Scottish Snowboarding Adventure

Just back from a weekend's snowboarding on Aonach Mor with my flatmate Fiona. We were pretty lucky to have picked the only open ski centre for our weekend's adventure with Cairngorm suffering from 'too much snow'!

We drove up to Ballachulish on friday afternoon, with a chippie pit-stop in Callander, checking in to our quirky guesthouse just after seven. We quickly migrated towards the pub which had suffered the fate of bursts pipes following a particularly cold spell, but was nevertheless open for business. Within minutes we were holding free pints, bought for us by a friendly local. Soon after, another local walked in and demanded that the rugby be put on the TV. I was overjoyed to see he was referring to the Ulster vs Edinburgh. The joy was soon somewhat depleted after 80 minutes and a bleak scoreline.

In preparation for our day's exertions, we got up super early and wolfed down a supersized cooked breakfast - the ideal start to the day. We then headed up the mountain only to be told that we were waiting on a wind report before the mountain would be open for business. We finally boarded our gondola at 11am. I have to say I'm getting better at 'boarding, I must be - I'm not in half as much pain as I was after the last time I went!

After our snowboarding exploits, we headed south back through via Glencoe for a stop at the Clachaig Inn where we enjoyed a filling meal and a competitive game of 'guess the sauce sachet' with some visiting Australians. And, despite both confessing not to be big fans of it, we converted the Aussies to HP Sauce.

Carrying on our journey, we drove through the dark (with glimpses of the occasional deer) to the Bridge of Orchy where we were most pleased to hijack two mighty sofas, two pints of beer and a few newspapers to wind down after our tiring day.

The next day we joined the sunday drivers on the road home, diverting via Alloa to visit Fiona's sister, brother-in-law and 5-month-old niece. I can certainly say that after that weekend, I need a weekend to recover!

Merry Christmas Everyone

Merry Christmas!
Since my dabble in grown-up people's politics I've reverted back to my usual job of organising the Lib Dem stronghold of Edinburgh West. It was tough to settle back in after my selection disappointment but have suitably realigned myself with the successful selection candidate and he has asked me to be his agent for the General Election - another string to my bow.

Soon after my selection disappointment I took three-and-a-half weeks off and managed to make a whistle-stop visit to see lots of friends...
- I spent a few days in Vienna with Helen and Ed, my crazy friends cycling to China http://helenanded.blogspot.com
- I went to a chocolate fair in Mayfair with Claire, caught up with Euan and Mike in Westminster, went to see Wicked with Susan and Lizzie, and had a pint with Ben and Rob at King's Cross
- I made it to Cambridge to visit Ali and Andy
- I made a dash over to Bonn for a few days with Nicole, Barbara and Christian
- I took a last-minute detour north to see Danielle in St Andrews before returning to work
...it was truly epic!



Since then I have been working hard and indeed training hard. I'm back doing sprint training at least twice a week. It's winter training just now and it's doing me the power of good, am really enjoying myself. I've also taken on leadership of a new batch of Bronze Duke of Edinburgh's Award participants which is really refreshing.

I've also (predictably) been to see as much rugby as possible. Recently spent the weekend in Wales and managed a double-header of Glasgow vs Cardiff and Ospreys vs Edinburgh. Even the week before last I was back in Wales for Edinburgh vs Scarlets, storming victory! Went to all the Autumn tests this year too, including Scotland's triumphant victory over Australia - I wonder when the next time I'll witness such a result will be?!

Last weekend (incidentally the coldest weekend in Scotland this winter so far) I spent the weekend with mates from work in Nethy Bridge. It was MEGA cold. We stayed in a former railway station (now bunkhouse), installed a keg of beer from the local brewery and drank the weekend away. It was momentous. I think it's such a great, unique thing with my job when you meet up for random weekends with your constituency counterparts and have such a fab time.



As always I'm still managing to fit in my staple TV diet including Neighbours, Home and Away, Strictly, Casualty, Top Gear and Spooks - same old same old.

The Christmas fortnight looks like it's going to be a busy one. Got some relatives to visit, some home-returning friends to catch up with and no doubt plenty of food to eat! Nevertheless, if you're about in Edinburgh or fancy a festive phonecall, be sure to get in touch. No matter when Gordon finally decides to call the General Election, the start of 2010 is going to be a busy time for me, so it's recommended to catch up with me now!

