Dexys Midnight Runners

A trip across by train to Glasgow for Dexys at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Great seat at the centre of the 4th row. Great set spanning the full career from Young Soul Rebels through to Love. The new songs played pretty well live even if not a huge fan on record. Sax and trombone sound were great as was the female support singer. Kevin looked like he was genuinely enjoying himself and thrilled at the postive reaction from the crowd.

As usual at this venue sounds levels and quality was excellent and a really well put together show. One of my all time fav gigs.

  

The Tailor of Inverness - Royal Lyceum

Colin on his own for this one act solo performance about a families life in wartime Poland and then settling in Inverness. A lot of fairly grim history of wartime and post war Poland and the area bordering Ukraine.

 

Inverness SOUL 5

A short trip by train at the weekend for some urban orienteering completing my fifth event in the Scottish Orienteering Urban League. Time afterwards for a nice walking circuit along the River Ness, back along the Caledonian Canal and along the Beauly Firth coastline. Also a trip up to the hilltop Tomnahurich Cemetery.

Stayed one night at the Glencairn Ardross Hotel which was pretty good. Pizza out of Friday night at The Pizzeria near the station.

The train journey's were pretty long 3/5 - 4 hrs but got lots of reading done.

 

Portobello Beach Race

My second time at this race which does 2 complete lengths of the beach and measures in around 4.3 miles. It was quite wet today with the beach quite damp underfoot and light rain during the race. A little bit faster than 3 years ago. Just 2 Carnethy Hill Runners at this race which is run entirely below sea level.

 

Great Glen Way - start section

The next day we opted for a pleasant flat walk along the Great Glen Way from Fort William to Neptunes Staircase. A very pleasant walk in what was still cloudy weather but mainly dry. A nice stop at the cafe at Corpach. Got a bus back into Fort William.

Then the long drive home in the afternoon.

 

Mamores with Max

We drove up on the Friday and did a short recce of the parking and the start of the next days route. Staying at a nice AirBnB called Nevis Croft. 

On Saturday we set the alarm for 6 am and started the walk at 7 am.

Three munros completed by about 1 pm. Mullach nan Coirean, Stob Ban and Sgur a Mhaim.

The walk along the Devil's ridge to Sgur a Mhaim was slightly uncomfortable.

The weather was sadly not fabulous with very limited views throughout. Visibility was generall hundreds of meters and OK for route finding.

We might have done more as per best case plan but Max had a sore throat and the weather was poor and we were both by this point pretty tired. It was a direct but challenging descent down the mountain back to the Achriabhach car park that took around 2 more hours.

So around 8 hours total, 9.5 miles and 1600 m ascent.

A nice evening meal at the Black Isle Bar for beer/wine and pizza.

 

Bowhill Trail Race - Durty Events

A very nice 10k style hill race with a very long runnable downhill to the finish - around 5 k continuance. 

Fringe Festival 2026

07/08/26 - Flamenc Oh! - Assembly Rooms - 4/10

08/08/26 - Gaudi: God's Architect - the Space at Surgeons Hall -  6/10

10/08/26 - Tomatoes tried to kill me but banjos saved my life - Summerhall - 9/10

11/08/26 - Alegria Flamenca - Alba Flamenca - 10/10

17/08/26 - Dracula: Lucy's Dream - Pleasance at EICC - 3/10

19/08/26 - Tom Waits War Songs - Subway - 7/10 ; a bit too noisy at times

22/08/26 - The Distance - Summerhall - 9/10   

27/08/26 - Lyse Doucet in converation - McEwan Hall - Ed Book Fest - 8/10

Lloyd Cole at the Queens Hall

Last saw him play 10 years ago at The Pleasance with Max. This time he had an electric guitar (well 2 actually). We had good seats up on the balcony. Pretty good show. Maybe went through the well known songs too quickly at the start and a less chat than I remember last time.

Falkland Hill Race

First time doing the new longer version of this race. A really nice route and a fair bit of runnable trail as well as some steep bits. 10k, 426m climb, 1 hr 9 mins. Reminded how pretty Falkland village is.

 

Carolside Gardens near Earlston

Yet another sunny day to enjoy in this long warm summer. We set off at 11 am to Lauder where we stopped at the Flat Cat Gallery for a light lunch. A nice cafe.

Then onwards a short distance to Carolside Gardens for a very pleasant wander around the compact but very well designed gardens. Roses a major feature of the garden and we were a couple of weeks late for them to be at their very best.

Tea and biscuits on the lawn.

Worth a return visit in late June in a few years time.

 

Boys Weekend to Liverpool 2026

The crew for this trip was me, Warren, Mark, Glenn and Tim.

Staying again at the Birkenhead Premier Inn which worked well and the good air con was very welcome o on what was a heat wave weekend of 30+ temperatures every day.

On Friday the boys had all arrived before me and spent some time in Liverpool. I met up with the crew at the hotel and we visited Sawasdee for Thai dinnerand the Glen Afric brewery before the boys needed an early night.

