Ally Completes his Munros

We only had a short time at home before heading to Skye, so the washing machine was on duty immediately and our washing was soon out on the line, where it dried very quickly in the warm sunshine. Josh arrived to lodge with us for a few days; he is doing an Internship with Hibs football club for the next year and is currently looking for a flat to rent in Edinburgh. He was very pleasant company and soon made friends with the cats; I came into the back room one morning to find Josh eating his breakfast with Tom happily curled up on his lap. He stayed on after we left, and I’m sure that Tom and Flora appreciated his company.

Off we set on Sunday and met Ally, Cat, Davie, Chanel and Cornel at the Sligachan Hotel on Skye, our base for the next three days. 

The high level hill-walkers proceeded to climb Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir, and Bruach na Frithe on Monday. This meant that Ally only had one mountain to climb on Tuesday in order to complete his Munros; the appropriately named Sgurr Alasdair. Cat had organised two guides for the five of them. They took some excellent photos which showed amazing views of the mountains, and of really technical climbing including scrambling and abseiling; it was a tough two days but Ally was very happy to achieve his 282nd and final Munro. They all had a dram of whisky and some shortbread at the summit. 

Chanel and I also had a great time on Skye. On Monday we went to the Fairy Pools near Glen Brittle, which I have long wanted to visit. We arrived nice and early, before most of the crowds, and walked up and along the River Brittle, looking for a good pool to bathe in. There was plenty of choice, as there are pools every few yards, which is why it’s such a popular area. We chose a lovely pool with a little waterfall, and it was very refreshing to get into it because it was a very warm day. The setting was just beautiful. By the time we returned to the car there were loads of people arriving and the car par was overflowing, so we felt very pleased with ourselves that we had got there early. We had lunch at Glenbrittle campsite and took photos of red deer crossing the road just in front of us. We also visited Carbost and went to the Talisker Distillery shop. On Tuesday we walked up to the Old Man of Storr although the cloud was so low that we only got a brief glimpse of the distinctive rock formation! And then we visited Portree where we bought a cake for Ally to celebrate his Munros completion, and after some searching, some fridge magnets with mountains on them to use as decoration. And we went on a boat trip, where we got a fantastic close up sighting of a white-tailed eagle diving down to retrieve a fish that the skipper had thrown into the water. The sea was rather choppy but Chanel bravely climbed to the upper deck for a better view even though the boat was see-sawing about in the water! 

Back at the hotel we had a celebratory dinner for Ally’s achievement. He had already submitted his completion details to the Munro society. We had Prosecco to start with, and our excellent bartender, Christos, agreed to bring the cake to the table after dinner. He jokingly asked if we would like him to sing, and I, also joking, said yes! When the moment arrived, Christos appeared carrying the cake in one hand and his phone in the other, on which was playing “Celebrate Good Times” by Kool & The Gang! It was so appropriate and we all laughed and cheered. It was a great evening. 

Au revoir Cirencester

We’re back home to a very sunny Glasgow after our enjoyable, although much hotter than expected, week in the Cotswolds. The south west of England has been under an Amber warning for “severe heat” from the Met Office for the last few days, which doesn’t surprise me at all. When we arrived home this afternoon the first thing that I noticed was that the heat was noticeably less fierce than in Cirencester, although the weather was still very warm. We were greeted by Tom, who was very affectionate, and soon afterwards Flora came in through the cat flap and gave us a noisy welcome. 

Yesterday we spent most of the day back at Buscot, where James did another Thames riverside walk and I swam in the pool beneath the weir again. It was so lovely and cool and relaxing.

On our way back to Cirencester we stopped at Lechlade for a coffee and also visited St Lawrence Church which is very old and quaint. Percy Bysshe Shelley once visited its church yard on a summer’s evening and wrote a poem about it. 

Bath in a heatwave

I had some serious misgivings about going to the beautiful city of Bath today, because of the extreme heat. It’s still 31 degrees and the slight breeze just feels like a warm hairdryer!

