inshriach

Last week I conducted a Facebook poll on whether to choose a 1950s Commer lorry or another yurt and the result came out resoundingly in favour of the truck. The milweb classifieds threw up an ideal candidate and on Sunday afternoon I flew to Manston, on the North Kent coast. A deal was done and by 6 o clock I was crunching gears and annoying roadusers, foot to the boards at 40mph. First stop was The Dove on Broadway market for a New Year reunion, then a taxi run to Canary wharf and back to Bow, a round trip of 10 miles and a fuel bill of £20.

Monday saw wingman Ali and myself make it to Captain Bob in Derbyshire, covering a blistering 150 miles in 10 hours, trailing a comet tail of traffic all across the Peak District.

On Tuesday evening we reached Edinburgh, this time the Pennines and the A68 held our average at 20mph. On Wednesday afternoon the Beer Moth entered the Cairngorms and a mere 5 1/2 hours after leaving Edinburgh (average 25mph) she was parked up in Aviemore. 650 miles, £600 in fuel and 28 hours behind the wheel later.

Once I find somewhere for all the useful things we collected en route a new roof with windows is being made. A woodburner, fairy lights, lanterns, drinks cabinet and a double bed are going in. We will make a staircase, a front door and a back wall and we will run a massive raid on an army surplus shop to have her ready for April. Bookings will again be through Canopy and Stars unless you have an existing booking at Inshriach.

Watch this space as the Beer Moth settles in.

Plans for the Insider 2011 are now underway. The theme is Victorian, the dates are the 17th to the 20th June and you can find more details about it first on the Insider 2011 blog. We will soon have a fresh new squirrel, a website up and tickets on sale at www.insiderfestival.com.

See you in June.

Due to cancellation the next 2 weekends are available in the house for £1200 rather than £1500. Its snowing too so get your last minute skiing plans in. The only other remaining dates until June are the first 2 weekends of March.

Just to run another idea around, the yurt has been really popular this year but as an alternative I’m thinking of getting one of these. Its a 1954 Commer Lorry, an ex Auxiliary Fire Service Hoselayer. I reckon with a double bed and a woodburner and some Inshriach craftsmanship by way of cupboards, a door and a staircase on the back, it could be cute – in a ‘Where Eagles Dare’ meets “Little House on the Prairie’ kind of way. I would be very interested to hear what you think, especially if you have stayed in the Inshriach yurt over the last year.

I have spent the last 2 days at Touch House near Stirling helping my friends from Red Kite Yurts put up their 42ft yurt. If you want to see it head down after Tuesday. It’s the largest yurt in Scotland (until their elongated 30 x 60 ft yurt is ready in April) and has easily the most complicated and specialised erection process (for want of a better phrase) of any marquee I have ever seen. We are using it for a wedding at Inshriach in May and I’m trying hard to justify having it for the Insider.

Were never going to go out quietly. From Wednesday there has built a crescendo of food and music as some of the attention, effort, love and entertainment that Ross and Polly Cameron have put into their business and the people around them came winging right back at them.

Lau and Admiral Fallow played Sundays grand finale in the restaurant, then there was a bus and Inshriach became a Who’s Who of Scotland finest musicians. Gathered under one roof – Aidan O’Rourke, Kris Drever and Martin Green, Charlie McKerron, Louis Abbot, Tom Stearns and the rest of Admiral Fallow, Colin McLeod (aka the Boy Who Trapped the Sun), John Langan, Ali Caplin and Hazen Metro, Roberta and the Calums from the Banana Sessions and Gillian and Tom Caldwell, all ducking and dancing, strumming, singing and fiddling through the night (and the next night), with another 50 odd friends and well wishers along for the ride. Absolutely amazing and before anyone asks, no, under no circumstances would we allow it again.

Ord Ban lives on, just in a different form. They are off on holiday for a month and by the time they get back the Insider will be very much in the pipeline, and Lau have kindly agreed to curate our folkish Sunday line up…

It’s on.

With the help of Kyle (who moved here last year as our permanent mechanic) we have the latest yurt taxi up and running. JJS425 is a 1958 Landrover that has spent the last 50 years on a nearby estate but wasn’t getting used now comfort and reliability win over pure pipe smoking manliness. Anything hydraulic was knackered, brakes, seals, cylinders, bearings and so on and we will carry on tidying up the chassis and doing bits and bobs over the next year.

That has spurred us on to make some space and prioritise some projects. In the very unlikely event that anyone who reads this wants a 1994 Mini, a 1971 MGB Roadster, or a 1972 MGB Roadster, click on the links and give me a bell.

Otters must have had this monster Salmon found on the bank of the pylon pool this week (Ben’s phone is the size of a brick). Any estimates as to the weight of the rest of it?

The yurt last night was the scene of our first successful proposal of 2011, I wont say who they are in case nobody else knows but big congratulations to them anyway.

Thanks to those who cancelled their bookings and to everyone who joined us at short notice for demonstrating to us that renting out Inshriach over Hogmanay is pure foolish. There are more important things than the money in the bank. Thanks also to the Old Bridge Inn and the John Langan Band for a storming party on New Years Eve, to our friends at Pityoulish for being a lovely bunch of coconuts, and to whoever left that deer on our doorstep on the 30th for sorting the Lords from the Flies and keeping us in stew.

And so to 2011. The next 2 weeks are all about Ord Ban. Three years of fine food, music and film building to a beautiful crescendo before Ross and Polly move onto new and exciting things, if you are in Aviemore the next few weeks do yourself a favour and see if there is space.

The year is peppered with repeat bookings and friendly faces. There are 6 weddings in the book, 3 in May alone, and the snow has cleared before the guests so today might be the day for turfing the henhouse field. By February the improvements to the bothy ought to be done and we can get planning permission in for the barn. A second yurt is on its way, a few of the classic cars are near done and it’s about the time of year we (not to mention the press, musicians and everyone else) start talking Insider.

This photo from Hogmanay 2009 is by Helen Abraham. We were just as well behaved this time but the photos weren’t so good.