Loch Katrine Cruise

As part of my mum's 80th-birthday celebrations, we booked a steamship cruise along Loch Katrine in the Trossachs - an area of wooded hills and large bodies of fresh water. Nicole and I accompanied her on a chilly but sunny late-autumn afternoon. We paused for lunch in Callander - a Highland gateway town. The road out to Loch Katrine took us by Loch Venachar, through the picturesque Brig O' Turk village and past the grand Loch Achray Hotel. Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park was established in 2002 and features 21 Munro peaks. The Highland Boundary Fault runs right through the territory.

We waited on the pier as Sir Walter Scott was being prepared for departure. The 111-foot vessel was built on the banks of the River Clyde at Dumbarton. The next challenge was to transport the ship to the landlocked loch where she would ply her trade (replacing Rob Roy II). In sections, the boat was taken by barge up the River Leven, then on to the mighty Loch Lomond. Docking at Inversnaid, horse-drawn wagons were employed to lug the separate pieces overland to Stronachlachar, for reassembly on the shore of Loch Katrine. After a major refit in 2009, Sir Walter Scott is now licensed to carry 245 passengers. The craft is named after the legendary Scottish writer, whose works helped promote the captivating Highland landscapes and encouraged Victorian tourists to visit areas such as the Trossachs. Scott's famous poem Lady of the Lake was apparently inspired by his travels around the region. The railway reached Callander in 1858 and steam travel on Loch Katrine also dates from this era. We had booked a 2-hour cruise that would take us along to Stronachlachar and back. A 12-mile trip in total. Full commentary was provided throughout and a fully-stocked bar was available on board. It was a beautiful day and we sat out on deck, watching the countryside roll by at a leisurely pace in this remote corner of Perthshire. It was also possible to peer through am open flap and watch the steam engines work tirelessly. Loch Katrine sits within a glacial valley and functions as the main water reservoir for Glasgow. The deepest point is 154 metres and many streams feed in from the surrounding hills. Cities expanded rapidly during the 19th century and Glasgow's water supply infrastructure struggled to cope. A major cholera outbreak in 1847 prompted the authorities to seek a new source. A series of aqueducts were constructed to convey the precious resource and the scheme was complete by 1859, costing almost a million pounds.

Lost Words Exhibition

A wildlife-themed exhibition at the Carnegie Galleries in Dunfermline? Let me think about that for a minute. Yes, I'm going. Nicole accompanied me and the event had just a few days left to run. Upon arrival, Nicole realised the source material was based on a book of illustrated poetry (in the form of spells) she had immensely enjoyed.

Published in 2017, The Lost Words was created as a response to the belief that children are losing touch with the natural world around them. A survey of primary school pupils suggested that 8-11 year olds are more confident identifying common Pokémon characters than our native flora and fauna. Most likely due to increasing urbanisation and the digitalisation of our existence. Apparently three quarters of British children spend less time outdoors than prisoners. Devised by writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris, the best-selling publication has inspired school children across Britain, winning numerous prizes along the way. Adults are also part of the target audience. The acclaimed work is an attempt to re-wild the language we use in our imaginations and the stories we tell. The spell format encourages people to read the text aloud and help conjure up references to vanishing wildlife vocabulary. Examples are kingfisher, bluebell, acorn, adder, bramble, conker and wren. Today's exhibition featured 18 poems – one for each disappearing term – and over 50 beautiful watercolour paintings. No photography was permitted in the gallery. I lifted the above promotional image from the museum website. Jackie Morris grew up in rural Worcestershire and has illustrated over 40 books, as well as working for the The Guardian and The New Stateman. She also collaborated with Poet Laureate Ted Hughes. Robert Macfarlane studied at Cambridge and his body of work has been translated in many languages and adapted for film, TV and radio. A notable volume is Wild Places (2007) - which describes a series of journeys made in search of the true wilderness that remains in Britain and Ireland. It was a thought-provoking experience to browse the material and absorb the fact that words I assumed were universal, are in fact slipping away. Those whose lifetimes have straddled the pre-internet days and the smartphone society can draw the best from both spheres, even use the technology to refresh and enhance old knowledge. For the children (and young adults) who know no other upbringing than a screen-focussed one, the future lies on a different path. The proverbial fork in the road.

