Some Photos from Saturday's Flying

With high pressure established over Scotland excellent flying  prevailed last weekend;  here are some pics taken by my passenger on Saturday - Mike Wilson

Route

A Short Trip to Iceland or a comfortable micro adventure

Ever since hearing of Hekla and the ’Mid Atlantic Rift’ during A Level geography, I have always wanted to visit Iceland (I don’t count a 2 hour refuelling stop at Keflavik in a C130 back in 1985 as having visited Iceland). In December I somehow came across a guided trip offered by Regent Holidays (www.regentholidays.co.uk ) to view the Northern Lights that would fir my tight schedule for the 1st half of 2016 where a long trip would not be feasible. Obviously this would not be too adventurous as a micro adventure – what with organised hotels and a comfortable bus and tour guide but it was reasonably cheap and most importantly I could squeeze in a bucket list destination using time most efficiently!

 

Thursday 28 January started at 0300 as Icelandair don’t start flying from Aberdeen until March 2016, we had to catch the 0600 BA flight to Heathrow in order to get the FI451 1300 departure to Keflavik. It was somewhat annoying as we ended up in the air an hour out of Heathrow that afternoon watching Aberdeen slide beneath the starboard wing as we headed northwards. Never mind we were on our way and the flight was smooth all the way. We landed just before 1600 coming in over an all-white snowbound landscape.

 

Negotiating our way out of the airport was a doddle, no long queues at immigration and the baggage arrived at the carousel just as we did. We were met by the coach driver from Snæland Grimsson along with a few other travellers on the same trip. We were quickly whisked to the Centehotel Plaza and checked in for an overnight stay. It was happy hour as we arrived but being starving we walked across the road to find , of all things, a superb Pakistani Restaurant the Shalimar ( http://www.shalimar.is/en/#_=_ ) (that was not expected) where I had a Vindaloo and Marie a Kurma, not very adventurous but damned tasty . If you’re ever at the Shalimar ask for seating upstairs as you don’t want to be near the door in winter.

 

Friday 29th January Dawned cold and pretty windy. We met our guide Pètur Sigurðsson who turned out to be both knowledgeable and humorous . His deadpan wit would have many of us laughing over the next 3 days. Today the itinerary was the trio of natural wonders which make up the Golden Circle. Firstly the Thingvellir National Park, where Icelanders set up the 1st parliament just after the island was settled and where the North American and European tectonic plates drift apart at a rate of 2-6 cm per year. From Thingvellir we continue to Gullfoss waterfall - a double waterfall that tumbles 34 meters into a gorge in the Hvita river and then on to the Geysir geothermal fields where the active Strokkur geyser was erupting every 5 minutes or so – though the steam was being blown almost horizontal in the strong wind.

 

After lunch we continue to a farm that breeds Icelandic horses and grows tomatoes 24/7 365 days a year. Linda Karlsson spent time demonstrating the 6 gaits of the Icelandic horse, its history and special qualities. The Icelandic horse is extremely tough being the only farm animal that is outside all year round whatever the weather. We also found out that it was extremely friendly. The bloodline is very pure as it is forbidden to import horses and even horses taken out of Iceland for competition are nto allowed re-entry. After Linda’s equine demonstration the farm owner took us into the Tomato sheds where geothermal energy is used throughout the year to provide both heat and light and where Bumble Bees are imported from the Netherlands to pollinate the tomatoes. 4 Varieties were grown and all sold locally. Most importantly we were allowed to taste the produce – and to me it matched the best Mediterranean varieties. Whilst tasting we were invited to try the small bar and it was here that I made the great discovery that there are some truly excellent craft beers brewed in Iceland.

 

By now the weather was looking pretty foul outside with the strong wind blowing snow hard across the roads and with snow obscuring the sky so the drive to the Hotel Edda Vik for a two night stay was a little fraught though our driver Helgi proved to be more than capable. That evening we chatted to 2 other couples (Jeff and Anne plus Maureen and Bob) over dinner. The planned trip outside to try to catch the Aurora that night was canned due to the poor weather but that did at least provide a chance to try some more beer.