However we had both been keen to visit Bath when we discussed ideas for this week, so we decided to go there despite the heat and just take it easy. To be fair, James minds the heat much less than I do, so I did my best to be brave and he did his best to be tolerant! James has never visited Bath before and the last time I was there was with my Mum and Dad and Jennifer in about 1973.

It took just under an hour to get to Bath and get parked, and our first port of call was the Royal Crescent. It was much more impressive than I remembered; such an elegant Georgian crescent overlooking the city, with a large swathe of grassy parkland in front of it. 

We noticed a small group of young people on the grass wearing graduation gowns and getting their photos taken. They were accompanied by people who I assume were their parents and they had set out a wee table with drinks and snacks. I think that these were people who have had to graduate by Zoom this year. Let’s hope that next year’s graduates can get back to having in person ceremonies.

After strolling through the streets, each one lined with very attractive buildings, we stopped for iced coffees to cool down a bit, and then made our way down towards the river to Bath Abbey. Its walls were covered in memorials and so were the slabs on the floor; if you wanted to read them all you would be there all day! It had a pretty medieval vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows. 

Next was a boat trip on the River Avon. It was pleasant enough but the boat headed out of the city centre immediately so there were no historical buildings to see apart from a mill. Still, it was a pretty river lined with trees including huge weeping willows, and some stunning houses with gardens leading down to the water. And we do like a boat trip! 

Finally, after a stop for cool drinks, we visited the Roman Baths. They were absolutely amazing; so interesting as well as beautiful. The pool was a bright green colour and the walls above it were lined with Roman statues. The museum was great, we had audio guides and there were really good displays as well, explaining the history and the engineering of the place. 

The journey back to Cirencester was much quicker; about 40 minutes with hardly any traffic. It has been a very hot day but we enjoyed our visit to Bath very much. I would like to return in cooler weather! 

Swimming in the Thames

The heatwave continues with temperatures here in the Cotswolds of 31 degrees C. It’s so hot. We stayed in Cirencester on Sunday and walked down to the river, had drinks in a lovely pub garden and relaxed in the tiny garden of our mews cottage, which is covered in climbing roses. 

On Monday we decided to do a combination of a walk (James) and an outdoors swim (me), because this worked very well when we met up with Jenn and Russ. We did this by driving half an hour to the village of Lechlade, then two miles along the road to the tiny hamlet of Buscot. Here the Thames widens out beneath a weir into a large natural pool, before turning and travelling onwards towards London. The pool is surrounded by trees and a grassy field and really looks idyllic.

We set up camp in the shade of a big beech tree and James went for his walk to Lechlade and back, which took him about an hour an a half. I spent ages in the pool, which was beautifully cool and deep, and I swam all around it. There were other people sunbathing and swimming but it certainly wasn’t too busy, probably because the English schools don't finish until Thursday. Following the example of a group of teenagers (not necessarily the best thing to do now I come to think about it!) I climbed up onto the lower part of the weir and sat feeling very cool and happy as the water cascaded around me. There were fish around my feet, swimming against the flow so that they appeared to hang stationary in the rushing water. 

James arrived back from his walk very hot and sweaty, and read his book under the shade of the beech tree. It was an excellent afternoon.

Later on we went out for dinner to a brasserie we had noticed during our walks around the centre of Cirencester. It was cool with all of its doors thrown open to the air and we had a tasty meal. When we got back to the cottage we also threw all of our doors and windows open to the slightly cooler night air. 

