The Curious Case of Rose and Laurie
A Victorian Murder-Mystery in the Mountains of Arran
This blog concerns a true story - a real-life crime drama - which brought infamy to the otherwise sedate Isle of Arran during Victorian times. I remember hearing rumours of this incident during my own early visits to Arran over a century later, vague whispers which I quietly filed away as folklore or local legend. I was interested, yes, but was far too busy holiday-making to pay it much heed.
All of this changed during 2022’s annual trip to the island, when I picked up a copy of Calum Smith’s 2020 book, The Goatfell Murder, in an Arran bookstore. I devoured the contents eagerly, and found that the tale which emerged - sordid as it was - held a certain allure. This was perhaps fuelled by my love of the island’s wee hills, which formed an unlikely cradle for the crime. For me, this pocket wilderness had always been a happy place… yet it’s funny how the mystique of mountains, especially if swayed by brooding skies or a sombre frame of mind, is often tempered by menace.
Shadow in the Tin
Foreword - Gargoyles in Gabbro
Welcome to my latest blog, following hot on the heels - or perhaps I should say cold on the coat-tails - of Camera on the Crags and The Ballad of Bellever Tor. A trilogy in number, if not always thematically.
In this particular blog, I’d like to ponder a variety of… well, imponderables. Tried and trusted favourites, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Such as:
Why climb a mountain?
How do we survive lockdown and come out the other side?
What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?
Which mystical gurus are name-checked in My Sweet Lord?
When is it cool to wear a head-torch?
Would your imaginary friend like a biscuit?
OK, so I don’t actually answer most of these thorny questions… and come to think of it, this isn’t really a blog. Not a proper one. A blog would involve shaping these conundrums into some sort of sense, perhaps even imparting a couple of meaningful conclusions. Something grounded in reality, yet vaguely profound. The truth is, I don’t know how to do this. Reality is complicated… much too complicated for me to articulate here. So I’ve reached a compromise and instead crammed my ponderings into a short story.
The Ballad of Bellever Tor
An Ode to Dartmoor; and an Illustrated Study of…
The Power of Myth in the Landscape
Poetry and Paradox - An Introduction
This blog is inspired by the myths, legends and landscapes of deepest, darkest Dartmoor.
One poetically-named tor, in particular, will form the focus - the chapter and verse - of my deliberations. But more generally, I’ll be exploring some of the “themes and dreams” which have the power to transform our natural world into something altogether more supernatural.
Along the way, I’ll be challenging the notion of objective beauty in the landscape, and instead considering the symbiosis which exists between the great outdoors and our own place within it.
As we aim to tease out the magic within our mystical landscapes, I’ll also reveal the two key ingredients which I believe imbue a myth with its power… and attempt to make sense of the paradox which seems to ensue!
Camera on the Crags
Embracing the Golden Age
Welcome to my mountain photography blog, and thank you for being here. Since this is my inaugural post, I suspect it will be part blog, part introduction (or origin-story)… so please forgive me if I begin to ramble!
I’d like to kick off with some historical context, which - if everything falls into place - will hopefully come full circle by the end…
The title “Camera on the Crags” is borrowed from an Alan Hankinson book about the celebrated Abraham Brothers of Keswick. To briefly set the scene… George and Ashley Abraham pioneered early mountain photography in the late 1800s and early 1900s, long before the advent of lightweight digital cameras. Their incredible images served not only as art but as inspiration, empowering like-minded souls to head for the hills - or at least to pause for a moment’s wonder - at a time when wilderness was generally feared rather than revered.