American Carnage

Twin City carnage

"This American carnage stops right here and stops right now." Donald Trump Inauguration Speech, 20 January 2017.

Fake news is what he would call it if delivered by any other commentator but as the stench of the fires and fury following the Minneapolis murder percolate through the United States, there is that moment when the citizens of America can finally say, "Gotcha".

Like many others, I had doubted that someone with such a loose understanding of ethics and so lacking in humanity or empathy as Donald Trump could survive more than two years. I also hoped that the damage he wreaked might be possible to rectify, although not by Vice President Mike Pence. The United States still had a reputation as "the land of the free", although its failure to address inequalities, the dominant force of its global corporations, its interference in foreign affairs, and the sale of weapons to autocratic regimes were all corroding the goodwill from many nations. Trump's time in office has simply turbo charged these characteristics and the increasingly dysfunctional constitution has made America not 'Great Again' but generated an antipathy from citizens around the world as well as undermining global institutions such as the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In the years since Trump's election, I have been gratified by that noblest of gestures by many Americans that I have met in the UK or when on holiday in France and Italy. They have apologised for their President and spoken with a refreshing frankness about the rancour that exists in their beloved country. I feel privileged to have enjoyed its remarkable landscapes and witnessed the scale of human endeavour in the States but it is not somewhere that I would contemplate visiting again as it trashes its environment, violates the dignity of many of its citizens, encourages more firearms and worships Mammon, whilst hiding behind a mask of Christianity.

As ever, the hope for some restitution lies in the good sense of many of its states, cities and counties when they are empowered to act independently from the behemoths of the American Constitution. Many of them have shown an understanding of Coronavirus that eludes the warped mindset of the President and his followers. In the past we have been assured that the American Constitution would provide the checks on the power of the President; that myth has been exploded by President Trump. It is time to eliminate the stranglehold of Corporate America and their lobbyists who have furloughed democracy by bankrolling the elections of the President, Congress and Senate. This charade of sponsored federal elections demeans and diminishes the democratic rights of its citizens.

Apocalypse Now in Minneapolis

Islands Peak Race 1990

Captain Eric

In 1990, I had arranged for the annual UK Council NALGO-sponsored cross-country championship to come to Scotland for the first time. I was the chair of Strathclyde Runners, a Council club for the 100,000 employees, and we organised half a dozen events each year. The UK Council championship was held in Strathclyde Park with the reception and prize-giving at the Strathclyde Offices in Hamilton. The Council Convenor, Bill Perry, was to provide some hospitality, and as always, he was delighted to support the Running Club in its ventures. 

We surprised ourselves by winning the team prize against several hundred runners from Councils all over the UK. Keith Adams, a roads engineer who had recently joined SRC, had been in the team and approached me afterwards to ask if I would be interested in competing in the Island Three Peaks race with him. Keith was a committed hill runner and had competed in the event on three previous occasions. He lent me a video to explain the nature of the event, which was pretty full-on.

The race involves yachts with 3 sailors and 2 runners. It starts in Oban with a 5 mile run before a Le Mans style dinghy race from the north beach to the yachts, a sail down the Sound of Mull to Salen, a 19 mile run to Ben More and back, followed by a long overnight sail to Jura past the Corrievreckin to Craighouse, the start for an 18 mile run around the Paps of Jura. This is followed by a long sail down and around the Mull of Kintyre to the Isle of Arran, where a final 20-mile run to Brodick and Goat Fell and back before the final sprint across the Firth of Clyde to Troon. It normally takes two to three days, depending on the winds and tides, as well as the navigation of the yachts and the masochism of the runners. It involves about 12 hours of running over 60 miles of running and 10,000 feet of ascent.

