 It's still January, but I picked up the March tgo from the Manchester Costwold shop today.
Apart from the dodgy paper, the first thing that leapt out at me was John's choice of additional kit for his PCT walk.
I'd like to know, given the difficulty of finding this essential item on the trail, just how much Ardbeg 10 yrs old (nice choice, by the way)did you take for the trip, and was it enough?!
|
 |
 Whats the March issue doing out now, when I haven't received it through the post yet?
It's too early to be out yet...
John TGO has some explaining to do...
|
|
Perhaps yours is being printed on special glossy paper, Darren!
Maybe it's karma - I got my March tgo early, but my Jim Perrin book over a year after I paid for it - both today.
Whisky question still stands...
|
|
 Okay, okay, the 10-year-old Ardbeg whisky I found in Sisters town, Oregon, while we were hiding from the big and nasty storms that were blasting the hills. Hadn't expected to find such a good dram in the US, though I found it again later in Vancouver, and bought a bottle for my hosts there.
Decanted the first bottle into a nice lightweight plastic flask bought from the liquor store, and it was carried especially to mark the 2000 mile mark. My hiking pals at the time were carrying various versions of bourbon and to my delight none of them liked the Scotch, which meant, of course, more for me. We camped right on the 2000-mile mark (well, in the woods, off to the side) and had a very sociable evening thank you.
And the Ardbeg is by far my favourite of whiskies though I'd rather have had a 12-year-old. Whisky.
|
|
I'd guess that Cotswold had it a little early as a specialist retailer - I think those copies are sent out by a different method to those for regular newsagents.
First time in ten years I've head of someone getting a tgo mag more than a month before the cover date though!
|
|
 That was a very naughty full-stop !! lol
|
|
Ardbeg is the prince of whisky! They also do a very good distillery tour there (they were doling out lashings of 10 and 17 years old last time I was there) - so if you haven't been yet, perhaps it's time for an article on the delights of walking on Islay?
Funny thing is, I'm sure the Americans banned the importation of Ardbeg at one time because it contained "noxious substances", which meant that any devotees in the northern States had to hop over into Canada to get hold of it.
|
|
Marcus, Marcus, where have you been… my mate Robert and flew out to Islay a couple of years ago for just that purpose!
Results appeared in October 2003's issue and yes, we had a distillery tour and got to compare the Ardbeg with about six other local potent brews.
Incidentally the distillery has a great cafe/restaurant and the walking on the hill out the back is outstandingly wild - real trail breaking stuff in places.
Funny thing happened on the way to the island: the pilot was none other than Frank Bailey. You'll all be too young to remember Frank, and to be honest so am I, but many years ago, when Everest was a dimple on the Tibetan plateau and Cameron was in shorts, Frank owned the company that published tgo. He sold it for a few very bright pennies (so I'm told anyhow).
Now he flies planes (and I suspect he flies them for fun rather than because he has to earn a crust!)
Small world!
|
|
Well, you can't expect me to remember every article that's been in tgo!
I've got it now - "John Manning discovers a bit of rough..." - and I see there's even a pic of Stuart Thomson - the nice man who signed my bottle of Committee Reserve a couple of years back (not for sale!).
I don't recall Frank Bailey - but I did once meet a character (and he was a character) who was flying seaplanes across the Hebrides (it would have been 2001 or 2002, in the bar of the Port Charlotte Hotel) - as a sort of flying taxi service. I wonder if it was him?
|
|
I've read there's talk of a possible seaplane service from the Glasgow Clyde direct to the islands. Also in 2006 a new air service linking Glasgow with Oban, Colonsay and Coll. Trouble is there is mention of building some sort of airstrip on Colonsay - possibly the most beautiful of all the Hebrides? Coll seems to just rely on a grass strip at present.
|
|
And on Barra they use the beach when the tide is out..........
|
|
But there has been talk of that being replaced with a proper airstrip. Although I've been on the ferry, I keep promising myself a flight there, because it's bound to change one day. And there's now talk of a causeway between Barra and South Uist....and a tunnel (they say within 50 years) between Pembrokeshire and Ireland!!
|
|
On the same theme, does anyone know if the Jura bridge is still under serious consideration? I hope not, though I can see why some Ileachs would like it.
|
|
Never heard of the Jura Bridge proposal. Presumably, like the ferry,it would need to be angled across the Sound so it wasn't entirely swept away by the fierce current! The talk for a long time has been about an Overland Route - an Islay/Jura car ferry which would have a ahort journey from the mainland to the north end of Jura. This would mean having to dual/upgrade the entire Jura road, but supporters claim it would make access to Islay more straightforward! It's been talked about for at least thirty years, so I suspect the road is safe for the time being - at its remote north end look out for hen harriers, George Orwell's old house, and of course the track leading to the Corryvreckan Whirlpool. Then head to the remote and deserted west coast, - huge raised beaches and dozens of adders!
|
|
I was aware of the "overland route" - but I also remember being told about a proposal for a road bridge instead of a ferry link to the mainland. Maybe a bit of mischievous gossip!
|
|
