Posts Categorized: HNM Column

Our unhealthy interest in childless women.

Childless women. It’s none of our business. The news that Nicola Sturgeon had a miscarriage when she was Depute First Minister was one of the most read stories on the BBC website on Sunday.  It earned headlines on radio news and was shared countless times on social media. There were those who were cynical about… Read more »

Inverness to Edinburgh by bike? Crazy idea!

If there was one text which summed up last weekend it was the one I received from my friend Jinny at around 8pm on Saturday. It read ‘Arnica here, Prosecco poured’, which meant it was time to heave my aching limbs out of the bath in our hotel room in Perth and make my way… Read more »

Semenya’s win has highlighted sore losers

Caster Semenya’s success has highlighted sore losers No one likes to lose. Losing is hard, especially if it’s something you have been studying, training, practicing or working hard towards for a long time. Losing is tricky. Losing hurts. Losing requires you to acknowledge that, frankly, there is someone out there who is better than you… Read more »

Monster dreams, Steve Feltham style

Ok, so it rained a little, but that couldn’t dampen the spirits of the thousands who attended Belladrum’s 13th Tartan Heart Festival. With hundreds of events over more than 20 stages it was impossible to experience it all; the Facebook and Twitter posts from my friends show we each had an entirely unique experience. I… Read more »

Meet John Thurso: the top man at VisitScotland

There were a few raised eyebrows in March when former Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Liberal Democrat MP Lord Thurso was announced as the new Chair of VisitScotland. The surprise came from a couple of directions; from those who were impressed that an SNP government would appoint a Lib Dem to such an important role,… Read more »

Clever, clever NC500, and Pokemon GONE!

Castle of Old Wick. Image Alan Hendry

What’s not to love about NC500? At the time of writing (and I fully expect this record to be broken again soon) the fastest time for cycling all 518 scenic but hilly miles of the NC500 route is 29 hours. That record was set by cyclist James McCallum in June, who pedalled almost non-stop round… Read more »

Our second female PM. I’ll wait to be impressed.

Our second female PM. I’ll wait to be impressed. They used to say that a week was a long time in politics – these days, everything can change in minutes. The plan on Monday morning had been for a discussion on Radio Scotland about the candidates in the leadership contests for the Conservative and Labour… Read more »

Bridging the generation gap

Bridging the generation gap Every now and again I’ll see a photo on Facebook that will stop me as I’m scrolling. One of those moments came last week. The image was of an elderly lady chatting to three wee boys, who were clearly delighted and enthralled by her stories. There are smiles of delight all… Read more »