QUARTER OF A CENTURY OF FRIENDSHIP

It's more than a year since I last penned a blog, during which the world has been turned upside down and inside out.

Travel plans have been disrupted, and activities normally taken for granted, have instead been taken away, and my own forays into the mountains of Scotland with my best friend Pauline seem like a distant memory.

Celebrations of all kinds have been cancelled or postponed, but that does not mean forgotten.

On 13 August 1995, Pauline and I took our first booted steps up a mountain together, on the northern shore of Loch Tay, along the Ptarmigan Ridge.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

And what a history it has been.

Scotland has been our stomping ground in the main, but we gradually ventured far and wide on ever increasing adventurous trips, all with an outdoor theme of course.

We have been lucky enough to share, either by bicycle, ski or foot, the landscapes and terrain of the Dolomites in northern Italy; the snows of the arctic circle in Levi, Finland and the Alps in France; Torres del Paine on the southern tip of the Andes in Chile; the mighty Himalaya in Nepal; the long distance route of the Camino across northern Spain, and the mountains and prairies of the United States, right across, from sea to shining sea.

Then there's the every day life, of pizza and movie nights, evening cuppas with episodes of Frasier, local walks and pottering in our gardens at the back of our apartments. We're lucky to live one above the other, in a fabulous part of Scotland, right by the sea, which has been our base camp for our adventures for the majority of the past 25 years.

We had planned a number of celebratory activities throughout this year, but all so far have been cancelled. On Thursday 13 August this year we marked it with a wander around Aberlady Nature Reserve, coffee and cake, naturally (though takeway), followed by a fish and chips whilst watching a favourite movie, which, in keeping with the fact that just now every day seems the same, was Groundhog Day!

We're keeping our fingers crossed for an adventure in the Scottish Highlands come September, and all being well a visit to the Caerlavarock National Nature Reserve near Dumfries in October.

All our other plans are not cancelled, merely postponed, and today marks the start of our year of celebrations, when we will return to the Scottish mountains and start creating more memories over the next 25 years.

"Life was meant for good friends and great adventures"

THE LAST FERRIES OF BALLACHULISH - IT'S A WRAP

Just over three years ago I started to form a plan to make a film about the old turntable ferries that operated at Ballachulish in the early 70s, near Glencoe, , when I was still in single figures, spending most of my free time playing on them.

At the onset I thought it would make a nice, wee, two week summer holiday film project.

More than three years later, finally, I am able to say, it's a wrap!

When I started I was working for a different organisation teaching young people filmmaking skills, and the plans for a Film Academy for young people had not even begun to form in my head.  As it is in life, other things were added to the pot, and by the time I finished just a few weeks ago, it was fair to say I was a tad busy and under pressure.

Now the film is taking it's chances in several film festivals around the world, namely the Celtic FF, Tribeca in New York, Edinburgh, Hot Docs in Toronto, Amsterdam and Sheffield. This will be proof of whether the film is any good or not, because up to now it has only had a friendly audience at it's various stages of post production.

Every filmmaker would no doubt like to attract an award for their work, but for me just getting in to any of the film festivals and it having it seen by a wider audience will be reward enough.

There were three ferries to be found, in what very quickly became a complicated detective story. Just 10 days before the deadline to finish (for it's first film festival entry), a chance encounter would come along to solve one of the biggest puzzles. Three years in the making and one of the crucial elements came together in the last 10 days! Thanks to having a small crew helping me, and luxury that I had not had over the entire three years of production, I just made it!

Now that it is over, and I do miss the adventure I have to admit, I've turned my attention back to the three things that I neglected to a certain degree over the past six months, namely The Film Academy; my fitness; and outdoor adventures with my best friend, and biggest supporter, Pauline.

2019 ended with me catching the mother of all colds, likely brought on by the sudden stop just before Christmas. But determined to end the year with some sort of outdoor experience, I made the effort to venture out on two day trips to local areas, organised as always, by the ever reliable and resourceful Pauline.

On a breezy but dry day, we made our way out to Roslin. There stands Roslin Chapel, made ever the more famous by the film The Da Vinci Code, but the less said about that the better.

From the chapel car park it was a pleasant wooded walk, skirting the southern edge of Roslin village, to Roslin Glen. A wide dirt track took us further into the glen, with a deep gorge on one side.

Following the bend in the river, it seemed an overly large track for a woodland walk.

Until we came upon the ruins of what was until as recently as the 1950s, a gunpowder factory, and clearly the track had once been the main access for vehicles.

Now all that remains are a few small collections of brickwork from the old buildings, and the structure that would once have formed the old waterwheel.

What was surprising was to discover on the information board, that this small gunpowder factory, that had operated since the very early 1800s, through a succession of different owners, would eventually become the global chemical company we know today as ICI.

Circling back to the car park we briefly visited the ruins of the old 14th century Roslin Castle, with part of the grounds occupied by a large residential building called the East Range, built into the cliffs. This location was also used in Ron Howard's film, but again, the less said about that the better.
 

Once back at the car park at the chapel, we completed our day with a loop through Bilston Glen, somewhat more muddy underfoot. After crossing the viaduct, dating from the late 1800s, we looped back to the start, passing the 19th century folly Dryden Tower.
 

The second excursion, on the last day of 2019, and still feeling decidedly under the weather, we headed out by folding bikes and train, to Traprain Law, a small 200m hill just outside Haddington.

It is the site of the largest hoard of Roman silver artifacts ever found outside the Roman Empire, presumably from the 40 acre fort that once stood on its summit, and now housed in the National Museum of antiquities in Edinburgh.

Though a very pleasant and short ride on the bikes to get there, when you're not feeling 100% it takes the edge off the enjoyment. Thankfully it was a short walk to the top, where we were met with a group of ponies and rewards of views across the Forth to the hills of Fife and Stirling.
 

With a very agreeable stop at the Waterside bistro on the edge of Haddington, we trundled back for our train home out of Longniddry and bade farewell to 2019.

Happy New Year.