A Woodland Path Encircles The Loch

A woodland path encircles the loch. In some places it is close to the water’s edge and in others it meanders into the woodland. From a wildlife point of view, I’m not keen on paths which go right around lochs, for this gives no hiding places for sensitive birds and mammals to live and breed. Fortunately, our loch has secure bushy islands as a sanctuary. In several places alders and willows grow densely beside the water, so in the summer the loch is screened from the path. There’s a choice of either walking to the right along the north side of the loch by way of a young pine wood or to the left along a wooded bank overlooking the loch. It’s funny, but I nearly always go left and walk round the loch in a clockwise direction, or rather in the same direction as the sun. I wonder if that tendency is inherent in my genes from far-distant ancestors, to whom such things mattered. Two years ago, I was trekking in a remote region of Mongolia and I was struck that our guides walked diligently in a clockwise direction round the various religious sites that we passed on horseback. I was told it was unlucky to travel against the sun.

Roy Dennis
“The Loch: A Year In The Life Of A Scottish Loch”