Where it all began . . .

This is the remote Brodick Youth Hostel up Glen Cloy on the Isle of Arran, at least it was the youth hostel when my parents met here in 1947.   Mum was struggling to make custard and Dad - always a dab hand in the kitchen - offered to help to ensure there were no lumps in it.   It turned out they lived a few streets from each other in Paisley and their courtship developed on many Scottish islands and in many youth hostels in Scotland, as well as during a long trip to Switzerland in 1949; what an adventure that must have been crossing Europe only four years after the war ended.   They married in 1953 and the rest including the arrival of yours truly is history.   We spoke to an old farmer who lives next door and he said they used to pack sixty-four hostelers in.   It seems impossible from this angle but the the rear view in 'Extra Photos' shows there was room.   The building is now a private house and the owners invited us in.   I told the story of the custard in the kitchen area itself and also the one about how my Christian name combines the letters of my both my parents first names.   And, of course, I am an expert custard maker!

PS
For my record, I received proof copies of my book today for checking . . . looking good! Opened them in Montpelliers on Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh.