From Durness to Dublin

Wed, Feb 19th 2025 at 12:40 pm - 2:00 pm

Iain McIver took us on 3 journeys on 3 consecutive years

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Acting President Frank Quinault opened the meeting by advising members and guests that the Club Council had finalised the club donations to both local and international charities and that a sum of £11000 would be distributed for this year. Charities to receive donations include Rotary Shelterbox Scheme, Maggie’s Kirkaldy, Heartstart, CHAS and St Andrews in Bloom. Past President Iain McIver was then introduced as speaker with the topic'Durness to Dublin’. Iain described how, as a teenager, he had a fascination with maps, and as overseas travel in the 50’s was not common, he concentrated on places easily accessed in Scotland. Having purchased a new racing bicycle equipped with French Derailleur gears and having become a member of the Scottish Youth Hostel Association, he planned and executed a number of cycling trips over a period of three years either on his own or with a companion, trips which covered the length and breadth of Scotland using SYHA accommodation, culminating in a ‘foreign’ trip to Ireland. These trips covered a total of 1700 miles over a period of 33 days in total with an average of over 50 miles per day of cycling in all the weather conditions this country can experience -with only one minor breakdown and no punctures in an era with no mobile phones, no credit cards and, to his astonishment, no parental interference, albeit at a time when road traffic was not of the volume or speed experienced by cyclists today. Postal services were, however, much better as postcards telling of his experiences could be guaranteed to be delivered to his parents at home the following day! Virginia Fowler gave the vote of thanks.