Saturday 30th January dawned clear and cold but with the wind having subsided entirely. We headed east, along the outwash plains of southern shore formed by the many sub glacial and often highly destructive eruptions of the fearsome Volcano Katla. By the remains of a bridge destroyed by the glacial run off caused by an eruption in 2010 we had a great view of the highest Mountain in Iceland, Hvannadalshnúkur , a pyramidal peak on the north-western rim of the summit crater of the Öræfajökull volcano . Hvannadalshnúkur rises from sea level to just under 7000 ft.

 

Around lunchtime we arrived at the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon, a truly astounding natural wonderland where chunks of glacial ice tumble into the lake creating a visual spectacle of turquisee icebergs floating in the blue waters. The lagoon is filled with fish that drift in from the sea along with the tides and in the winter seals gather in large numbers at the mouth of the lagoon to catch the fish. On the shore of black volcanic sand breakers were glass clear icebergs.

 

On the way back to Vik we visited the glacier of the Skaftafell National Park, part of Vatnajokull National Park before going back to the hotel for a buffet dinner and then getting out again in the evening to try to see the Northern Lights. The Lights did show up that night, though faintly. A 30 second exposure at F4 and ISO 800 did capture some good shots though I made the error of leaving the CP filter on my lens so did not get the vivid colours shown in Pètur’s shots (below). After a couple of hours and with the temperature down to -7 we made our way back to the Hotel for a night cap and bed.

 

Sunday 31st January after breakfast and we were headed back west along the south coast to the black beaches of Reynisfjara near Vik, where fingers of basalt rock lie offshore showing remnants of a once extensive cliff line and the three rock stacks rising form the sea: Skessudrangar, Landdrangar and Langhamrar, which according to local folklore are not rocks at all but trolls turned to stone at sunrise. From here we wnet on the Skogafoss waterfall and onwards to Eyjafjallajokull Visitor Centre located at the foot of Eyjafjallajokull volcano – responsible for the grounding of European Air Traffic in 2010. The centre is operated by the family of Thorvaldseyri who have lived next to the glacier and active volcano for generations and there is now a short documentary shown here that is well worth watching. It was here that I bought myself my Eyjafjallajokull mug that would be my trip souvenir.

 

Next up was the picturesque Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, one of the most famous in Iceland where those who wish can walk behind the waterfall – though this was not an option today as the paths were seriously icy. From here it was a couple of hours to travel the famous Blue Lagoon before heading back to the capital and overnight back in the Centerhotel Plaza and back to Shalimar for dinner (you must try the Masala Nan) with Jeff, Ann, Bob, Maureen and our new Australian friends Cheryl and Doug Lang.

Monday 1 Feb with a 1630 departure we had the morning to explore Reykjavik on foot and the chance of some last minute souvenir shopping and coffee. A quick walk to the Cathedral was achieved before having to take the bus to the airport. There is plenty left to see in Reykjavik for next time and there will be a next time as I found Iceland a truly natural wonder. Next time I am going to take a month on a bike to circumnavigate this wonderful country on the ring road that goes around it. This will give access and time (and a bit of adventure) to see much more of what Iceland has to offer.

Thanks to Regent Holidays for a well organised and flawless trip and in Particular to our guide Pètur Sigurðsson

 

 

 

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Watch Crag this morning

My Top 3 Outdoors Podcasts of 2015

1-    The Outdoors Station – Going strong since 2006, Bob Cartwright has now produced 400 episodes of the show.  Back Catalogue has some truly excellent stuff in it and for anyone wanting to do the TGO challenge there are several year's TGOs covered each in around 10 episodes – some great tips here.  Bob returned to podcasting the challenge this year.  Other highlights included some of his one night out wild-camping 

2-      The Pursuit Zone – A relative newcomer.  This podcast is put together by Paul Schmid and is US based. Despite being based in the US this is an unusually non parochial production.  Of the episodes I have listened to so far approximately 80% have been of interviews with Brits and only 1 has been an interview with a US adventurer. 