On Saturday I managed a run in the morning before we heads to Liverpool to do the Beatles Story. Then drinks and late lunch at the Baltic Market. We wandered on the Grapes before deciding we needed a break from the heat at the hotel. Dinner was another visit to Sawasdee and then we watched the England v Norway game at Gallaghers pub.

On Sunday I again managed a run before we headed to town to visit the two cathedrals. Very different but both great in their own way. Great views from the rooftop of Liverpool Cathedral. Lunch at Love Lane Brewery. Then a long walk via White Star pub to Blackstock Market for dinner and a newcomers comedy show between 7 & 9 pm. Got an Uber back to the hotel before we had a last drink at the Brass Balance.

Dollar Hill Race and David Sedaris at Usher Hall

A pleasing run at the challenging Dollar Hill Race on Saturday afternoon. Have run much less this year due to concerns about heels so very nice to run a tough race over 2 hrs 15 mins without any issues. Slowest time ever at this race but still felt like a pretty good run.

In the evening we went to see David Sedaris at Usher Hall. He was pretty good but maybe better in small radio doses than in a live "concert" setting.

 

John Muir Way - Day 3 - Edinburgh to Dunbar

Final slightly shorter route and helpful tailwinds made this a welcome easier day. 

Stopped in Gullane for a nice Coffee and Scone and then a less good tea and sandwich in Dunbar.

 3 hrs 3 mins moving time; 38.3 miles; 436 m climb. 

It wasn't the most exciting of routes although this was partly because much of it familar to me. I had chosen the cycle version of the John Muir Way and there were a number of instances where the route choice was not the most interesting option with the designated route favouring easy terrain over perhaps rougher but more interesting choices.

Day 1 felt a bit longer than I enjoyed. The next two days were about right. The days immediately afterwards I was knackered by it.

The trains worked very well and definitely a very good option for future trips in Scotland.

John Muir Way - Day 2 - Falkirk to Edinburgh

Train out to Falkirk and a ride back from there to Edinburgh. Again a pretty familiar set of trails.

 4 hrs 25 min moving time; 44.1 miles; 738 m climb.

John Muir Way - Day 1 - Helensburgh to Falkirk

A reasonably early start to get the train from Edinburgh to Helensburgh - just over a 2 hr journey. Arrived in Helensburgh to a fairly cool and cloudy outlook.

The first section of the route from Helenburgh to Balloch wasn't great with a lot of cycle path on pavements at the edge of A road. Stopped for coffee and sausage roll at Loch Lomond Shores.

It was then mainly quiet country roads through to Gartness before picking up the West Highland Way in reverse direction from normal to reach the northern edge of Mugdock Country Park. A rough climb and then descent through to Strathyre after which it was nice but familiar bike paths. 

Stopped in Milton of Campsie for tea and snack when heavy rain came. This didn't last too long so back on the trail onwards to Falkirk passed the Falkirk Wheel on the way.

Moving time of 5 hrs 8 minutes; 53 miles; 841 m climb. Felt like hard work and pretty tired at the end. 

Not the most interesting route given much of it had been travelled before. Train back to Edinburgh with the bike worked well.

Pentlands Run and Cycle with Max to Musselburgh

A Saturday run in the Pentlands doing a Carnethy 5 route sticking to the main paths. Pleased to be on pretty good form and joints holding up pretty well.

On Sunday a bike trip with Max to Company Bakery for coffee and cake, Musselburgh and home. Testing Max's knees on the bike but still causing him some issues.

 

Traprain Law Hill Race

One of the best hill races in the calendar. Lovely riverside route with a wet river crossing. Scramble to the top of the Law without the assistance of a rope for the first time. Have been struggling a bit with heel issues this year so pleased to get round the 10k with 300m climb route in around 1 hrs 5 mins without any discomfort and feeling reasonably strong at the end - 158% of winning time. 

Cumbernauld and Eyemouth SOUL

A couple more urban orienteering events on 31 May at Cumbernauld and 7 June at Eyemouth. Good orienteering - Cumbernauld particularly good with the complex urban housing estates.

Cycle around both afterwards to explore the areas.

 

Sweat at the Royal Lyceum

Not so enjoyable this week. Rust belt America and the impact of factory closures on working class America. Written around a decade ago. Felt very old and nothing new to say anymore.

 

Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil at the Royal Lyceum

We both very much enjoyed this show. Ricky Ross on piana and vocals for the short musical interludes. The Blue Brazil is Cowdenbeath Football Club. Based on the book by Ron Ferguson.

 

Poznan

After the wedding we had a Sunday afternoon and a Monday morning and early afternoon to explore Poznan. We were staying at the Moxy at the airport so after taking the hire car back we took a bus into town.

On the Sunday we visited the area around the Park Mickiewicza and the Castle and then visited the Enigma Museum. Nice relaxed town. The Enigma museum was pretty good but let down by aspects of the technology and maybe just a bit too much.

A nice pizza at Trattoria Franscesca.

On Monday we wandered around the centre and then across the river to Srodka and the Catholic Cathedral. Nice brunch at Lavenda Cafe.