In my quest to improve my lichen knowledge, I joined a Zoom beginners course and after it was finished, our small group continues to meet by Zoom fortnightly to discuss whatever lichens we have seen. The last time, we talked about a group of lichens called Stereocaulon. These are small (aren't they all!) grey bobbly lichens that grow on rock or soil.
I found quite a large population on a rock near Shepherd's Bridge. This bridge is at the end of the tarmac road which goes about 2 miles up Glen Banchor from Newtonmore Village. There is a car park at the end which is well used by walkers. There is a stone saying "Dalchurn" which is the anglicisation of the Gaelic name of Place of the Rowans but most people still call it Shepherd's Bridge. It is a popular spot for swimming in the summer, though every year the path alongside the burn gets more heavily eroded and undercut and it is only a matter of time before it disappears altogether and we will have to use the alternative route along the top of the escarpment which drops steeply to the swimming spot.
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| Looking downstream with the swimming spot off to the left. |
Looking upstream at the confluence of the burn that goes under Shepherd's Bridge with the Calder
Two weeks ago, I wanted to take more photos of the Stereocaulon. It rained heavily but after lunch the rain stopped and at 2.30 I decided to take the dog for a walk while I found the Stereocaulon again. It gets dark quite early now so I took the car and parked at Shepherd's Bridge then took the upper route down to the river and safely negotiated the steep path down. There was one last change in level, and I thought it looked a bit slippy so took it carefully. A fateful move.... the next thing I knew I was on my bottom on the grass below, my legs stretched out in front of me and the ominous sound of a crack. Looking down, my right ankle was at a very strange angle and I knew I had probably broken it. The ankle waggled on my leg as if no longer connected. Taking out my mobile phone to ring for help, I found there was no mobile signal. What now? No one knew exactly where I was, just "up the Glen" and it would be dark in an hour.
I decided there was no point in staying put and started to crawl on my hands and knees back up to the path that lead back to Shepherd's Bridge. It was wet and bestrewn with sheep droppings but surprisingly I was not in pain. Just before I got to the narrow part of the path I saw some walkers across the river and blew my dog whistle, 3short blasts 3 times. All that achieved was that the dog came back! I am sorry to say that Jeff the dog is so used to me being on my hands and knees looking at plants that he did not think there was anything amiss. Another set of blasts with the whistle and hurray - the walkers looked over and responded to my cry for help and came to my rescue. What a relief to have company! There was a faint mobile signal so I rang my husband who rang the emergency services. Not straightforward as they are now based in Glasgow and did not seem to have any idea where Newtonmore and Glen Banchor were and kept asking for the road and house number! Anyway, while we waited for the ambulance, a friend brought a thick jacket and dog blanket, and drove my car home with the dog. Mark turned up in the spare car fortuitously picked up from our son that week for us to keep while he went abroad. The Kingussie ambulance service turned up and the lovely Rona-Mae cut off my (new) jeans and my walking boot and splinted my leg. Her colleague had some gas and air which was welcome by now as it had started to hurt.
Looking at the narrow undercut path, they did not think they could get me out that way so alerted the Mountain Rescue team. However, the keeper Jimmy Grant, had been up the hill shooting deer and was parked at Shepherd's Bridge so when he arrived, he was drafted in to help.
I hopped to the Argo and with Rona holding my leg we were back at the car park in a matter of minutes. I can see from the photo that it was starting to hurt at this point!Once at Raigmore (the hospital at Inverness), I was very lucky - no queue for A&E - and I was soon X-rayed, a temporary cast put on, and operated on the next day. The treatment by NHS staff was superb. I am now back at home with a cast on my leg and metal plates in my ankle, so any blog posts will be of old walks and photos as I will not be out and about for a while.
