Eclipse of the Sun

 

7:25pm 12 August 2026

I think Pink Floyd did it better in 1973.

And all that is now

And all that is gone

And all that's to come

And everything under the sun is in tune (Everything)

But the sun is eclipsed by the moon

Mountebanks of Reform

Crashing out is becoming a habit for the leader of the Mountebanks

Back in January, the then Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, refused to allow Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester,  to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election that was subsequently won by the Greens. He claimed it was to avoid an expensive and time-consuming by-election for the Mayor of Greater Manchester if Andy Burnham had won the by-election. At the local elections in May, the Reform Party took 30.7% of the votes in the 10 local authorities that make up the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Labour received 23.6% of the vote and the Greens 19.1%. The Reform Party had become the dominant party in Greater Manchester. Keir Starmer had signed his own dismissal notice.

By the time of the next by-election in Makersfield, caused by the resignation of Josh Simons as the MP, Andy Burnham was allowed to stand, and won in a seat that had been expected to be won by the Reform Party after the results of the May local elections. Within days, Starmer had resigned, the election for the new Mayor of Greater Manchester was called, and six months had been wasted. Starmer's vision of time was metronomic but set in months and years, not days.

Meanwhile, Andy Burnham had become the new PM and was cooking up a storm of new initiatives and zealously dominating social media. He was generating some hope after the moribund days of decline under Johnson, Truss, Sunak and Starmer. 

Starmer had not been wrong about the cost, or the slow pace of the election count as we waited up until 11pm on the day after the poll to get the result. His handling of calling by-elections characterised his period in office: mindful of cost, devoid of imagination and always cautious. His demise was his failure to inspire or provide a glimpse of hope that the UK needs in these troubled times. The Reform Party had become the gathering post for the Mountebanks who amplified the problems with all the deceit to be expected from their leaders, who are hard-core members of the very establishment that they mock.

Like so much else in the UK, the pace of the count was diabolical. The technology is there to do this count electronically; we piloted the technology for the Electoral Commission in 2002 for a ward by-election in Stirling. It led to the use of the technology in the 2007 combined Council Multi-Member Ward Election System and Scottish Parliament Additional Member Voting System. Both of these are much more complex than the Supplementary Voting System used in Greater Manchester. We had the results for both elections completed and the counters released from the count by 3am, just 5 hours later than the close of polls, not 25 hours later.

The Labour candidate, Bev Craig, won the Greater Manchester Mayor with 66.3% of the share of the vote, including the second preferences. Reform took 33.7%. The respective figures for first preferences were 47% to 21%, with 12% for the Greens. Yet at the Council elections in May the results were the other way round. Labour had 23.6% and Reform 30.7%; these should be most realistically compared with the first preference votes.

Once again, the Grand Old Duke of the Mountebanks, Nigel Farage, had marched his latest wheeze, the Reform Party, to the top of the hill, to see them have a great fall. He has lost his fabled ability to popularise the zeitgeist of despair, and even the sympathetic right-wing media and senior Reform members are distancing themselves from him.  Can all Nige's crypto and all Nige's friends ever put Reform together again? Well, there is plenty of evidence that this is unlikely, especially if Count Binface chips away at his vote share in the Clacton by-election he brought upon himself. His previous incarnations as leader of the UKIP party died away in 2019, and the Brexit Party was killed off in 2021. It would appear that each of his regenerations to cheat death gets darker as he ages. Expect him to emerge from a TARDIS with a new gang of Mountebanks sometime soon. Perhaps he could call it the Dalek Party or, better still, the  Underworld Party as it fades out and he finally stops bleeping.

Dalek Party unveiled

Commonwealth Games and Broadcasters

Tunnocks Tea Cake Lands in The Hydro

I had switched to Channel 5 to watch the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The games had crept up without the pizzazz that normally accompanies major events. Partly because Victoria State in Australia had pulled out as the hosts for the 2026 event and Glasgow had stepped in with less than 2 years to rescue the 'friendly games'. Advance publicity was then scuppered because the BBC had been outbid for coverage of the event by TNT Sports in partnership with Channel 5. 

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the opening ceremony, although nothing could compete with the London Olympic Games. For the first time, it was an indoor ceremony held at the Glasgow Hydro. It was classy and sassy. The King and Queen arrived in a TARDIS, and the First Minister joined in the singing of the UK national anthem by the excellent Scottish Youth Choir. This provided both humour and, in the absence of the Flower of Scotland as the national anthem, a certain edginess.

