I have often looked across the Pentland Firth from Orkney, from where it is possible to see mountains ranged across far north of mainland Scotland. I have less often looked the other way.

Low winter sunshine highlights the prints left by a flock of Oystercatchers on a beach in Sutherland, Scotland.

A busy morning with field trips to both Old Scatness and Jarlshof, both near to Sumburgh Head at the far south of Mainland, Shetland.

A quick visit to the Staneydale Temple, a unique site in the west Mainland of Shetland.

As I visited diverse locations across Mainland Orkney, I collected three-dimensional models of a series of distinctive textures.

An afternoon walk on Marwick Head revealed panoramic reviews of the north coastline of mainland Scotland.

An evening visit to the coastline at Yesnaby, on the west coast of the Mainland, Orkney, Scotland.

Crossing the Pentland Firth from Scrabster to Stromness aboard the MV Hamnavoe.

An afternoon walk on the hills above Achiltibuie, northwest Scotland, included spectacular views and atmospheric optical effects.

This afternoon, the low winter sun cast a subtle circular halo in the sky above Balnakei in the far northwest of Scotland.

Reflecting upon natural monuments in Argyll

Dynamic views and changing sunlight across the Sound of Jura, Argyll, Scotland.

Clauchlands and Corriegills are well-known as places where high quality pitchstone occurs. Even though it remains uncertain exactly where this stone was quarried in prehistory, I was very keen to visit this landscape. On my last day in Arran, this proved to be the place where the striking colours of the island finally converged.

A visit to the Neolithic chambered cairn known as Torylin, on the southern coastline of Arran.

A walk into the sky to explore the stony world on the summit of Goatfell, including a search for pitchstone.

Today, I explored the west coast of Arran, starting at an unusual monument before exploring the coastline. Here are a group of impressive caves, sources of pitchstone and a distinctive headland with a standing stone.

Today, I visited three Neolithic chambered cairns.

Arran was the source of an extraordinary raw material used by people in the Neolithic: pitchstone. During my visit, I was very interested to explore the origins of this unusual material. One location where it outcrops is high in the mountains.

My first visit to the Isle of Arran! Although I have seen the island many times, I had never had the opportunity to visit its famous landscape and prehistoric monuments.

Today, I visited a group of intriguing rock features on the Helvellyn range in the central Lake District. This remote plateau is around 880m (2880 feet) above the sea, and was in the grip of winter.