getting behind the stereotypes
of recent hagiographies in trying
to understand a man who was
undoubtedly a very complex
character.
The author admits that the old
cliché of Arran being Scotland in
miniature has more than a little
validity, even echoed by the fact
that it is also split by the Highland
Boundary fault, with rugged
mountains in the north and more
fertile, low-lying country in the
south.
Excellent design and
photography and crisp, easy-to-
follow directions with Rucksack’s
usual large-scale mapping make
this the only guide you’ll need to
explore Arran’s glorious coastline,
from castle-crowned Lochranza
in the north to the cliffs of Bennan
Head and the Black Cave in the
south.
The Ogre
Doug Scott
Vertebrate, £20.00 (hb)
Arran Coastal Way
Jacquetta Megarry
Rucksack Readers, £12.99 (pb)
I
f you look at any geology
textbook, it will tell you that
Hutton’s Unconformity –
which established the then-
controversial and non-Biblical
concept of deep time – was
discovered by pioneer geologist
James Hutton at Siccar Point in
Berwickshire in 1788.
But Jetta Megarry’s attractive
and fascinating new book on the 65-
mile Arran Coastal Way challenges
that long-held assumption. It
claims that he first discovered his
famed, 100-million-year angular
anomaly between the 550 million-
year-old Cambrian schists and the
much younger sandstones near
Newton Point on the north coast of
Arran a year before in 1787.
Happily, the discovery is
now going to be marked by an
Arran Geopark disc (at Grid ref.
NR 936521), which will be very
useful because most people will
undoubtedly need help to identify i t,
especially at high tide.
T
he epic story of Doug Scott
and Chris Bonington’s
gripping escape from the
clutches of The Ogre in the
Karakoram after their successful
first attempt on the 23,900-foot
summit in 1977 has entered the
realms of climbing folklore.
Now at last we hear Scott’s
own version of the event in this
handsome new book from Sheffield
publishers Vertebrate. But this is
far more than an exciting, first-
hand account of that incredible
withdrawal following the author’s
two broken legs and Bonington’s
broken ribs after a fall as they
descended from the summit. Due
credit is also given to the unselfish
assistance provided by their
companions, Clive Rowland, Paul
Braithwaite, Nick Estcourt and Mo
Anthoine.
Still one of the
most difficult of the
Karakoram peaks, The
Ogre is certainly not one
of its most beautiful
In Part Two of the book, Scott
gives a comprehensive account
of the history of the mountain,
including the various previous
attempts to climb its fearsome
rock and ice walls, first mistakenly
identified by the Victorian explorer
Martin Conway as a neighbouring
peak now known as “Conway’s
Ogre.” Still one of the most difficult
of the Karakoram peaks, The Ogre
is certainly not one of its most
beautiful. As Scott admits: “With a
bit of imagination, it could give the
impression of being not unlike a
giant, warty ogre.”
But there is a happy ending to
this epic tale. The author reveals
that the publicity which resulted
from the drama on The Ogre in
1977 and his successful South
West Face climb of Everest in 1975
indirectly enabled him to set up his
Community Action Nepal charity,
which now supports over 50 local
projects in Nepal. Long time Guild
member Scott is a successful
climber who, like Edmund Hillary,
has given something back to the
native communities.
Others…
New and revised editions of the
following have also recently been
published:-
Walking Loch Lomond and the Trossachs
Ronald Turnbull, Cicerone, £14.95
Walking on Arran
Paddy Dillon, Cicerone, £12.95
Walking in the Lune Valley and Howgills
Dennis & Jan Kelsall, Cicerone, £12.95
spring 2018 | Outdoor focus 5