Last we night we performed out final concert of the tour in Melrose, a historic town with impressive abbeys all around. Now we are sat at Edinburgh Waverley Station, waiting for our trains to London and York. We can’t quite believe that our Scottish adventure has come to an end! From Banchory, up to Inverness and down to Penicuik, New Lanark and Melrose we have seen incredible scenery, beautiful towns, venues ranging from the impressive Inverness Town House to the charming and intimate Penicuik Arts Association. Most appreciated of all, we have had generous hosts who have made us feel comfortable and at home, which makes all the difference when moving to different locations each day.

All that remains to say is thank you to all the hosts for looking after us, to the Music Societies and Associations and their audiences for having us, and to the Tunnell Trust for organising everything and giving us this opportunity. We have every hope of returning in the future, both to explore more, and also hopefully to play again!

Our stay on Eigg at St Franny’s Bothy gave us the cosiest view of a storm we’ve ever seen! Unfortunately our stay was cut short, but we have to say a big thank you to the islanders (particularly Lucy!) who helped us to squeeze in as much sight seeing as we could before catching an earlier ferry.

The rest of the day (including a hair raising couple of hours on the water) was spent travelling to our destination for the concert tonight: the Isle of Skye.

Thank you to Lucy for these pictures of us performing at Eigg, first at the Island’s primary school, and then the concert itself!

We started the day yesterday with a short walk to see Penicuik House – it was great to get some fresh Scottish air and stretch our legs. Our descent down into New Lanark brought more beautiful Scottish scenery, as we entered the UNESCO World Heritage Site. New Lanark is a restored 18th-century cotton mill village on the banks of the River Clyde. The mill was famously transformed under the management of the philanthropist and utopian idealist, Robert Owen. In fact in his time, ‘The Institute’, which is the venue in which we were playing, was used by him and the villagers for music and dancing – or, as he regarded it, the cultural education of his mill workers.

We arrived in time for a rehearsal and tour of the museum and then, as has been the theme of this whole tour, we were warmly looked after and treated to a meal in the hotel next door. When we returned to The Institute, the Music in Lanark Committee had set up some fantastic atmospheric lighting for us, which they then perfected with us in position.

It was a fantastic turnout despite the cold weather and heavy snow which had been falling all afternoon and a pleasure to perform on Ruth the piano (named after the Head of Keyboard Studies at Yehudi Menuhin School). It was also heart-warming to hear of the generous support of Border Biscuits who helped fund the purchase of the piano.

We are currently on our way to Melrose and have just stopped in a Forestry Commission cafe for some lunch surrounded by mountain bikers! Looking forward to our last concert of the tour and to coming full circle as we play the programme which we last played on our first night of the tour, ‘Across the Pyrenees.’

We had such a surreal adventure on the Isle of Eigg yesterday! It was wonderful to see a great community spirit among the people we met. All so friendly and a real inspiration.

After a windey drive through the stunning mountains from Fortwilliam to Mallaig to catch the ferry to the Isle (reversing on board!), we went straight to Eigg primary school where the five children treated us to a tour of the school and a mini whistle recital. We had great fun performing for them and getting to know them, learning some stories about the Isle.

Lunch was had at the pier tea room where we met Luna the dog and experienced the best ‘Dirty Chips’, complete with haggis.

With our luggage transported up the hill by quad bike, we stayed in the cutest little hut, St Frannys Bothy, with a wood burning stove, snuggly pod beds and an incredible sea view. After our rehearsal in the community hall (fairylights in abundance!) we had a lovely home cooked meal back in our bothy, before getting concert ready and then venturing through the dark with our torches on a muddy track back to our performance space in the hall. Lots of laughs were had along the way!

 

Yesterday marked the half-way point of our tour. We had our last long drive, from Inverness to Penicuik, travelling through the Cairngorms. Writing this now with the sun shining in Penicuik, it’s hard to believe the blizzard that we encountered during that drive!

Last night’s concert was for Penicuik Community Arts Association. It was in an upper room, above a cafe, the perfect size for a chamber music concert with an intimate audience and decorated with pictures which had been painted by members of the Association – many of whom were in the audience for our concert! Another highlight of the room was the open fire which members of the Association ensured was fully blazing by the time the concert started.

The sense of community was palpable and it was a pleasure to see everyone chatting and having a drink around the fire in the interval and to join in ourselves, chatting about music, paintings and where to find the best pubs with live folk music!

Today we are going to New Lanark so have a much shorter drive of just under an hour. With a bit more time on our hands, we are planning on being tourists a little and enjoying the weather before the forecast storm blows in tonight. Tonight will be the last time we play our Debussy/Schumann/Bernstein/Yoshimatsu/Piazzolla/Gershwin programme and then our last concert will be in Melrose tomorrow. Can’t believe it’s coming to an end already!