Ghurka Highlander - Day 4

We were up at 6:15 this morning and into breakfast at 7. The Lady of the House got up specially to make us the usual full house with lashings of toast. Amongst the jams I spotted Robertsons Silver shred ( made from lemons) which I hadn’t seen for years.
20 minut6es later I was standing on the bridge at Roy Bridge and waved the boys off on the train. They would get off at Corrour, where they had finished the night before and would be walking by 8:15. They had 24 miles to Dalwhinnie and then another 2 in order to make some inroads into the 40-odd miler to Braemar on Friday. I nipped back to Spean Bridge to be able to have mobile coverage. Just as I was preparing to leave, a German tour bus drew up outside the hotel with the Commando Museum. Curious, I edged closer, as the stream of elderly men and women made their way into the museum. One grabbed his friend’s arm.
“ Ach” he said “ I do not want to go in there. I was at Dieppe when they attacked us, and as a result we got sent to the Russian front.”
My job today was to get extra supplies in for Friday, and hopefully meet Mrs. Lear at House of Bruar for lunch, with piles of cheques to be noted and people to be thanked.
The weather was magnificent. The sun was blazing with not a cloud in the sky, and the heather- a dull, drab colour with grey skies and rain - had taken on its sharp purple, the reason people talk of the hills and heather being “ ablaze”. I stopped by Loch Laggan and took a photo of the Victorian pile used for Monarch of the Glen. The costumes for its star, Susan Hampshire,were made by my tailor in Glasgow, Steven Purves.
I did a recce on where the boys would get picked up - I would meet them with about 3 miles to go and replenish supplies, then go on the to final rendez-vous for collection. Then an hour’s drive back to Roy Bridge for our last night there.
I made my way into Pitlochry to the Coop. The Highlands and Islands are full of rebranded Coop stores, which are extremely good. They stock a more limited range than bigger supermarkets, but they have more relevance to people like ourselves - walkers and holidaymakers are definitely catered for. I picked up fruit, isotonic drinks and some packaged sandwiches so that the boys would have two lunches with them whilst out of contact for nearly 15 or 16 hours - they will be walking by 6:30 am and will have their first lunch at about 11 and their second about 3:30. I will meet them about 6pm with more supplies and they then have another 9 miles or so to do before they can get dinner.
I waited at Bruar for Mrs. Lear and when she arrived got stuck into the cheques right away, I spent nearly 3 hours just noting names and amounts. I bought myself 2 sweaters with 35% off - when I told a friend they were reduced, he laughed and said he had NOT expected that I would be paying full price. I can’t THINK what he was implying.
I made my way back to the first RV for 4pm, not really expecting them to appear much before 5. I sat on the dam at Dalwhinnie looking across the loch and along the path they would come.. It was idyllic.
Suddenly my phone range.” Shabbash Lear Sahib. Walker John here. Be with you in about an hour.” I sat on enjoying the breeze and the surroundings.
A little while later I spotted them in their white shirts and blue Gurkha Highlander caps. They were making good speed along the side of the loch, and I reckoned the hour would be more like 45 minutes. As they came up on me I took some photos, and then my phone rang again. It was another Gurkha Welfare Trust committee member who had driven up to welcome the boys to her patch - she has a house at Kingussie. She also brought a handsome cheque from various activities.
She had been at a friend’s funeral earlier in the day. The friend, an elderly lady, had always been a great supporter of the Gurkhas because her brother, a Gurkha officer, had fought and died at Kohima, along with many of his men. After the war, a small delegation of Gurkhas had made their way to the lady’s house, with a signed scroll from his men.
The boys had had a wonderful day’s walk in the sun. The views from Ben Alder were spectacular, and they had run into the estate gamekeeper, who promptly gave them £20. Walker John was most pleased with the jerry-rig I had contrived to keep the water out of his gaiters - knicker elastic. He had asked for bicycle clips, but I don’t think they are what people use any more. They use lycra pants instead.
After the extra few miles, I collected the troop and drove back to Roy Bridge, where yet another curry with extra rice and nan bread awaited us. I’m sure there is a curry mafia in the area - every chicken curry comes with prawns in it, but with different strength of sauce. So it’s probably all made centrally somewhere and each hotel or restaurant just adds something and calls it “ The Roy Bridge Hotel Curry” or whatever the name of the establishment. Perfectly good though. Over dinner I was telling the boys that I had bought some heather honey whilst at Bruar.
“Ah,” said Rajif “ I used to be a honey hunter back home when I was young “ (he’s still only 23 and has been in the army for 5 years). Apparently ropes are made by twisting grass, and then the men and boys lower themselves down cliff-sides where the bees have their nests. The honey is very sought after, “ But,” said Rajif, ” the Army pays better and its also much safer.” This from a soldier not long back from Afghanistan Helmand.
Capt. Rajen carried out a recce on the breakfast room we would have to use the next morning. He organised the two most junior men to be up 15 minutes before the rest of us with instructions to get the tea made and the toast started. The Gurkhas definitely work on the basis of seniority!
We were all in bed by 10:30 as the alarms were set for 4am.
85 miles done, about 107 to go