A Scottish Nature Garden provided the centrepiece of The Hydro for the arrival of the 3000 competitors from 74 Commonwealth countries and was inspiring, as were the changing images on the massive screen. The competitors were regaled by pipers, dancers and a raucous Glasgow crowd with not a traffic cone in sight. It was the arrival of a TARDIS and the landing of a Tunnocks tea cake from the roof void that typified Glasgow's comity and brutal self-deprecation.

But, being Channel 5, there were adverts, and when the wannabe influencer, Emma Radacanu, popped up on yet another advert, I switched off. Radacanu will cash in on her fleeting shelf life to advertise anything. It prompted me to think about all the superb broadcasters we have in the UK who have moral integrity that forbids them from behaving like Raducanu, Beckham, and their ilk.  They are as irritating as broadcasters who flaunt their self-seeking importance or those who are just crap at broadcasting.

I have listed those for whom I reach for the zapper and immediately tune out when they appear on TV or the radio. To achieve balance and offset the critique of influencers with no shame or irritating broadcasters, I have first listed plaudits for the worthy TV, radio, or podcast broadcasters of news, knowledge, and facts, 

In no particular order, here is a list of broadcasters that I most value and respect as worthy bringers of news, knowledge and facts as I watch TV, listen to the radio or seek out podcasts.

Jeremy Hardy (deceased)

Anna Foster, BBC Today

Evan Davies, BBC PM

Helen Lewis,  Atlantic and Private Eye (p94) Podcast

Gary Gibbon, Channel 4 News Political Editor

Anoosh Chakelian, New Statesman Podcast

Jeremy Bowen, BBC International Editor

Emily Maitliss, Newsagents Podcast

Steve Rosenberg, BBC Russia Correspondent

Anushka Asthana, Channel 4 US Editor

Steve Cram, BBC Athletics

Mishal Hussain, ex BBC Today

Mark Chapman,  BBC TV and Radio 5 Sports presenter

Katya Adler, BBC Europe Editor

Andrew Marr,  LBC

Pipa Creaar, Guardian and Politics Weekly Podcast

Dominic Sandbrook, The Rest is History Podcast

Orla Chennaoui, TNT Sport cycling presenter

Andrew Rawnsley, Observer and Newsnight

And a list of those self-important or crap broadcasters and influencers that I switch off instantly 

Emma Barnett, BBC Today

Robert Jenrick, Farage apologist

Laura Kuensberg, journalist

Nigel Farage, GB News

Naga Munchetty, BBC Radio 5

Micah Richards, BBC Football pundit

Fiona Bruce, BBC News and Question Time 

Robbie Savage, BBC Radio 5

Helia Ebrahimi, Channel 4 News

Michael Owen, football pundit

Emma Raducanu, former future tennis star

David Beckham, King of sponsorship and advertisement deals

Influencers: add cost and stymie facts

Best 2026 World Cup Advert 

Watching the World Cup forced me to watch some games on ITV, which means that I have been bombarded by adverts fronted by a baleful bonanza of influencers. What are they for? What do they add other than cost? Davis Beckham has appeared in 11 adverts for products, some of which he has probably never consumed or used. Companies believe that celebrities sell products, and perhaps they do if they are authentic. Those promoting charities are probably doing it because they have a genuine commitment to the cause. Footballers promoting a make of boot are probably sponsored by Nike or Adidas; Nigel Farage promoting Crypto Investments is a genuine attempt to reward himself. I am less sure about Alan Shearer advertising Betfair, Coral or McDonald's, or Micah Richards promoting We Buy Any Car when he drives a Lamborghini.

In the days of newspaper adverts, we got pictures and some facts about the product or service, and we could easily skip over them. TV adverts gave us colour and sometimes humour. World Cup adverts give us fantasy, and they cost a bomb for filming, payments to influencers, and FIFA's broadcasting charges passed on by the TV and streaming advertising costs. Who pays? The supporters for tickets and TV networks. And we all have to suffer the intrusion of adverts not only at half-time, which can last 25 minutes, but also before and after the games and during hydration breaks. FIFA created as many opportunities as possible to fire adverts at us. 

