Saturday and Sunday 9th and 10th Aug 2008: Abseiling down Ardnamurchan Lighthouse

I drove up to Ardnamurchan Lighthouse on Saturday morning and while it was wet en route the wind only started when I took the last left turn up to the lighthouse. Then waiting at the traffic lights the car was rocking side to side with the wind, and trying to open my car door took a lot of strength! How do you abseil in this, I asked myself? You don’t is the answer. Macmillan Cancer Care postponed the event until the afternoon at the earliest, and then postponed it until Sunday. My reward for a few hours sitting in the car reading the papers while waiting on the decision was a sighting of a white tailed eagle on my journey on to Fort William. There was no doubt in what I saw. The white tail was very noticeable and the size of the bird is enormous. Gorgeous. Well worth the drive just for this view. Hearing its wings described previously as “barn doors” I can now appreciate why!
On Sunday I retraced my steps to the remote lighthouse – it is the most westerly point on the British mainland, and its remoteness is accentuated by the fact that for much of the journey it’s a single track road, a very meandering single track road at that.
The abseiling was underway when I got there. As I paid over my sponsorship I thought “well, there’s no going back now”. Stomach doing juggly wulkies. Took my turn to get kitted out in harness, helmet and gloves and then walked up the 146 steps to the balcony. Final briefing: “as there’s not very much of you and the wind is getting up, keep you’re feet wide [for balance]. Heart trying to escape chest and pounding in ears. Climbed by over the railing and started lowering myself down. Lost all track of time. I could hear the instructors shouting encouragement. I heard everyone clapping for me as I reached the ground. Exhilarating. Scary. Legs now jelly. What an adrenaline rush.
It was particularly poignant and personal for me to do this as on Friday I phoned my old PA from my time at Croydon College. What she wanted me to know was that she has a particularly aggressive ovarian cancer. When I told her what I was trying at the weekend she said “do it for me”. And I did.