As a student in the seminary, I had to pass exams at the end of every term. Each time I faced an uphill task in getting to grips with the overwhelming amount of knowledge I had both to remember and to use intelligently in those exams; my professors demanded that I displayed my skills to process that knowledge and produce…
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My initial plan for today was to walk another stretch of the Speyside Way between Grantown-on-Spey and Tormore Distillery. I abandoned that plan when difficult road conditions were forecast – I didn’t want to put at risk a friend of mine who was to give me a lift. Instead I thought to explore the Moray coast west off the river…
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“Freedom of expression” has been on the lips of many people across Europe and beyond since the appalling and absolutely unjustifiable killing in Paris. The right to say anything, to mock and insult everything and everyone, with no boundaries, has been presented as the foundation stone of civilisation and democracy; that any restriction or limitation would open the door to…
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In the run-up to Christmas you probably heard on the news a couple of rather unfamiliar phrases, like Black Friday or Cyber-Monday. As a reminder to those keeping up with modern life, or as an explanation for those who don’t, these are terms used by retailers to boost their Christmas sales, to place some additional pressure on potential customers to…
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It was still pretty dark when I parked my car near the former Ballindalloch Train Station, a few minutes later a friend of mine picked me up and transported me to Tomintoul. It was much brighter when we arrived there some 30 minutes later. I was dropped off in the Square and left to my own devices in order to…