Finally, in case you haven't seen my pleas on other media, I am doing the Bupa Winter Run in Edinburgh on 9th January. I'm running for the NSPCC. If any of you have any pennies left after Christmas or have forgotten to buy me a pressie(!) then a sponsor would be just as worthy. You can donate at www.justgiving.com/beverleyhope

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a fab Hogmanay!

BUPA Winter Run 2010

My Federal Conference Speech, Bournemouth 20th September 2009

Conference,

In my mind there is no question that Scottish Devolution has been a resounding success.

As the preamble of the Calman Commission Report highlights,

‘The Scottish Parliament has embedded itself in both the constitution of the UK and the consciousness of Scottish people.’

Furthermore it has delivered for the people of Scotland.

My reason for addressing Conference this morning however, is, in urging Conference to support this motion, to urge The Scottish Liberal Democrat Party, and, in turn the Federal Party, to take its support of the Calman Commission Report to its rightful conclusion – to undermine the SNP campaign to bring Independence to Scotland.

As the constituency organiser for Edinburgh West where we are witnessing the rise of a largely unidentifiable Nationalist vote, I think it is imperative that we as a party work together to devise a clear message in promoting the recommendations of Calman.

The bottom line is, Scotland doesn’t need Independence, doesn’t want Independence, and won’t benefit from Independence.

Let’s cut the jargon, shelve the phraseology ‘Greater Fiscal Autonomy’ and ‘Home Rule’ and be more articulate in telling the voters of Scotland how the Liberal Democrats will benefit their lives.

As the Calman Report states,

‘It is possible to have a distinct Scottish political identity, and differing Scottish policy choices, without undermining the essential unity of the United Kingdom in relation to matters that are critical to all its people.’

I urge Conference to support the motion.

Time for another holiday

Following my trip to Vienna and Bratislava, I have been up to my neck in European Election campaigning. It was some of the most frantic weeks I've ever experienced - worse than my Masters write-up! There are so many things to keep on top of when you're coordinating an election campaign, no matter how insignificant the electorate consider it to be. It really did challenge my sanity and patience to the max. Nevertheless with the undiminishing help of some key stalwarts and a lot of hard work the Lib Dems won in Edinburgh West. That is such a strong position to be in going into a General Election.

Anyway, enough about that. Within two days of the election result announcement I was boarding a flight to Malaga with my mum. We were heading on a roadtrip along the south coast of Spain and then north towards Granada. I was the driver at the helm of the rental car, driving on the wrong side of the road for the first time in my life. It was a fun experience in the end, even mum complimented my driving! The first three days of our trip were spent in the resort town of Nerja. It was a very pleasant place and it felt great to spend so many mind-numbing hours lazing by the pool. We even managed to find somewhere there to watch Lions match going on during that week. It was a shame about the cabaret in the evenings of our Fawlty Towers-style hotel. At its worst, a blonde Dot Cotton wearing a baggy one-piece Andrex-peach outfit bleated out 50s classic that even my mum was struggling to identify!

To me, the latter part of the holiday was better. I'm definitely a city person. We were staying in an uber-modern hotel on the outskirts of Granada. The swimming pool was gorgeous. After the heat of the midday sun mum and I spent time acquainting ourselves with the city centre, a really lovely place with lots of character and so much to see. I particularly liked the Arab influence in parts of the city centre like Albaicin. One night we took my Baedecker's advice and searched out a wee Moroccan restaurant where I had my first authentic Tagine, it was a real treat. Of course the highlight of the city trip was the day at the Al Hambra palace - a stunning place and yet so tranquil despite the number of tourists there.

Vienna via Bratislava

Shortly after the wedding I managed to take a few more days off work and spend a few days on holiday with my flatmate Fiona. We took a rather special Ryanair flight to that well-known central European airport, Vienna-Bratislava! We spent a night and the following morning enjoying the sights of Bratislava though this didn't really take all that long. Visually it's a gorgeous city but the sights only took a morning to tick off. In truth, we were both itching to get to Vienna anyway. In a break from the norm of travelling by bus or train to Vienna, Fiona and I took a boat along the Danube from Bratislava to the centre of Vienna. The sun was shining the whole day and it was a really nice journey.