I watched the video with growing anxiety. I had run five marathons and four mountain marathons and had recently started climbing the munros so I had some experience, but this was at a different level. I explained to Keith that he would be better supported if he could find another victim, but he was fairly insistent that I could manage it. Never being one to refuse a challenge, I signed up. I was in reasonable shape, but arranged a few longer hill runs with Keith and Matt Ogston, another hill running friend, who was also competing in the race. We had an 18-mile run from Aberfoyle to Ben Lomond and back one evening after work, and I also managed a PB and what would have been a Strava Crown for my regular run up Lime Craig. Two weekends before the race, John and I caught an evening train from Crianlarich to Fersit and did an overnight walk to Fort William over the Easains and Grey Corries to build up my hill stamina and get some experience of night navigation.

The weekend of the race saw Keith, Matt, and me board the Oban train on Friday afternoon. Keith and I stayed at the house of Eric Chapman, the skipper of Seasmoke of Lorne, a 27-foot yacht that was one of the smallest in the race. Eric was the Commodore of the Oban Yacht Club and had competed in the race before and knew the sea conditions well. The two other crew members were from Edinburgh and had sailed with Keith on his previous Island Peaks races.

It was a grey Friday as the race began at midday on the sound of a gun for a 5-mile road run along the Sound of Kerrrera and back. Keith and I were reasonably well-matched. I was the faster road runner; we climbed at a similar pace, but he was faster on the descents and over rougher ground, when I was more cautious because of a broken leg held together by titanium screws. We finished the leg at Oban's north beach, where we jumped into our dinghy to be rowed out to the yacht. We had made good time and were in the first ten out of the 56 starting teams. I had paced Keith; we wanted to make a decent time to gain clean air for the yacht, but not to tire us too much, given that we had 19 miles of running on Mull ahead of us.

We lost quite a few places to the larger yachts and catamarans sailing up the Sound in a steady breeze and berthed at Salen just after 5pm. We were straight into the run behind Jack Maitland and Alan Farningham, who were to win the race. We also had Christine Menhennet and Helen Diamantides for company, two formidable hill runners who Keith knew from his hill running club. We made a good pace along the 6 kilometres of road from Salen pier to Loch Ba. We stopped here to change into hill running shoes, which lost us a couple of minutes, and the girls had almost caught us as we set off again. It was a slog up the east ridge of A' Chioch, and we contoured below the top to find the steep rocky ridge to the summit of Ben More.

After checking in at the summit, we started the 4-kilometre descent to Dhiseig on Loch na Keal. It was turning into a lovely summer evening with spectacular views. We lost some time to other runners and at the burn by the road as we changed back to road shoes and took some water and food before beginning the long 9 miles back to Salen Pier. Helen and Christine had overtaken us whilst we were changing shoes; they were relentless. I took over the pacing, and by Scarisdale Wood, we had caught and passed them. We were back in Salen in under 4 hours, twenty minutes faster than Keith's previous best time. As we climbed aboard the yacht, we were told that a curry was awaiting us and there were cans of lager if we wanted. I did, and after a feed and some rehydration, we settled down in the bunks for the long sail back down the Sound of Mull and the Firth of Lorne. The wind had died somewhat, so there was little keeling over to disturb our sleep.

We awoke with the yacht becalmed, and for most of Saturday, we made slow progress down to the jetty in Jura. There was some movement passing the Gulf of Corryvreckan. At first, we thought the slow progress would help in that we would have an afternoon run up the Paps of Jura and then be able to sleep as the yacht sailed down and round the Mull of Kintyre. We then began to realise that we may end up in the dark on the Paps. The good news was that it was dry and a reasonably pleasant day. We eventually arrived at Craighouse at about 7pm.

The evening was benign, and although this was the shortest leg at 18 miles, it involved the most climbing over some pretty rough ground with little in the way of paths to help. We ran the first couple of miles from Craighouse and then changed into hill shoes for the climb up the three Paps. The evening just got better and better. By the time we reached the first summit, Beinn a' Chaolais, we were treated to scintillating sea views. We had made good time, and both of us seemed to be going well as we descended 300 metres and then began another 350 metre climb to Beinn an Oir. The official photographer was posed halfway up the craggy ridge, and as we passed him and looked out to sea, I remember thinking that this was probably one of the best moments in my life. I was as fit as I had ever been, travelling fast over tough terrain in the most beautiful wild landscape with a spectacular sunset over the sea.