Swimming in the Windrush

On Saturday we met up with Jennifer and Russell at a village in Oxfordshire called Minster Lovell to go swimming in the River Windrush. This was Jennifer’s suggestion, because after the heat of yesterday I had asked if we could meet somewhere cool and shady. Well I have to say that Jennifer came up with the goods! The swimming spot is beside the picturesque ruins of 15th century Minster Lovell Hall, where the Windrush is very shallow but then deepens at a bend, just deep enough to swim in it. Russell set up four camp chairs on the banks of the river and Jennifer and I went in for a swim. There were lots of families there too on this hot and sunny Saturday, and it was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves; our “camp” was a bit up the river from the shallow area where most of the children were playing, which meant it was pleasantly quieter for us. The cool river was so refreshing, and the current prevented us from making any progress when swimming up stream, but we had great fun wading up stream and then swimming back very fast as we were swept down by the current. Russ and James went for a walk (out of our Cotswolds Walks book) for about an hour. We then all ate the amazing and copious picnic that Jennifer had made; sandwiches and samosas and stuffed vine leaves and pork pies for the boys. Then fresh fruit and millionaire’s shortbread. It was absolutely delicious and she had even brought ice cubes for our drinks! 

Back at Jennifer and Russell’s house we met up with Ben, who is looking very grown up and handsome, and wee Angus the Westie , who at sixteen and a half years old is a now a wee old doggie with stiff hind legs, prone to seizures, deaf and a bit confused. It was sad to see him looking so old, but it’s good that he has had (and is currently still having) such a happy life Chez Smith.

We all went to a wine bar for drinks and to listen to a folk band called “Celtic Hearts” who were excellent, there was a great atmosphere. And then Russell cooked us a barbecue in the garden, while Jennifer made us salads. What a fantastic day. 

The Comedy of Errors

James and I were back in Stratford-upon-Avon today to see The Comedy of Errors at the new RSC Outdoor Theatre, specially built so that plays can be performed during the pandemic, and only recently opened. It was a very hot day, and I was sweltering before we even arrived in Stratford, because we had decided to go for a walk in Northleach on our way. I have always said that the English know how to build beautiful villages, and Northleach is certainly very beautiful with its buildings made of Cotswold stone, and its little lanes and marketplace. It’s also where the very funny mockumentary “This Country” is filmed. We walked across fields of wheat to St George’s Church in the nearby hamlet of Hampnett. It was delightfully cool inside the little church compared to the roasting day outside.

Back in Northleach, we had a coffee sitting outside the little Black Cat tearoom, before continuing our journey to Stratford. Unsurprisingly it was extremely hot there too, a startling contrast to the time when we visited and it was so cold that I had to buy a woollen hat and matching gloves. We had a lovely pre-theatre meal at the Rooftop Restaurant up on the 3rd floor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. We sat out in the balcony where there was a slight but pleasant breeze. However there was no respite from the heat when we went back downstairs to watch the play; we were seated on the side of the outdoors theatre where the sun was shining directly onto our faces. The play started at 6.30 p.m. but the sun was still quite high and it was blazing hot. After about half an hour I had to slip out of the theatre to cool down. The friendly staff were all very concerned and offered to seat me at the other side, but I decided just to wait until the interval and then go back in. The sun had gone behind a nearby building by that time, and it wasn’t very difficult to catch up with the slapstick plot. It wasn’t Shakespeare’s finest play, but it was all good fun thanks to the enthusiastic actors who sang and danced and leaped about. 

It was a really good day but oh boy was it hot! 

A day of sport and space travel

Ironically, on this day of sporting excellence, I took almost no exercise at all! This was partly because I was watching the sports (tennis and football) and partly because I was making red currant jelly and making arrangements for our holiday in the Cotswolds. 

The red currant jelly turned out very successful and is a gorgeous colour. The holiday arrangements are progressing.

However the main business of the day was the sport. 

In the afternoon I watched the Wimbledon men’s final between “old timer” Djokovic (he’s only 34!) and young contender Berrettini who is 25. It was a hard fought match and Berrettini managed to win one set. But Djokovic was clearly the stronger player and was a worthy winner in four sets. They both played some marvellous tennis.

In the evening we watched the Euros final between England and Italy. It was so close and both teams looked very good to me. It went to extra time and then penalties, but in the end Italy won by one point. I felt so sorry for England. However there’s always the World Cup next year! 