3-      Scotland Outdoors – BBC Scotland production this is the podcast of the Scotland Outdoors radio show that goes out every Saturday morning at 0630 on BBC Radio Scotland.  Range of topics is eclectic but great listening

Some Other Stuff I did in 2015

Rome for Xmas

The Great War; a call from the trenches; the University of Aberdeen -  6 November  and;

Survival in Solitude an Interview with Terry Waite by Professor Anne Glover of the University of Aberdeen -  16 November

If one looks around it is possible to find some truly high quality free nights out.  These 2 events in November were held at  the University of Aberdeen .  The 1^st as part of the University’s ongoing  events programme ( https://www.abdn.ac.uk/events/index.php ) and the second as part of the multi-University ‘Being Human’ Festival of the humanities ( http://beinghumanfestival.org/ ).

In ‘The Great War; a call from the trenches’, Professor Steve Heys (narrating), Tom Scotland (performing poetry from memory) and the Chamber Choir of Robert Gordon's College described the war on the Western Front through  the poetry and diaries of Siegfried Sassoon and the poetry and letters of Wilfred Owen. The Robert Gordon's Chamber Choir added emotion to the presentation with WW1 songs chosen to complement the poetry and to reflect the mood of the times.  By the end of the evening it was impossible not to have tears in one’s eyes.  My only note of caution would be that the presentation showed very much presenting the ‘Poet’s view’ of the war  that is now being brought into question as too simplistic and sentimental (Blackadder-like) a view of the conflict.  Having shown  that the war in the trenches was truly awful, and it was, it should be remembered that Owen died not in the trenches but in the last days of the war during the great advance towards Germany once the stalemate had been broken.

In ‘Survival in Solitude’ Terry Waite,  who spent almost five years in total solitary confinement after being captured by Hezbollah while he was in Lebanon trying to secure the release of British hostage John McCarthy and other western captives, was interviewed expertly by Professor Glover.  In this fascinating interview, Terry Waite spoke about how he kept his humanity under the toughest of conditions, including during mock executions.  In particular, Terry showed a huge sense of humour and even spoke of seeing humour in the sometimes awful situations he faced. 

Terry also talked about how he was able to draw positives from his captivity stating that although he would have preferred not to have been captured that he does not regret it – it is now part of what makes him who he is and he certainly came across as someone comfortable in his own being. Since his release, Terry has founded Hostage UK, an organisation designed to give support to hostages and their families.  He talked briefly about this at the Q and A at the end of the interview and it would probably come as a surprise to most just how many people are being held as hostages across the world.

At one point during his captivity, Waite had eschewed the opportunity to escape after a guard had left his AK47 unattended.  Waite had considered using the weapon but chose not to as ‘a man working for peace’ he considered that it would have been counter-productive, if not hypocritical, to have used the weapon on his guards.  Instead he told them of their error.  In the Q &A he was asked for his opinion regarding the UK’s response to IS.  Tellingly this man of peace was categorical in stating that military force would be needed to deal with this abomination of Islam.  Jeremy Corbyn should take note!

It is now a quarter of a century since Terry was captured.  The man that has emerged from those 25 years and who sat in front of this audience was witty, urbane, humane and most importantly at peace with his past.

Prague in July

Book Review - When Britain Saved the West: The Story of 1940 by Robin Prior; completed 18 December 2015

