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Open Country

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of Britain

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles

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Open Country: Loch Tay and Ben Lawers

Loch Tay and Ben Lawers

20/07/2017

BBC Radio 4 - Open Country, Loch Tay and Ben Lawers

Helen Mark climbs Ben Lawers above Loch Tay for a better view of the southern Highlands.

Helen Mark climbs Ben Lawers above Loch Tay for a better view of the southern Highlands. She visits the locality's Kenmore Highland Games, and finds out what a crannog is.

Helen Mark is in Perthshire to climb Ben Lawers above Loch Tay for a better view of the southern Highlands. Scotland's 10th highest Munro, it's home to rare alpine wildflowers, and loved by walkers. The landscape's been shaped by centuries of grazing, first by cattle and in more recent times by sheep. Helen visits the sites of the old shielings, the summer dwellings used by farming families after driving their livestock up for the pastures. 

Back down at loch level, Helen visits the locality's annual Kenmore Highland Games, and finds out what a crannog is. Visiting the Scottish Crannog Centre she learns why these ancient fortified dwellings were built over the lochs, on wooden piles. 

Up on Ben Lawers overlooking Loch Tay Helen also finds out about the ancient 'cup and ring' markings engraved on boulders long before even the crannogs were built. We might not know their purpose, but that doesn't stop us from guessing. 

Producer: Mark Smalley.

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