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The Great Wilderness – Dundonnell and Fisherfield Forest

barn — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:54:41 +0000

Our second annual Highlands trip was at the end of April 2010, to Dundonnell and Fisherfield Forest, near Ullapool in Wester Ross, the Scottish Highlands.

Gin, Ol, Kitty, Griff and I (Pip was in a play in London so had to stay behind with the Grandparents for support) planned three nights of rough camping and Munro bagging. It didn’t go to plan because Flybe lost my bag on the way up – I didn’t fancy a 4° night in a tent wearing just my jeans and t-shirt – so we spent Friday night and Saturday morning finding a place to crash, and borrowing bits of kit. Anyway, once we’d begged and bought enough stuff that I could survive the weekend, my bag turned up, so we set off just 16 hours late.

The area is known as the Great Wilderness, and the further in you go the more remote it feels. Because we’d started so late, we camped only about five miles in, on the bend of a river under some budding silver birch trees. It was a perfect spot.

Even if it was surrounded by deer corpses – there were three within five meters, and they scattered the whole area, victims of this year’s particularly harsh winter… After setting up the camp, we took a little stroll to some waterfalls a mile or so off.

On the Sunday we had a choice of hills. The most dramatic, An Teallach, was not possible because the rivers were in spate and because the crags are dangerous enough in the summer when they’re not covered in snow. The girl who lent me some waterproofs had a friend who slipped off the path two years ago and fell to her death.

We chose Beinn a’ Chlaidheimh, the northern summit of a long ridged massif of three Munroes. First off, crossing the icy burn. It was a simple climb, with just a little scrambling at the top, and the weather was good throughout. The summit was attained after a few hundred metres along the snowy ridge, then we descended a little and stopped for lunch.

On the trip down we detoured to a waterfall before returning to another camp-fire, another great dinner from Kitty , and drank all the whisky we had left.

On the Monday morning we struck camp and walked out via the Shenavall bothy and the foot of An Teallach. The route was boggy but beautiful. We were back at the car for 2:30 and the airport for 4, and I was in the bath in London by 8pm!

Thanks everyone, I had a great time!. Full photoset is on Flickr here, and there’s a map here.

Click here to view the embedded slideshow.

Speed of Light

barn — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:46:43 +0000

This weekend we went to the Bargehouse behind the Oxo Tower to see the lasers at Speed of Light. Laurie loved it, and got “My favourite Princess is Cinderella” woven into the soundscape. It was very hard to photograph, but recommended as a visit although you’ve only got until 19th April.

Afterwards we piled children into an ampersand, and went through the Waterloo graffiti tunnel.

Also some photos from Easter weekend, when we took advantage of the lake at Paul Foston’s golf academy in Ashford on the way back from Kent. Jo, Peter and Lucy even picked up some free training.

Click here to view the embedded slideshow.

Back on track

barn — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:28:25 +0000

I’m back on my feet and at work now. This weekend Liz came to stay, and went out for lunch on Saturday and to the London Aquarium on Sunday.

Photos here…

December I – Christening, Birthday #1, School Play

barn — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:48:07 +0000

Indigo was christened on December 6th, and we had a little reception afterwards. Andrew the vicar scurrilously tricked me into participating in the service. Photos here or watch the slideshow…

Click here to view the embedded slideshow.

Pip’s just turned 36 and we had lunch at Belgo’s, dinner at the Ship and Whale, and then the next night twenty of us saw Calendar Girls in the West End followed by several bottles of champagne in a dressing room backstage. Only a couple of photos from the two days from me, but I expect there are more somewhere on facebook…

Finally today was Laurie’s nursery show. Last year she was a leading role – Angel #1, but this year she was Irish Girl #2, and sat at the front of the stage to pick her nose then eat it. A natural performer I suppose. Photos here.

Click here to view the embedded slideshow.

Amsterdam 2009

barn — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:22:05 +0000

We nipped over to Amsterdam to visit Fi, Wim and Stephanie. We drove over, via Dover, and got upgraded to Le Tunnel Sous La Manche on the way back, due to the storms. So now Indie’s three months old, and has been to Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. France and Belgium twice.

It rained so much we skipped the traditional parade of blacked-up city employees, and hid in the library instead. Julia was over from Canada so we caught up with her and Steef as well.

Photos here.

Click here to view the embedded slideshow.

Sally & David Williams’ Ruby Wedding Anniversary

barn — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:03:01 +0000

We spent this weekend in Kent at Pip’s parents’ house, celebrating their Ruby Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations, Sally & David!

The house was full, there were motorhomes in the paddocks, campers in the garden, and a jazz band in the bolt-hole. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah were the guests of honour, and in the Saturday night barbecue competition they chose my burgers over all others.

Sunday was a church service, then some memorable speeches and a lunch, accompanied by Jo’s Mother Hubbard’s Traditional Jazz Band, and the London Adventist Chorale.

On the Monday I took some formal photos, then Pip, Gin, Laurie and I went to the beach at Broadstairs with Venetia and Dave and their four boys. I swam in the sea for probably the last time this year (and the only time in Britain!)

The rest of the photos are here.

