Last updated 21:55, Wednesday, 25 June 2008

IN The Scotsman on Saturday there appeared a photo of a writer familiar to Langholm teachers and schoolchildren.

It was of Linda Cracknel, whose recent literary work was being praised by the The Scotsman critic.

The work in question is Cailliche and is included in a newly-published book which features new writing by women in Scotland.

Linda’s piece is an extract from a larger work describing a 15-day walk on a drovers’ path between Perthshire and Skye.

It is a travelogue as well as a diary about her own life and health, according to The Scotsman critic with “beautifully flowing poetic descriptions of the dramatic scenery by Rannoch Moor, the people she encounters and the neolithic site she passes.

“Her prose sings out”.

So the Langholm pupils were very fortunate to have such a highly-thought of writer help them develop their literary skills when she visited the two Langholm schools on the Arts across the Curriculum project last year.

But she must have thought the walk to the Merl Woll, which our Tuesday group took her on a few weeks ago, pretty tame in comparison to a 15-day hike across Scotland!

She has another connection with Langholm as she was at one time writer-in-residence at Brownsbank in the Borders, the final home of Hugh MacDiarmid and his wife Valda.

She wrote a radio play which was broadcast last year. It is called The Best Snow for Skiing and tells of a fictional visit just months after the poet’s death, by a student, who admired MacDiarmid’s work, and the not-so-welcome reception he received from widow Valda.

I’ve been reading through the programme on the Chelsea Pensioners’ Founder’s Day Parade which I mentioned last week.

I hadn’t realised it was the Princess Royal who was the reviewing officer; she spoke to the pensioners before the parade.

The Royal Hospital Chelsea has a very impressive history.

The Founder was King Charles II, who was showing his gratitude for the part played by his army in his restoration to the throne.

Work started on the hospice for his old soldiers in 1682.

The architect was Sir Christopher Wren, who was architect for St Paul’s Cathedral and modelled his plan on Louis XIV’s Hotel des Invalides in Paris.

His successor, his brother James II, developed it further and it was he who approved the scarlet coat which has survived to this day as the uniform of the Chelsea Pensioner.

John Maxwell from Langholm is one of 295 In-Pensioners in the Royal Hospital, the oldest being 103 with the average age 82-and-a- half years.

189 of these pensioners fought in the Second World War and among them are six OBEs, five Military Medals, 10 British Empire Medals and Service Medals from India, Africa, The Pacific, Burma, Italy, Korea, Palestine, Malaya, Cyprus, Arabia, Brunei, Australia and Northern Ireland.

What a wealth of experiences and memories they can share.

At the recent Langholm Walking Festival, a nice gesture came from one of the walks leaders.

Charlie Graham, along with wife Vi, donated their famous Langholm tablet so that each walker could receive a piece.

One or two ate it on the spot while others packed it away for later sampling, but all said how much they had appreciated this little extra.

Each piece bore the label “Langholm Walking Festival 2008”.

So its reputation will have spread further afield by now.

I don’t think any of the other walking festivals will equal this.