Caiplie House Goings On

Precision, guts, art!

Inspired. Danny MacAskill from dave on Vimeo.

So I have only gone and done it!

Some of my late night surfing can result in some crazy purchases, old Pink Floyd albums, clever labour saving devices for the kitchen. One night after a couple of sherberts I very nearly won an auction for a rusty old MG with no MOT, for sale in Plymouth, phew!

However the other night I stumbled across this charity cycle out of Stirling, my old stomping ground. I seem to have signed up for a 100 mile cycle in June. Woops. I have parted with the cash, made a promise to raise more cash and even dusted down the old Raleigh 12 speed. Just need to get out training now and do some cycling in Fife. I will need to seek out some hills though!

So I have been out for a few training rides…takes a while to get the rear end into action in more ways than one. I also seem to have a fairly high puncture rate for miles cycled rate which brings the average speed down a bit. I went to the local bike shop to get a new supply of inner tubes and to replace the worn out tyres. On requesting the tyre type I got a funny look. “Is it an old bike like? They stopped making that wheel size over 20 year ago!”

“Young man” I heard myself saying, “20 years is not that long ago!”

 So hear it is…….if you would like to help out please  sponsor me and please check back to see how my training is going.

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Here is news of a great blog that was mentioned in Saturdays Herald ; Voyage of The Vampire. This is the diary of the adventurer George Henry Scott-Douglas,  known simply as Douglas.

Sir George Henry Scott-Douglas (1825-1885) an officer in the 34^th Regiment of Foot (The Border Regiment).  His Journals describe him being posted to Corfu, during which time he bought a boat called the Vampire, in which he sailed round the Greek islands; seeing a slave market in Constantinople and visiting the Holy Land.

These diaries are being blogged in real time starting today 1st April…….1846

I am intrigued to follow this wealthy Scottish Adventurer around these exotic destinations! I am interested to see if he has the pleasure of meeting another Victorian adventurer whose diaries I have read, cavalry officer Harry Flashman!

Flashman was three years older than Douglas and also spent large parts of his life adventuring rather than soldiering. Flashman and Douglas shared similar family backgrounds, Flashman being not being quite as privileged,he was schooled at Rugby rather than Harrow. However he still managed to buy a commission as a cavalry officer and became a hero but reading his diaries it is clear he was a bit of a cad and a scoundrel!

There is actually a gap in the  Flashman papers in 1846 so any meeting is not documented by Flashman…..we will have to wait and see