How your phone can save your life.

The Smart Phone is a modern marvel, but did you know it could even save your life? 

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From making calls to checking emails, Apple’s iPhone is the digital equivalent of a Swiss army knife. And much like that multi-function tool, the iPhone can even help in an emergency.

1. Ask Siri to call for help

If you can’t reach your phone and have an iPhone 6S, Siri can call for help for you. Just say ‘Hey Siri’ and tell it the number to dial. 

Earlier this year, a US teenager who was trapped under his truck with his iPhone in his back pocket, used Siri to dial the emergency services. To use Siri this way, enable voice activation by tapping Settings > General > Siri and turn on Allow ‘Hey Siri’. 

2. ICE your iPhone contacts

It’s always a good idea to have an ICE (in case of emergency) contact on your iPhone. Medical staff will use this to contact the person for your medical history. 

Tap Contacts and then the plus sign + to add a new contact. In the name field, type ICE (or ICE 1 if you’ve more than one ICE contact), then add their number.

3. Add a Medical ID

New iPhones (and iPhones running on the iOS 8 operating system update or later) include Medical ID, which lets emergency staff view medical information, such as conditions and allergies, along with emergency contacts. This is handy if your iPhone has a screenlock that prevents others from accessing your ICE contacts. 

The Medical ID page can be found on the Emergency Call screen, which is accessed by tapping Emergency at the bottom of the Lock screen.  

To create a Medical ID, tap the Health app on your iPhone and then Medical ID at the bottom of the screen. Tap Create Medical ID, add the relevant information and turn on Show When Locked to make your Medical ID available from the Lock screen.

4. Use the Health app

The iPhone’s Health app keeps all your health information in one place – useful for monitoring your health and allowing medical staff to view medical conditions. 

Data from fitness, nutrition and health-tracking apps such as heart rate monitors is automatically added, as are details of your physical activity compiled by the iPhone’s own step-tracking sensors. 

You can add data manually, by going to Health > Health Data > Vitals > Add Data Point.

Read our tips for extending your phone's battery life.

5. Turn on location services 

Location services use your iPhone’s built-in GPS to track your location – useful in an emergency should you need to know where someone is. 

Free personal safety apps, such as bSafe, use location services to monitor your movements when out, alerting nominated friends should you need help. 

Alternatively, if you go missing, Apple’s Find My iPhone feature allows others to pinpoint the location of your iPhone and start looking for you.

6. Send an emergency text

If faced with an emergency in a remote area with poor mobile reception, send a text message instead of dialing 999. 

Texting requires less signal strength and your iPhone will keep trying to send your message so there’s more chance of it getting through. 

Sign up to the free EmergencySMS (www.emergencysms.org.uk) service, which relays your text message straight to 999 operators.

7. Use health advice apps

There are tons of emergency advice apps available for your iPhone. 

The British Red Cross app offers essential first aid tips and the British Heart Foundation PocketCPR app guides you through life-saving CPR.

Diabetes Buddy can help you manage your diabetes, while the NHS’s symptom checker app helps you decide if it’s time to see a doctor.

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Natural Wonders Of The UK

Durdle Door on a busy day...

Having recently walked along to Durdle Door from Lulworth Cove, I can certainly understand how some people get evangelical about the places we have in the UK....

The British Isles rock. That's a subjective cultural claim, certainly, but it's also an empirical truth – because it's geology that has created our diverse and extraordinary natural wonders. We owe the creation of vertiginous cliffs and sea stacks to deposits of sandstone and chalk; soft limestone has been etched and scoured to carve craggy gorges, coastal arches and echoing caverns; and sculpted from extrusions of volcanic basalt are the weirdly geometric columns of causeways and sea caves.

But if science speak doesn't thrill you, the sheer wildness of our landscapes can't fail to enthral. The UK's wonders may not top the lists of the tallest, deepest, widest or loudest in the world, but the canyons are grand, the waterfalls dramatic and the coastline is, frankly, as spectacular as any. And yet, we rarely celebrate these natural marvels. Typical British reticence, perhaps, though another factor might be the weather – of which we have plenty. Indeed, the power tools that cut and shaped these masterpieces are largely meteorological. It is waves, wind, rain and ice that have moulded our land.

