MY FAVOURITE PLACE

WHY DO YOU GO THERE?

HOW OFTEN DO YOU GO? WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE MEMORY?

GRAND CAYMAN

COLIN MCALLISTER AND JUSTIN RYAN, TV PRESENTERS AND INTERIOR DESIGNERS

Our careers send us around the globe. When we’re working, we don’t really have time to relax. So, when it does come time to press pause, we head to Grand Cayman. Based, as we are, for half the year in Canada, it’s only a four-hour journey. Flights are surprisingly affordable and with planning there are great deals to be had on world-class hotels.

We’ve many friends “on island”, and the climate is outstanding. We can leave Toronto in the depths of winter and be immersed in leafy paradise (and 30C heat) before we know it. The kite surfing is exhilarating, the scuba diving amazing and the beaches are beautiful. And it’s one of the best places in the world to swim with stingrays (safely, of course, and under strict supervision).

Twice a year. We always make sure we’re there for the Cayman Cookout, a January gathering of talented chefs and wine experts hosted by acclaimed French chef Eric Riper. There are tastings against the stunning backdrop of Seven Mile Beach. Bliss.

HOW DID YOU DISCOVER IT?

We went on a press trip a decade ago and it was love at first sight.

We were invited to dinner by our friends Natalie and Andreas and, arriving at their house, our eyes nearly popped out when Richard Branson

opened the door to welcome us in. We hit it off immediately, although our attempt to score tickets for Virgin Galactic didn’t quite bear fruit…

WHAT DO YOU TAKE?

Loads of books, wireless earbuds, swimming shorts and sunscreen. Oh, and casual dinner attire so we can head to our favourite restaurants.

WHAT DO YOU LEAVE BEHIND?

Our laptops and iPads, although we (reluctantly) take our iPhones. Being cut off from the world is how we like to spend our holidays. We always stay at one of two outposts: the RitzCarlton for old-school glamour, or the Kimpton Seafire for full-on, highly coloured modernity.

SUSAN SWARBRICK SUM IT UP IN FIVE WORDS

Tropical. Hedonistic. Beautiful. Escapist. Super-friendly. Wait, that’s six words? Carol Vorderman can sleep easy...

WHAT SPOTS ARE ON YOUR POST-LOCKDOWN WISH LIST?

We’re fans of Mauritius, particularly a hotel called Le Saint Geran where we once enjoyed morning coffee with Nelson Mandela. But it’s a long trek, so we’ll have to wait until lockdown and our timetables ease.

We have close friends in Bordeaux who we haven’t seen for a while, so we’re looking forward to catching up. And Cuba is on our dance card, not least for its dusty architecture and those dreamy pastel-toned vintage cars.

Wendy Williams

Simon & Schuster, £20

HOW much do you know about butterflies? If you’re anything like me, you will come away from this entertaining book with new-found knowledge. The Language of Butterflies is packed with gems about the secret lives of these winged creatures – think of it as a tell-all biography. Wendy Williams is a warm and often humorous writer who deftly weaves together weighty scientific detail with congenial anecdotes and descriptive imagery that stokes the imagination.

One of my favourite stories is that of Herman Strecker, a 19th-Century collector with a greedy compulsion for butterflies. Far from being a wealthy entomologist, Strecker was a sculptor and stonemason who made his living from carving children’s headstones.

His passion for lepidoptera began in childhood when Strecker was given a glimpse inside the hand-painted books on butterflies at a natural history museum in Philadelphia. “Into his drab world of soot, poverty and hopelessness, the goddess of colour had made her debut,” writes the author. It became Strecker’s ambition to own at least one specimen of every butterfly species on Earth. He came close, amassing some 50,000 specimens.

You don’t need this level of obsession to appreciate the beauty of butterflies or to discover how they get their striking colours and patterns (spoiler alert: one way is through chemical pigments that absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others).

The book is packed with fascinating details about their existence, be it surviving annual migrations across thousands of miles laced with peril, to how some species use a clever trick to fool other insects into caring for them.

We even learn how these magnificent flying machines helped corroborate Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution through demonstrating evidence of “deceptive dress”, where one species was able to change its wing colours to mimic those of other butterflies and avoid being eaten by predators.

SUSAN SWARBRICK

MUSCHAT’S CAIRN

To the untrained eye, Muschat’s Cairn just looks like a random pile of rocks and in a way, that’s exactly what it is. A cairn, by definition, is a landmark constructed with irregular stones but the pile at Muschat’s Cairn holds a much more sinister story. The cairn was constructed in memory of surgeon Nichol Muschat’s wife, who was murdered by her husband. As the years progressed people would add stones to the growing pile of rocks. After the original was removed, the cairn that you see today was created in the 1800s. Duke’s Walk, Edinburgh,

EH8 7AT

WELL OF THE SEVEN HEADS

The Well of the Seven Heads was erected in 1812 by the chief of Clan MacDonnell on the banks of Loch Oich. It marks the spot of an ancient well and gives a nod to a horrific series of events. On a closer look, you can see that the monument features a grisly carving of a hand holding a dagger and seven severed heads, pictured above. During an exhumation of a mound in Inverlair, seven headless corpses were discovered, confirming the story of the Well of the Seven Heads.

Spean Bridge

THE TINKER’S HEART

Featuring more than two dozen quartz pebbles, the Tinker’s Heart overlooks Loch Fyne and serves as a permanent monument to the indigenous Scottish Travellers. Although the heart’s true origins are uncertain it is assumed that Travellers constructed the monument as a tribute to their kin who fought and died in the Jacobite rising of 1745. However, because many of Scotland’s Traveller communities rely on oral histories, it’s difficult for historians to track down exact details of when and why it was made.

A815, Argyll and Bute

THE GEOGRAPHIC CENTRE OF SCOTLAND

Although there is much debate around the actual geographic location of Scotland’s centre, one of the supposed locations is in the Glentruim Estate, just outside Newtonmore. The location is marked by a cross set in the drystone dyke on the side of the road. This spot was determined as the midway point between the furthest point from the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Glentruim Road, Newtonmore

BUFFALO BILL STATUE

A statue of the American frontier’s greatest showman may seem like an odd choice for Scotland – but Buffalo Bill was known worldwide for his horsemanship. His 19th-Century Wild West show gained so much popularity that he eventually took his troupe, complete with native warriors such as Sitting Bull, to Europe. Towards the end of the 19th Century, Bill and the company set up in the east end of Glasgow and performed in front of thousands. In 2006, the architectural firm Regency Homes decided to erect a statue in Buffalo Bill’s honour, right where his performances once took place.

63-87 Whitehill Street, Glasgow, G31 2LR