North Face

Here is a recent painting of the North Face of Ben Nevis under winter conditions.There has already been some snow falls on the higher tops although not quite as much as this. Last weekend we ran up the tourist path to the half way lochan and then around to towards the C.I.C. hut which sits below the cliffs of the North Face. Even though it wasn't many busy it was a relief to to  turn off the tourist path and  head up the valley to enjoy the remoteness and stunning beauty of Allt a Mhuilinn. The weather was fantastic.There was some atmospheric cloud drifting around the corries of the Ben but the sky above was blue. Snow delineated the crags and the the lower slopes of the hills were a rich autumnal brown. We took lots of photographs of the North Face to add to the great many we already have of this stunning view.

                                                  DULCE ET DECORUM EST
Bent double, like beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distance rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas !GAS! Quick, boys!- An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.....
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I see him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-
My friend you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

by Wilfred Owen  18/03/1893-04/11/1918
It is said that his parents received the telegram telling them of his death as the bells rang out announcing the Armistice.
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