There was no time for admiring the views from the summit, just another 300 metre descent and climb to the final Pap, Beinn Shiantaidh. The light was fading fast as we headed off the summit to the south and dark for the 6-kilometre run back to the road. We changed shoes and began the final twenty minutes of running back to the jetty at Craighouse. We hollered across to the yacht so they could send a dinghy over to collect us. It was after 11pm had taken over 4 hours, but it had been a successful run, and the welcome we got from the crew on the yacht was positive;  we had performed better than they had ever expected. 

A night breeze had struck up, so as we fell into the bunks, the yacht was making good progress.  We expected to have sailed around the Mull of Kintyre by the morning. However, it is a 60-kilometre sail, and we were still approaching the point in the morning as the wind began to fade again. By late morning, we were becalmed, and the oars came out. We made a valiant effort, all of us doing spells rowing. As we were one of the smaller boats, it was relatively easier to row than on the catamarans and larger yachts. Keith and I took our turns and spent much of the afternoon rowing. We overtook Helen and Christine, who were in a speedy catamaran and had got a long way ahead of us on the previous sailing leg to Jura.

It was almost dark when we arrived in Lamlash, and before we began the path up Goatfell, there were a good 7 miles of running to Brodick. This was my sort of running, and we overhauled two other teams of runners on the way through Brodick. The good path meant that there were no real navigation problems on the ascent of Goat Fell, but the descent in the dark on a steep rocky path had me struggling to keep pace with Keith. On reaching the lower slopes, I took over, and I hammered it all back to the boat, overtaking another two sets of runners, one with three runners. It was just coming light as we reached the yacht to the absolute delight of the crew. We had cranked our way up to seventh place. Eric was ecstatic and had the yacht flying across the Firth of Clyde with all sails fully tightened. We sailed into Troon Harbour at about 7am in sixth place in one of the smallest boats. 

We had exceeded all our expectations and were afflicted by that magical feeling of knowing that, as a team, we had performed to the very maximum. The best small boat, and Keith and I had beaten some very good hill runners in the process. We had some breakfast and bade farewell to the sailors before Keith, and I caught the train back to Glasgow. I made it to the office for 9:00am after a fairly tough weekend. My colleagues in the office were not impressed when I took a wash in the toilets to refresh myself after the weekend's sweat and aches, and then carried on as if it was a normal day.

That afternoon, I did something quite unusual: I sneaked off at 4pm, flexitime allowed this, and I was home for 5 pm for some food and an early night. The children had made a card for me. I really did feel invincible but truly knackered.

Leaving Oban Bay

Keith is doing his morning exercises in the Sound of Luing

Becalmed approaching Jura

Eight hours of rowing in shifts

Rowing up to Arran

Passing Ailsa Craig

What Now after Covid?

Who knows how or when this will end? Badly, yes and Bigly too. I have been working with some former colleagues producing a paper on the need for mutuality and localism to be the key values as we try to rebuild, or more likely, reinvent our communities. The prospects are grim for the economy. Millions of people have lost their jobs and thousands of businesses have lost their customers or are left with obsolete products or services. But like the banking crisis of a decade ago, there is the danger that government will put the protection of its funders and their lobbyists first.

As well as the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland setting their own timetable for how and when lockdown should be eased, the northern cities and towns are beginning to challenge the confusing proposals emerging from the government. There is also a clamour from workers and businesses to be engaged in drawing up proposals so that they have a stake in how to safeguard workers as the economy reopens. The lack of transparency of decision making so far has been mendacious and has destroyed the trust in the government. Simply saying that "we are following the science" no longer convinces a sceptical public who are reading and hearing the said scientists challenging the government's blandishments.

