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Times
2 days ago
- Times
Gordonstoun pupils recreate King Charles' DofE trek, 60 years on
At the age of 16 the future King Charles set off on a three-day character-building hike across the Highlands in 'rain and stormy wind', according to logbooks unearthed at his Scottish boarding school. In pursuit of his silver Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) award, the young heir to the throne trekked almost 29 miles in winter weather, including 'eight miles up Glen Feshie'. Over the course of three days, the prince ascended 850m peaks to find, the records reveal, a view cloaked in mist. He is listed as a member of group two, under its pupil leader Michael Fabianski, who were found in good spirits when 'Mr Varney' checked in with them on Saturday October 2, 1965. It was Gordonstoun students preparing to undertake their own DofE expeditions this year who tracked down the records of that adventure in the school archives. With the help of the handwritten notes and accompanying map, a team of seven retraced Charles's route 60 years on to obtain their own silver awards. Fabianski, who successfully completed the walk alongside Charles, said: 'My memory from the expedition was camping for the first night on the banks of the River Feshie and wading across the River Dee, whilst walking up Glen Dee to the Corrour bothy, where we camped for the second night. 'It's very atmospheric walking up Glen Dee, with Cairn Toul on one side and Ben Macdui on the other. I appreciated the steepness of the valley later, when we scrambled up its side to Càrn a' Mhàim during the gold expedition in which I took part the following July.' Despite the 'overcast' skies and 'showers' that overshadowed their journey, Varney's written account suggests the Sunday was 'a fine day' and the prince's group reached their final destination just after group one at 3.20pm. The 2025 team completed the same route from June 19 to 21 in heat and sunshine, temperatures reaching as high as 27C. India Lewis, 16, one of the pupils who went on the expedition, said it was 'cool' to follow in the King's footsteps, adding that she really enjoyed the challenge. She said: 'In the back of everyone's mind we remembered our motto, 'Plus Est En Vous', and we remembered that you have more in you. We do have more in us, because even at times when we thought we couldn't do it, we were still able to do keep going and we all got there in the end. Mindset does really matter.' A fellow hiker, William Griffin, 16, said: 'The most standout thing for me on the expedition was how diverse all the landscape was. We started off in dense woodland, going along the banks of a dried-up river that led out into a wide valley with thick heather. We then went through the mountains, into a massive open plain with the river meandering through it. It was so impressive.' The DofE award has its roots at Gordonstoun, where it was known as the Moray Badge until Prince Philip championed the experience and it evolved to become a national programme in 1956. In the 12 months to March a record 572,802 pupils participated in the scheme at bronze, silver and gold levels. Peter Green, the Gordonstoun principal, said: 'In the spirit of our founder Kurt Hahn, I firmly believe that students must be regularly challenged to grow, both inside and outside the classroom. The recent expedition through the Cairngorms, retracing the footsteps of the King, was a powerful illustration of that philosophy in action. 'Spending four days camping in one of the most remote regions of the UK presented a genuine test of the students' resilience and teamwork, and they responded with remarkable perseverance and strength of character.' The route took Charles and today's adventurers from Balachroich, Kingussie, to Rothiemurchus Lodge in Aviemore, taking in Glenfeshie Forest and passing by Ben Macdui on the way up Glen Dee. Another group followed the same course in reverse.