Australian author Robin Prior has written a masterpiece.  This book was one of Dr Gary Sheffield’s History Books of 2015 (BBC History Magazine); I couldn’t put it down it is an excellent read.  This is not just the story of ‘Britain Alone’ that has often been re-told as it examines how Britain, under Churchill’s leadership stood against Nazism and for the concept of Liberal Democracy.  The author defines ‘The West’ not in geographic terms but in conceptual ones as that ‘group of countries where the state seeks to uphold the rule of law and the values of the Enlightenment – political diversity, freedom of speech , tolerance of minorities; secular in outlook’ .  By this definition then,  in Europe only Britain remained as part of ‘The West’ by July of 1940 as every country in Europe, except Sweden and Switzerland, was either occupied by or allied to Nazi Germany.  1940 was also the year that Nazi Germany lost the War, as Richard J Evans points out in  ‘The Third Reich at War’, when Germany failed to knock Britain out of the war – ‘she was doomed from that moment’.  Evans described the Battle of Britain as the 1st major turning point of the War.  This book is not just about the Battle of Britain, however, as Prior identifies a number of key crises, as well as the Battle of Britain, within that fateful year that threatened Britain’s existence as a state, it is not a general history of all the military events of 1940 so the Norwegian and N African Campaigns are left out.  

Prior’s narrative commences with the Parliamentary Crisis that led to the deposition of Chamberlain for  Churchill in May 1940 at a point when Chamberlain had in fact just won a No Confidence vote and remained as leader of the Conservative party, which had a large majority in Parliament.   The author is scathing of Chamberlains’ lethargic prosecution of the war , a result either of his belief that a negotiated peace with Hitler was still possible or, according to Prior, that once war was engaged the German peple would overthrow the Nazis.  Both possibilities show a fundamental ignorance of the nature of the enemy on Chamberlain’s behalf.

The Parliamentary crisis, in spite of the result of the No Confidence vote, was precipitated by the abject failure in Norway and the resulting collapse of support from the opposition benches (led by Atlee and Goodwood in particular and by Bevan the Trade Unionist) for the war as well as from within the Conservative Party ranks (led by factions linked to Eden and Beaverbrook).  Churchill’s wide cross party appeal, his long-standing record of opposition to Nazism and his good relations with opposition and Trade Union Leaders, led to Chamberlain to resign as PM and recommend Churchill to the King on 10 May.  Now Britain had a leader prepared to do whatever was necessary to win the war (including offering a permanent political union with France to keep her in the war, and after the French defeat to take the distasteful but ruthless decision to sink the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir (killing more than 1,200 men) to prevent it from falling into German hands).

Churchill’s accession was by no means smooth as the Parliamentary Crisis became the Cabinet Crisis. 10 May not only marked the accession of Churchill but also of the German attack kin the West.  Not only did Churchill have to manage the war but he did not yet have a free political hand.  With Chamberlain still leader of the Tories and the appeaser Lord Halifax still head of a powerful party faction these men had to be given War Cabinet posts at the expense of Eden and others who would have provided much needed backbone.  To be inclusive Atlee and Goodwood had to come into the War cabinet to provide a national coalition to prosecute the war.  Throughout the next few weeks Halifax in particular would work to undermine Churchill’s bellicosity by seeking Italian intervention for a negotiated peace.  It was only firm leadership from Churchill and eventually the obvious intention of Italy of joining the war on the German side that defeated Halifax’s intent.  Chamberlain’s death in November would eventually allow Churchill to get rid of Halifax but for now he would continue to be a thorn in the side.

The military defeat of the BEF and the later surrender of France is an oft told story but Prior makes a number of key observations that have been less well publicized.  First among these was the intensity of the efforts that Churchill went to in order to keep France in the war.  Although it is well known that Dowding refused to send additional fighters to France, Churchill committed far more than he needed to (and many French fighter ac were never committed).  Prior shows, that contrary to common perception the BEF and supporting French Army immediately to its south fought determinedly and effectively though were left hanging by the collapse of the Belgians to the north that precipitated the retreat to Dunkirk and the evacuation.  British commanders., particularly at Corps and Divisional level also performed well and it is a credit to the BEF commander, often maligned, and to the initiative of  British Army leadership that Gort was willing to disobey Churchill (without repercussion) to order the retreat of the BEF to the coast , thereby saving it.  An Army in being in Britain would later be a key piece of the jigsaw leading to the cancellation of Seelowe. 

