Blaven.com

Minor tweaking day today

Roy — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:16:00 GMT

My day job means that I have once again been paying far less attention to the website than I would like. I have spent a couple of hours today working on some boring but essential technical stuff (primarily enhanced XHTML 1.1. compliance since you didn't ask :-). I've hopefully not broken anything. Please let me know if I have.

Blaven.com mentioned on BBC website

Roy — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:40:00 GMT

This website gets a brief mention in an "explore the webcams" feature on the BBC Highlands and Islands website.

Loch Duich and Letterfearn webcams not not working

Roy — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:21:00 GMT

Over the past week Tim Macpherson has brought the five webcams back to life. They are not not working any longer! Thanks for all your hard work Tim.

Loch Duich and Letterfearn webcams not working

Roy — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:11:00 GMT

Tim Macpherson has advised that both webcams located in Letterfearn have stopped working because water has leaked in to the BT telecoms cable. BT is investigating.

New Broadford Bay webcam

Roy — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:32:00 GMT

The latest webcam is based at "Moeraki" holiday home at Harrapool by Broadford. It looks out over Broadford Bay to the Crowlin Islands, Applecross peninsula and Loch Kishorn. The feed is courtesty of Jenny Till. Thank-you Jenny.

New then and now feature

Roy — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:07:00 GMT

A year ago I started taking photographs to create a "then and now" feature, comparing some of the scenes shown in the postcard gallery with how the scene appears today. I have finally published the first postcard scene with many more to follow when I have some more free time. Please let me know what you think of this.

Bernera webcams back on line

Roy — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:03:00 GMT

The foam rubber mallet has been applied to the three Bernera webcams and they are back on line.

Bernera and SMO webcam issues

Roy — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:23:00 GMT

The three Bernera webcams are off-line until someone can bring them back to life with a foam rubber mallet. This is expected to happen next week.

Also the Mallaig webcam has twice gone off-line in the past fortnight. It is being subjected to automated hacking attacks by bad people outside the UK. I'm hopeful that a permanent solution will be in place shortly.

New book about Duncan Macpherson

Roy — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:48:00 GMT

It is an open secret that I am an ardent admirer of the work of relatively unknown photographer Duncan Macpherson. I was therefore delighted to read that a new book entitled "Where I belong - Fifty Years in Focus in the Highlands and Islands: Duncan Macpherson - Photographer and Pharmacist" is due for publication at the end of this year. It is written by Mary Carmichael, former Museums and Heritage Officer for Skye and Lochalsh. I've already pre-ordered my copy from Amazon.

Another four webcams

Roy — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:42:00 GMT

Another day, another four webcams added to the site! Too many to name but you will find them all on the webcams page. The feeds are once again supplied by Tim Macpherson of Glenelg Holiday Cottages. Thank-you once more Tim.

Website updates

Roy — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:38:00 GMT

A couple of enhancements have been carried out to the webcam pages. The webcams page now includes a preview from each of the past five days. Whilst it has always been possible to view any of the past 30 days on the webcam archive pages, including as time-lapse sequences, surprising few people made use of this intriguing feature. By giving this more prominence I hope that this will change.

On the webcam archive pages I have added a new and useful 'play entire day' button along side the pre-existing 'play from selected time' button.

Finally I've made a number of technical changes behind the scenes that has resulted in most of the pages on the site being updated. If you encounter any problems or have any feedback - good, bad or indifferent - please click on the 'any comments' link at the bottom of any pages or contact me here.

Third webcam live

Roy — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:08:00 GMT

The third new webcam in little over a month! The view from the new Loch Duich webcam towards Eilean Donan Castle will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has travelled on the A87 main road to Kyle of Lochalsh. The webcam and feed is courtesy of Tim Macpherson of Glenelg Holiday Cottages. Thank-you Tim.

Second webcam live

Roy — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:02:00 GMT

The second of the two new webcams at Sabhal Mor Ostaig is up and running. This webcam looks out across the Sound to Sleat towards the Knoydart peninsula. My thanks once again to Caoimhin and Domhnall.

Updated Blaven time-lapse video

Roy — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:22:00 GMT

The popular time-lapse sequence of a day in the life of Blaven - originally recorded in 2002 - has been replaced by a higher quality sequence shot earlier this year. I recorded 24 new sequences over a period of 24 days and all but three days proved unusable. Not for any technical reasons but because the clear blue skies and lack of clouds on 21 of the days do not make for particularly interesting viewing.

No webcams today

Roy — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:48:00 GMT

The webcam feed suffered a firewall failure this morning. I've just replaced the firewall but most of the webcam images from today will have been lost.

New photographs added

Roy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:41:00 GMT

Following my annual Christmas pilgrimage to Skye plus lots of unseasonal snow and blue skies, I've added 13 new photographs to the Gallery page. Another four recent images have been added or updated elsewhere on the site. I should come up with a way to identify new images plus some additional content changes that I've made but that will just spoil your fun in spotting them! More to follow.

RSS feed added

Roy — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:32:00 GMT

A RSS feed is now available at the suggestion of Fred Riley in Nottingham. Thank-you Fred.

Webcam moved

Roy — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:00:00 GMT

The installation of power and network cabling has allowed the first of the two new webcams at Sabhal Mor Ostaig to be moved to nearer its final home in the roof space of the main college building. The intrusion of the roof is temporary until both webcams are fixed in place. Thanks again to Caoimhin and Domhnall.

Happy New Year

Roy — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Very best wishes to all for a happy, healthy, prosperous and snow-free 2010. Roy.

New webcam update

Roy — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Those nice people at Sabhal Mor Ostaig have the first webcam up and running. The webcam is temporarily located in the college library but will be relocated before the end of February to a more permanent location, without window reflections! My thanks to Caoimhin Donnaile and Domhnall Domhnallach for their ongoing efforts.

Two new webcams coming soon

Roy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Some website changes have been made in preparation for two new webcams that I'll be donating shortly to Sabhal Mor Ostaig. One of these will replace the BBC webcam that has for the past 10 years delivered some stunning images of the Sound of Sleat.