Telegraph
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
How resurgent Aberdeen is capitalising on its maritime heritage
The only problem with having dinner at The Silver Darling is the likelihood of having your main course interrupted by the hooting of a horn at industrial volume. The restaurant – its name a poetic term for the herrings so abundant in Scottish waters – occupies a former customs building at the entrance to Aberdeen Harbour, looking directly onto the mouth of the River Dee. You can almost touch the giant ships which chug through this narrow channel, emitting a noisy hello or farewell as they pass. There is something thrilling about observing an ocean-going vessel at close quarters; that stately progress across green-blue depths. Better still, it is a spectacle that will be on offer in Aberdeen, with an extra elegance, this coming weekend. Ever since they were first staged in 1956, the Tall Ships Races have been one of the world's premiere maritime extravaganzas. The festival assembles an ad-hoc fleet of the planet's foremost wind-powered vessels, gathering them in major ports where they can be admired by the public – then unleashes them in competition, each ship speeding to the next appointed harbour on a fully crewed voyage. Over the past half-century, this forest of masts has taken shape in places as diverse as Gothenburg, St Petersburg, Hamburg, La Coruña, Quebec City, Bordeaux, Hartlepool… and Aberdeen; the 2025 iteration of the races – which will also call upon Le Havre, Dunkirk, Kristiansand (in Norway), and Esbjerg (in Denmark) – will be its third encounter with Scotland's third biggest city, following previous visits in 1991 and 1997. The city is braced for four days (July 19-22) of crowded streets and carnival atmosphere – up to half a million people are expected to attend the various events and concerts of what will be Britain's biggest free event this year. A total of 49 tall ships are due to be moored in the main harbour; vessels of different sizes and ages, but each an echo of the golden age of sailing which spanned much of the 19th century. The Belem, a French barque, is a relic of that era, its beams and boards dating to 1896. Others are a little younger – Dutch schooner Gulden Leeuw (1937); Norwegian windjammer Christian Radich (1937); three-masted Polish training ship Dar Mlodziezy, launched in 1982, which was part of the 1997 celebrations. The city will also witness the homecoming of the Malcolm Miller, which was hewn by Aberdeen shipbuilders John Lewis & Sons in 1967. A rich shipbuilding history The schooner's arrival will be a reminder of what Aberdeen has lost. For two centuries, it was one of Britain's busiest shipbuilding hives; around 3,000 vessels were crafted on and around its wharves between 1790 and 1989. But the RMS St Helena (built to service the British Overseas Territory of the same name), launched in that latter year, was the final Aberdonian ship down the slipway. The Hall, Russell & Company shipyard responsible for the cargo liner's construction – the last in the city – ceased active operations in 1992. Aberdeen's role in North Sea fishing is also diminished, with the core of the region's trawler fleet now berthed 30 miles up the coast, in Peterhead. The covered fish market that had stood on the harbour's Commercial Quay for 118 years was demolished in 2007. These economic gaps have been filled by Aberdeen's involvement in off-shore oil and gas. But beyond this, 2023 brought a new layer to the city's maritime armour – the opening of the freshly constructed South Harbour, a mile from the original, on the other side of the Greyhope headland. Completed at a cost of £420 million, this new enclave offers four further quays, and enough room to accommodate ships of up to 984ft (300m) in length. In a somewhat bleak turn, one of the current 'beneficiaries' of all this space is the Solong – the cargo ship whose fatal collision with the US-registered tanker Stena Immaculate in the North Sea on March 10 is now the subject of court proceedings. Rather more positively, the South Harbour has provided a massive boost to Aberdeen's status as a cruise destination. Some 70 cruise ships are scheduled to visit the city this year – the vast majority mooring at one of the new quays. This will be a 40 per cent increase on 2024, with operators such as Ambassador Cruise Line, Renaissance and Viking all due to drop anchor. 'The South Harbour has been a complete game-changer for the city,' says Roddy James, the commercial director of the Port of Aberdeen. 'By contrast, the main harbour has not really changed shape in 150 years. When the tall ships are in, you should be able to imagine how it looked all that time ago.' Reasons to visit the 'Granite City' There is much about the present to enjoy in the 'Granite City', whose famous grey walls have a silvery nobility under the summer sky: the lively bars and restaurants along Belmont Street and Correction Wynd; the murals on and around Union Plaza, a legacy of the Nuart festival, which sees further creations added to this urban canvas every summer. But retrospection is also widely available. Particularly up the slope from the harbour, where Aberdeen Maritime Museum casts its gaze all the way back to 1136; the year the port was effectively founded, when the Bishop of Aberdeen was given the right to charge docking fees by Scottish king David I. Exhibits cover fishing, whaling, oil and shipbuilding (including a fond glance at the Malcolm Miller), and acknowledge the Aberdeen Line – the shipping company, founded two centuries ago this year (in 1825), which gave birth to one of Britain's most venerable ships, the Thermopylae (see below). Similar currents are trawled at Aberdeen Art Gallery – which, as well as a rich seam of painting, plays host to the Aberdeen Harbour Board Archive. The treasures here include more than 5,000 photographs capturing the port as it looked in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries: a dredger breaking ice on the Dee in the winter of 1910; cargo ship the SS Woodfield being towed out to sea in 1920; Upper Dock in 1914, the city rising behind it. The gallery also features the Register of Arrivals: heavy tomes documenting the daily entry and exit of shipping, along with snippets of contemporary commentary. A note for June 6 1916 is a shocked blast from the First World War, detailing the death, via a German mine lurking in the waves west of Orkney, of the man who, as Secretary of State for War, stared out from recruitment posters. 'Dreadful news,' a fastidiously neat hand declares. ' HMS Hampshire down with all hands off Orkneys, Lord Kitchener on board.' Ships will be the meat of the conversation this weekend – but the tidings will be brighter.
