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Tony Bridge Photography, Lairg (2026)

02/09/2026

Time for the third and final walk from our long weekend in Aberdeenshire. Like yesterday, this is once more an exploration of the convoluted coastline for which this area is famous, but this time, the cliffs and big skies of the northern stretch overlooking the Moray Firth.

This route starts in the historic fishing village of Rosehearty, once one of the most bustling ports along this coast until the railway decided to stop in Fraserburgh instead. Almost overnight, all the commercial fishing industry upped and moved along the coast, leaving Rosehearty with quiet streets and glorious views.

From here, a coastal path heads west along the cliffs, past an old control tower left over from a former RAF offshore bombing range and now a rather unique private house. It skirts rolling fields of barley and cows to the south, wide blue sea to the north, before stumbling down into a combe, where the skeletal remains of a once substantial stone house stare forlornly to the watery horizon, as if waiting for past glories to return from the sea. Just beyond, on Quarry Head, stand more reminders of the bombing range: the concrete base of a demolished building and the surprisingly pristine disc of a helicopter landing pad. A grassy ramp zigzags down the cliffs from here to the old quarry that gives the headland its name and a fine, secluded, rocky cove.

Turning its back on the sea, the route heads inland, picking up some of the quiet lanes that drift over the rolling landscape, through the fields and past farms, back towards the village. The long history of this settlement is a quiet companion to this part of the walk: on Mounthooly Hill stands the early 19th century doocot, an architecturally over-the-top, neo-gothic tower that once kept pigeons; the ruins of Old Pitsligo Church surrounded by the burial ground of its next door replacement; the ruins of Pitsligo Castle that cast their gothic shadow over the village.

From here, it is back to the quiet harbour, a scattering of fishing boats and the sound of the Moray Firth waves breaking against the granite piers.

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All images and words (c) 2026 Tony Bridge.
Shot on Canon EOS R7.
Monday 31st August 2026

01/09/2026

Day 2 of our intrepid adventures in Aberdeenshire and it was time to hit the coast…

With the weather forecast to be a bit blowy and showery on the Moray Firth side, we headed east instead to the coast south of Peterhead and a there and back route from Cruden Bay to the Bullars of Buchan.

The route largely hugs the wave-battered cliffs, past the ruins of New Slain Castle (once a popular haunt of writers and artists including Bram Stoker, who is said to have been inspired by the building and its windswept, isolated location to write Dracula), and on to the tortured rock formations of the Bullars. Arches, stacks, reefs and outcrops rise up from the foaming waters of the North Sea, the sky swirls with gulls, kittiwakes, rock doves and cormorants. Clifftops hide puffin burrows amidst the grass and wildflowers, their occupants long gone to their long winter out at sea. The air is fresh and bracing and the walking is generally easy, with just enough up and down to give the legs a good stretch…

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All images and words (c) 2026 Tony Bridge.
Shot in RAW on iPhone 14 Pro
Sunday 30th August 2026

30/08/2026

Away again for another weekend in the tent, this time down south (and east) in Aberdeenshire.

Our first walk is a popular one in this part of the world, a circuit of the main peaks that make up the ridge of Bennachie, which rises in isolation above the rolling agricultural landscape of eastern Aberdeenshire. Though half the height of the peaks of the Grampian Mountains and Cairngorm massif to the west of the county, these low mountains provide a real sense of height compared to the relatively flat landscape around. Being close to the city of Aberdeen and the other large towns of Aberdeenshire makes this popular walking country.

This route starts at Forestry and Land Scotland’s Back o’ Bennachie car park on the north side of the ridge, climbs through plantation forestry and quickly above the treeline onto heather moorland. It summits Oxen Crag, the highest peak at 528m before dropping down to traverse the ridge towards the secondary peak of Mither Tap (518m). Though lower, this top feels more like a peak, with its Tor-like rocky outcrop and Iron Age fort remains. On a clear day, the views from both peaks and lower summits nearby provide stunning views in all directions across the Aberdeenshire fields. For us, though, the views were mostly of the clouds, a grey day with a strong breeze from the northwest, blowing low cloud bases right at us. Breaks in the clouds gave sudden glimpses of the landscape below us, whilst the swirling mist made the moorland slopes feel mysterious and otherworldly, as we explored the ridge pretty much on our own.

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All images and words (c) 2026 Tony Bridge
Shot in RAW on iPhone 14 Pro
Saturday 29th August 2026

19/08/2026

Sunday stumbled cross us still tenting across the great divide in Scourie. The clouds had lifted a bit and the scattered showers scattered some more, so we heading down the road to do the walk we had planned for Saturday.

I have lost count of the number of times we have driven across the iconic bridge at Kylesku and stared upstream over Loch Glendhu into the brooding mountains. Never have we stopped and explored. Until today.

