Strathdearn & Wester Ross on 12 - 14th of October, 2007. The last outing for ZenBends on the Moray Fund Award and I was keen to get up into the Highlands to record some roads that I knew well from my childhood days in Strathdearn, Inverness-shire.
The hired car at the end of the public road in Coignafearn, Strathdearn.
Fieldwork report with details of roads filmed to follow soon . . .
The wet weather kept me from the Highlands so it was off to points nearer in the Borders. Set out on Saturday the 18th of August and headed down to Innerleithen. Spent a wet but relaxing time on the single-track road from Innerleithen to Walkerburn. Watched herons by the river Tweed and in bare old pine trees on the riverbank.
Filmed the road later on before heading east towards Kelso. Next day recorded the section of the B699 where it skirts the Marchmont, just outside Kelso. Then it was on to Selkirk up the Yarrow Valley turning off at the junction of the B709 from Mountbenger over the hills to Traquair, turning left onto the B7062 on up to Peebles.
Although drawn to Mull, I ended up in Highland Perthshire to record a number of roads that I had not previously explored and was keen to see. Managed to persuade Talitha to come along and be my helper which was delightful - so much better than working on my own. As the weather forecast was not promising, I built in a number of related things that I wanted to check out - one was the Drovers exhibition at the Crieff Visitor Centre and the other was the play ‘Passing Places’ by Stephen Greenhorn in the Pitlochry Festival Theatre. As it turned out, the weather was kind to us, but both of the other attractions were very useful and interesting - the exhibition for historical information on roads and routes in the highlands, and the play for an interesting perspective by a lowland playwright on adventures in the highlands and for interesting views on driving on highland single-track roads. Our few days in Perthshire were followed (after a night back in Edinburgh) by a trip down to Selkirk in the borders, via small back roads. If the weather is okay for this weekend, I fully intend to make further trips in the borders to investigate some of the smaller, out of the way roads.
Finally, my first fieldwork of 2007 on ZenBends! I had just finished a fieldwork task for the European Ethnological Research Centre in Strathdearn and took advantage of being up north to add on two days in Lochbroom, Coigach & Assynt, and en route, a farm road on the Black Isle, just north of Inverness. The weather was good and it was great to try out the camera with the new items attached. Made several video films and a number of stills using the new Nikon D200 - some of the images and fieldwork notes to follow soon. Next trip is scheduled for the first week in July and at the moment I am drawn to the Island of Mull which according to the map, seems to have many miles of single-track road.
I had planned to get north for a week of fieldwork starting on the 17th of May but the prospect of wind and rain (as forecast by the met office) changed my mind, so I have, reluctantly, suspended my first planned trip of 2007. Will reschedule for a time when the skies are looking brighter. Feel a bit of a fairweather wimp but on the other hand I want the best weather & light conditions to make my single-track road video recordings.
My outstanding items of equipment have arrived and I now have a matte-box with UV & polarising filters. Took a bit of time to get the correct adaptor ring to fit the matte-box to the Sony’s small lens (37mm). Will be interesting to see how it performs on the roof of the car when driving and filming - I have some concerns that the ‘top flag’ visor will flip up in the wind - may have to be the matte-box on its own? I also have a rain cover for the camera - an essential item for working in the Highlands. Pic of the modified Sony HVR- A1E to follow.
I am now actively looking forward to undertaking my next fieldwork trips, probably in May and June of this year. My motorcycling buddies are heading to Lochcarron for the 18th and 19th of May for their late spring tour of the highland roads, and I hope to join them for at least one of the nights in Lochcarron. I have just bought a small tent to have as an accommodation option if I end up at the end of some single-track road too late to find a B & B. I have also ordered a matte-box and UV filter for the SonyHVR-A1E high definition camcorder that I am using for filming the roads. Just waiting for it to arrive and then I will likely order a couple of other filters (neutral density and a polarising filter).
Each day at work I will often stop and study the large Michelin map of Scotland that I have on the wall outside my office, and look at the roads, making up routes in my mind that I would like to drive. I keep changing my mind and wishing that I had an unlimited budget and more time to explore all the roads!
Back in the early 80’s when I was a postgraduate student at the Royal College of Art in London, I managed to get an old VW camper van for the second year of my course and I used to spend a week or so at a time, out on the road living in it and then commuting to London to attend lectures and process and print the films I’d taken. Many of my fellow class mates were very kind and let me camp out on their floors or sofas, then I’d be off up to the Highlands again.
Greetings to all lovers of single-track roads, everywhere. My name is Ian MacKenzie and this is my new website where I will be showcasing my fieldwork on Scottish Highland and Island single-track roads. I am an ethnological photographer and I work for the department of Celtic & Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh. This project (called ZenBends) has been awarded funding by The University of Edinburgh’s Small Project Scheme, The Catherine Mackichan Trust and the Moray Endowment Fund. Thanks to Owen Nelson of Defaultgrey.com for help with this site.
ZenBends is a play on the British road sign warning of double bends ahead, (sometimes referred to as ‘Z’ bends) and often seen on Highland & Island single-track roads as they follow the contours of the land rather than the more direct routes of modern roads that, by a combinations of blasting, cutting and filling, take their own line regardless of the surrounding topography. These older single-track roads are the type of road that draw me down their length, filming what I see as I drive, mentally noting corners, curves, roadside details and panoramas of hill, sea and sky to photograph later.
Every journey is different - the variables of light, the time of day and year, the purpose of the trip, the frame of mind of the driver, the music playing on the radio or CD player. Even if it seems that you are all alone on the road, you always have to be prepared for whatever is round the corner. These are, by their very nature, roads that demand negotiation with other travellers (human or animal) to reach your destination . . . .
Okay, that is my first attempt at setting the context for my interest in this subject. I will no doubt come up with more on that later. Next thing is to put up some images, once I figure out how to do it. Please check back and see if I managed.
best
Ian