Lord Dunderheid

Back in May I posted my (very brief) report on Rona. I most likely won't be posting any more reports until after October. That's because I still have a few islands close to the Scottish west coast to visit before I move on to the Outer Hebrides. Various factors have prevented me from completing my visits: COVID, transport problems and health issues (including cataract operations). I could, at this point, move straight on to the Outer Hebrides but I’d rather complete the Inner and coastal islands first. Which of these islands on my list remain unvisited? Well, I discovered recently that a small island, in Loch Linnhe just north of where I live, was bought and the owner has built (or renovated) a house on it and now lives there with his wife (maybe they bought it together?). I'm not sure how I'll get over to it but from enquiries I made, at Linnhe Marina, the owner does not seem to be too protective of his privacy and might well not object to me paying a brief visit to...

As an SNP voter and member, I was, as I'm sure you will fully understand, very disappointed in the outcome of the June 5th by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. This especially since just about all the recent Scottish opinion polls showed the Labour Party's vote collapsing, compared to the UK general election of almost exactly a year ago, while support for the SNP was seen to be recovering. There are, however, a few a silver linings - if very thin ones.  In the general election of just over a year ago, the Labour Party totally trounced the SNP, including in the Hamilton area, but on June 5th it was a very close race with Labour shading it by only about 500 votes. The Labour vote, compared to a year ago, was well down, no doubt due to the Labour UK government carrying out Tory policies (like not getting rid of the two child cap and removing the winter fuel payment for many pensioners who actually needed it) instead of increasing income tax for the more well off. D...