Wednesday, 10 May 2023

The Paths & Access Group was set up a year ago to complete a full audit of all local paths including information on who uses them, level of footfall and on whose land they are. This information was then used to determine sections of these paths which would benefit most from some maintenance/ development.  Two were identified:

1) the stream crossings on the South Loch Ness Trail between Foyers and Whitebridge and

2) a section of the same trail between Foyers and Inverfarigaig, close to its highest point.

Since then, the group have been awarded £20K through the Highland Council, Highland Regeneration Fund, and hope with equal funding support from the Trust, to complete the project this year. 

At the same time, the group has been investigating the development of a paths app for the local area. A key step towards this has been, with the assistance of Nick Wright, the mapping of all the audit material on felt.com. This is a great free tool that also allows us to add layers of other useful information, such as heritage or flora and fauna, and thus build up the content which ultimately, we can use when the app is eventually developed. The app will be for local people to maximise outdoor opportunities on their doorstep and to encourage visitors to stay longer in the area. 

A third ongoing area of work has been to meet with key stakeholders of the South Loch Ness Trail with the aim of ensuring its future through working collaboratively together. The trail is by far the most used in the area and it needs a plan for long term maintenance and development. 

And finally, the group worked with Highland Council to organise the recent volunteer morning at the Falls of Foyers. Working with staff from the Council, local volunteers successfully removed a large number of redundant tree sapling protectors and cut back rhododendrons on the path down to Craigdarroch. Afterwards coffee & cake was enjoyed by all at the Waterfall café courtesy of the Trust!  

So plenty exciting stuff going on! If the work of the group is of particular interest to you and you would like to contribute, please contact Graeme Ambrose (Chair) on graemeambrose482@gmail.com.

Photo credit to Charlotte Page.

Graeme Ambrose 

2025

February (12 stories)

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January (22 stories)

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