The result: I only managed to watch 5 games from end to end. The others I gave up at half-time or, on some occasions, at the first hydration break. The prospect of watching David Beckham and similar money-obsessed influencers raking in even more dosh was a complete turn-off.

I was delighted to see that the best-ranked advert in the World Cup was a home-based product that had no influencer other than Susan Boyle, and she was an AI insert as she swayed about on the girders of the Forth Railway Bridge. Pure Dead Brilliant.

Irn Bru World Cup Advert

Andy's Prehistoric Adventures

I switched on the BBC News to catch up on the new Prime Minister's cabinet appointments, and on came Andy's Prehistoric Adventures. I presumed that Laura Kuensberg had been re-employed to deploy her cynicism on the appointments before I realised that I had dialled into CBeebies. 

Alas, the News was an interview with Robert Jenrick; he was once the supposed saviour of the Tories but is now relegated as Nigel Farage's apologist. He was telling porkies about immigration, despite having been the immigration minister when net migration reached its peak of 745,000 in 2022; it fell to 171,000 in 2025. I had watched the transfer of power from Sir Keir Starmer to Andy Burnham earlier in the day. I welcomed the new PM's promise to work in collaboration across political parties and his instinctive commitment to devolving power to localities. I suppose that could be called a prehistoric adventure with democracy! The importance of place and less tribalism are vital ingredients for gaining pace and releasing the energy of both the public and private sectors working in step with each other at the local level, as they did before Westminster and Holyrood centralised business taxation and controlled and froze local expenditure. 

The responses to the new Prime Minister from world leaders and the devolved governments within the UK were positive and welcoming. They expressed a desire to work collaboratively, unlike the immediate messages from Reform and the Conservatives, which respectively called for an election and criticised policies that had not been announced. The UK media had a cynical tone; they were peeved that they had not been able to obtain leaks about new cabinet members and policies.

Most of the management of the transition has been well handled, apart from the hasty and populist announcement by Lucy Powell, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, that digital identity will be abandoned. This will make it more difficult to manage immigration, voting reform, and information sharing among health, police, education, and social work. This could vastly improve our response to child abuse, community care and special education. Most of the other broad hints of new policies address issues that have hindered progress and been the reason Keir Starmer lost the support of the press, voters and Labour MPs. They seem to have landed well, and the optimistic mood in the Downing Street sunshine was enhanced by a crowd of scousers, being respectful to Evertonian Andy Burnham. They should have sung You'll Never Walk Alone!

It is 3pm and still no announcements. I desperately hope for ministers who will not be afraid to instigate some disruption in the tax system and speed up the pace of change.  The new PM needs competent ministers brave enough to drive change, unlike some of the moribund crew who supported Keir Starmer.. 

Digital Boycotting

It was when the US President phoned Giovanni Infantino, President of FIFA, and asked him to rescind the red card given to the US player, Folarin Balogun, and allow him to play the next game against Belgium that I thought things had gone too far. The rules of football were being trashed by an unholy alliance between two narcissistic men behaving like autocrats. Objections rained in from Belgium, Germany, UEFA, and the football press. All to no avail, but Belgium had the final say, beating the USA 4-1. Justice was done. The United States had treated the Iranian team with similar disrespect by refusing to let them stay overnight in the United States, a violation of international sports protocols.

If the World Cup teams had threatened a boycott, would Infantino have caved in to the pressure from the US President? Who knows, boycotts are seldom observed by all and can take years to yield results. I recall a sleep-in at the Senate House at Liverpool University in 1970, organised by Jon Snow, to persuade the University to relinquish its investments in South Africa; effectively a boycott of apartheid. Jon was red-carded, and it was 24 years before Nelson Mandela became President and 41 years before the University apologised and awarded Jon Snow an honorary degree. 

National and International boycotts have had sporadic successes since Rosa Parks sparked the Alabama bus protest after she was told to sit at the back of the bus. Long-standing boycotts of South African products as part of anti-apartheid protests and the boycott of Russian oil and gas have had success over longer periods. Twitter (X) lost half its advertising revenue after companies boycotted it for inaccurate and toxic content.

On a personal level, I have boycotted many things, notably anything owned by Rupert Murdoch, American fast food and coffee chains, Virgin Trains, many companies owned by American hedge funds, Heathrow airport, Israeli produce since the genocide in Gaza and companies that have provided poor service or refused to refund payments like Booking.com. Does personal boycotting have any effect? Not a lot, but like voting, it is more effective than just abstaining, and it gives you a sense of doing the right thing.

