THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS MONTH
2‘Tiger
of the Highlands’ may head south
The European wildcat was once found right across Britain; today it is the nation’s rarest mammal, with hunting and habitat loss leading to extinction everywhere except pockets of Scotland. But ‘the tiger of the Highlands’ may be returning to England, as the Devon Wildlife Trust recruits a Wildcat Officer to see how feasible it is to bring them back to the south west. And don’t worry; they’re shy, nocturnal and more like a brawny tabby than a fearsome lion.
1 Britain’s oldest road is turning 50
For at least 5000 years, people have walked The Ridgeway – drovers, traders, farmers, soldiers tracing the drier ground atop the chalk hills of southern England. And in 1973, 87 miles of it officially became a National Trail. The 50th celebrations run all year, with broadcaster and anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota as anniversary patron: “Many people appreciate the amazing history and myths linked to the route but this is also a time to be looking forward. I would like to see people from across society enjoying the Trail.” Starting close to the World Heritage listed stones of Avebury and ending at Ivinghoe Beacon in the Chilterns, it is a route laden with views, and with stories from Merlin to Chewbacca, King Alfred to Winston Churchill. See nationaltrail.co.uk
NEW TRAILS IN WALES 3
A series of circular, waymarked paths has been launched at
Dinas Mawddwy, a gorgeous but often overlooked spot in southern Snowdonia, that’s also in the UNESCO Dyfi Biosphere. The eight routes range from 1½ to 12 miles long, and walk you into dramatic deep-cut valleys like Cwm Cywarch and to littletrodden hills like Foel Dre. See dinasmawddwy.co.uk 5 Snow patrol is back Every day until Easter, a fell
top assessor will climb
Helvellyn (3118ft) in the Lake
District to report on ‘boots on the ground’ conditions: temperature, snow depth, wind speed, the going underfoot, and avalanche risk.
This season marks the 35th anniversary of the Weatherline
Service; back then assessors rang in from a phone box, now they update at lakedistrictweatherline.co.uk or @LakesWeather on Twitter. And while it must be a top job to climb mountains for work, the three assessors – Jon Bennett, Zac Poulton and Wes Hunter – will brave rain, snow and, if history is anything to go by, wind chill as low as -23°C, to help keep walkers safe this winter. 4 UK’s highest restaurant to reopen 3599 feet up on Scotland’s Cairn Gorm is one wild place to put a restaurant: the strongest wind ever recorded in Britain howled at 173 mph across this mountain’s summit. But in the 1960s one was built, and after extensive renovation, the
Ptarmigan Restaurant and Bar (named after the mountain bird that turns white in winter) is set to reopen very soon. The building, with exhibition space and viewing platforms, sits at the top of Britain’s highest railway, a funicular that has also been renovated, and it is all part of the Cairngorm Mountain Resort, where you can take to the slopes on skis or snowboard (cairngormmountain.co.uk).
All 1748 square miles of this national park can turn to wonderland in winter, and you can hire snowshoes in Aviemore, or take a course in winter skills at Glenmore Lodge to explore Britain’s Arctic safely.