Rural Scotland in the winter months
“A short winter’s tale about remove living when weather watching is an addiction. During the winter months, the estate is covered in snow and the snow poles are essential to guide us over the track hidden beneath. A few winters ago, we jumped into the Argocat, fitted with snow tracks, and headed out for supplies. We travelled in warm clothing, with a few emergency basics packed under the seat, and a large snow shovel strapped to the Argo’s frame.
Sudden snowfall impacts on remote living
Overnight, the wind had created huge, deep snow drifts. The drifts varied in size, height, and depth, and can appear very quickly and in different locations depending on the wind direction. This particular winter, a thick snowfall covered the existing snow and created tall, deep drifts. You couldn’t go around them due to their locations on steep sided hills so the only option is to traverse them. In order to make safe progress, slopping channels were dug into each side of the snowdrift, lowering the distance between the height of the snowy track and the top of the snowdrift. These channels enabled us to get up on to the top of the drift and then down the other side. Sometimes the drifts were many yards long and they were numerous.
Canny approach to remote living and surviving
In the photo above, I am (gratefully!) sitting in the warm Argocat. Richard is digging the channel to get us safely down from the snow drift so we may carry on our journey. If it didn’t snow while we were out shopping, we had an easy return run back home.
A short winter’s tale about remote living is one of our many adventures. Our journeys over the snow were only undertaken after studying the forecast. We would pick a calm day but as with most winter weather, it was often full of surprises.”
This article first appeared in Scotland in 4 Seasons Magazine, Winter 2022. You can read the full digital edition for free here.