I noticed that Lisa Nandy, the Secretary for Arts, Culture and Sport, has boycotted the use of X by her department. I cannot understand why the government and other organisations haven't done the same. Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart constantly air their gripes about X, where they are routinely abused for their moderate views. Still, they seem too worried about losing their followers to do the virtuous thing and deactivate their accounts. UK users of X have fallen from 8 million to 5.6 million since Musk took over. Notable company withdrawals from X include the majority of Higher Education organisations, many Councils, The Guardian, Sport England, London Marathon and British Red Cross. X responds by claiming to be the custodian of free speech, but its algorithms are surprisingly incapable of identifying abusive tweets and toxic rants. 

Most MPs seem to be frightened of losing their followers if they switch to Blue Sky or Threads. Perhaps we need a European microblogging site that banishes the use of algorithms that promote toxic views. In the meantime, I will stick to my own digital boycotting. I have never been tempted by X or, in its time, Twitter.  I seldom visit Facebook and LinkedIn; there are far too many unwanted adverts and mindless shared posts. Unlike our precious time, which is finite, tweets are for those more concerned about losing followers; they know neither the cost nor the value of time.

Lakes, Central Fells

Derwentwater from Brown Knotts

Thursday, 2 July 2026

Ascent:      690 metres
Distance:   12 kilometres
Time:         3 hours 42 minutes

High Tove Summit

Armboth Fell, a bogtrotter's heaven

Heigh Seat Summit

Blencathra from High Seat

Looking South to Scafell from High Seat

Gatbells and Grizedale Pike from Bleaberry Fell

Derwentwater from above Ashness Bridge

Ashness Bridge

I had been contemplating a longer hill walk all week and took the plunge, nothing ventured...

It was 12:40pm when Gregor dropped me off at Watendlath. It would reduce the height to be climbed, and I optimistically said I would be back at Ashness Bridge in 4 hours, the time predicted for this walk. I could always (gladly) opt out of Armboth Fell if things were too hard. There was a stiff breeze from the north-west that helped during the steep ascent to High Tove from Watendlath. There is a good stone path to begin with, then a paddle across some boggy ground to reach the uninspiring summit. Wainwright was spot on: "It is hard to imagine that anybody feels any affection at all for High Tove...water cannot drain away from it...everywhere is shockingly wet". 

Well, not quite as wet as the route to Armboth Fell, I went south and then turned east to avoid the more direct route over boggy ground, but ended up tramping along sheep tracks that were essentially streams. There are two rocky tops, and I topped them both before stopping for a drink at the more impressive, but not necessarily the higher, of the two. Four walkers from Lincolnshire were far less kind about High Tove than Wainwright, but they had taken the direct, waterlogged route from High Tove to Armboth Fell. Nevertheless, I decided to return to High Tove by this route. They were not wrong. I was not going to stop at High Tove, a barren stack of stones on a hump of a hill, despite it being well past 2pm 

The initial path to High Seat had been improved by large blocks of stone, presumably dropped off by helicopter. Only the final 60 metres of climbing were on grass, and the ground was sufficiently steep to minimise the bogs that had been the recurring feature of the walk so far. A large trig point and excellent views made it a worthwhile summit. The Helvellyn range to the east, Skiddaw to the north, and the Scafell range to the south competed for attention. But best of all was the profile of Blencathra to the northeast.

It was decision time: did I make the direct descent to Ashness Bridge to collect my lift or visit Bleaberry Fell, a good mile away on a boggy twisting path, which would leave me with another 4 kilometres to get back to Ashness Bridge via Falcon Crag?  I was taught by my friend Keith Adams in 1990, when in doubt, always try to do what you planned, otherwise you will have to return to complete the missing hills. After reaching Bleaberry Fell and admiring the views of Skiddaw, I charged down the initial steep rocky path and then upped my pace to Falcon Crag, where I doubled back on the path to Ashness Bridge. A kilometre short of the bridge, Gregor arrived running at pace up the steepish path; he was loosening up for an evening run up the Langdale Pikes. 

