Duncan Harley

Bit of a departure tonight. Instead of self-aggrandising my own writing, I thought it might be nice to publicise a fellow author’s work. Famedram's popular tourist titles usually cover the likes of whisky and haggis, the Vital Spark and great Scottish inventions plus of course the lighter side of Highland life. A Scottish through and through publishing house - god knows we need them now more than ever – the Famedram brand has now ventured bravely into the realm of the railway buff in the form of Scotland’s Stations – A Traveller’s Guide. And a good thing too! This splendid publication reveals the largely unknown history of the stations which serve our Scottish national rail network. Superbly illustrated throughout, the book sets out on a modern-day Bradshaw style journey around these, largely Victorian, historical sites. Around 150 of Scotland’s platforms are featured and alongside an image or two, each entry records the unique history of the station plus a general desc...

It’s been an interesting day. Up at seven, AM that is, in Garthdee to take breakfast – a boiled egg, some buttered toast and some very black coffee - then off to Inverurie to pen last night’s theatre review. HMT, for their sins, hosted Hosseini’s The Kite Runner last night – it plays until Saturday next and is a splendid performance by some splendid actors in a splendid setting. The review, for Aberdeen Voice, begins: “The brutal rape of young Hassan by sociopath Assef and his cohorts sets the tone of this touring stage adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling novel. And the child-rape not the only gut-wrenching scene from the book to be splashed all over the stage in front of the theatre audience. An execution by the Taliban, a bone-crunching beating or two and tales of death by landmine are intermingled with implicit references to paedophile driven child abduction and the stoning of adulterers … “ The local daily was much more subdued, referring only to some ‘sever...

Until today I had never seen logging with horses. In a past life I managed some woodland in the shire and, as you do, I took to cutting down the odd tree or two. In fact, it may have been the odd hundred or two, but who’s counting. I did of course replant ten times or so of what I harvested so the resin-stained guilt is easily assuaged. There is a woodland at Pitcaple which should really bear my name. But that is another story. The power-saw was my weapon of choice and I owned a good few of these smoking beasts over the decades. The worst were those dreadfully noisy American made Presidents. They were forever overheating and suffered from poor design and an utterly appalling centre of gravity. Trump-like, they huffed and puffed between services. And Trump-like they were never ever up to the job power-wise. Big broad cutting chains and poor oil-feeds don’t mix and I soon moved on to chainsaw heaven in the form of Andreas  Stihl and Son. At least the Germans take care to ensur...

That’s a good few more limited-edition signed copies of my best-selling tome delivered to a well-known specialist whisky shop in Inverurie and my tiny hand is aching from the holding of the pen. As I have no doubt said before, ‘The A-Z of Curious Aberdeenshire’ sits well with a dram and perhaps – dare I say it – a Cuban cigar. I was pleased to learn that a copy of my book is to accompany a hamper-full of locally produced Aberdeenshire products to a charity event where hopefully it will raise a few pounds for the relief of hardship in our green and beautiful land. Yes surprisingly, despite the boom and bust of oil and the incessant flood of capital into Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, there are still poor pockets of folk all around. Charity shops abound on the High Street alongside the inevitable bookies and, somewhat shamefully, food-banks inhabit the lanes and side streets. And this in the so-called ‘oil capital of Europe’. The situation if of course nothing new and I well recall app...