At Dunkirk, Prior’s major criticism is for the performance of the RAF whose fighters should have been able to establish air superiority over the beaches as its fighter bases were much closer to the battlefield than were the Luftwaffe’s.  Dowding’s failure to provide air superiority over Dunkirk when he easily could have done so concludes Prior, put the evacuation at unnecessary risk and his parsimony was not justified.

A large part of the book now examines the Invasion threat and the Battle of Britain in its key phases including through the Blitz in the winter of 1940/41.  Prior forensically examines the probability of success of any German Invasion and concludes categorically that any invasion would have been defeated, although he is very clear in reminding us that the Britons of 1940 could not see that as they were not in possession of the facts as we are today.

 The Army in being, rescued from Dunkirk is a key factor in his calculations but the major determinants of his conclusions are the strength of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.  Prior concludes that RN, despite losses at Dunkirk, was always more than capable of intervening in any German invasion and that the removal of ships from Channel Ports to prevent further losses to the Luftwaffe was no more than an inconvenience. 

For the RAF, Prior concludes that the Battle of Britain was not as close a run thing as is commonly perceived.  At all times during the battle Dowding kept a large part of his force in reserve or supporting roles and the Germans, despite knowing the function of RDF, did not appreciate how it fed into the integrated C2 system of the command nor the importance of the Sector Airfields.  This is not to say that   AVM Park was not under extreme pressure.  From his perspective the Battle was indeed a close run thing as his forces were limited and his Sector stations were those under attack  but Prior highlights a note made by Dowding on one of Park’s despatches that Park was being, understandably,  unduly pessimistic.  Throughout the Battle the RAF maintained Air Superiority and Prior makes a convincing case that they never looked like losing it. 

Of course the Battle did not end in 1940 but continued in the Night Blitz of British cities into May 1941 which is where the author now takes us.  Night defence against the Luftwaffe was ineffective this early in the war and the civilian population suffered an unprecedented (to that time) attack as a result.  Prior contends that he argues that the German bombing of London was always planned and not triggered as a result of RAF raids on Berlin the intention being to force Britain to conclude a disadvantageous peace.  The attacks killed 40 000 people which is a lot but as it only represented 0.14% of the population of London in military terms this was insignificant.  London, just as Berlin was later to prove, was just too big a target for the attacking capabilities of the Luftwaffe (never designed as a strategic force).  Whilst the Blitz was indeed an ordeal for the civilians of Britiain in was never going to knock the country out of the war.  German successes against the likes of Coventry, Liverpool and Glasgow were not followed up which allowed damaged manufacturing and port facilities to recover.  Indeed Prior’s key points of the Blitz period are that the Luftwaffe was not equal to its task in either equipment or planning. 

Throughout the book, Roosevelt’s presence is felt, initially through the attempts to engage Italian support for a peace settlement (Halifax) and then through Churchill’s increasingly strident appeals for support – not to save just Britain but Liberal Democracy.  True he did allow Britain to purchase weapons form the US (initially for hard cash) but he only introduced ‘Lend/Lease’ once Britain appeared to be running out of Dollars.  In return the US received Gold Bullion and a number of territories whilst US industry was bolstered by British orders for materiel.  Prior presents the US as almost asset stripping Britain whilst Britain is standing up for all the values espoused by the Great Republic.  In evidence, Prior presents a draft of one of Churchill’s letters the Roosevelt that seems to show Churchill in the same light!   In the end Prior is no fan of Roosevelt who he contends did his best to stay out of the war even in the face of 70% of US public opinion (and his own Cabinet’s resolve) to get involved.  He even concludes that it was Hitler (by unnecessarily declaring war on the USA)  rather than Roosevelt who ensured that the USA would come fully to Britain’s aid.

