Latest news with #BraidHills
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
A new start after 60: I became a dog-walker – and I've never been happier
Brendan MacNeill had wanted to be a photographer since he was a child, and he spent more than 40 years studying and working in the field. But the economic uncertainties of freelancing meant it never really felt like a dream come true and, last year, he 'woke up on the first working day of January, and decided something had to change'. Within a week, he had set himself up as a dog-walker. He was 67. MacNeill lives in Edinburgh's Southside, near the Braid Hills, so he already had a perfect workspace close to hand. He had an old estate car. And it was easy enough to set up a website for his business. Now he cares for eight dogs a week, among them an old English sheepdog, a cocker spaniel, a sproodle, a labradoodle, a pomeranian-husky mix, and his own chocolate labrador, Molly. 'Four mornings a week, I'm up those hills at 8.30. I have them all in the back of the car, and when we arrive they get hyper, barking: 'We're here! We're here!'' In winter, he crests the hill when it's barely light, and the land, and Edinburgh, fall away at his feet. 'I'm not big on Zen and the art of mindfulness or anything like that. But it's just great to be out in a beautiful setting.' For MacNeill, the hardest part of starting a new career was letting go of the old one. He grew up in Dublin and, at the age of 10, was immediately captivated when his brother showed him a negative and its corresponding photograph. 'To me, photography was magic, and always has been.' He turned his bedroom into a darkroom. 'It was somewhere to escape to.' As a teenager, at the weekend, 'I used to get on the bus, go into town and walk around for hours with a camera, finding shots. It was about me being on my own.' MacNeill was one of seven children. 'Nine people in a family, in a not very big house. You tend to carve out a bit of space for yourself.' He did a degree in photography at the Polytechnic of Central London, and later got jobs assisting photographers, then concentrated on his own 'black-and-white arty landscapes'. He did corporate work, freelanced for the Scotsman, then specialised in hospitality. But work was a battle. 'There was always a nagging sense of impostor syndrome … Getting doors to open was something I found difficult. Waiting for the telephone to ring was the worst thing. And trying to figure out, how do I get it to ring? 'As I got older, the gap between me and the people who were commissioning work got bigger and bigger. So many contacts are made in social situations.' With technology democratising photography, he felt his role had become cheapened. 'Valueless would be a better word.' Even so, letting go of the sense of himself as a photographer was difficult. Last month, he gave up his domain name. 'I thought: 'Right, we're done.'' He is slowly selling off his kit. It's noticeable that his dog-walking business – Brendan the Dog Walker – feels like a statement of identity. 'I'm in a much more secure and positive frame of mind about what I'm doing,' he says. 'You're there. You're in charge. The dogs are loving it. They're looking to you for a bit of direction and leadership on the hill. You're giving them treats. I'm the boss out there. I'm the magnet. I say to them, 'Come on, we're going this way', and they follow. It's a very different mindset from photography. 'Some people might think that sounds very simple, silly … But it's lovely to have time with dogs who appreciate being out with you.' The cashflow is more reliable than freelance photography. There is a sense of community among other dog walkers: 'They're incredibly encouraging. Any advice you need, it's there.' And MacNeill says his mental health has improved: 'getting up in the morning, having a bit of structure to my Monday to Friday'. There was magic in the darkroom. But, now, 'magic is being able to pick up the dogs and have a really nice walk with them.' Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60?
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Edinburgh E-bike yobs wreck historic golf course as greenkeeper speaks of 'despair'
A gang of E-bike vandals have ripped up a historic Edinburgh golf course. The head greenkeeper at Braid Hills Golf Club has spoken of his despair, after around 15 riders roared across the greens. Gary Rodger branded the aftermath a 'scene of devastation' while speaking with the Daily Record. The course has been left with deep skid marks, with members 'appalled'. READ MORE: Edinburgh 'ban' on Red Arrows and RAF fighter jet flights proposed READ MORE: Edinburgh high-rise residents beg 'please fix our lift, it's been nearly a year' The 136-year-old municipal has come under repeated attacks from youngsters on the electronic bikes, which have marauded, along with others on high powered scramblers. ADVERTISEMENT Gary said: 'One of our boys made a video of the young boys coming over a fairway and you could count around 15 of them against the skyline. "It was a grim sight, when you know what was going to happen next. I don't know if they are setting out to cause the damage or whether they just like the hills and contours, which cause natural ramps for them. Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox "But they are ripping up all our good work and it's soul destroying for us." Gary said the greenkeepers have been working long and hard to get the course in top condition for the prestigious Dispatch Trophy - which has run for 125 years. He said: "This is a club with such a rich history and these bikes are killing us. "The greens were looking pretty good but when we came to work and were faced with the damage it was a hammer blow." 'We are literally dreading this going on and on' -Credit:Supplied/Daily Record Gary's videos and images on X were shared worldwide, causing outrage in the USA and Australia among golf fans. He has made a complaint to police and hopes they can stop those responsible before the course suffers even worse damage. ADVERTISEMENT The course damage includes two greens that were left unplayable, plus grooves caused by deep skids in other parts of the course. Gary added: 'We have an 18 hole course that we have been focusing on and a nine hole course. They just keep coming back to the big course, which is really frustrating.' He said that efforts were being made to identify those responsible, including analysing various videos. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. He said: 'The stuff we have doesn't make faces clear but we are hoping that police might be able to put together whatever evidence is there and get an idea of who is doing this. 'We are literally dreading this going on and on. My first thought is to appeal to the better nature of those responsible in the hope they can accept that what they are doping might be having consequences way beyond what they ever intended. But we really just need it to stop.' ADVERTISEMENT In August last year a group of bikers were filmed wreaking havoc at Braid Hills, as horrified locals watched on. Three youths on motorised bikes were chewing up turf, ignoring the protests of witnesses who berated them and demanded that they stop. A video at the time showed a resident, yelling at the group before they beeped their horns at him and took off from the scene.