He turned back whilst I lingered, mesmerised by the views over Derwentwater and pleased that I had managed the walk in 4 hours, including the two stops for drinks and food.  I took a photo of Ashness Bridge that I had first visited during a primary school holiday when a man called Vivian Fisher with a Jay sitting on his shoulder would open the gate for passing travellers. We used to visit with our young family to admire the views of Derwentwater. (see below). Today would replenish my memory bank and inspire future memories and perhaps convince me that there is still life in the legs and lungs.

View from Ashness Bridge 1986

Barf and Lord's Seat

Looking down the ascent route from Barf

Saturday,  27 June 2026

Ascent:          545 metres  

Distance:       6 kilometres

Time:            2  hours 35 minutes

Barf                468 m      1hr 15mins
Lord's Seat     552m       1hr  40mins

A couple of years ago, I thought I would be finishing another round of Wainwrights this year. I had been averaging about 25 a year. However, things changed, and I have managed only two Wainwrights since my hill-walking days were put on hold in March 2025. I decided to leave early for Langdale on Saturday morning and climb two small Wainwrights, Barf and Lord's Seat, overlooking Bassenthwaite Lake. I was parked just north of Thornthwaite by 11:15am after travelling through a heavy shower in the North Lakes. 

I found a parking spot behind the Swan House and wasted little time getting on the path. On previous visits to Barf, I have attacked it directly by climbing a steep scree path marked by a white painted rock outcrop. It took about 25 minutes. I had no intention of doing the same and took what I thought would be a more leisurely path alongside Beckstones Gill, and then, after leaving the forest and crossing a stile, cutting back to the cairn. The path was far steeper and rougher than I had anticipated, with tree roots, brambles and at times streams from the rain making progress slow. The top third of the path towards the stile was deep and dark, with two sections of scrambling up exposed rocks that had become water features. My nerve held, and I reached the stile after almost an hour of climbing the 2 kilometres from the car park. 

The final section from the stile and on the open hillside was a delight, with wonderful views to Skiddaw, Derwentwater and the Lakeland fells and decorated by foxgloves. A cool breeze moderated the now-emergent midday sun, a treat after the humid conditions, as I traipsed up the Beckstone Gill.  I was soon at the grassy summit with splendid views of Bassenthwaite to the east and the easy-looking path to Lord's Seat to the west. A mountain biker arrived from Lord's Seat shortly after me. We both hunkered down behind grassy banks to avoid the stiff breeze. 

The walk across the path to Lord's Seat was pleasant apart from the final ascent into a wind that stopped you in your tracks. The mountain biker had made the return trip, and he arrived a few minutes later after lugging his bike up the last 75 metres of ascent. A family arrived from Broom Fell, the smiling five-year-old boy leading the way, the father eked out a smile; he was carrying a baby and dragging a three-year-old, while the morose-looking mother brought up the rear, eyes focused on her feet. I recognised the feelings, having been there during our first visit to Langdale when Gregor was three months old, and the girls were two and four.  I had foolishly thought we could pop up the Langdale Pikes after breakfast. Aileen did not agree, and the girls had to be bribed to keep moving by bars of Twix.

The hillwalk had taken longer than I had anticipated, and there were no direct paths from Lord's Seat back to the stile, so I went off piste, through long grass, bogs and nettles to save time. The descent of the rock outcrops required some care. I reached the car park by 2:30pm and set off for Langdale, stopping at Grasmere for a coffee and cake with Gregor and Emily.  It had been my first real hill walk for a year and had drained me of energy with just 13,000 steps completed.

Barf white stone with Skiddaw behind

Final ascent to Barf

Bassenthwaite from Barf

Lord's Seat from Barf

Barf and Skiddaw from Lord's Seat

Back Up the little Ben

Ben Ledi to Ben Vorlich

Loch Venachar

It is over a year since I last climbed Ben Gullipen, which is when my hip found it too steep and difficult. It is a lung-bursting ascent for the first kilometre, and I have been warned by physios not to attempt too much since my new hip operation, although I have had a few longer walks with less steep ascents and made a couple of walks up the slightly less steep Lime Craig. 

The bad weather, supporting Gregor on his Big Run and now the World Cup have provided a good excuse to avoid a hill that is only ten minutes away and could be done, up and down, in 45 minutes in the past. Today it took 47 minutes to reach the summit. I did have a chat to a man on an electric Mountain Bike on my way up; he urged me to get one.

