Rather a bit unusually, the weather forecast was relatively favourable for a narrow strip of land along the west coast of northern Scotland; narrow, but wide enough to promise dry conditions on Slioch, a Munro I’d been eyeing for quite a while. With a fellow hillwalker we started our adventure shortly before 9am at a cark park about half a…
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The graduation season is in full swing. It started a fortnight ago in St Peter’s church, when three graduation ceremonies were held: one for the P7 leavers from St Peter’s Primary School, followed by two for St Peter’s Nursery pupils. Now, across the country, university students who have completed their degrees are hiring gowns and mortar-boards in readiness for going…
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The forecast was good enough to plan a walk in the Cairngorms. My plan was to climb Bynack More, then to descend to Loch Avon, walk along its northern bank to the far side and from there to climb Cairn Gorm, followed by a stroll down to the Base Station and then to the car park a couple of miles…
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Some time ago I had lunch in a local restaurant with Deacon Vincent McQuaid, the Catholic chaplain at Dr Gray’s. By pure coincidence, a woman I knew was there too with her friend. On their way out she told me that she had paid for our drinks. That was a very kind and generous gesture. It’s just a pity that…
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I very rarely wear a ‘dog-collar’ – that white ‘number plate’ under my chin, signalling to the world that I’m a clergyman. Not that I’m ashamed of being a priest, or trying to maintain a low profile about my priesthood. In small communities like Fochabers or Buckie, that wouldn’t make much sense anyway – I’ve been here long enough to…