I'm sitting in what is reputed to be Britain's best take-away, a fish & chip shop called the Real Food Cafe in a village called Tyndrum, just west of Crianlarich. The cafe is very good - next time you're in Tyndrum, do pop in. Near Tyndrum is the site of a battle between Robert the Bruce and the MacDougall clan. (Backstory: Robert had killed a MacDougall a few months before; they were upset about it so they tried to kill him.) Now, the MacDougalls didn't quite manage to kill Robert but they did manage to snatch his brooch. (What was he doing wearing a brooch?) I smell a fish, and I don't mean the one I'm eating. How do you nearly kill someone but steal their brooch instead? I mean just how is that done? Just imagine it for a moment, and if you know how, post a comment.
The road from Stirling turned north into the mountains today at a place called Callander. At the town boundary, a big picture on the road sign showed a course fist clenched around a flaming wooden crucifix. Blimey, this town must be pretty serious about God, I thought. Why not add underneath: 'No heathens, no pagans, no Quakers, no vampires - thank you, please drive carefully.' Anyway, it was a lovely place, at least during daylight.
The village marks the boundary of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and it's heart-achingly beautiful. (Not sure what a Trossach is.) From there, a cycle route took me along disused railways and forest tracks, along the valley through the woods and along the shore of Loch Lubnaig, all surrounded by steep-sided mountains - wow. It's a wonder that they managed to get railways to cling to the steep mountainside and to find routes through the mountains at all given that trains can't manage anything more than a shallow incline. At Glenogle summit I had an ogle then rejoined the busy road to Crianlarich. It was a soulless A road of speeding, careless traffic and I was heading into the wind again but the landscape was terrific - huge peaks rising over 3,000ft all around, some of their summits in the clouds.
At the campsite, it took five minutes for the midges to find me. I left off putting the tent up to slap myself about - it didn't help because they're using asymmetric warfare methods. The midge is sustained by God's abiding love for all her creatures. The wee thing is just trying to get along in the world and have a little midge family. The problem is that the midge has no moral sensibilities and, incapable of imaginative thought, is not able to negotiate a solution where my needs and his are both met; for example, I could leave a thimble of blood by the tent each night in return for a non-aggression pact. Unfortunately this state of affairs puts midge and me in a state of violent conflict.
The best way to think of midges is like supermodels: it's unclear what they're for, they're always hungry, and they can't withstand the slightest gust of wind. Their mandibles have serrated edges with which to saw a little hole in your skin and get drinking (midges, that is - supermodels feed in a slightly different way). And they're sneaky - you can never have a fair fight with them, one at a time.
'Are you doing Lands End to John o'Groats?' the campsite warden asked me. 'There was a guy here last year did it on a unicycle,' he said. Yeah, a wise guy. 'There was a woman who did it with one leg,' I said, 'because she only had one.'
Towards Fort William and the west coast tomorrow!
From End to End - over £3,000 raised to reduce carbon emissions
So I rode a bicycle from Land's End to John o'Groats between mid-July and mid-August 2007 because I wanted to and also to raise money to reduce carbon emissions.
Thanks to everyone who preferred to sponsor the trip for this mighty cause rather than wring their hands in despair. May the wind not be in your face, the rain not run down your neck, and the sun not burn your skin. Sponsorship as of 16 October 2007: £3,213 (92 sponsors).
The trip blog appears below, most recent posting first (i.e. start at the bottom and work up!).
Thanks to everyone who preferred to sponsor the trip for this mighty cause rather than wring their hands in despair. May the wind not be in your face, the rain not run down your neck, and the sun not burn your skin. Sponsorship as of 16 October 2007: £3,213 (92 sponsors).
The trip blog appears below, most recent posting first (i.e. start at the bottom and work up!).
Where the money has gone
The money raised will help to cut the carbon emissions of the organisation that I worked for and admire – British Quakers. If you’re not a Quaker (nor am I), then please take my word for it that they are worthy recipients of the money.
Simple, contemporary, radical: Quakers were instrumental in setting up Greenpeace, Oxfam, Amnesty, Campaign Against Arms Trade and others, and were also pioneers in the abolition of the slave trade. They've never made oats (that's true). Find out more about Quakers.
The money will help to buy a glamourous new combined heat and power boiler for the Quaker central office, Friends House - these boilers are ecologically responsible, shiny and horribly expensive. Yes, it's a bit boring but it will cut carbon emissions. Find out more about CHP boilers (oh go on!).
Simple, contemporary, radical: Quakers were instrumental in setting up Greenpeace, Oxfam, Amnesty, Campaign Against Arms Trade and others, and were also pioneers in the abolition of the slave trade. They've never made oats (that's true). Find out more about Quakers.
The money will help to buy a glamourous new combined heat and power boiler for the Quaker central office, Friends House - these boilers are ecologically responsible, shiny and horribly expensive. Yes, it's a bit boring but it will cut carbon emissions. Find out more about CHP boilers (oh go on!).
02 August 2007
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1 comment:
I empathize with your midge affliction, as the female mosquitoes here in northern Ontario (our "provincial bird") find me just as attractive as the midges find you. Like your midges, they are just trying to live their lives and procreate...but so am I (except for the procreation part), and so are you (although I'm not sure about your procreation plans). Your suggestion of offering a thimble of blood in lieu of them biting you is amusing, in a bittersweet way. I've often wished that I could do the same here. More annoying to me than the mosquitoes are the people who claim, with an air of superiority, that mosquitoes don't bother them.
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