"The UK is one of the most varied regions in the world, geologically speaking," says Joe Cornish, a landscape photographer whose new book, This Land (published 1 October), showcases Britain's most beautiful scenery. "And thanks to the auspicious location of this gnarly, ancient chunk of rock in the path of the Gulf Stream, we also enjoy some of the most varied and interesting weather conditions."

But while extreme weather is great for forging natural wonders, it can make reaching them trickier – which is why now is the time to explore, while access is generally easier and more comfortable than in winter. Most of our most magnificent sights are best enjoyed on a self-powered expedition.

The UK's extensive network of public footpaths provides access to most of our most amazing spectacles, and 15 waymarked National Trails of England and Wales (nationaltrail.co.uk) take in many of the most impressive natural monuments.

What's guaranteed is that seeing our natural wonders will set your shutter finger itching. Charlie Waite, founder of the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition (take-a-view.co.uk) and the specialist photography tour operator Light and Land (01747 824727; lightandland.co.uk), is evangelical about the idea.

"In the context of the world, we are not a physically large country but the variety and beauty of our landscapes is second to none, from the limestone scenery of the Yorkshire Dales to the basalt columns of Fingal's Cave on the isle of Staffa," he says. "And the camera is a wonderful conduit through which one can connect with the myriad natural wonders."

Take a look at the map above, how many of these iconic geological sights have you seen?

Take some time to visit these areas, look around and spend an hour or two just looking, or exploring...

Places To Visit In England - Part Three

Welcome to the final part to The Telegraph's guide to England

Cornwall

Cornwall is defined by its magnificent coastline with 300 miles of dunes and cliffs, medieval harbours and oak-forested creeks – and every mile accessible on foot. Such an unspoilt coastline inspires Enid Blyton-style adventures: take a picnic and the dog through fields fringed in wildflowers to a remote beach; clamber down stepping-stone cliffs to rock pools that are works of marine art; swim with seals and harmless basking sharks. Surfing is big draw, for all ages – bodyboarding too – and lessons are available on most north-coast beaches. Cornwall is also known for its artistic heritage. Painters, sculptors and potters of international renown come for the big skies, the rugged beauty of the boulder-strewn moorland, and the intense light that turns the sea cerulean blue even in mid-winter.

Cornwall is defined by its magnificent coastline with 300 miles of dunes and cliffs.

Norfolk

Norfolk's undulating countryside and sleepy, flint-built villages are perfect for gentle cycling, walking or touring by car. Stately homes, ruined castles, medieval churches and half-timbered wool-towns with fascinating museums make enjoyable days out. Although East Anglia gets less rain than many other holiday destinations in the UK, northerly and easterly winds over the North Sea can keep temperatures low. But even on cold, bright days in winter, the beach car parks can be busy with dog-walkers and hikers.

There’s also a good variety of shopping in lively Georgian towns such as Burnham Market and Holt in North Norfolk. 

Norfolk's undulating countryside and sleepy, flint-built villages are perfect for gentle cycling.

Suffolk

The beaches fringing the curved Norfolk and Suffolk coastline are the chief draw for visitors to the region. Even on the busiest summer’s day, there is always space for games, kite-flying or a quiet family picnic in the dunes. It’s also a wild landscape of dense pine forest, open heathland and great expanses of salt marsh. Bird life is astonishingly rich and coastal wild flowers include yellow-horned poppies and purple-flowering sea pea, while the unique wetlands of the Broads, one of England’s 10 designated National Parks, is home to more than 400 rare species, including butterflies, dragonflies, moths and snails.

Wherever you are, you’re never far from a cosy, pamment-floored pub serving local ales or an excellent delicatessen selling the region’s specialities – pungent cheeses, smoked fish or honey. 

Suffolk's beaches are the chief draw for visitors to the region.

London

There can be few more cosmopolitan cities on earth. People pour in from across the world to visit, work or live. Londoners are used to hoardings marking the progress of colossal infrastructure projects such as Crossrail and the revitalisation of King’s Cross-St Pancras, and new skyscrapers, even entire new areas, such as the Embassy Quarter and Battersea Power Station south of the river, are transforming the skyline. Restaurants, bars and theatres are buzzing and the range of events on offer – from sport to food pop-ups, from music festivals to theatre – is unbeatable.

