A novel birthday present

WHAT do you give a 90-year- old relative for her birthday?

Vanessa Hammond, whose family have been coming to Morvern since the early 1960s, had the novel idea of swimming across the Sound of Mull for her great aunt Marg Gaskell.

Accompanied by rib owner John Cameron, Lochaline, Vanessa swam without a wet suit, from Scallastle Bay to Ardtornish Bay, a distance of two and a half miles in one hour 16 minutes.

Vanessa, whose great uncle Dr Philip Gaskell wrote ‘Morvern Transformed’, said that although the tide was strong and there were some red stinging jellyfish around, she had not encountered any basking sharks and had enjoyed the crossing despite the low water temperature. Well done Vanessa, that must be a first.

Iain Thornber iain.thornber@btinternet.com