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Council to reopen Kirkcudbright bridge after safety closure
A bridge that was shut at short notice - splitting a south of Scotland town in two - is to reopen to Kirkcudbright Bridge over the River Dee was closed on March 21, just hours after a safety and Galloway Council said a single-lane reopening for cars and small vans would take place on or before 2 the meantime it will remain shut to all vehicles but can be used by pedestrians and cyclists. Concerns have been raised about the impact of the closure with residents in one area cut off from the town face a detour of about five miles (8km) to make the journey by car - via the Thomas Telford-built Tongland Bridge - or have to cross the Kirkcudbright Bridge on and Galloway Council said the decision to reopen the bridge followed "rigorous technical assessment and analysis by the council's engineering team and its engineering consultant, Mott MacDonald".A three-tonne weight limit and width restrictions will be in force when the bridge reopens.A new 20mph speed limit will also reduce the impact on the bridge. Ian Blake, who chairs the council's economy and infrastructure committee, said he was pleased they would soon be able to reopen the crossing."I would like to thank the public, residents and businesses for their patience and understanding while this important analysis and assessment work has been carried out," he said."The reopening of Kirkcudbright Bridge will mark an important step in balancing public safety, heritage infrastructure and community connectivity."He said they remained committed to ensuring it met the needs of everyone "living, working and visiting the area".The council said it was working on options for a new bridge as a long-term solution.
BBC News
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Lady Janes MacRae - the Scottish piper playing for the King on VE Day
Meet Lady Jane has a PhD in maths, is a former concert pianist and has an impressive golf handicap of just all those strings to her bow, you might be surprised to hear that in 2020 she decided to take up another hobby – the forward four and a half years and the grandmother of four, who describes herself as a "jack of all trades, master of none", will be playing for the King at this year's VE Day (Victory in Europe) take on a key ceremonial role in the event marking 80 years since the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. Lady MacRae will be playing a song that's been composed specifically for this event, named provide the soundtrack as a flame is put to the Lamp Light of Peace, representing an end to the darkness of I'm treated to a rendition of the song by the River Dee, after arriving at her 150-acre Aberdeenshire estate. But after a while, with her playing fingers getting cold in the February chill, it's inside for a swift tour of Lady MacRae's stately home (which she calls her castle) before a chat in the Grand turns to the big day on the 8th of May. She concedes that she'll be "shaking in my boots" when she's playing to the audience – including the how does a maths teacher (who's still working) find the time to learn the bagpipes?Lady MacRae explains that someone once told her that they didn't think she'd be able to master the instrument. "That was a red rag to a bull" she explains."If someone says I can't do something, then I do it." This may have started out as a mission to prove a doubter wrong, but Lady MacRae admits that she's now "hooked" on the pipes. She regularly gets up at 5am to here in rural Aberdeenshire, she doesn't have any neighbours to upset with early-morning insists that it's never too late to pick up a new skill, telling me "anyone can do anything that they want, they just have to set their mind to it".Both her parents served in World War Two, so there's a personal element to being asked to perform at the 80th commemoration of VE is likely to be the last significant event featuring veterans from the conflict – the Ministry of Defence estimates anyone who fought will now be at least 98 years MacRae believes these commemorations are about more than simply acknowledging the past. She worries that younger generations aren't aware of the lessons of World War Two."We've got to keep talking about it", she says, expressing concern that all-out European war feels like a worrying prospect once so she takes that message with her in the evenings when she's teaching her bagpipe class at the Banchory Royal British Legion right. She's only been playing four years but is now already teaching others. I sat in on a session where she was walking pupils aged between seven and 82 through the playing of before the practice session on the chanter (a small part of the bagpipe) Lady MacRae explained the significance of VE official events to mark the occasion may become rarer as time goes on, but she insists that it's a date that must continue to be official road to 2025's commemoration starts today, and this offers Lady MacRae plenty of opportunity for be playing Celebratum at Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire to kick off an 80-day countdown to the main will be piping sessions across Scotland every day until 8 May as part of this process. The Banchory Pipe Band – who she teaches - will be playing in the town centre at one of these the main commemoration at St Paul's Cathedral is out of the way, you'd be forgiven for thinking Lady MacRae might take a well-earned no, she's got her sights set on a new challenge. Learning the hard can it be?