Update 22nd July 8:15 – Pip took some (weird false colour) videos. They’re on YouTube here, here and here.

Some Summer Fun

barn — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:12:18 +0000

Pip & I went to see Blur in Hyde Park a few Friday afternoons ago, it was ace. I drank several bottles of pear cider, to recreate the Glastonbury feeling for both of us.

On the Saturday we all trained up to Scotland to see the Griffiths-Prentons, and I got a dive in courtesy of my sister (it was the well known Eyemouth Sewage Outfall Pipe site, thanks Liz!). At Eyemouth the girls fed the harbour seals some herrings, then we went to picturesque St Abbs and Laurie had a quick bite of Amy. Pip & I nearly bought a tea shop.

The following weekend, we went to Mayfield Lavender Farm in SW London (just!) and although it was rainy, it still looked pretty spectacular.

The next day, we went to Peckham and the sculpture gallery and campari bar they’ve installed on the top floor of the multi-storey car-park. Recommended, even when the chef’s at lunch so you can’t get food.

Full gallery here.

Sardinia

barn — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:25:47 +0000

We’ve been on holiday to Sardinia. Pip, Laurie & I went with Griff, Clare & Amy, Fi, Wim & Stephanie, and Clare, Alan & James. Four couples, three two-year-olds, and an eleven-month-old. Surprisingly, it went very well!

We hired the surprisingly magnificent Villa Enrico. It was set in 40 acres of olive and lemon groves in the countryside outside Alghero. It was over 40°C in the sun most days and it turns out that much sun, four lots of baby-wee and an under-chlorinated pool will turn a nice blue pool into a nice green pool in just a few days.

Green notwithstanding, we spent most of our time in the pool…

…or on the beach…

Wim and I tactfully negotiated a day and a half’s babysitting to get some pretty spectacular cave-diving from a cliff-top dive-centre with it’s own train down to the boats. I did one dive right through the headland of Capo Caccia (home to Nero’s Cave if you’ve been to Sardinia) and back through separate tunnel systems.

The three girls absolutely loved it.

We’ll probably do it again some time, although I suspect Griff & Clare may want to travel direct from Edinburgh next time

The full album is here.

The Rough Bounds Of Knoydart

barn — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:18:12 +0000

Over May Bank Holiday, I walked around the Rough Bounds of Knoydart in the Western Highlands, with Ginny, Griff, Kitty and Swetty. The Knoydart Peninsula is the most isolated part of mainland Britain, and is only accessible by either driving 21 miles down Britain’s longest dead-end road then walking in for two days, or by open boat from Mallaig. It was a great trip, although it would have been better if I had managed to catch the train Gin & I were booked on – that would have saved an emergency £270 train fare before we’d even left London!

We chose the former, and left the car at Kinlochhourn on the Friday morning. We walked a wet seven miles (rain and rivers) down the shore of Loch Hourn, and slept in the bothy at Barrisdale that night because the weather was coming in and we’d arrived early enough to get a few bunks.

The day ended with a stunning rainbow spanning the loch.

The next day, the weather was even worse so we changed our plans and walked over the Mam Barrisdale pass to the tiny settlement of Inverie, rather than climbing Ladhar Bheinn. At 400m on the pass the wind was so string we could hardly stand, so it was the right decision. Also, Inverie has a pub (not just any pub, Britain’s remotest pub, and a pretty good one at that), which we were in by 2pm.

We camped on the bivouac site, on the beach with possibly the least shelter on the whole coast. I worked out why in the night – the ground was sandy, and the torrential overnight rain drained away – the rest of the land was peaty and a total bog.

We got up at six the next morning. Not only had the rain had stopped, but the sky was clearish and there was a light coat of snow on the tops. We climbed to the ridge of the corrie and spent the next five or so hours alternating between rain, freezing hail and long warm sunny patches. We could see the next few weathers as they queued up over Skye to approach in turn. The ridge went up and down a fair bit, and there was a little scrambling, but after lunch we got to the main body of Ladharr Bheinn and half an hour later we summited at 1010m.

The descent was much quicker as we bombed straight down the steep boggy shoulder and back to the pub for dinner. We camped again that night, then caught the 8:30 ferry to Mallaig. It was a freezing open boat and the 45 minute crossing drenched everybody in sea spray. After a breakfast where we had numb hands and couldn’t hold our forks properly, Griff and Kitty set off on the four-hour trip to fetch the first car. The rest of us caught the train (one of the top train journeys in the world, and a Harry Potter location) to Fort William to meet them, and drive back to Edinburgh for urgent shower facilities. I was back in work by Tuesday afternoon, exactly five days after I’d left.

The full picture gallery is here. If you’ve got Google Earth the KMZs are here and here.

Peebles and Bam-Bam

barn — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:36:02 +0000

We went up to Peebles again last weekend to see Griff, Clare and Amy, and Ol, Amanda and new baby Duncan, and Kitty who’s back from NZ.

Laurie delivered her usual mix of extreme affection and violence to Amy, but they seem to have kissed and made up.

For some reason we didn’t take any photos of Duncan or Kitty, but did get one of Clare’s smoked fish melange.

Full gallery here.