This is a linear walk along a well-made estate track from just off the main road at Kylestrome on the northern side of the bridge and along the north shore of the loch, to the bothy and lodges at Glendhu. A short detour near the start leads you down to the slipway at Kylestrome, where the small ferry from across the loch at Kylesku, once formed the only route up the coast from Ullapool to Durness - unless you fancied a long, torturous detour inland via Lairg.

The scenery on this route is nothing short of stupendous: across the dark waters of the loch with the bridge and the looming pillars of Quinaig hiding in eruptions of cloud to the west, and an ever-narrowing glen to the east giving vibes of New Zealand’s Fiordland. As you approach the bothy, the mountainsides close in and a rougher path leads up and into their depths, enticing you to explore further, to wander into the empty lands that lead eventually back to Loch Shin.

That, though, is an adventure for another day. On this August Saturday, our journey was back to the car just as the showers cleared and fitful sunlight gave the landscape a new coat to wear…

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All images and text (c)2026 Tony Bridge
Shot on Canon EOS R7 and iPhone 14 Pro.
16th August 2026

15/08/2026

Back out on the West Coast again for another weekend in the tent, this time in the village of Scourie. After a day of rain and laziness saw us kicking back and lounging around the campsite, a decent gap appeared in the showers and so we headed out for a short stroll.

This part of the coast is all about the crenellated shoreline where the ancient bedrock that underlays Assynt and the far northwest meets the tumultuous seas of the North Atlantic. With the breeze blowing in showers from the sea, fleeting passages of light danced across wave and landscape alike, the scene as we walked made ever-changing, but always spectacular.

In all, a small but perfectly formed walk on the wild Atlantic edge…

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All images and words (c) 2026 Tony Bridge.
Shot on Canon EOS R7

03/08/2026

Sunday, second day of our weekend over the hills in the Land of the Midges, and it was time to tackle one of those mountain things that seem quite popular in this part of the world…

There are plenty of big beasts in the wild landscape to the south and east of Ullapool: the Fannichs, topped out by Sgurr Mòr at 1110m, Beinn Dearg at 1084m catch the map reader’s eye. Our choice though, was the more accessible Beinn Enaiglair, standing 890m above Strath More and the River Broom.

The route is easily accessible from parking near Braemore Junction where A835 from Ullapool to Tore meets the A832 Destitution Road heading south along the Wester Ross coast via Gairloch.

From the start the walk gently climbs as it crosses peaty, boggy, heathery land, cut by watercourses, as it heads round the north side of the mountain. After crossing the Allt na h-Ighine, the rate of climb increases and the path becomes dryer and rockier as it sidles round to a deep cleft on the eastern face. Before the final rocky, tussocky climb to the summit proper, the 714m shoulder on the eastern slopes of the secondary peak of Creag Bac na Faire gives a perfect place to pause and enjoy the stunning view of a textbook-perfect glacial valley sweeping down to Loch Glascarnoch.

The final climb is steep at first, before easing onto the broad summit, the obligatory cairn, and classic Wester Ross views in all directions (even if the clouds decide to roll in as they did for us!).

Landscape views suitable imbibed, the route off the summit follows a broad, easy shoulder, across moss and heather-covered boulders (watch those ankles) before picking up a stalkers path once more as it threads the bealach between Beinn Enaiglair and Meall Doire Fàid, dropping off the hill beside a rushing stream (complete with waterfall) and joining up with the outward route for the boggy trek back to the start.

All in all, a fine hill day, with a good mixture of terrain, a final lung-stretching climb and a real workout for the legs… and some pretty special views.

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All images and words strictly (c) 2026 Tony Bridge.
Shot in RAW on iPhone 14 Pro
Sun 2nd August 2026

01/08/2026

This weekend finds us out West, on t’other side of the mountains, in the ever-delightful Wester Ross metropolis of Ullapool. Despite having been here so many times, both before and after moving down the road, we have never managed to do the most obvious walk in the area - up onto the local viewpoint of Meall Mòr via the Ullapool Hill Path.

In the spirit of adventure, our route combined this with an out and back to the banks of Loch Achall, set in a wide strath to the east. A nicely varied walk through bracken filled woodland, open moor and patches of Caledonian forest, this route is a fairly straightforward leg-stretcher easily completed from the centre of town.

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All images (c) 2026 Tony Bridge.

Shot in RAW on iPhone 14 Pro. 1st August 2026

07/06/2026

“This is not Ibiza.
This is not Detroit.
This… is Marrakech”

The dance track, “This is Marrakech” by Moroccan DJ, VAN, with its traditional North African drum rhythm and sound samples, swirled around the coach as we edged along the wide, palm-lined boulevard, flanked by low rise buildings all painted in the same rose-pink. It was fitting: we were headed to the most famous and cosmopolitan city in Morocco, melting pot and meeting point for over a millennium due to its central position on the trade routes from Africa to Europe. For centuries, trading caravans had eased their way up from West Africa, down from Tangier and the gateway to Europe, or, like us, wound their way up and over the High Atlas Mountains from the dusty interior and the vast Sahara beyond.

