A good few years ago, in fact it was 2011 when I was asked by Rev. Graham Longmuir (TGL) to do a sponsored walk around all the Churches in Gordon Presbytery to help raise funds for the renovation work being carried out. The reason I was asked was that the previous year I had walked the Camino Santiago from St Jean Pied de Porte, France, to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and then on to Finisterre, around 600 miles. (I was younger then and much fitter!)

One of the shorter days walks was from Monymusk Kirk to the Kirk at Leochel Cushnie. Arriving there early afternoon I tried to phone for a lift home but there was no mobile signal and the phone box there would not allow me a reversed charge call to a mobile phone. Eventually I called Marion Chapman at the church office who arranged for my wife Doreen to come and collect me. I knew it would be a while before she arrived so, as it was a beautiful sunny day, I started wandering around the Churchyard and came across a large and very splendid Tombstone. An impressive memorial had been erected by friends of the deceased. He was Surgeon Major Peter Shepherd killed in battle while attending to his wounded comrades.

This is a small part of his story…

A local lad born in Leochel Cushnie on 25th August 1841 to a well-off family by the standards of those times whose father farmed 50 acres in the area. Very little is known about him until at 19 years old (1860) a census showed him living in Bon Accord Street, Old Machar, Aberdeen, while studying medicine at Aberdeen University. In 1864, presumably after graduating, he joined the Medical Services of the army where he was posted to South Africa, Ireland and then India. The poor man was forced to return to the UK having contracted something which impaired his health whereupon he was assigned to the Royal military hospital in Woolwich and promoted to Surgeon Major.

While there he and a colleague, a fellow Aberdeen graduate, Colonel Francis Duncan, developed the concept of teaching first aid to civilians. He produced a comprehensive manual of First Aid and was the first person to coin the term “First Aid” for injured persons. His manual was used by the newly formed St John Ambulance who used his guide and spread it throughout the country.

Not long after, this manual was widely used by St John Ambulance in public courses throughout Great Britain. As a soldier Peter was back in South Africa (1879) and with troops that crossed the Tugela River into the Zulu Kingdom.

These British troops were out-manoeuvred by the Zulu King Cetshwayo, ambushed and heavily defeated at the battle of Isandlwana. Peter, a dedicated surgeon and very brave man tried to move a wagon of injured troops back to Rourke’s Drift but was overrun. The injured troops were hauled out and slaughtered and Peter was slain by a thrown assegai!

(to be continued in November Saltire)

You may be young or old, working endless hours, or retired. But there is one exercise you can still undertake almost anywhere, for however long or short a time: walking. According to health specialists, the simple act of walking “ticks so many boxes: improving our brain, mental and musculoskeletal fitness, as well as our physical fitness.”

Here are five reasons why:

Walking raises your heart rate and makes you breathe faster. It gives you the benefit of a moderate aerobic workout – without the stress on your joints. As for your blood sugar levels, consider this: after a meal your blood sugar level rises and your pancreas releases insulin to bring it down. But even a five-minute walk can help by blunting the spike in blood sugar. Try and keep your pace brisk – aim for 100 to 130 steps a minute.

Walking improves your bone density. Walking briskly engages the muscles along the back side of your body – the glutes, hamstrings and calves. They in turn put a bit of pull on your bones, which stimulates your bones to produce osteoblasts, which improves your bone density and reduces your risk of osteoporosis.

Walking improves your mood. It stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system (nerves that relax the body during stress) and stimulates your amygdala (that part of you which controls your emotions). And if you can walk near water (rivers, coast, in the rain) you get exposed to negative ions in the air. These electrically charged molecules are excellent for your mental health.

Walking helps your brain. You will sleep better, and your brain will be in better shape for memory and cognition. Walking also stimulates creative thinking – studies have found walking is a great time for problem-solving.

Walking helps your body shape. An instant way to look younger is to stand tall. So walk with your head up, shoulders back, and lengthen your back, to stand up straighter. And with firmer muscles, your overall body shape will improve, which in turn will boost your confidence!

Extracted from Parish Pump

Here is a picture of Eileen Law wearing her official Olympic GB Rowing Team Supporters’ T shirt.

Her granddaughter, Rowan McKellar, was in the GB Rowing Eights and she and her team won bronze medals in Paris. Well done!

Sixty years ago, on 4th September 1964, the Forth Road Bridge opened in Scotland. It links Edinburgh to Fife across the Firth of Forth. (A second bridge, the Queensferry Crossing, opened in 2017 and largely replaced it.) The crossing of the Firth of Forth has a long history. In the 11th century Margaret, queen consort of King Malcolm III, founded a ferry service there to transport pilgrims from Edinburgh to Dunfermline Abbey and St Andrews. It continued for over 800 years, although there were suggestions as early as the 1740s for a road crossing. The Forth Road Bridge has a main span of 1100 yards between the two towers and was the fourth longest longspan suspension bridge in the world when it opened. In total, the structure is over one and a half miles long. It is now inaccessible to vehicles other than buses and taxis, but it is open to pedestrians and cyclists – and to the first driverless bus service to carry passengers in the UK. Railway crossings are made by the original Forth Bridge, opened in 1890. There were worries in the early years of the 21st century about the number of vehicles using the Forth Road Bridge – about twice as many as had been planned – and the consequent wear and tear on a feature whose lifespan had originally been estimated at 120 years. In December 2010 heavy snow and several accidents brought the first closure. Five years later structural problems meant it would have to close to normal road traffic. The new 1.7-mile Queensferry Bridge – a spectacular motorway with no pedestrian access – was opened in August 2017. It carries about 80,000 vehicles a day. Its formal opening by Queen Elizabeth II occurred 53 years to the day after she had opened the Forth Road Bridge.