There can be few more cosmopolitan cities on earth.

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Places To Visit In England Part Two

Devon

Craggy coves and cream teas, surf breaks and strolls, picnics and pints in pub gardens – holidays in Devon are wholesome, simple and scenic. Most people are drawn to the magnificent beaches on the south and north coasts, but inland Devon has its appeal, too.

A visit here mixes two of life’s loveliest pleasures: good food and the great outdoors. Devon folk make the most of the rich larder of food on their doorstep. Lamb, venison, pheasant, pork and seafood are staples, and the county’s farmers’ markets are full of artisan producers selling delicious cider, apple juice, cheese and ice cream.

A visit to Devon mixes two of life's loveliest pleasures: good food and the great outdoors.

Lake District

Visit the Lake District for Britain’s finest scenery, greenest countryside and grandest views. Its picturesque patchwork of lakes, valleys, woodlands and fells make it one of the best places in Britain to get out and experience the great outdoors, whether it’s on a leisurely bike ride down country lanes or a day-long hike across the hills.

The Lake District also has numerous artistic and literary connections, most famously William Wordsworth, who was born in Cockermouth in 1770 and drew much of his poetic inspiration from the surrounding landscape. And while the weather is notoriously unpredictable (locals will tell you that it’s not unusual to experience all four seasons in a single day), showers and racing clouds only emphasise the grandeur of the magnificent scenery. 

The Lake District has some of Britain's grandest views.

Brighton

Visit Brighton because you need never get bored in this loveably eccentric city. There’s always something unexpected to enjoy – the secret is to roam freely and keep your eyes peeled. Head to the boho North Laine, and you find offbeat designers and dingy flea markets happily melding with sleek restaurants and bars. Throw in gentrified Regency squares, oddball museums, and a clutch of well upholstered parks with traditional cafés attached – and you have a city that truly caters for all tastes.

Brighton is a fiercely all-season city. Of course it can be packed on a hot summer’s day – but come September, the crowds thin and the locals take back their town. 

Visit Brighton because you need never get bored in this loveably eccentric city.

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Bucket List

From The Telegraph:

When Barack Obama ordered his helicopter pilot to make an unscheduled stop at Stonehenge on Friday, following the Nato summit in Wales, he explained that the prehistoric landmark in Wiltshire was something he had always wanted to see.

"Knocked it off the bucket list," he said.

A visit to Stonehenge also features on the "Great British Bucket List", published in April - 50 feats to complete in Britain, which includes things as mundane as watching a box set of Only Fools and Horses to more active experiences, such as walking the Lake District and sailing around the Isle of Wight.

Top of the list was eating fish and chips on a seaside pier followed by whale watching in Wales.

Having a pint in the Rovers Return, the fictional pub in ITV's Coronation Street, is one thing Britons apparently must do before they die, as is seeing Morris dancers at a country pub.

Others said people must take a ferry across the Mersey and see the Christmas lights in Oxford Street in London before they die.

The Great British Bucket List was compiled by Ask Jeeves, the search engine, which asked 1,000 people what they would like to do before they die.

The phrase "Bucket List" comes from the idiom "kick the bucket" - meaning to die.

The phrase became increasingly popular after the 2007 film The Bucket List, staring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward to go on a road trip with a wish list of things to do before they die.

Their adventures include skydiving, visiting the Taj Mahal, riding motorcycles on the Great Wall of China and going on a lion safari in Africa.