I ran part of the way down until I met a local Councillor and her partner and stopped for ten minutes for a blether. The actual descent took 23 minutes compared to a PB of 13 minutes. I was still pleased and celebrated with a Corncrake Beer from Orkney. The Netherlands 5-1 defeat of  Sweden in the World Cup was an easy watch on the couch after some exercise. The weather is to be fine for the next three days, so I will try to get back into the habit of a pre-breakfast walk up the hill. (I did and was out by 7:30am the next day on a perfect summer morning. I managed to get the ascent time down to 41 minutes by taking no rests, but it took 25 minutes for the descent despite running several sections. My legs and lungs still have to get used to running again. I am good with the couch, but the 5k jaunt up Ben Gullipen will need some patience.

The outing convinced me that I should buy a new bike. I have a 1970s steel-framed road bike, a 30-year-old Cannondale road bike that has had little use since I was running 3 or 4 times a week until 18 months ago and a 25-year-old heavy Mountain Bike that I have used for getting into the more remote hills on mountain tracks. None of them suits my current need, which is for cycling on forest trails as an alternative exercise to running. I am tempted to buy a gravel bike, but the local shop thinks a lightweight Mountain Bike might be more useful. Several friends have suggested an e-bike might be better at my age! Time to make a decision.

The early morning view of Ben Ledi

Andy caps Captain Flip Flop

It was the morning after the Makerfield by-election that was won by Andy Burnham with far more ease than any of the media or pundits had anticipated. His acceptance speech emphasised his commitment to giving priority to place over party politics and a willingness to work across political boundaries. Next up was Richard Tice, the overbearing stooge sent out to wallpaper over Nigel Farage's many indiscretions and translate his quotes into something different to what Captain Farage had really said. 

Whilst Farage was posting himself in an England shirt to support England's 4-2 victory over Croatia in the World Cup, using an old photo from the Euros 2 years ago, Sergeant Tice was touring the studios, claiming that Reform had performed astoundingly well despite receiving only 35% of the vote.  This was well short of the 51% in the recent Council elections, when Labour received only 23% of the vote. Even the opinion polls leading up to the by-election had averaged  43% of the vote for Reform. It is amazing how successful bots can be at influencing polling and how gullible the journalists who are seduced by them are. 

Tice accused Burnham of not campaigning as the Labour Party candidate, which is why he won. Voters were getting rid of Starmer, who was the real Labour Party. Tice then accused Burnham of being more left-wing and argued that we needed to eradicate socialism. Tice has a rare ability to tie himself in knots as he shuffles through excuses. He seems to forget that the so-called Reform Party is actually a private company with no mechanism for its members to have any say in its policies. This allows the board of Reform to rapidly change its posturing on any issue that might entice voters.  

Tice finished with a pre-prepared put down: "Andy Burnham was Captain Flip Flop". He should know; he has been the chief apologist for the real Captain Flip Flop ever since he was deposed as the chairman of Reform plc. Like many others, he has been infected by the Farage Derangement Syndrome, unlike Makerfield, which has acquired immunity from the pathogen of Reform.

Captain Flip Flop celebrating England's 4-2 victory from a 2024 time capsule

Meanwhile, in the real world of the UK Government, the issue is how and when the leadership of the Labour Party passes from Sir Keir Starmer to Andy Burnham. Starmer has made several statements saying that he would contest any attempt at a leadership bid by Burnham or Wes Streeting. I suspect that his duty to the country, the Party and his undoubted integrity will lead him to resign after he has heard the feedback from his cabinet colleagues and acknowledges that the games a bogey. This would ensure a more dignified legacy in the eyes of the party and maybe the wider electorate in the longer term than an ignominious defeat if he stands against Andy Burnham.

Four Score Years and then?

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, ... their strength, labour and sorrow... is soon cut off, and we fly away. Psalm 90:10 KJV

FIFA Peace Prize: Art of the Deal

The self-appointed boss of the world reached four score years at the weekend by reason of some shady deals. He celebrated his birthday, whilst commemorating, or should that be demeaning, the 250th birthday of the United States with cage fighting on the White House Lawn with invites to his acolytes and accomplices.

He then flew to the G7 summit in France, where he claimed credit for stopping the war he started with Iran and re-opening the Straits of Hormuz to world shipping and signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran in the Palace of Versailles. His ego, as ever, was floating on the helium of trash-talking and his boast of another Peace deal was posted with his usual metronomic contradictions on Truth Social. 

