Aye Write 2018

This year we booked two events at the annual Aye Write book festival, both with a hill-walking theme. The first one was on Saturday lunchtime at the Tramway; the venerable climber, Chris Bonington. It was a bright and sunny, not-quite-spring day, so we decided to take the train to King’s Park and walk the rest of the way, which took about forty minutes. We arrived in plenty of time and were queueing to buy some lunch at the very nice but very slow café, when we received the bad news from a lady wearing an Aye Write t-shirt with an Aye Write badge and lanyard. Before taking off, Chris Bonington’s plane had developed a fault, and the climbing legend, who was already feeling unwell, had to leave the flight. At least I think that’s what happened, I may have picked it up wrongly. We were disappointed but could not be annoyed, after all he is 83 years old. So we had lunch (sitting outside in the sunshine, it was just about warm enough) and had a wander round the Hidden Garden.
What to do next? A quick search on our phones revealed that the film “The Greatest Showman” was scheduled to start at the Springfield Quay cinema in about half an hour - just nice time to walk there by a strangely pleasant urban route under motorways and through industrial estates.
I was quite keen to see the film because I had heard that it has been panned by critics but is loved by audiences, so I wanted to have a look myself. It turned out to be a very jolly and traditional musical, which of course I love, and the singing and dancing was absolutely excellent, by all of the cast including the delightful Hugh Jackman. I can see why the critics didn’t like it - it was a very sanitised version of Barnum’s circus, and the undoubted exploitation of disabled people was presented through a sympathetic (to Barnum) modern lens as a sort of inclusive celebration of difference. But after a slow start, the film is increasingly drawing in the audiences, I think probably due to the genuinely good music and choreography. We rounded off the day with an excellent curry in Dakhin.
Anyway, back to Aye Write. The next day (Sunday) I drove straight from my lunch in Ardrossan to the Mitchell Theatre, where I met Heather and Ewan, who had just been to an event. James arrived and we all had a good chat, and then James and I went in to see well known Scottish hill-walker and broadcaster Cameron McNeish talking about his autobiography. I have seen him speak before years ago, at a school event, and he was very good then, although after his talk one of my pupils accidentally hit him on the head with a chair which was unfortunate. He was very good-natured about it though.
Cameron McNeish’s talk on Sunday was absolutely brilliant, and in fact I found it very inspiring; he talked about how he had become a hill-walker and fulfilled his dream of making a living by writing and broadcasting about the outdoors. He showed lots of beautiful photos and video clips which enhanced the talk, and I  found it fascinating. He mentioned that he will be going to Yosemite with his grandchildren in July, which is when we will be there! James said that we can say hello to him if we happen to see him on a hill, but that we shouldn’t disturb him if we see him in a restaurant with his family, which I think is fair enough. His talk has made me look forward even more to our hill-walking holiday in Ardnamurchan next week.