Friends of the Ochils Newsletter 19: Autumn 2001We're on the webFriends of the Ochils now has its own website - and about time, too. Trying to describe the contents of a website in a paper-and-ink newsletter is a bit like the old chestnut of describing a spiral staircase without using your hands ... but here goes. The basic material is all there: the constitution and aims of FotO, along with the last few newsletters, together with various papers and annual reports. There are also links to other hill- and conservation-related organisations - we're keen to have more of these, so do tell us of any we've missed - and there's a section on the various available maps of the Ochils (for more on the latest of these, see the last item in this newsletter). A very appealing - and very web-friendly - feature is the inclusion of 44 photographs of Ochil scenes, mainly drawn from Robin Kelsall's slideshow (see Newsletter 18) and Richard Webb's excellent sub3000.com hill site. You'll see for yourself when you log on, but these pictures are on display via "thumb-nails" - small versions - and once you click on these the full-screen enlargement appears. What else? Well, FotO is always keen to see people go out and climb the actual hills, so the site includes a list of all 60 Ochils lumps and bumps above 300 metres (984 feet) with a drop of at least 30 metres on all sides. Top is dear old Ben Cleuch, 721m, but lower down come less familiar names such as Carmodle (408m), Cloon (346m) and Culteachar Hill (313m). Bottom of the class, but still worth a visit, are Montalt Hill and Glenearn Hill, scraping past the 300m contour. The most important information to give is of course the address: http://sites.ecosse.net/ochils/ It's been built, and will be maintained, by the web architect and all-round hill man Alan Dawson. Having the site immensely widens the scope for discussion of the Ochils, and it will be interesting to see if we start receiving email from Texas, Tehran and Tierra del Fuego. But even if you're just in Tillicoultry, log on and let us know what you think. |