Black Sabbath Ballet

You could scarcely have imagined the above headline in previous decades. Heavy rock/metal however has been firmly established globally for over half a century. Perhaps the permeation of older and - dare I say - more high-brow art forms was inevitable. I have been a huge fan of this musical style since I was 12 years old. I'm also no stranger to the ballet. Nicole and I have twice seen full productions (with orchestra) in Glasgow and also two Russian touring shows - one in Glenrothes and the other in Schwedt, Germany - where the dancers performed to a pre-recorded soundtrack. Sabbath meets Swan Lake? I was up for that! I purchased a ticket for the Saturday matinee show, selecting a seat in the front row of the upper circle. The website advised that views may be restricted due to the presence of a safety rail. But I took the chance. I'm over six feet tall and I reckoned I would cope.

I took the train over to Edinburgh and made my way to the Festival Theatre, my first ever visit to the grand old venue, which has a chequered history stretching back to 1892. Now seating just short of 2000 patrons, and hosting mainly opera, ballet and musicals, the theatre - as the name suggests - is a key player during the annual arts extravaganza in the capital city. I had walked past the striking glass frontage on Nicolson Street many times and I was eager to see the interior. Four levels of wide concourses contain bars and seating areas, with views of Arthur's Seat (a landmark hill) opening up as I reached the third floor. This extension to the old Empire Theatre building was completed in 1994 and the main stage was increased in size to accommodate large international touring productions. The backstage facilities were also brought up to modern standards. Once the doors to the historic auditorium opened, I went straight inside to have a look of the retained 1928 art-deco interior. Many of the seats are original and the refurbishment programme deliberately chose a colour and decoration schemes that would make the venue appear attractively aged. The safety rail sat below my eyeline and I had a fantastic view of the stage and orchestra pit. The crowds gradually filed in and the place seemed more or less full by the time the action started. The melding of two creative categories introduced a few novel aspects to the proceedings, the most obvious being the presence of live guitarist Marc Hayward among the troupe. Premiered in 2023 by the Birmingham Royal Ballet in their (and Sabbath's) home city, the production toured the UK two years later, taking in Plymouth, London, Salford and Edinburgh, with further shows added in Brum. The schedule followed the farewell performance of Black Sabbath (the actual band) at Villa Park, a 10-hour charity event billed as Back to the Beginning, featuring 14 supporting acts and crowned by the final live appearances of Sabbath and also frontman Ozzy Osbourne in a solo capacity. Millions watched the live stream (myself included) and the 45000 attendees were treated to a heavy metal version of Live Aid. Not a frivolous comparison, as Back to the Beginning ultimately raised £140 million, divided equally between Acorns Children's Hospice, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Cure Parkinson's (the disease which afflicted Osbourne). Tragically he would pass away just two weeks after the triumphant concert on the band's home turf. All four original members were from the Aston district of Birmingham. Formed in 1968, the Sabs are generally regarded as the founding fathers of heavy metal. Their fist six albums are regarded as classics of the genre. Eschewing a straightforward run-through of the band's history, the three-act show took a looser inspiration. Dance routines were set to re-orchestrations of the best-known Sabbath tracks, such as Paranoid, War Pigs and Iron Man - the latter featuring two dancers holding a kiss position for the duration of the song, which must have been challenging to choreograph.

The middle portion featured archive voice-overs from the founding band members - John "Ozzy" Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Terry "Geezer" Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums). One tale related the traumatic industrial injury sustained by a young Iommi, losing the tips of his fingers, on his fretting hand no less! It was his last shift in the factory before being due to throw his lot in with a professional covers outfit. Now it appeared his career was over before it had even started. Amazingly, he continued to play, using home-made synthetic replacements for the missing digit parts. Charting the ups and downs of Sabbath's lengthy career is beyond the scope of this article. Osbourne left in 1979 and varying degrees of success were found with other frontmen. Musicians came and went, with Iommi being the sole constant. By the time the 90s rolled around, Sabbath's legendary status was cemented and the original guys reunited for reunion tours around the world. The band (minus Ward) finally released a new album in 2013 (entitled simply 13), to considerable acclaim. Osbourne meanwhile had become a major solo star in the 1980s, particularly in America. He also became a global TV star after the turn of the century, when The Osbournes reality series - depicting chaotic family life - became a smash hit over several seasons. Ozzy transcended the band that launched him and many thousands lined the streets of Birmingham for his funeral procession. I found it fascinating to watch the orchestra at work while the dancers graced the stage. The backdrop for the final act contained a silver full-sized car with the band’s iconic winged devil logo on top. Overall the project must be classed as a success. Cuban-born director Carlos Acosta collaborated extensively with Tony Iommi and the company has delivered an absorbing piece, reflecting a major cultural export from Britain's second biggest city.