It's not yet a month since the Justgiving page (http://www.justgiving.com/walkacrossspain) was set up and already people have donated £1,300 (which comes a total of £1,624.36 when the recovered tax is included) which is a fantastic effort, and means a huge amount both to me and to the National Amyloidosis Centre
Hopefully there will be lots more... If you've not already donated please take a couple of moments to do so, any amount is incredibly welcome and will make such a difference to alleviating the suffering this disease causes.
Many many thanks to all the donors.
Tuesday 24 June 2008
Thursday 12 June 2008
Monday 9 June 2008
Weathered or Modern
(Fairly) bright and early on Saturday morning I was at the door of Geoffrey (Tailor)’s kilt making premises on the High Street in Edinburgh, where I met Howie, the kilt designer in chief, and also head of 21st Century Kilts. Howie is a bit of a legend, who is in his ninth year of wearing only the kilt (he says he couldn't imagine going back to trousers). In between his directing all manner of operations around the shop we talked through various weights of fabrics and cuts of kilts until we settled on something that should prevent me dying of heat exhaustion.
Once the type of fabric had been picked out, the next dilemma was which tartan to choose. Each clan has a number of tartans, each specific one being a variation on a theme, with each variation going by a different name, for example Ancient, Modern or Hunting.
The Nelsons are proud to form part of Clan Gunn, and in the lightweight fabric we had settled on there was a choice of Ancient Gunn, Modern Gunn and Weathered Gunn.
The Ancient Gunn, apart from not being entirely to my taste, has rather a lot of pale blue going on which probably wouldn’t last so well across 800 dusty miles, so that was ruled out from the off, leaving Modern and Weathered to fight it out.
Modern is all dark blues and greens...
Once the type of fabric had been picked out, the next dilemma was which tartan to choose. Each clan has a number of tartans, each specific one being a variation on a theme, with each variation going by a different name, for example Ancient, Modern or Hunting.
The Nelsons are proud to form part of Clan Gunn, and in the lightweight fabric we had settled on there was a choice of Ancient Gunn, Modern Gunn and Weathered Gunn.
The Ancient Gunn, apart from not being entirely to my taste, has rather a lot of pale blue going on which probably wouldn’t last so well across 800 dusty miles, so that was ruled out from the off, leaving Modern and Weathered to fight it out.
Modern is all dark blues and greens...
On the other hand Weathered, as it sounds, is muted and subtler...
According to Howie he could see the Weathered Gunn fitting in perfectly with the arid Spanish landscape, and not only that, but coupled with rugged hiking gear he thinks I’ll become a sort of kilted Indiana Jones figure, boldly striding across Spain. In the face of these arguments obviously I ended up going with the the Weathered.
Now, where did I put my whip…
Now, where did I put my whip…
Wednesday 4 June 2008
The Kilt
For the walk I will be proudly attired in the national dress of Scotland, the kilt. Why on earth? you might well ask. Of course there are many reasons, but the main ones are as follows. From a personal perspective and as a proud Scot, I am always happy to don one of the most distinctive symbols of my country, be recognised as a Scot and attempt to be a worthy ambassador for my country. However, apart from my own personal preference there are two reasons for choosing to wear the kilt for the journey.
The first, and most important, is that by wearing the kilt the project becomes more noticeable and newsworthy, and publicity is important both in order to raise awareness of the disease and also for the plans to raise as much money as possible for the fight against Amyloidosis. Where I can get coverage in the media this should help achieve both of these aims, by allowing people to hear of the disease and my fund raising mission, and also by raising the value of the project for any firms who might be thinking of sponsoring me. Additionally, along the route I would expect far more people to stop and ask me what on earth I’m up to, than if I was in shorts, which will allow me to spread the word directly (as far as I can tell men in skirts aren’t that common in western Spain)
Secondly, the use of the kilt will hopefully raise the profile of Scotland, and in particular that of a Scotland where we care about each other and about the common good.
So that’s why I’m wearing it, but what type of kilt will I be wearing... The kilt in its full fat form is eight yards of heavy weight wool, and is ideally suited for a wintry day out in the highlands; clearly however it may have its downsides when worn in 40 degree heat under a baking Spanish sun. But never fear, because to cater for hotter climes (if not specifically lunatic schemes to walk 800 miles over a Spanish summer) the kilt makers do make lighter weight kilts, apparently involving only five yards of lighter material.
So, this weekend I’m heading back to Scotland to see the folks at Geoffrey (Tailor) kilts (http://www.geoffreykilts.co.uk/) who are hopefully going to make me a kilt sufficiently light weight that I might survive the journey. Having said all that though, the design of the kilt is such that you do get a modicum of natural air conditioning to freshen you up that you just don’t get in trousers. Who knows, maybe it will prove to be the way forward?
For more details of kilts in all their finery see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilt
PS The tartan above is that of the mighty clan Gunn, to whom the Nelsons pertain, and whose tartan I will hopefully be sporting http://www.clangunnuk.com/html/history.html)
The first, and most important, is that by wearing the kilt the project becomes more noticeable and newsworthy, and publicity is important both in order to raise awareness of the disease and also for the plans to raise as much money as possible for the fight against Amyloidosis. Where I can get coverage in the media this should help achieve both of these aims, by allowing people to hear of the disease and my fund raising mission, and also by raising the value of the project for any firms who might be thinking of sponsoring me. Additionally, along the route I would expect far more people to stop and ask me what on earth I’m up to, than if I was in shorts, which will allow me to spread the word directly (as far as I can tell men in skirts aren’t that common in western Spain)
Secondly, the use of the kilt will hopefully raise the profile of Scotland, and in particular that of a Scotland where we care about each other and about the common good.
So that’s why I’m wearing it, but what type of kilt will I be wearing... The kilt in its full fat form is eight yards of heavy weight wool, and is ideally suited for a wintry day out in the highlands; clearly however it may have its downsides when worn in 40 degree heat under a baking Spanish sun. But never fear, because to cater for hotter climes (if not specifically lunatic schemes to walk 800 miles over a Spanish summer) the kilt makers do make lighter weight kilts, apparently involving only five yards of lighter material.
So, this weekend I’m heading back to Scotland to see the folks at Geoffrey (Tailor) kilts (http://www.geoffreykilts.co.uk/) who are hopefully going to make me a kilt sufficiently light weight that I might survive the journey. Having said all that though, the design of the kilt is such that you do get a modicum of natural air conditioning to freshen you up that you just don’t get in trousers. Who knows, maybe it will prove to be the way forward?
For more details of kilts in all their finery see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilt
PS The tartan above is that of the mighty clan Gunn, to whom the Nelsons pertain, and whose tartan I will hopefully be sporting http://www.clangunnuk.com/html/history.html)
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