Today, it is still a meeting point, still a trading post, only now that trade is tourism: Marrakech is the most visited city in Morocco by travellers from Europe in particular, who fly in, in their hundreds of thousands, for a weekend exploration of the World Heritage Médina, shopping in the tourist-focused bazaars or just hanging out in the massive Jemaa el-Fnaa square. This huge, concrete expanse is the soul of the city, filled by day with market stalls, juice stands and, sadly, the exploitative, cruel, barbaric snake charmers and monkey wranglers and by night with pop-up street food stalls, impromptu music sessions and crowds of people: locals and tourists alike. After dark, the air fills with charcoal smoke and the smell of cooking food. The ground vibrates to African drum rhythms, traditional instruments and voices.

There is more to Marrakech than knock off spice stalls and tourist-focused attractions, though. The traditional courtyard houses, riads, have increasing been converted to boutique hotels. To step through a seemingly anonymous doorway in the blank walls of yet another medina alleyway is to step into a world of architectural wonder, a secret garden of quiet calm, decorated in complex mosaics displaying traditional Islamic pattern art. Outside the medina walls, the busy, car-infested, polluted streets of the new city take over, but braving the chaotic, homicidal traffic takes you to the historic Koutoubia Mosque, whose minaret tower forms the mandated highest building in the city, and into the park-like grounds surrounding the royal palace (off-limits to all but the monarch and his family). Around the imposing railway station clusters the modern commercial heart of the city, awash with shopping centres, hotels and offices, quietly pandering to the needs of locally and visitors alike.

It may be brash, noisy, polluted and increasingly over-touristed, but no visit to Morocco can be complete, without at least a couple of days here, absorbing the sights and sounds and embracing the chaos. This, after all, is Marrakech…

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All images and words (c) 2026 Tony Bridge.
Shot on Canon EOS R7 and iPhone 14 Pro
May 2026

04/06/2026

So much of what we had seen so far in Morocco felt like a movie set. The mayhem of Fez, the otherworldly landscapes of the dusty, dry interior, the breathtaking grandeur of the dunes: all felt like scenes from an epic film in which we were the slightly dodgy actors.

Today’s destination, however, could actually claim to be a real life movie set - the historic and awe-inspiring casbah of Ait Ben Haddou has formed the backdrop for a multitude of TV and cinema scenes including Game of Thrones, Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia and The Mummy. It is easy to see why. Rising on a steep, low hill above a fast-flowing river draining from the High Atlas Mountains, the old ruined fortress commands sweeping views over the dusty, rocky, rain shadow landscape, split by a green oasis created by the cooling waters as they rush past. On its slopes cling a chaos of mud-brick buildings - once houses and workshops, now shops, cafes and hotels - cut by narrow passageways and alleys that wind their way round the hillside.

Ait Ben Haddou cannot help but feel cinematic at every turn, helped by the sweeping, arid landscape all around. It is no wonder that TV and film producers are drawn back here time after time, helped by a resident population of experienced technicians and a growing number of world class studio facilities in the nearby town of Ouarzazate. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Mollywood!

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All images and words (c) 2026 Tony Bridge.
Shot on Canon EOS R7 and iPhone 14 Pro.
May 2026

01/06/2026

After such a barnstorming start, the rest of the day had a lot to live up to. It really didn’t disappoint. We had woken beside the high dunes of the classic Sahara. We would end it walking between the impossibly sheer sides on the Todra Gorge. The day itself would be filled to the brim by exploration of the harsh desert landscape, an introduction to the alien but somehow alluring way of life of the Bedouin who still call the wild, remote harshness home, a toe-tapping musical intermission and a long haul across a vast, dry, dusty unforgiving landscape to a place of complete contrast - the verdant lushness of the oasis surrounding the Toudgha River.

After a day of sun-baked sand, rocks and dusty hills and outcrops, standing amidst green fields, fruit bushes and date palms, listening the high-decibel cacophony of birdsong and watching bees and butterflies buzzing and fluttering by was almost surreal. Here was wheat, legumes and fruit bushes, whilst just a short climb up the rocky valley sides lay an endless panorama of terracotta, parched semi-desert, punctuated by wind-carved rocky outcrops and backdropped by the rain-shadow foothills of the High Atlas Mountains that held back the humid Atlantic winds.

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All images and words (c) 2026 Tony Bridge.
Shot on Canon EOS R7 and iPhone 14 Pro.
May 2026

Tony Bridge Photography

02/09/2026

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