Remember Dr Finlay’s Casebook?

Well here we are in Dr Finlay country. I  never expected to spend my birthday in the wee Highland town of Callander, the model for Tannochbrae, the wildly successful 1960s tv series , Dr Finlay’s Casebook, about a Highland doctor.
 
But there we are. Why , you may ask.
 
Well, we are in level 3 on the lockdown and the only way we could enjoy a celebratory meal out is if we stay in an hotel. Callander is a mere 15 miles down the road in the heart of The Trossachs .
 
So we booked. Only drawback no alcohol . So we brought our own which we can only consume in our bedroom. It makes it all a rather furtive experience.
 
 
Well, the first thing we did on arrival was pay a visit to Arden House  where Dr Finlay lived with his housekeeper Janet. 
It’s a substantial stone house high above the town with spectacular views towards Ben Ledi.
(Confession to make here at the risk of name dropping - I once interviewed Barbara Mullen, aka Janet, when I worked on an American newspaper in London. The Americans were fascinated by this TV series hence I got sent to interview Barbara Mullen. I remember she was exactly in real life like the fictitious character she played.)
 
We have checked into our hotel safe in the knowledge that we are well out of Covid territory only to learn that in January another hotel in the town owned by Chinese often had Chinese visitors staying there and it coincided with a virulent outbreak of what they thought was flu. Covid was unknown then and nobody was tested. People still talk about the dreadful cough some folk had.
 
PS Arden House is now a guest house.