There was lots to do in Vienna when we got there, even a city marathon if we felt so inclined! We managed to get some tickets to the opera, Der Rosenkavalier, to see Klimt's The Kiss, to visit a cafe Hitler once preached in, to eat lots of strudel and Sachertorte and drink the local ale. All in all Vienna made a really good impression on me. It is a city that has a lot going on and the atmosphere is really appealing - it's definitely somewhere Id like to return to, if for no other reason than to speak more German.

THE Wedding 2009

As promised I'd better let you know how the wedding of the year went in St Andrews. Well, to keep you in suspense a little longer by telling you all about the hen party first! So I arrived in St Andrews early on the thursday morning to make sure the bride-to-be was alive and kicking and ready to take on my day of fun. Surprisingly, Danielle was both awake and dressed! That's not to say there was plenty of dithering to be done before the festivities began though. First stop was to Danielle's parents so that she could try on her wedding dress for the last time before the big day and Aunty Yvonne could make any last-minute adjustments. After having faffed for a wee bit, we dashed back to Danielle's flat to collect two other hen-party-goers and headed on into town. It was a really nice girlie reunion in Starbucks from where proceedings commenced. Isn't it magic that all of a sudden so many people from such far-away places congregate in the same place? Activity one was a town treasure hunt. It was never meant to be taken too seriously, but the weather was very kind and it was a good wee jaunt to spend the morning partaking in. The twist to the treasure hunt was when the girls made it to the final straight to be met with a gazebo of champagne and relatives. For the first time I've ever known, there was not a breath of wind on West Sands and it was a lovely treat.

Activity two was a surprise trip to The Old Course Hotel for some afternoon tea. The tea list was vast, the sandwich crusts were off and the cakes were delicious! It had been pretty jammy when I booked this as the lady at the hotel kindly offered us the fourth floor bar lounge with the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Old Course - you couldn't beat it!

Activity three was another surprise to Danielle - we took her to the aquarium to feed the seals. Sadly the seals decided they weren't too hungry when we got there but nevertheless we girlies made the most of our aquarium entry ticket and spent ages admiring the fish. That's what happens when you take biologists to a 'fish museum'! As an afternoon treat we walked across town to Jannettas for some yummy ice cream.

The final activity of the day was evening dinner and drinks. We went for dinner at Nahm Jim, the best Thai restaurant I know! Incredibly, the Harris sisters managed to be a massive 45 minutes late - always heartening when it's their responsibility to get Danielle to the church in time for her wedding! Plenty of wine and food was consumed and slowly Danielle's 4 inch heels felt a bit comfier. On a full tank, we headed over to The Rule (better known as the Gin House to most of us) where we lounged around the upstairs area like we owned the place. The table where I was sitting quickly went through the pitcher list like we were drinking juice, I think I have a liver made of steel. It was really nice to finally meet Ben's mum who eventually turned up to the hen soiree, she was so friendly it felt as if we'd met already from what we knew about each other. At closing time, contrary to all hen party rules we all headed over to The Russell where the stags were all hiding out. In fairness we were all itching to get over there to see who had all arrived over the course of the day. We didn't stay too long though. Eventually we four amigos (ali, helen, danielle and myself) found ourselves crashed out in Danielle's lounge reminiscing and discussing the finer points of wedding etiquette for the big day! In true Greenside Court style we revitalised our slightly tired bodies and hazy minds the next day with Eggy Bread.

And now to the wedding day! While the weatherman (it couldn't have been Rob McElwee) didn't quite match the wedding day weather with the hen day weather, all in all the rain stayed off for the most important parts of the day. It was so grown-up seeing all of us in our glad rags arriving at the wedding. It was a far cry from our uni days! The service was really lovely, despite a couple of microphone hiccups and a blip from the priest which led to me touching his robe (is that illegal or something?! I'm not sure but at least I gained the respect of Mr Harris who said he wouldn't have dared do what I did!). The meal and the reception were also great (although it was taking place in a hall many of us had previously taken exams in) and the ceilidh was fab! It was a pleasant surprise to see Ben Murray rock up late, albeit looking a tad underdressed, and it meant that we could keep our Strip the Willow battle. Not content with the evening we'd already enjoyed many of us then moved on to The Greyfriars (better known as The Tudor) for a nightcap or two. We even managed to kidnap the happy couple for a wee while. Finally, Helen and I made it back to our hotel room where we chatted into the even weer small hours.