I should also mention that today Richard Branson flew up to the edge of space in his Virgin Galactic rocket plane and returned safely. This was a bit competitive because his fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos (who founded Amazon) had already planned his own space trip next week, so Branson rushed to get there first! However Bezos has sniped that he will be going higher than Branson and in a “proper rocket” as opposed to Branson’s high altitude plane. It’s as if they are arguing over who has the best toy! Let’s hope that both toys are safe! 

A day in Dundee

I had a really lovely day in Dundee yesterday. I took the train through, and read my book and messaged back and forth with Jennifer. How lucky I am to have a sister. And I mean this particular sister! 

Davie and I met up at Caird Hall (happy memories of graduations there!) and went for lunch at the V&A. It’s so nice there. We had a good chat. Then he took me to see an unusual poppy that he had spotted last week (and of which he had sent me a picture). This ended up being a circular walk of 10 km on a very warm day, but we stopped in the shade several times while Davie leaped in the air to knock a few dubiously ripe cherries off some trees, which he then ate. We went up the hill to the observatory and down through a meadow which has waist high grass and flowers now in the height of summer. The last time I was there it looked completely different with the grass much shorter. We found Davie’s elusive poppy which was a “candy floss” poppy which has a bunch of extra wee petals in the middle almost like a carnation. Back in the centre of Dundee we saw wee rabbits munching the grass and relaxing in the sunshine in The Howff, a tiny city cemetery. We also saw an oystercatcher there; unusual to see one in a city, although I suppose it’s not very far to the river and the sea. We had ice creams at Janetta’s Gelateria in the recently refurbished garden area near the station before I set off homewards. My lemon sorbet was so refreshing and Davie had tayberry ice cream which looked gorgeous. 

My train ride home was relaxing and I read my book some more; it’s The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Old-fashioned and long-winded, it’s still captivating. 

Grave matters

James and I visited the Anderson family plot at Westburn Cemetery yesterday to inspect the recently completed new inscription on the gravestone. This is Grandma’s, and her name is written next to Jimmy’s which is what she would have wanted. Their names are added below those of James’ great-grandparents, his great-uncle Hugh (who was killed in the 1st World War), his great-aunt Barbara and her husband James, his grandparents, his Aunt Agnes, and his Aunt Barbara. James’ Aunt Barbara “died in infancy” in the 1930s, and when he was growing up she was never mentioned at all. The first that he knew of her existence was when he took me to visit the family grave in the early 1980s. (What a romantic date that was!) 

After we checked that the lettering was satisfactory, we went for a stroll around the rest of the graveyard. We noticed a lot of familiar Cambuslang surnames, and the more recent graves were decorated with not only flowers but balloons and wind spinners. Some even had photos set into the gravestones, which I had always thought was a European habit. One grave was adorned with a granite bottle of Buckfast, which rather stunned me. I suppose it was meant to be affectionate. 

As I read some of the names and ages on the gravestones I thought about the many sadnesses contained there. Because in among the many long lived people who are commemorated, there are children and babies and soldiers and other young people, who will have been sorely missed by their families. 

July musings

Our lovely holiday is over. We said goodbye to Heather and Ewan on Sunday morning and then set off back to Glasgow ourselves on Monday; the garage in Ullapool finally admitted (after five weeks!) that they just can't fix our car, so the AA have transported it to Glasgow Audi. This will no doubt be costly, but the good news is that they are talking about fixing it in days rather than weeks! Thank goodness that Heather offered her car to transport the bikes to the Western Isles and that Ewan offered to do the driving, because our wee courtesy car wasn't big enough to take the bike rack. 

Since our return to Cambuslang, the weather has been very warm which I suppose shouldn't surprise me 

since we are well into July. The gooseberries and redcurrants are ripe and I have been picking some of them today; I will freeze the gooseberries and make redcurrant jelly. On Tuesday morning James and I walked along to Burnside to pick up a picture that we had put in to get framed at Brian MacDougall's, and we also had a coffee sitting outside at Cafe Gelato. As we walked home I was absolutely sweltering. 