Leaving aside the issue of easing lockdown, there are some far more significant issues that will need to be tackled as the estimated deficit in the UK is now running at over £337bn for the year. It is estimated that the GDP could collapse by as much as 25%, which is ten times higher than ever previously recorded. Already the debate has begun about the possibility of further public expenditure cuts or tax increases across the board. Promises of "we will do whatever it takes to beat the pandemic" are beginning to sound like unfulfilled pledges as many businesses and councils are now discovering.

At the same time there is a realisation by people that the improvement in air quality, a reduction in noise levels, the elimination of traffic congestion, kindness and mutual aid in local communities and more friendly, caring and respectful personal relationships are worth keeping. This is one of those rare epoch moments when massive change in how we live is possible. There is a strong desire to avoid reverting to 'normal ways' and to reap the harvest of new ways of working, learning, travelling and socialising that have been sown during the lockdown. Putting the quality of life, health and wellbeing above the pursuit of money, material possessions and status, aspirations that have dominated groupthink in recent decades, could be the long term prize in the search for a happier and less fretful society.

The Prize

Commuting without vehicle pollution

Another main cause of pollution

There have been a number of developments during lockdown that will hopefully survive and thrive in a post Covid epoch.

• Working from home or a local hub that provides workspaces and the tools of conviviality.
• Communicating and meetings online, saving unnecessary journeys and time.
• Commuting less often and at more flexible times.
• Learning online for children and students as part of a wider syllabus that requires face to face contact.
• More engagement, management and mutual aid by communities.
• Greater health awareness.
• Online shopping and deliveries.
• Less dependency on fossil fuels through commuting and travel reductions and a switch to e-bikes and e-vehicles and that should include buses and delivery vans
• Production and consumption of more locally produced food through local delivery networks
• The kindness of strangers
• Debasing of money as the currency for success or happiness.

Euston, we have a problem - social distancing

Meetings, quicker and cheaper

But there are difficult decisions that will need to be taken to safeguard some of the benefits of lockdown and to source the funding for the cost of furloughing the workforce, cancelling business rates and paying for the health and care costs of the pandemic. There are already a number of academic papers evaluating the options with the Oxford Smith School.of Enterprise and the Environment bringing together many of the findings. Translating some of these findings into policies will require a far more rigorous analysis by academia but here are a some things I would start with; the aim being for greener, fairer and more equal outcomes.

1. Abandon the Heathrow expansion, air travel will be greatly reduced by travel restrictions, higher fares and customer confidence. Featherbedding the air industries according to the academic studies is the least sustainable of all policies.
2. Cancel HS2, there will be less long-distance commuting with home working and online meetings. What is needed is a railway network with modernised signalling, new rolling stock and a more rapid upgrading of lines in the north.
3. Increase the carbon tax on fuels for vehicles and planes to offset the reduced fuel tax revenues resulting from the reduction in travel. The collapse of oil prices should ensure that there will be minimal inflation costs.
4. Introduce an online shopping tax to give some protection to local shops
5. Create carbon-free vehicle only zones in town and city centres to consolidate the environmental benefits achieved during lockdown.
6. Reduce journey to work peaks by encouraging 4-day working weeks.
7. Re-introduce renewable energy subsidies to revive investment in sustainable technologies.
8. Legislate for a living wage and workers rights including holiday and sick pay.
9. Engineer a more progressive tax regime to address the inequalities that have been magnified by the COVID crisis
10. Protect local and UK businesses from acquisition by overseas corporations and hedge funds at meltdown prices during the pending economic recession.

I am sure that Michael Gove and the rest of the mythical ministers responsible for government would find reason to dismiss all of these suggestions, which would be an endorsement in itself.

