Ah've drank
the specials
that wur in
the fridge

n thit
ye wur prably
haudin back
fer the party

Awright
They were great
that strang
that cauld

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It was often uncomfortable, often painful, particularly for the first month, but other days were pure joy, a revelling in the sensation of movement, of strength and wellbeing. My regular headaches stopped. For the first time ever, I got through winter without even a cold. I felt incredibly well, began to walk and hold myself differently. When ( Read more... )

"Would you like some money towards another Glenmore Lodge course for Christmas?" said my Dad, some time in December. I thought about last year's course for about half a second and said "Yes please!". This time I signed up for the five-day winter lead climbing course, and had five fantastic days climbing: Wednesday in particular was one of the best ( Read more... )

[All opinions stated herein are my own: I do not speak for SGP or any other environmental organisation.]

The journalist George Monbiot (whose work I have long admired) has caused a lot of spluttering among my Green friends this morning with this article, in which he argues that the Green movement should throw its weight behind anti-pylon campaigns ( Read more... )

I spent last weekend wild camping at the foot of Creag Meagaidh, a mountain in the Scottish Highlands noted for its ice-climbing. We didn't manage to do any actual ice climbing, but we did at least do a few easy snow gullies and spent some quality time in the outdoors. Those of you who've never camped wild may be wondering about the mechanics of it ( Read more... )

Last week I went on a two-day Introduction to Winter Climbing course at the National Outdoor Training Centre at Glenmore Lodge, at the foot of the Cairngorms. I'd done a few winter routes before, but I wanted to fill in my knowledge of the basics: I had a few specific questions I wanted answered, but I was mostly worried about the unknown unknowns ( Read more... )

0500 Dreams part briefly into wakefulness. Note that still cold, despite putting on all my jumpers last night.
0501 Notice that I am not in fact wearing any jumpers. Must have forgotten to put them on.
0502 Put on jumpers. Go back to sleep.
0600 Alarm goes off.
0602 Get out of sleeping bag, put on trousers and jacket. Roll up sleeping bag and ( Read more... )

The Pope ( Read more... )

I've been living in Scotland for nearly six consecutive years now (around ten years in total), and in that time I've become increasingly open to the ideas that

1. a viable independent Scotland is possible,
2. in the event of Scotland becoming independent, I might well choose to become a Scottish citizen¹.

There's a kind of baseline respect for the life of ( Read more... )

There once stood a bridge on the Forth,
Connecting the South to the North.
The folk of Queensferry
Were ever so merry,
For they got it for less than it's worth.

[ Previously]

[Note also that the new Forth Road Bridge, if constructed, will probably cost considerably more than it should: the usual figure is £4.3bn to build a new one, or £120 million ( Read more... )