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Podcast: The Essay
Episode: Aquamarine
Description: The great Victorian collector of minerals Matthew Heddle mentions two places in particular for the finding of aquamarine in Scotland, one the island of Arran and the other a mountain in the Cairngorms. But locating these gems is another story.The Cairngorm mountains are a kind of fortress. There is nowhere else like them in Scotland. You enter their world from one side or another and thereafter are inside them until you withdraw once more. You become aware of other noises than the ones that dominate our days: you hear streams, the breeze lifting the pine trees...