Buy Your Very Own Scottish Mountain...

If you've just won the lottery, or maybe sold a small flat in Kensington, then you could be the proud owner of your very own classic Scottish mountain.

Some 40,000 acres of the Assynt Estate in Sutherland is about to go up for sale, with the area including both Suilven and Canisp - two of the best known peaks in the area.

According to the BBC, the largely uninhabited area could be the subject of a local community buy out, following the precedent set by the Assynt Crofters Trust, which purchased the 21,000-acre North Assynt estate for £300,000 in 1993.

New legislation allows local communities in Scotland to make pre-emptive bids for land which goes on the market with a view to owning and running it for the benefit of the community.

Any buy-out should have little or no effect on access to the mountains for walkers and climbers. The only slight concern, voiced by Cameron McNeish on the OUTDOORSmagic forum is that crofters have a tendency to erect fences, however he concedes that the record of the neighbouring North Assynt estate is generally welcoming to the public.

For more details see the BBC website.