"Water Wind and Fire" is the title of the Loch Lomond episode of Weir's Way from 1970. For those who don't know of Tom Weir, google him, he even has his own tribute song so if you haven't heard of him, you've likely led a sheltered life 
In this episode Tom floats over Loch Lomond (water) in a hot air ballon (wind) and sits by a couple of fires (self explanatory) on the bonny banks discussing the roots of various outdoor movements, hiking rambling & climbing clubs etc. and the campaign for Loch Lomond and district to be brought under the control of a single planning authority or, National Park.
The fire they are sat beside isn't just any fire, it's kindled in the spirit of the Craigallian Fire, a fire that's "eternal flame" reputedly burnt continuously on the shores of Craigallian loch through the depression years of the 20's and 30's down to the beginning of WWII, when it's site was moved a short way into cover to comply with the then national blackout policy, this was the great meeting place for likeminded unemployed penniless outdoor enthusiasts emanating from west central Scotland, and Glasgow in particular, during the great depression.
It was conversation round this fire in those years that saw the kernel of many ideas planted in the heads of people who would go on to be the movers and shakers (agitators) of later years, the generation who actively cultivated ideas that subsequent generations have seen blossom into reality, the right to roam, ideas on land use and public access conservation and of course the need to preserve a the habitat of the area, through the creation of the national park.
The Craigallian Fire has been commemorated with a monument (see the link above for the website and here for a Glasgow Herald article on the opening of the monument and the fires cultural legacy), as has Tom Weir.
So, here's the episode;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgCMykTRLGc
It's all in there, wishes and warnings, plus the late great between the wars climbing luminary; Jock Nimlin.
45 years on from the making of this I'm not sure what these old timers would make of the national park and it's most recent developments.
I'd like to hear what others think, having watched the above. Where does it fit with the founding ethos of that born by the hearth of the Craigallian Fire?
"Long may old Craigallian woods send forth abundance of their goods, may the fire be always lit so that we may come and sit."
In this episode Tom floats over Loch Lomond (water) in a hot air ballon (wind) and sits by a couple of fires (self explanatory) on the bonny banks discussing the roots of various outdoor movements, hiking rambling & climbing clubs etc. and the campaign for Loch Lomond and district to be brought under the control of a single planning authority or, National Park.
The fire they are sat beside isn't just any fire, it's kindled in the spirit of the Craigallian Fire, a fire that's "eternal flame" reputedly burnt continuously on the shores of Craigallian loch through the depression years of the 20's and 30's down to the beginning of WWII, when it's site was moved a short way into cover to comply with the then national blackout policy, this was the great meeting place for likeminded unemployed penniless outdoor enthusiasts emanating from west central Scotland, and Glasgow in particular, during the great depression.
It was conversation round this fire in those years that saw the kernel of many ideas planted in the heads of people who would go on to be the movers and shakers (agitators) of later years, the generation who actively cultivated ideas that subsequent generations have seen blossom into reality, the right to roam, ideas on land use and public access conservation and of course the need to preserve a the habitat of the area, through the creation of the national park.
The Craigallian Fire has been commemorated with a monument (see the link above for the website and here for a Glasgow Herald article on the opening of the monument and the fires cultural legacy), as has Tom Weir.
So, here's the episode;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgCMykTRLGc
It's all in there, wishes and warnings, plus the late great between the wars climbing luminary; Jock Nimlin.
45 years on from the making of this I'm not sure what these old timers would make of the national park and it's most recent developments.
I'd like to hear what others think, having watched the above. Where does it fit with the founding ethos of that born by the hearth of the Craigallian Fire?
"Long may old Craigallian woods send forth abundance of their goods, may the fire be always lit so that we may come and sit."