Destitution

Since taking up his second term of office, he has reduced the United States' contribution to United Nations Aid from $14.1billion to $3.38billion. and withdrawn funding to 66 international organisations. At home, the Institute for Policy Studies estimates that through his Big Ugly Bill, he has made cuts of $73billion to Medicaid and heating and food support for low-income families, children and the homeless.

War

His expenditure on the wars he has executed in Venezuela and Iran has led to a 42% increase in war spending to $1.5 trillion. There have been no new aid bills to support Ukraine since he began his second term as President. $127 billion had been provided until then, but since there has been just a $ 20 billion loan for European NATO members to procure and provide American weapons to Ukraine. Since 2023, Israel has also received $16.3 billion in direct military aid for the war in Gaza. The underlying principle of most military aid is that it should be used to procure weapons, equipment and training from American firms or the stockpile of US weapons. Arguably, the American arms manufacturers are the largest beneficiaries of the Big Ugly Bill.

Peace

A Peace Prize was gifted to the President by FIFA president Gianni Infantino for making the world a safer place. A consolation for not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize from those woke Scandinavians. They had realised that there was not much peace breaking out in the countries where the 47th President of the USA had done deals. Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Venezuela, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen were still in active conflict, and Cuba and Greenland were in the waiting room for his next tranche of peacemaking.

We can only hope that Psalm 90:10 comes to pass. And then?

Signing the Iran Peace Deal in the Palace of  Versailles

Running Scotland

Start at Kirk Yetholm

Cape Wrath

I have just returned from Cape Wrath, where Gregor ended his mammoth marathon-a-day run from Kirk Yetholm on the border with England to Cape Wrath. 420 miles in 17 days was a big ask, and, according to the lady in the cafe at Cape Wrath, it was the first time she was aware that anyone had run the entire Great Scottish Trail. The Cape Wrath Trail is the more usual long-distance run, but it starts at Fort William, which was Day 9 of Gregor's run. Running Scotland was in memory of Aileen and to raise funds for the Starthcarron Hospice. They had provided carers for Aileen for 12 weeks after she was discharged from hospital with terminal cancer, and where she spent her final days.

Gregor had spent several months planning the event, which was intended to be solo and working on a plan of roughly a marathon a day. Until Crianlarich (Falls of Falloch), it would be possible to get overnight accommodation with friends, relatives, at home or with me. I would drop him off in the morning and/or collect him at the end of most days. Hostel accommodation was booked in Glencoe, Fort William, and the Great Glen. Beyond that, it was difficult to find accommodation, so we hired a camper van for the final week. I returned from Fort William to collect the van from Glasgow and headed up to the Cluanie Inn, where Gregor had ended Day 10. 

On ten of the days, Gregor ran solo, but running friends, upon hearing of the Run, offered to accompany him on some of them. He had a couple of ultra runners with him on Day 3 over the Pentlands. An Edinburgh friend from the Scottish International team joined him along the Forth Clyde Canal on Day 4, and a schoolmate ran with him from the Falkirk Wheel to Denny. Another running friend accompanied him from Carron Valley Reservoir to Balfron on Day 5. His sister cycled with him on Days 9 and 10 as far as Kingie, and a Glasgow running friend accompanied him on Day 10 over the mountains to the Cluanie Inn. On Day 11, he was joined by an ultra runner from Argyll for the second part of the Day from Morvich to Killilan. On Day 12, a running acquaintance on holiday in Plockton who had been following his Instagram daily posts joined him for the Killilan to Strathcarron section. Thereafter, he was solo for the final 5 days

Kirk Yetholm to Cape Wrath in 17 Days

Date        Route                                                     Distance      Ascent  Time 

