Trees in Glen Lednock

Our walk today was rather shorter than anticipated. This was because the route up to the Melville monument above Comrie is currently blocked by hundreds of fallen trees that were victims of Storm Anwen in November 2021. This meant that we were not able to revisit the site of my knee injury earlier that same month. I photographed these trees towards the end of the walk.

After our walk we drove to Crieff to have a look around the town (just one charity shop) and hunt for lunch (wonderful lentil soup in the Crieff Food Company). Then we continued our journey cross country to Grandtully and our accommodation for the next three nights.

We decided to book into the Grandtully Hotel on the recommendation of a couple of blippers. When we checked in, the receptionist asked if we have stayed here before. While Mr hazelh shook his head, I surprised the receptionist with my reply 'Yes, 44 years ago in 1979 when the Sultans of Swing was in the charts!' I then asked if the old registration details are still held in the hotel. I would love to see my father's (or possibly my mother's) signature in an ancient guest book.

I'm pretty certain that we stayed here in the Easter school holidays of my O level year. I remember reading A man for all seasons in the bath. I was trying to catch up on the English literature lessons that I missed each Tuesday morning in favour of medical appointments for hayfever injections. Apart from its frontage, the only part of the hotel in its current form that bears any resemblance to that of 1979 in my memory is the staircase.

After checking in, we sat in the bar for a while (for tea and coffee and a shared brownie), then moved into the library to lounge about in front of the fire. We played another game of Scrabble before dinner. Mr hazelh thrashed me again. Dinner itself was an amazing succession of small dishes with a main course of rare beef for me, and brill for Mr hazelh.

Exercise today: walking (12,876 steps).