A MUSSELBURGH hillwaker has bagged a top accolade for the videos on his YouTube channel, which has attracted 7,000 subscribers.

Robin Wallace, 40, of Mansfield Avenue, won silver in a new category of The Great Outdoors Reader Awards 2021 – ‘outdoor film or filmmaker of the year’ – to mark the competition’s 10th anniversary.

The awards – launched by The Great Outdoors magazine in 2012 – are dubbed “the UK’s democratic celebration of the best of outdoor culture”.

A spokesman said: “[The 2021 awards] represent a big milestone: the 10th time we’ve run the awards.

“We’ve marked the anniversary by introducing two new categories – outdoor film or filmmaker of the year, and the open outdoors award for those widening participation and increasing diversity.

“On top of this duo of new awards, 13 categories have returned again, including favourites such as pub of the year, book of the year and app of the year.”

The magazine readers decide the results and, with 18,300 votes cast – a new record – organisers said that the 2021 awards were the “biggest and best” ever.

Mr Wallace is a Munroist, avid hillwalker and all-round lover of Scotland’s wild places.

He is “passionate about wild camping and also enjoys a night by the bothy fire with a dram”. He loves to “visit old favourites and new hills, regardless of their height or criteria”.

His subscribers enjoy videos of day hikes, bothy nights, hiking gear, wild camping and the Cape Wrath Trail.

Voters praised his relatable, informative content and style, stating “you think it’s possible to follow in his footsteps” and “Robin takes us along with him on his adventures”.

Mr Wallace told the Courier: “I was really chuffed to be nominated and listed, let alone win silver in the awards. I was up against bigger YouTube channels and professional filmmakers like Terry Abraham, who took gold in the same category.

“I’ve not been nominated or won anything like this before so it was nice to get some recognition for the hard work I put into filming my adventures.”

He added: “I climbed Ben Nevis with my partner Nicola Cooper back in 2008 as a total one-off experience but I was hooked and, since then, I’ve enjoyed hiking and camping all over Scotland, taking in all the Munros.

“My favourite area is Fisherfield in Wester Ross, often regarded as ‘Scotland’s Wilderness’, and, of course, the Cairngorms and Glencoe, being more accessible from East Lothian.”

He added: “I started doing more regular YouTube videos in 2018 and go hiking a lot with my friend Kevin Russell, from Cockburnspath. We get on really well and share a similar humour. The channel is still growing and I find being honest and light-hearted has helped.”

Mr Abraham, a multi-award-winning filmmaker and photographer, won gold with the finale of his ‘Life of a Mountain’ trilogy, which showcases the iconic Lake District peak Helvellyn. Originally shown on BBC Four, the film is also now available on DVD.

The bronze award went to ‘The Alpinist’, directed by veteran filmmaker Peter Mortimer, which follows the pursuits of Canadian Marc-André Leclerc.