The Great British Bucket List in full

1. Eat fish and chips on a seaside pier

2. See whales off Wales

3. Go to a night at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall

4. Visit Giant's Causeway

5. Have a picnic at an open air concert

6. Go up in the London Eye

7. Travel Scotland's West Coast by rail

8. Watch a Shakespeare play in Stratford-upon-Avon

9. Dine in a Gordon Ramsay restaurant

10. Go to a British Grand Prix

11. See inside the Houses of Parliament

12. Get the Ffestiniog railway in Snowdonia

13. Go to Glastonbury festival

14. Hold the FA Cup trophy in your hands

15. Take in the view from the top of the Shard

16. Be at Stonehenge on longest day of the year

17. See the Trooping the Colour

18. Go to a cricket test match

19. Visit 'The Prisoner' village in Portmeirion, Wales

20. Have tea at Betty's tearooms, Harrogate

21. See a traditional Christmas pantomime

22. Watch a British player at Wimbledon

23. Do a 'Wainwright' walk in the Lake District

24. Drive round Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in Kent

25. Visit a whisky distillery

26. Go to a Six Nations rugby match

27. Go on a Jack the Ripper guided walk in London's East End

28. Have a pint in the Rovers Return, the fictional pub in ITV's Coronation Street

29. See Lake Windermere by boat

30. Go on a historic London pub tour

31. Experience the Notting Hill Carnival

32. Try a deep fried Mars Bar

33. See the fireball ceremony at Stonehaven, Scotland, on New Year's Eve

34. Sail round the Isle of Wight

35. Attend the Grand National, Guineas and Gold Cup horse races

36. Go to a World Darts Final

37. Take a selfie at both John O'Groats and Land's End

38. Take a ferry across the Mersey

39. Climb Ben Nevis

40. See Tower Bridge raised

41. Visit Borough food market, London

42. Eat Haggis on Burns Night, in Scotland

43. See Morris dancers at a country pub

44. See the Christmas Lights on Oxford Street

45. Be at a recording of The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent

46. See Blackpool Illuminations

47. Watch a boxset of Only Fools and Horses

48. Watch the Boat Race

49. Attend first day of Harrods sale

50. Watch the London Marathon live

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Need An App For That? - Britain's Top Fifty Beaches

There are some wonderful beaches around Britain

From The Telegraph comes yet another App to help you find your way around the UK's best beaches:

We've listed the first 20 beaches below - but for much more information, including where to eat and where to stay, you will obviously need to download the App. But have a look below to see if there are any near you this Summer.

North Cornwall

1. Watergate Bay, Newquay

South Cornwall

2. Porthcurno, near Land's End

Isles of Scilly

3. Pentle Bay, Tresco

North Devon

4. Saunton Sands

South Devon

5. Blackpool Sands

Dorset

6. Studland Bay

Isle of Wight

7. Compton Bay

Sussex

8. West Wittering

Kent

9. Botany Bay

Suffolk

10. Walberswick

Norfolk

11. Wells/Holkham

Yorkshire

12. Sandsend

Northumberland

13. Bamburgh

Lancashire

14. Formby

East coast of Scotland

15. Lunan Bay

West coast of Scotland

16. Sandwood Bay, Cape Wrath, Sutherland

Scottish Islands

17. Luskentyre, Outer Hebrides

Northern Ireland

18. Portstewart Strand

Wales

19. Marloes Sands

20. Rhossili beach

Try and spend time outside this summer, it's healthy, interesting and fun. If you have an enthusiasm for the outdoors then so will your kids but please always remember to take away your rubbish and leave your spot as you would hope to find it.

Take only photographs, leave only footsteps and keep only memories. 

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Out And About - Madeira, Land Rovers and Levadas

Levada walks in Madeira

With the reputation as one of the prettiest islands as well as the most sedate, Madeira has a few surprises up its sleeve when it comes to exploring the its countryside and history. The Portuguese, very rightly, love this little paradise and treasure its calmness, stillness and solitude. Night clubs are few and far between and the tourists most definitely fit into the older age bracket, but on a recent trip, I was able to explore two aspects of the island that may be less well known, getting well off the beaten track and into the beautiful countryside, making some wonderful discoveries and digging up some gold mines along the way.

Naturally, the very nature of the island lends itself to a diversity of flora, terrain and altitude and the million or so tourists that visit over the course of the year come for a variety of reasons, but as soon as I saw the Levada Walks and the Land Rover Safaris, I knew I would have to get out of the town of Funchal and into the hills.

The views from beyond the towns are quite stunning

Levada Walks

As a way to explore the island in a sedate manner and without too many extreme gradients, this is the best!

