Midge Heaven Or Hell

A Memory of Taynuilt.

It would have been roundabout the mid ‘70’s when I first went to Glen Etive & Glencoe. A group of us went up in a 1966 BMC/Commer mini bus. As the owner said, it was coloured cream, maroon, & rust. I learnt a lot about mechanics working on the bus with Bob at weekends, can remember us hitch hiking to local scrap yards in Somerset for parts. Bob White & his wife, Hilary, were leaders of the local branch of the Woodcraft Folk, a socialist leaning youth group like the Scouts or Guides.
I was the co pilot, charged with map reading & rolling Bob’s cigarettes. We went up at night on the motorway, he would occasionally pretend to fall asleep to test my reaction!
We did pull over for a few hours, probably in the Lakes, for an uncomfortable doze.

Nowadays they call it ‘wild camping’. We set up on the shores of the loch. I had a Blacks ‘Good Companion’ tent in faded orange canvas. Bob & his family had, I think, a big ex army tent, the other youngsters ex scout tents. All in heavy canvas. We soon discovered the main peril of that time of year in Scotland - the dreaded midges!
There was a village shop & Post Office, & we would take day trips out to Glencoe & other places. I understand that much of the training for the 1953 Everest expedition took place on the peaks around the area.
A decade later I returned to the area, this time with some friends on motorcycles. Glen Etive was much the same, but at Glencoe they had expanded the ski centre. It was quite a shock.
Funnily enough, years later I was to find myself working in an office in a building called Taynuilt, in Graham Road, Malvern.