The Hero of this book is undoubtedly Churchill. In seeing the war as a Manichean struggle between good and evil of ‘Christian Civilisation’ against Nazism he was the right man at the right time.  The book concludes with part of the ‘Few’ speech that almost brought me to tears.  It shows that Churchill was really fighting not just for Britain but for the values of ‘the West’, the vision that this speech shows when Britain was not only prepared to stand alone but saw herself as part of a much greater concept makes todays Little Englanders in the Conservative party, and the appeasers of the left seem as pygmies against the colossus that led the country in 1940:

“… our willingness at the darkest hour in French history to conclude a union of common citizenship in this struggle. However matters may go in France or with the French Government, or other French Governments, we in this Island and in the British Empire will never lose our sense of comradeship with the French people. If we are now called upon to endure what they have been suffering, we shall emulate their courage, and if final victory rewards our toils they shall share the gains, aye, and freedom shall be restored to all. We abate nothing of our just demands; not one jot or tittle do we recede. Czechs, Poles, Norwegians, Dutch, Belgians have joined their causes to our own. All these shall be restored.

What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour."

Prior’s conclusions are that Britain, and therefore Liberalism, was saved through Churchill’s leadership, the determination and skill of the BEF and its leaders and the power of the  Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.  In retrospect he sees that Britain could only have been defeated in 1940 had she chosen to have given up (as Halifax and some appeasers still proposed in the Cabinet crisis in May). One may not agree with all of the author’s conclusions but one should definitely read this book.  It is Brilliant.

 

The Adventure Game - A Cameraman's Tales from Films at the Edge a talk by Keith Partridge at Aboyne Community Centre 14 November 2015

Eilidh Scobie, the driving force behind Aboyne Stravaigers (and much else that goes on in Aboyne) had arranged for Adventure Cameraman Keith Partridge to give a talk about his career at the Aboyne community centre last Saturday. Shamelessly I invited myself to stay the night with Martin McGregor so we could attend and also enjoy a post-match drink.
Martin is a fine cook and he provided Keith and several others of us with dinner before Keith’s talk so it was nice to meet the ‘star’ (who proved to be a very fine dinner companion) before the show. The Adventure Game, Keith explained was to be called ‘Going to the Office’ but with a new book out he thought the title needed changing. Having said that, it clearly came across that Keith thinks himself extremely fortunate that his ‘Office’ is truly the Great Outdoors.
Keith is best known for filming Joe Simpson’s epic tale ‘Touching the Void’ buthis talk, to an audience of around 150, took us through how, as a lad with no A levels growing up in the not particularly renowned mountaineering area of Norfolk he came to be one of a small band of film Cameramen to have carried a camera to the summit of Everest. His talk, supported by Slides and videa, was in 2 parts each of around an hour. The 1st half covered how he had got into filming and Mountaineering and his BBC apprenticeship before becoming a freelance. Expeditions covered here included Caving in PNG, climbing and searching for poisonous wildlife in the Amazon and most spectacularly the filming of Humpback Whales rising up amongst Kayaks off Northern Canada.
The second part of the talk built to a crescendo from the foundations set in part 1. Taking us through the epic filming of a 16 yr old hunting foxes in Mongolia with his personally trained Golden Eagle we moved onto the filming of ‘Touching the Void’ and to me the even more impressive filming shown from ‘The Beckoning Silence’ that recalled the 1936 Eiger north face Disaster resulted in the death of five climbers who were avalanched whilst crossing the Hinterstossier Traverse. This looked like a particularly challenging piece of filming, though Keith would explain a couple of the tricks of the trade to me after the show. The climax of the talk was Keith’s 2012 filming of Kenton Cool’s Everest summit expedition to place a 1924 Olympic gold medal (presented to the 1922 Everest team) on the summit. Keith’s story of the expedition was gripping and I can only say that the filming from the summit at 0530 in the morning was stunning.
After the talk it was great to talk to Keith in more detail about his adventures and tricks of the trade. For this opportunity I must thank Jacqui and Duncan who invited us all back to their house for grub and a beer (or two) and Eilidh for bringing Keith along. Of course particular thanks to Martin for providing a free B&B service and to Keith for being a great sport and staying up late to chat with us mere mortals. Keith you are a gentleman
Needless to say I bought Keith’s book for more info see:
http://sandstonepress.com/books/the-adventure-game

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