Levadas are the concrete waterways or aqueducts constructed over the years to supply the southern half of the island with water. There are over 40 kilometres of tunnels, many of which are still accessible today and over 2000 kilometres of walkable levadas around the island, and much of this is easy to walk, eminently accessible by local transport and many can be booked as an accompanied tour by English speaking guides who will share a wealth of information regarding the history, fauna and flora of the island. 

If you prefer, you can explore them alone and many maps of the walks, in easy sections of from 6 to 26 kilometres are available in the tourists centres. As always, it's a good idea to let someone from your hotel know where you'll be and try to choose walks initially, closer to civilisation in case of mishap. Take appropriate clothing too as the mountain mists can close in quickly, but if you stick to the walkways along the concrete levadas it's difficult to get lost. 

Wild Wood Sorrel - in January

Also take care of recent incidents that may have occurred along the way. Out of necessity these water ways are incredibly well maintained, but overnight tree falls and land slips do occur, so just watch your footing around these areas.

As you walk you will see the mountainous regions in all their glory; the bougainvillea and wild thyme, the cacti, mimosa and banana and the eucalyptus as well as all the other wonderful semi-tropical plants that abound on this wonderful island. The name Madeira means "Wood" in Portuguese. 

Other than birds and the odd feral cat, you won't see much fauna on your walks but you will see the farming layers built, in some cases, on shear cliff edges, the care and attention given to preparing the land for crops all year round is still very evident.

Take care as you go but do give them a try.

Stunning views along the Levadas

Land Rover Safaris

As the proud owner of a Defender myself, I just had to give these trips -  bookable almost anywhere - a go.

We booked two excursions; one was an out and out safari on all the back roads around the island, starting at the top of the highest mountain and hitting every puddle, every pothole and every sharp, wicked bend on the way down with stops for lunch (included) and coffee whenever our bones were too shaken to carry on.

The second was a 6 car trip up through the mountains to a linen factory and a local market, two surprisingly cheap and incongruously non-touristy stops as it was possible to experience. Lunch at the market - almost as much barbecued food as you could eat, washed down with the local beer and wine - cost only a couple of euros a head - wonderful value, and a lively local market to look at into the bargain.

Stuck in a ditch - but still immense fun!

 On this trip we also hit pot holes and ditches and yours truly had to get out with the chain saw to help clear the way when we hit a ditch the hard way and during the afternoon our vehicle suffered not one, but two punctures - great fun!

The tiered fields for crops....

The guides and drivers were friendly, helpful and full of mischief. They were accommodating, high spirited - but safe! They knew the limits of the vehicles and the terrain and we felt comfortable in their hands - as comfortable as you can in a Defender.

So if you want to get out and about, explore the island, meet the locals and see the real Madeiran wildlife - just ask your tour guide, your hotel receptionist or your local Tourist Information Office  - and go explore!

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Outdoors....Observations and Oddities

Walking with the Kelly Kettle for brews..

I'm not a patient person.

In fact my daughter has been known to call me The Dwarf Doctor - a man of little patients (!!!)

So it may come as a surprise to those who know me that on our recent trip to Scotland I spent some time just sitting around chilling out, reading my books, writing and playing guitar. I don't have much time for any of those things normally - as many of us who have the exigencies of life thrust upon us will know - leisure time is hard to come by.

Yet in Scotland I seem to have the ability to slow down - and this was not a pure holiday trip, work was commingled with holiday time but still this capacity to relax, unwind and not pester the life out of my wife - all of which are so difficult under normal circumstances and even on vacations take days to achieve - was accomplished almost instantly.

Not a soul to be seen....anywhere!

I think it's Scotland. Since I first drove through Glen Coe in November 1990 I have had a love affair with the country that has led, at times, to an almost insane need to get there, even if it's only for a weekend. Even now after 23 years Mrs Kelly knows that any trip to Scotland - even one with the most time demanding work schedule - will cheer up even the darkest of moods, the most miserable of days.

We saw these beauties on a walk straight out of our front door

I recently had a fantastic holiday on the island of Madeira (and if you get the chance to go you really should) but I noticed even there that it took two or three days to completely unwind and settle into "holiday time". It's a wonderful place and the ability for the islands to grow crops on even the most inaccessible or tiniest of plots fired me up to work extra hard on my own garden this year and with great success I might add, but nothing helps me to relax like Scotland. Nothing else gives me the ability to stop and look around, to slow my mind into the pace of the countryside, the beauty, the rolling fields, the monolithic mountains and the tumbling rivers like this country does. I even find myself driving slower on the motorway home..

