Mary Legg

Growing up in Clackmananshire, Mary Legg would sit in school looking out the window at the Ochil Hills and wishing she was there. At every opportunity she would head off to the hills, wearing out a pair of shoes on her first ‘expedition’ to Crianlarich, and then had to buy a pair of cheap Tuff boots. Only later could she afford better equipment.

Since she liked being outside so much, and loved mountains in particular, she studied geography at Edinburgh to train as a teacher. But she was quickly diverted into outdoor recreation and became an instructor at Outward Bound first in Wales and then at the Moray Sea School. ‘I have a hopeless sense of direction and have to use a compass all the time. Although I loved sailing – so long as someone else was in charge – I much preferred being on land. I went on various trips abroad to Wyoming doing any old job that turned up, and to Argentina on an Earthwatch project to look at carnivores but, just like Caithness, it was freezing fog, wind and rain, so we did not achieve much.’

Mary eventually came to Caithness to teach geography but a ranger friend was taking a long holiday and invited her to stand in. It all started from there. Mary has now been Highland Council Ranger in north Caithness for 18 years now, based at Dunnet Bay - with a colleague based in the east of the county.