It was a really great long weekend in St Andrews. It was fab to meet up with close friends and slightly more distant friends. I'm so lucky to have so many friendships in which, after having not seen each other for ages, we can pick off from where we left off and immedately feel so comfortable around each other. Maybe that's the result of going to such a cosy uni like St Andrews or maybe it's because I'm picky with friends :-)

Really? Has three months passed already?

Since my last post I have been busy busy busy - when am I not?! I spent New Year in Edinburgh with friends, tried my hand at snowboarding on real Scottish snow at Nevis Range in February and got promoted to Vince Cable's taxi driver in March - who else can boast such a list?!

Obviously the highlight of the last few months for me has been the Six Nations. Although I may be a Scotland supporter I still find enjoyment in watching the successes of other teams and carrying out post mortems on the slightly more mediocre performances of Scotland. Now we, in the Scottish rugby fraternity, are awaiting two announcements: when's Hadden going to be sacked and who's going to replace him? Personally, I'm confident I know the answer to both of those questions but in the event I don't I've blagged a meeting with some SRU bigwigs as I accompany John to a constituency meeting on Thursday!


So the weekend before last was Scottish Conference in Lib Dem land. It was held in Perth this year, somewhere I haven't spent a whole lot of time. Day one for me was quite a hectic one, as I zoomed up and down the M90. The main reason for this was that I ended up being asked to chauffeur Vince Cable to-and-fro for the day. Obviously, it goes without saying that this was an absolute privilege but, as with every 'VIP' visit, time-frames are tight and there's a lot of pressure to deliver your 'VIP' with care! Vince and his wife Rachel were absolutely lovely. They are now the latest LibDem royalty in a long line who have been subjected to my chauffeurial services - I am afterall the local choice! (petty LibDem joke there, sorry for all you non-LibDems!)

Yesterday was Mother's Day - I hope you all remembered?! In a twist of fate it was agreed that Granny, Grandpa, Mum and Dad would all come over to mine to have sunday roast. The catch was that Granny and Grandpa weren't prepared for this, dad having told them that 'a table in an exclusive restaurant had been booked'. I got up at the crack of dawn (which for a sunday equates to 8:30am) and donned my 'domestic goddess' hat - a metaphorical hat. First I cobbled together a semi-complicated Apple sponge from my Dr Oetker baking book. As with everything in this book it was all in the presentation, however I felt my efforts had been vindicated when dad remarked 'gosh it looks just like the photo in the book!' Then it was onto the timing intricacies of cooking a roast. Roast lamb was on the menu following a somewhat surreal visit to my local butcher who explained to me about the finer points of Black-faced Techsol cross-bred sheep. It all went to plan as the morning progressed and ultimately the mystery restaurant was guessed by Granny, who arrived promptly with the rest of the crew at 1pm. I think Granny and Grandpa were quite chuffed to have finally visited Chateau Bev after having heard various reports from other family members.

This evening I'm sitting doing work of all things - a terrible state of affairs. I think I've slightly overdone it with annual leave in April and I'm going to be really pressed for time on my current projects if I don't forego a few evenings. Nevermind. The evening has been fairly relaxed though, having enjoyed an episode of Ballykissangel, Mrs Henderson Presents and now Notting Hill. 'This yoghurt tastes funny...!' The holidays I speak of are two forthcoming events that I am very much looking forward to: first comes Danielle and Ben's wedding, which is gonna be an awesome reunion and then comes my wee city break to Vienna - somewhere I've wanted to visit forever.

Seeing as I've been sitting with a keyboard on my lap for the best part of five hours now, excluding my desktop at work obviously, I think I'll stop there for now. At least I've finished from somewhere I can start off from next time though - tune in next time for the wedding and holiday banter!