14 May    Kirk Yetholm - Bowden                            39.9km        759m    3hr 19min 

15 May    Bowden - Peebles                                      39.5km        923m    3hr 32min

16 May    Peebles - Almondell, East Calder              38.2km        688m    3hr 32min 

17 May    Almondell - Denny                                   42.2km       169m    3hr 33min

18 May    Denny - Milton of Buchanan                     42.4km        531m   3hr 22min 

19 May    Milton of Buchanan - Falls of Falloch       42.9km      1075m   4hr 22min 

20 May    Falls of Falloch - Kingshouse                    42.6km       987m   3hr 51min 

21 May    Kingshouse - Fort William                         34.8km      998m    3hr 22min

22 May    Fort William - Glen Garry                          36.1km      312m    3hr 10min

23 May    Glen Garry - Cluanie Inn                            41.6km       994m   4hr   7min

24 May    Cluanie Inn - Killilan                                  37.6km      938m    4hr 14min   

25 May    Killilan - Kinlochewe                                  42.4km      917m    4hr  5min

26 May    Kinlochewe- Inverlael                                 38.7km      775m    3hr 57min

27 May    Inverlael - Glen Okyel                                  42.1km    1032m    4hr 4min  

28 May    Glen Oykel - Duartmore Bridge                   42.2km     1030m   4hr 51min

29 May    Duartmore Bridge - Oldshoremore               35.7km      970m     3hr 10min

30 May    Oldshoremore - Cape Wrath                         22.8km      589m     2hr 21min             

Totals                                                                           661.7km    14721m   62hrs 52mins             

The weather was not kind, although the first three days were dry with sunny periods. The day to Denny was a succession of heavy rainstorms; the Loch Lomond section was perpetual rain, as was the day from Kinghouse to Fort William.  And the next four days had rain showers with low cloud on the hills. Days 13 to 15 were blessed with sun, great visibility, and temperatures climbing to 23 °C by Day 15. They coincided with sections through the very best of Scottish Mountain scenery. Gregor took a deserved rest during the hottest day, having run from Okyel Glen to Inchnadamph. We retreated to the Elphin Tea Room for a couple of hours to escape the searing midday sun with good food and highland hospitality. It worked;  Gregor's batteries were recharged for the long run to Kylesku and then 4 kilometres further to Duartmore Bridge. We headed to Scourie to the campsite to spend the night and fill up with water.  

Finally, two dullish days in the wild, remote coastal areas of Sutherland with a glint of sunshine from Sandwood Bay to Cape Wrath. On these days, the hardest part of the day after the run was posting the day's account on Instagram and Strava. He had committed to including text, photos, drone shots and music. And then the complications were charging the phone, drone, AirPods and watch from the camper van battery. Most nights, we were parked in wild locations that I had found close to the end of the sections.

On the final day, I dropped Gregor at Oldshoremore, where he had finished the night before we had retreated to Kinlochbervie to eat at the excellent Quay House in the transformed Seaman's Mission. I drove to the Kyle of Durness to get an early place in the queue for the 12:15 ferry for myself, Emily and Amy, who were driving up from Aviemore to be at the finish. The tiny ferry across the Kyle of Durness resembles a large tin bath and dropped us at a jetty where we waited for the minibus and the 13-mile ride to Cape Wrath through the MoD shooting range on a track that is little more than a linear pothole. Gregor got there before us, and after photos and a coffee in the cafe, we returned to civvy street. 

Miles had been run, and funds had been raised, over £17,000 as I write this. Gregor had shown immense determination and perseverance to capture memories that will last a lifetime. An Instagram Log of the trip can be found on trossachs_trails, and an interview on the Young Hearts Run Free Podcast. young hearts run free

Day 2 - Overnight stop outside Peebles

Day 4 - Almondell, West Calder

Day 6 - Falls of Falloch, West Highland Way underpass 

Day 7 - Bridge of Orchy

Day 7 - Rannoch Moor

Day 9 Towards Glen Gary

Day10 - Wading towards Glen Shiel

Day 11 - Beinn Fhada from Morvich

Day 11 - Dropping down to Killilan

Day 12 Killilan

Day 12 - leaving Killilan

Day 12 - still a long way to Kinlochewe

Day 12 - Beinn Eighe from Kinlochewe

Day 13 - heading for Fisherfield

Day 13 - Skimming Fisherfield

Day 13 - Corrieshalloch Gorge, near Ullapool

Day 13 Bluebells near Inverlael

Day 14 An Teallach from above Inverlael

Day 14 - Okyel Bridge - a great tea in the Hotel

Day 14 - Glen Okyel overnight camp,  Suilven and Ben Stack

Day15 Ben More Assynt

Day 15 - approaching Inchnadamph

Day 15 Elphin Tea Room - lunch

Day15 - Unapool

Day 15 - Kylesku Bridge

Day 16 

Day 16 Final overnight in camper van at Oldshoremore

Day 17 Arriving at Sandwood Bay

Day 17 Sandwood Bay

Day 17 - Cape Wrath, Relax