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the whisky Ernest Shackleton took on his failed attempt to become first to the South Pole during 1907 was made in a distillery 200 yards away from the house in which I grew up. An abandoned stockpile was discovered on Ross Island 2007. When the distillery was demolished in the early 1980's, I believe I was the only person to retrieve artefacts.
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I once met John Hurt in a café in Achiltibuie on the west coast. We were the sole customers. He was on honeymoon. At the time he was best known for playing ‘ The Elephant Man’; I told him that I hardly recognised him without the costume, but that his performance had been impressive. We had a bit of a chat, mainly about his belief that he thought he was from Celtic stock, he paid my bill and I left. When I recount this story, I always have a sense that people believe it to be apocryphal.
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I caught my first salmon at the age of 11, on the River Beauly, in the company of our neighbour who was a gamekeeper on the Estate. He took the fish and myself to Lord Lovat for permission to take it home. He declined.
Even then, I thought it was not the right way for a D-Day hero to behave. I’ve distrusted the aristocracy ever since.