The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Doing a job he loves
Spring is here and it’s time to get out and about. Jennifer McLaren meets The Courier Weekend Magazine’s new walking writer James Carron
JA MES CA RRON has been a walking enthusiast since an early age. “It was my parents who took me into the hills originally. It was family outings at weekends and it tended to be local,” he says. The 38-yearold who lives in Dundee has built up a career as a freelance writer specialising in active outdoor pursuits, especially hill walking. Starting this Saturday, James will contribute a weekly walk toThe Courier’s Weekend Magazine, complete with description, route map and photography.
His work has appeared widely in magazines and newspapers and he has also published books on the subject. His writing featured in the Pocket Mountains series promoted inThe Courier in 2012 and his most recent book is Walking in the A ngus Glens – a guidebook consisting of 30 walks, some of which appeared The Courier’s magazine last summer.
Born in Edinburgh and brought up in Perth, James says he learned important core skills while a member of the Scouts: “That’s where I learned the basic skills of navigation and map reading – which are vital. There’s a lot of technology these days with GPS but you can’t really beat a map and compass.”
A s he got that bit older, he began to venture further from home, travelling round Scotland and exploring different walks. A fter complet- ing his studies at Perth High School, he began writing about his love of walking as a hobby while undertaking various outdoor jobs.
“The first things I did were just speculative route descriptions for a magazine and they were published and it went from there,” James explains.
Having the opportunity to publish these articles facilitated his passion for the outdoors and as the years progressed it dawned on him that he was beginning to make a living out of writing about what he loved.
“It was mainly for magazines and newspapers – it was a while before we did any books because they take a bit of time to get to and you gather them up over time.”
To prepare for writing about a walk, James firstly uses his extensive knowledge of Scotland’s landscape to choose a route: “I tend to pick the walk first from places I have been then I will go and do it. I take a note pad with me and scribble as I go – a description of the route and the views, things like that – and take photos. When I get back home I always find it best to write it up while it’s still fresh in the mind.”
A nother thing people may forget is James is very much at the mercy of the weather when it comes to his job: “Earlier in the week I was doing the second walk forThe Courier – we’re
“There’s a lot of technology these days but you can’t really beat a map and compass.”
James Carron
at the end of March now and it started off a glorious day and part-way up I got some snow!”
He says of his new Courier walking series: “There will be a variety of different grades and lengths, so hopefully there will be something for every ability.
“This week’s walk is Loch Shandra and A uchintaple Loch in Glen Isla, A ngus – a lovely, spectacular part of the country on a nice day! I am hoping the weather is good on Sunday so that readers can get out and have a shot.”
James admits that the A ngus Glens are one of his favourite places to go exploring.“They’re close to home and it’s one of my favourite parts of Scotland. That’s the most recent book I have done. There will be some moreA ngus walks in The Courier Magazine.”
For someone so passionate about what he does it will perhaps come as no surprise that he also enjoys walking in his leisure time: “When I go on holiday I tend to go to destinations where there are good hills and walking: the Pyrenees in France and Eastern European countries such as Slovenia and Slovakia.”
If he could go walking anywhere in the world he’d choose the Spanish Islands: “I think it’s the combination of the mountains, the sea and the coast – and the view. Plus the weather is much better!”
James says he is often surprised by Scotland’s changing landscape. While people may think of the countryside as a reasonably static place, there are all sorts of things going on from forestry work and agriculture to the construction of wind farms.
He adds that more people seem to be out walking these days and this is perhaps down to there being better facilities in terms of signage, car parking and visitor centres.
His tips for venturing outdoors in Scotland include being prepared for all kinds of weather: “A lways pack waterproofs, some extra layers whether they are fleeces or jumpers. It can be warm down in the base of the valley but as you get higher it can get colder.”
Other essentials include a summer or winter hat, plenty of fluid and snacks and some insect repellent to keep the midges at bay.
He adds: “The walks in The Courier will be clearly marked and will follow tracks and paths, so that should make navigation quite straightforward, but it is always useful to be able to use a map and compass just in case.”
Don’t miss James’s first Take A Hike column on p32 of this Saturday’s magazine when he explores Loch Shandra and Auchintaple Loch in Glen Isla, Angus