Who’s the most regal?

Renton befriending the Royal couple at BBC Scotland..Pic: by S. Mclundie

I don’t think they believed me at work this week when I managed to get my face on TV as part of a royal visit.

I had hurt my back playing blind golf..and trapped a nerve. Because of this, it was my plan to work from home. Typically, the very day I was wanting to rest my back, my BBC Laptop decided to stop talking to me. (I use a speech software called JAWS, which reads out everything on the screen to me]  So this meant having to drag my sorry painful self  into the office to get it repaired. In the back of my mind I remembered that there was a royal visit on, but I never thought it would affect me, I would be in and away quickly. I wasn’t in long, when a couple of colleagues told me.., “They’ll be coming past your desk and Renton”. I said, “I think I’ll head up stairs for an early lunch and get well out the way.”  Then I felt the hand of one of the producers pressing down on my shoulder as I began to stand. “Just you stay exactly where you are.” When Ali M tells you to stay, you don’t argue. She added, “I’ll give you a warning when they are heading your way. They are bound to stop when they see Renton.” 

Before I new it they were at my desk shaking hands and being all..well..you know... "royal".

We had a general conversation which moved quickly on to the topic of the other regal figure in our midst, that of Renton. They were very keen to hear all about him. All the usual questions. where was he trained? who trained him? how old he is? Then finally, “Oh he is a big boy” said Camilla. I assumed she was still talking about Renton, well, lets hope so…  

Then before I new it they had moved on to my colleagues on Newsnight Scotland.

Prince Charles and Camilla approach Ian and Renton

Renton getting a pat from Camilla, he was a really good boy.lovely crochted blanket curtesy of Aunty maureen

So you can imagine the amount of ribbing I’ve had since a short clip of me meeting them was shown on our local dinner time news programme.   My Aunty said...were you wearing a tie?...oops...nope..well I never thought that I would be meeting them....she's disappointed in me.....aw!  

All Paparazzi pictures by Susan McLundie      

Elgin - Scotland

Ian and Renton walking through the woods

I’m currently on a mini tour of Scotland where along with Nicola the camera and picture editor  we’ve been making a series of four films for Newsnight Scotland about the local elections. Last week we were in Dundee  and this week our film comes from Moray. For those who don’t know where that is, it lays between Inverness and Aberdeen along the north east shoulder of Scotland. 

It’s not an area I know particularly well. my only experience of the region  was in a previous guise as a drama worker. About 14 years ago I spent a fortnight in Elgin, when along with a colleague we delivered drama workshops to some local schools. To be honest, I remember so little about the actual town. So visiting there brought back absolutely no memories at all. 

From this visit however I will remember two things:
the first being when I arranged to do some filming in a fish processing business in Buckie,  Nicola had a hard time as she is a vegetarian  and it appears wading about in fish guts wasn’t her ideal job! [It can’t all be cake and tea.] 

Lots of lovely fish guts    we need some sratch and sniff cards!

 I expect it didn’t help when I withdrew  to go and wait in the car with Renton. The smell was overwhelming and I wasn’t doing much to assist with  the filming, so I thought it would be best if I left. Just to get out the way you understand.


For the rest of the day she complained about smelling of fish guts. I didn’t think she did, ...well....not that I was going to admit if she reeked of kippers.  

Filleting Salmon

The other memory is the hotel. I’m not going to name it, because the people were perfectly pleasant and the problem could have been solved if I hadn’t been so idle. 

As I’ve written here before, getting the right hotel when travelling with a guide dog is the hardest part. This particular hotel was ideal in so many ways. It had very large grounds in which to run Renton.  




The problem was the room. It was miles away from the reception and refreshment areas. I had to navigate two stair cases, five doors, two corridors and various twists and turns. Now they knew I was blind and coming with a guide dog, so why an earth did they put me in the hardest room to locate in the entire complex? It wasn’t just me being a blind idiot, Nicola also found it confusing and her sense of direction is normally pretty good.  

By the time we found our rooms with all our bits of camera and sound kit, the thought of moving was too much to contemplate. If I had been staying any more than two nights I would have said something and got us shifted to a better and easier room to find.   It’s probably the only hotel I’ve been in where I’ve needed a GPS  just to get to and from the bar.

The film will go out sometime this week on NewsNight Scotland at 23:00 on BBC 2 Scotland. I’ll put a posting up here when exactly when it will be on. I’ll also put up a tweet on @ihamiltonbbc Or if you don’t catch it, I’ll put up a link to the programme on this blog.   

On the Road again...

I’m preparing to hit the road again in the 3^rd of my series to find out what the English think about the prospect of an independent Scotland. This time, I’m only just going over the border to Cumbria.

However, I’m not going to Carlisle, as that’s to obvious. Instead, I’m heading further west to the coastal Cumbria town of Whitehaven and if time allows I may even get to Maryport.  Sadly, Whitehaven is known for a day it would rather forget. Like Dunblane and Hungerford it has become synonymous by a gunman who went on a killing spree.

Pict: by Ray Hardie ..titled..Renton has been replaced!..Rentons' guide harness  has been placed over the head of a large stone carved dog...bigger than Renton...even!

I’ve not chosen Whitehaven for any ghoulish Journalistic reasons. No, My reason for going there is..... it’s an area that has a sense of being bypassed by the M6 motorway as  people head to and from Scotland. The areas population are not normally canvassed as to their opinion on politics but yet are just over the Border and ...Oh yes and I’ve never been there before.  

My plan is a loose one which will leave space for the unexpected.  However, I always set off with a few key contact numbers and emails just incase the people I have initially agreed to speak to are not in or are called away...I like to feel organised.

and of course there are a few things to organise before I leave Lanark and they are not necessarily anything to do with the content of my film. All of them have to be sorted out in advance and can’t be left to chance. 

First do I take Renton? If I do, I need a Hotel that welcomes and is suitable for a large dog. Legally, they can’t refuse to take a guide dog, but there is nothing worse than staying somewhere that your not made welcome. Importantly, I need to book a place with space for Renton to do his business (polite way of saying "bathroom) what if he needs out at 2 in the morning? A hotel in the middle of town is often a non starter. This can take quite a bit of research and checking to insure that the hotel is suitable. Fortunately, there are people in the office who can help with this task.


I then have to get Renton's food, water, bowl, towel, dog whistle, treats, haulty, bells and a mat for him to sleep and pack it all.  [Oh yes, my clothes.] I've also got to make sure that  the hotel meets the BBC budget criteria. After all, this is licence payers cash and it’s all about best value. I do like my comfort, but if I was staying in 5 star hotels questions would be asked.

Next on the check list is - do I have a camera person? and  do they have access to a camera? They both have to be checked for availability and booked. Is the car that they have big enough to take Renton and all the kit? Fortunately, I normally work with the same camera people, who have built up an understanding of working with a blind person in a visual media. 

I must always leave enough time to get the camera person to the location and back within the allotted time. Giving us enough time to actually shoot a decent film. Whilst not killing the camera person with an impossible schedule. That would help neither of us.   

So..check list is in order - time to get on the road again..

The Cost of Caring

Nicola my camera person has managed to put our latest film on to the internet. The film was completed for Newsnight Scotland on BBC2 Scotland.

 This is part one which looks at the Cost of Caring

Let me know what you think.......