Interesting people
One of the great things about cycle touring is the number of interesting people that one meets on the ride and the journey to the start of the ride.
On the way north I sat next to retired woman who had an extensive knowledge of the railway system and steam locomotives acquired through having a father that worked on the railways at Doncaster. She was on her way to St Andrew's University for an OU study week.
At Wick campsite I met a chap whose marriage had failed and he'd abandoned a succesful career to become a lobster and shrimp fisherman on North Uist. He only works 100 days per year to net, pardon the pun, £15k per year supplemented by trading on the stockmarket. Spends a lot of the free time touringing with his pet dog. I was quite envious of the lifestyle then remembered that although I quite liked being damp and cool, being soaking wet and cold as a fisherman had a limited appeal.
The three female graduates at Tyndrum were an incredibly entertaining trio and in a parallel universe could have been the cast for the young ones. The campsite owner at Tyndrum is a retired computer programmer and amazingly has to hand exotica from punchcard days. He's also a rich source of anecdotes as well as being the ex-president of Scottish MENSA. It was nice to be remembered by him.
Dave , the unofficial warden at Loch Winnoch campsite, victim of a brain stem stroke an heart attack yet still a resolute smoker could nearly out-talk me. He has a symbiotic relationship with the park rangers and gets concessions in exchange for his revenue collection and overnight supervision 'duties'. I still can't get my head around a campsite that's staffed during office hours only. He reckoned it's onnly a matter of time befor H&S issues make overnight supervision necessary. His generosity with wine was well received and we had a great laugh.
The total stranger that came to my assistance and gave me a lift in Penrith and the two chaps at the pub near the campsite that I was seeking. It was amazing how things dovetailed together. The chap giving me the lift was from my hometown. One of the two chaps at the pub was at Leeds University and his mate was contemplating LEJOG next year. Plenty to talk about.....
On the way north I sat next to retired woman who had an extensive knowledge of the railway system and steam locomotives acquired through having a father that worked on the railways at Doncaster. She was on her way to St Andrew's University for an OU study week.
At Wick campsite I met a chap whose marriage had failed and he'd abandoned a succesful career to become a lobster and shrimp fisherman on North Uist. He only works 100 days per year to net, pardon the pun, £15k per year supplemented by trading on the stockmarket. Spends a lot of the free time touringing with his pet dog. I was quite envious of the lifestyle then remembered that although I quite liked being damp and cool, being soaking wet and cold as a fisherman had a limited appeal.
The three female graduates at Tyndrum were an incredibly entertaining trio and in a parallel universe could have been the cast for the young ones. The campsite owner at Tyndrum is a retired computer programmer and amazingly has to hand exotica from punchcard days. He's also a rich source of anecdotes as well as being the ex-president of Scottish MENSA. It was nice to be remembered by him.
Dave , the unofficial warden at Loch Winnoch campsite, victim of a brain stem stroke an heart attack yet still a resolute smoker could nearly out-talk me. He has a symbiotic relationship with the park rangers and gets concessions in exchange for his revenue collection and overnight supervision 'duties'. I still can't get my head around a campsite that's staffed during office hours only. He reckoned it's onnly a matter of time befor H&S issues make overnight supervision necessary. His generosity with wine was well received and we had a great laugh.
The total stranger that came to my assistance and gave me a lift in Penrith and the two chaps at the pub near the campsite that I was seeking. It was amazing how things dovetailed together. The chap giving me the lift was from my hometown. One of the two chaps at the pub was at Leeds University and his mate was contemplating LEJOG next year. Plenty to talk about.....
posted by vernon at 9:16 AM
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