
Morven Lodge and Glen Gairn ~ Sunday 27th June
Each year we organise a sponsored walk to support aid-projects for Tibetans. The proceeds go to Tibet Foundation, and the Free Tibet Campaign. This year we chose a route taking us through Glen Fenzie and Glen Gairn, situated north of Ballater in Deeside. |
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was the Group's 17th Annual Sponsored Walk which raises funds for Free
Tibet Campaign and the Tibet Foundation. FTC is supported by
a network of groups like our own and has volunteers working in its
headquarters. Nevertheless it still needs, like any other political
organization, paid staff and premises; it cannot operate without
funding. Tibet Foundation helps Tibetans with their welfare and
education and sustaining their religious practice, culture and way of
life. We are asking the Tibet Foundation this year to use the money we
send for the survivors of the earthquake in Yushu in north east Tibet |
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There
were twenty of us on the Walk, starting at the head of Glen Fenzie,
crossing the hills to the site of the former Morven lodge and rejoining
Glen Fenzie where it meets Glen Gairn. From there the walk lay up Glen
Gairn. The Glen had been a Catholic stronghold until the mid nineteenth
century. From here men had gathered to fight at Culloden, most never to
return. Persecution followed, one priest dying in prison, a Catholic
chapel, begun before the ’45, was never finished and, eventually,
Catholics were evicted from the Glen. Remnants of this time have been
carefully marked by information signs along the way. In some ways the
history of the Glen, even though it is on a much smaller scale, reminds
us of our own times where, in Tibet, the intolerance of another way of
life and religious persuasion has led to destruction, persecution and
death. |
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We were fortunate this year to hold the Walk during a spell of fine weather. The day was mostly warm, with only a little light drizzle just after lunch, followed by sunshine in the afternoon. A total of 20 people took part in the walk, with ages ranging from 8 to 85, plus two dogs, one a puppy of only 4 months. Two participants came from as far away as Plockton (on the West coast) and Glasgow: they had camped overnight near Glensheil Lodge (just a few miles from the start of the Walk) and at the end of the Walk they drove down to Loch Tay to continue their sponsorship for Tibet with a three-day canoe trip down the Tay to Perth. |  |
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We all enjoyed the great variety of the Walk: walking tracks over open moorland with views to the hills, and wending our way through birchwood forests; exploring the ruins of old farmhouses & settlements, and learning of the history of Glen Gairn through signboards at ruined chapels; enjoying, with the help of several experts in the group, the variety of wildflowers, and at the start, we even thought we saw an eagle soaring high above us. The peacefulness and beauty of the area was paramount (we never saw another person the whole day) and we imagined what it would have been like to live in the old settlements here several centuries ago. |  |
