Appreciating geology and the physical landscape in Scotland: from tourism of awe to experiential re-engagement

Abstract

This chapter explores people's experience of the physical landscape in Scotland from the perspective of parallel developments in geological science, landscape aesthetics and tourism since the middle of the eighteenth century. It begins with tourism of awe, inspired by the Romantic movement and the excitement of discovering natural wonders promoted through contemporary literature and art during the development of modern geological science in the late eighteenth-early nineteenth centuries. Popular interest and engagement in geology declined with increasing scientific specialization, although the physical landscape continued to draw many visitors and provide creative inspiration for poets and artists. In the 1940s, the beginnings of statutory geoconservation were accompanied by renewed interest in raising public awareness of geology and the physical landscape mainly through didactic methods. More recently, exploration of the cultural links between geology and landscape is providing new opportunities for experiential re-engagement, a shift that recognizes the close links between people and the physical landscape, and one promoted through voluntary sector activity in geoconservation and the development of Geoparks. Rediscovering a sense of wonder and reconnecting with the landscape offer a means of reconciling the natural and cultural worlds and enabling wider public appreciation of geodiversity.

Three centuries (1670–1970) of appreciating physical landscapes

“…Primary geosites have geological and/or geomorphological features, either natural or artificial and generally permanently exposed, within a delimited area and of some significance for their scientific, educational or interpretative value; they range from quarries and natural cliffs to mines and caves (Cope 2014) requiring husbandry rather than strict preservation, for much of their value lies in the access they provide to in situ rocks and their fossils and minerals. They can be refined on the nature of the localities at which geotouristic activities are focussed; for example coastal (van den Ancker & Jungerius, this volume, in press), mountainous/alpine (Cayla et al 2015;Gordon & Baker 2015;Migoń 2014;Whalley & Parkinson, this volume, in press), volcanic (Hose 2010a;Pullin 2014) and mining localities (Bristow 2015), and waterfalls (Hudson 2015). Tourists visiting waterfalls have a long history, and in the eighteenth century they were briefly termed 'cataractists', perhaps an interesting descriptor worth resurrecting.…”

“…Consideration of areas key to the development of British scenic tourism, such as those in northern England (Cope 2014;Henry & Hose 2015) and Scotland (Gordon & Baker 2015) is useful in elucidating generic European and global themes together with issues in historical geotourism. Initially the Peak District, considered the birthplace of British geotourism (Hose 2008), was favoured by Britons determined to venture in wild landscapes.…”

“…of 1678) and Charles Cotton (The Wonders of the Peake of 1681); both recognized seven 'wonders', of which five had a geological basis as caves and springs. However, the perceived and sometimes reported overt commercialization of the Peak District's major sites led travellers to look elsewhere, at first to north Yorkshire, then the Lake District and finally the Scottish Highlands and Islands (Gordon & Baker 2015;Hose 2010a). The Lake District is particularly significant to historical geotourism because of the means by which its exploration opened up a supposedly remote wild region to leisure travellers.…”

Enhancing the Role of Geoconservation in Protected Area Management and Nature Conservation

“…This includes not only through World Heritage listing, but also through cross-cultural collaboration (Borrini-Feyerabend et al 2004;Gavin et al 2015) that involves local and indigenous people in geoconservation, with benefits of recognising and maintaining traditional knowledge and culture, while conserving and promoting geoheritage (Farsani et al 2012;Tavares et al 2015). The global growth of geotourism and geoparks offers a means to develop and promote the links between geoheritage and the cultural components of the landscape, as well as a means to enhance the visitor experience involving interpretation that encourages the rediscovery of a sense of wonder through the aesthetic and cultural connections of geoheritage (Martini 2000;Pralong 2006;Zgłobicki and Baran-Zgłobicka 2013;Gordon and Baker 2016). Such an approach, while retaining geology as a central focus, requires a more holistic integration of the geology, environment, culture, aesthetics, and heritage of an area (Martini et al 2012;Stoffelen and Vanneste 2015).…”

The Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, Scotland: geoconservation history and challenges

“…Already by the mid-19th century this 'remarkable area' in Lochaber was a magnet for the curious traveller, tourist and professional scientist, caught up in the enthusiasm for exploration, discovery, understanding and explanation of the natural world. This period marked a radical change in valuing the physical landscape as a source of both wonder and evidence of how the world works, rather than something to be explained through a tradition of colourful myths and legends (Gordon and Baker, 2016). It also coincided with the development of the glacial theory following the visit of Louis Agassiz to Scotland in 1840, when he recognised that the Parallel Roads were similar to the shorelines of ice-dammed lakes in the Alps (Gordon, 1995).…”