Well, thanks all, for making it a superb HG. In my view, if we have had a better HG, I'd be hard pressed to name which one it was.

I look forward to receiving all your various payments, and apologies for the slight brutality of tone of the email accompanying yesterday's SoD. You'd be amazed (I always am) just how monies can end up in the wrong accounts, get delayed for 3 weeks, need constant chasing to see whose is whose etc etc.....so thanks for your understanding and co-operation.

My particular thanks to:

-          the Lesleys for sorting out all the quartermastering (along with some panic last-minute additions by the Totty Taxi);

-          Pete for sharing with me the insanity and 2388m of ascent in the 65 miles of the Breakdown Loop, and bearing with me for being [comparatively] slow;

-          Jane for refraining from the (largely unsuccessful) attempts to wind up/enrage your group organiser.

There are some quite superb photos in circulation - please keep them coming to me as best you can, and I'll send out a few CDs of them all to various of the team for proliferation. Hancox so far has "Picture of the HG" for his awesome shot of JT peering into the abyss on Quinag. Group photo before dinner attached.

Members of the Suilven team, with access to RealPlayer, may like to listen to the attached audio file.

HGXII will take place from Fri 4^th to Monday 7^th May, 2007 on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde. Bunkhouse  http://www.nts.org.uk/web/site/home/holidays/accommodation/basecamp/Shore_Lodge.asp?NavPage=269&NavId=2166) is another of those belonging to the National Trust for Scotland, as was the one in Kintail last year. It houses 14 people and we have it to ourselves. It is in the grounds of Brodick Castle and is about 1.5 miles from the ferry terminal on Arran, reached from Ardrossan on the mainland, by a 50-minute CalMac crossing. Ardrossan is some 15 miles from Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Arran has fine hillwalking and coastal walking, excellent cycling (for all, not just nutters), fishing, sailing etc etc. I am happy to take £15 deposits as soon as you like to reserve your place and cover the deposit I put down some months ago! Note that we can take more than 14, including families and loved-up couples, by use of two or three nearby excellent B+Bs, but we will DEFINITELY need to get these booked early.

You might want to look into travel plans fairly early to get good prices. Those traveling from the South see their best plans served by flying from Stansted to Prestwick, where either bus, taxi or lift can get you to Ardrossan within 30 mins. There should be no need for more than 2 or 3 cars to be taken across on the ferry (a costly business), as most walking, especially the mountains, is very close to the bunkhouse, and bus services around the island are excellent. On the way up, Southerners will have to decide on whether to take the Friday afternoon off, fly up then and take the evening ferry across (8:30 pm) at around 8pm, or whether to catch a very early morning flight from Stansted, followed by the mid-morning ferry at 9:45. See attached ferry timetable PDF for this year's sailings, which alter very little from year to year. Return to London will be very simple on the Monday night, with departure from Brodick not required until 6pm.

I am also happy to take suggestions for locations for HGXII v.II in 2008. It will be back North again, with Fisherfield, Orkney and Skye currently leading the field.

I'll see you all there....won't I?

Crawford