Gargunnock Hills

Gargunnock Hills on left

Wednesday 6 May 2020

Thornhill to Ballochleam by bike, return     22 kilometres

Ballochleam to Gargunnock Hills walk       11 kilometres

It was the best day of the year so far and too good for gardening. The Gargunnock hills are visible from the house although too distant for even a long walk. I took the bike, crossing the carse to the A811. There was a significant increase in the traffic on the roads from my previous cycle rides in recent weeks, obviously there was less staying at home and a lot more people exercising their vehicles. The road from the Inch of Leckie to Fintry is the best of rural routes, climbing steadily alongside the Boquan Burn that is deeply incised into the soft red sandstone and hosts a beautiful mixed woodland that echoed with birdsong. It was a hard pedal to Ballochleam where the track to the Gargunnock Hills begins.

I ditched the bike and began the 3 kilometre walk up to the Spout of Ballochleam. The gorse was at its most decorative and the fields full of lambs, buzzards were patrolling the cloudless skies. I briefly thought about climbing more directly to Lees Hill but Standmilane Craig looked difficult to penetrate and why torture myself with a steep slog up through newly planted forest to save 3 kilometres when I could follow a path to the summit.

From the Spout of Ballochleam a gravel track heads south east towards the Earlsburn Wind Farm and after 300 metres a grass spur heads north to Lees Hill. The views north were sparklingly clear and the bird life was in full flutter. Every few minutes there was a bang like gunfire but there was nobody about. I thought at first it may be the distant wind turbines starting up in the gentle breeze but it was too close. Whether it was a recorded noise to keep the birds away from the wind turbines I am not sure but the noise seemed to emanate from a position on the moorland about 500 metres south of Lees Hill. Veering from the path to establish what was the source of the sound was not an option in lockdown. I continued north eastward from Lees Hill until the track began to peter out before stopping for some drink and to admire the views towards the mountains to the north and west.

The return was by the same route and as I descended the track from the Spout of Ballochleam a mountain biker was pedalling up the track.  We had a five minute conversation. It was friendly and respectful, similar to all other conversations that I have had in the period of lockdown. We kept a good distance apart, shared our thoughts on what was happening, appreciated  the peace and calmness that prevailed and talked of the positive vibes of living in such a tranquil and beautiful environment. He was a joiner who normally lived in Glasgow but was staying with his parents during the lockdown. He had never had the chance to explore the area in such depth before and was considering moving out of the  city once this was over.

I reached the bike and there was no need to pedal as I descended the 4 kilometres back to the main road. During the mile or so back to the roundabout I was passed by over 40 vehicles travelling at speed, Nicola's message to only make essential journeys had been lost in the translation of the word "essential". There again it had taken me a lot longer than an hour for my daily exercise and I was not sure whether I could carry forward my unused exercise allowance from a couple of days in the previous week. The guidelines on lockdown are capable of many interpretations but the key ones to my mind are to stay local and observe social distancing if by chance you do pass anyone or engage in conversation.

Road above Boquhan Glen

Boquhan Bridge

Track to Ballochleam, Lees Hill beyond

Earlburn Wind Farm

Looking north from Lees Hill

Ballochleam skyline

Easter Glinns, Ben Ledi and Ben Vorlich

Snow on Stob Binnein and Ben More

Back to the bike

Running or is that Jogging Again

Ben Ledi and Highland cow

The last couple of years has seen my running collapse from 50miles a month to averaging only 3 or 4 runs per month and this dropped even further this year with only a handful of runs before and during lockdown. There are several reasons, fewer off road routes in the immediate vicinity of the new house, sore feet, back ache from too much heavy garden work, and just the slowness that comes with age.

I have managed to walk and cycle most days during lockdown including several excursions up local hills but until yesterday I had not found the motivation to run. I had to visit the pharmacy in Aberfoyle so took the opportunity to take my daily exercise round one of my old regular routes, about eight kilometres. It was a slow start but after a mile or so I found a comfortable pace and kept going without too much difficulty. It lifted my spirits to such an extent that I was up early today to run an easy 4 kilometres along local track in the clear morning light. Even such a modest outing sharpens the appetite and the mind but do I have the determination to keep going?

The Goodie Water

Agricultural views

The track to Moss-side