I am blogging while half watching the Euros semi-final between England and Denmark*, with Ally, Cat, James and Iain. I'm supporting England, because Scotland has already been knocked out. In this I think that I am in the minority in Scotland, where very many people would support "A.B.E." (anybody but England, which I think is racist.) But if Scotland are no longer in a competition I like to support the other home nations. 

A propos of nothing, I remembered earlier that today would have been my Mum and Dad's 60th wedding anniversary. 

* England won 2 - 1.

Competent Ankles

We arrived back on Thursday from our fantastic trip to the Western Isles. The weather has continued to be beautiful and the views of the islands and mountains from the ferry as we approached Ullapool were spectacular. I do enjoy a ferry trip, and as a bonus we happened to sit right beside a tv screen which was playing Wimbledon; Heather and I enjoyed watching Coco Gauff winning her second round match against Elena Vesnina. 

On Friday we all set off to climb Canisp. I mentioned at breakfast that my feet would feel cooler in trail shoes, which Heather would also be wearing. James replied that I should wear my boots to support my ankles (I do have a track record of turning my ankles and in fact breaking them in occasion!) - he went on to say that Heather would be fine in trainers because “Heather has competent ankles” This was such an odd turn of phrase that Heather and I burst out laughing; it’s probably the strangest compliment that she has received! 

The blue skies promised wonderful views, but also a very warm day. I really did give it a go, but after a couple of kilometres I realised that it was too hot for me and turned back. I will try Canisp again but it will have to be on a much cooler and no doubt cloudier day, which will mean that the views will not be as stunning as they were on Friday. And I know that they were stunning because I later saw the photos taken by James, Heather and Ewan when they reached the summit. Such amazing views of all the other mountains. They arrived back down the hill a few hours later, hot and tired but very happy. 

Meanwhile I decided that the best way to cool off would be to have a dip in the little river that ran into a nearby lochan. The banks were rather muddy but the water was delightfully cool. Tiny little fish investigated my toes and the air was full of birdsong. I then read my book while waiting for the others. I felt very cool and relaxed in the sunshine. 

Later we had dinner at Peet’s in Lochinver and in addition to having a lovely meal, we spotted comedian Rob Brydon drinking champagne with actress Ruth Jones, whose husband owns the restaurant. Apparently they are filming a new comedy series nearby. Excellent celebrity sighting! 

Lewis and Harris

It has been interesting to spend time in Stornoway during our holiday in the Western Isles. In the past, Stornoway has been a place that we have passed through on our way to South Harris, sometimes stopping to stock up on groceries in its supermarket; we have never spent much time there. It’s not as pretty as, for example, Tarbert in Harris, and mostly just looks like an ordinary little Scottish town. However as we have strolled around Stornoway on our way to its very decent selection of restaurants, I have got to know it a bit better. The harbour area is quite attractive in the practical way of a fishing town, and the verdant woods and paths of Lews Park overlook the town and provide walking and cycling very close to its centre. From the windows of our delightful accommodation in Lews Castle we have been able to watch the ferry to Ullapool arrive and depart at a stately pace, until it is clear of the harbour and picks up speed to head back to the mainland. I am glad that I have had the chance to become better acquainted with Stornoway. 

The same goes for the rest of Lewis. I have visited several of Lewis’s highlights on previous trips; I have been awed by the ancient stones of Calanais and the rocky splendour of the Butt of Lewis. However I have long regarded its landscape as fairly flat and bleak, especially when I have driven across it in poor weather. I have always felt that its neighbour, Harris, wins hands down in terms of dramatic hills and stunning beaches. This all changed during our cycle across the island on Monday; at a slower pace I was able to appreciate the lush green countryside of Lewis under big skies, the wildflowers and the many glittering blue lochans, all the while accompanied by the insistent song of skylarks. And today a friendly lady in the tourist information office was waxing lyrical about various Lewis beaches which she assured us could rival any in Harris. I will always love Harris, but thanks to this holiday I have found a place in my heart for Lewis too.