We only saw a handful of other people on this glorious September day

However, there is one British phenomenon which upsets me so much that I am at times speechlessly bemused but which doesn't seem to happen in Scotland quite so much. Yet it does happen and due to the nature of the Scottish landscape, its beauty, its accessibility and its availability to all, the occurrence of these paradoxical events are all the more upsetting.

I'm talking about the outdoor trip to a car park.

This is the marvel that is outdoor picnics, drinks and sometimes even barbecues within 50 feet of a car. The great British drive to the Country, Seaside or Park, the unloading of camp chairs, flasks, food and all the paraphernalia of the kitchen just to sit within sight of the car, eat the food drink the drink take a long look at the wonderful scenery and then to turn ones back on it, get back into the car and drive away.

Where I live, in our country cottage we have a wonderful first hand view of this oddity as mile upon mile of cars pass by towards Hastings and the coast, beginning at about 10 am every Bank Holiday and returning at around 6 pm the same day. The thought of those thousands of people filling up every pebble of space on the beach, squeezing into every Fish and Chip Shop and fighting for every car parking space makes my blood freeze. We are so lucky to have about 770 acres of wonderfully cared for National Trust land on our doorstep yet of the 2000 to 3000 people who visit here every Bank Holiday Weekend only a few dozen or so walk the entire Estate, most of the visitors never make it past the Cafe and Shop.

Our coastline has endless miles of walks, available to all

This is so sad, I understand that we are all different and many of us enjoy these shared experiences, but sitting in traffic fumes for hours, jostling for breathing space and food is not my idea of fun. There is still an awful lot of outdoors available - in fact in Scotland there is a legal Right to Roam, to make the most of ALL the land and countryside, to walk for as long or as far as you wish. In England and Wales there are miles and miles of coastal paths, country parks, National Parks and footpaths lovingly documented and drawn up by assiduous, country loving people in every community - our local Pub even has cards of nearby walks available to all.

The Outdoors is there for everyone, walking is free and healthy and there is so much to discover. I don't even mind if you come and walk around here, just enjoy it and respect it, take your litter home;

Take only Photographs and Memories and leave only footprints.

And most rivers have miles of walkable banks - this is the Itchen

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Scotland, First Impressions and Trout Fishing...

The Highlands, well worth a visit...especially if you're a fisherman

Even if you're not a fisherman, Scotland is a country for walking and for being outdoors. This is one fisherman's first impression of the country - see if you agree!

I had recently started my trout fishing life in Kent, with a friend who patiently taught me how to cast and had the inspired notion of ensuring that I caught a fish by teaching me in a place where it was easy to do so – a fish farm. My first Rainbow weighed in at around two pounds, fought like a locomotive and – because you paid for each fish you caught – cost me about eight quid!

But of course I was hooked too. There is something so simplistic, so condensed about turning up at a water with a rod, a small bag and a net. No bait, no seat, no rigs or weighty bombs to cast at the horizon – it seemed so pure, so refined and so light! It was apparent that it would be easy to become snobbish about the virtue of this inherent simplicity. And of course you could always leave the bag behind too because fly fishing is the only time in life that grown men could and should wear a waistcoat. I have seen some older gentlemen sporting “gilets” while boarding aircraft or strolling along the promenade at Brighton –sometimes it’s almost a uniform in the checkout at Heathrow - but it really shouldn’t be allowed. I blame the wives of these safari gilet wearing warriors for permitting them to leave the house in such attire – waistcoats are for, and only for, fly fishermen.

A great country to walk in too  

I eventually left the fish farm once my casting was sufficiently capable and approached the smaller, stocked fly fisheries that could be located in the Trout Fishing magazines. At these waters I learned the various ‘arts’ of fly fishing; drifting, intermediate lines and fast sinking monstrosities that hooked up on everything that littered the bottom of the lake; buzzers, nymphs, sparkly lures and the ubiquitous Montana. I also caught a few ‘novelty’ fish like the golden rainbow and the blue; some insipid looking brown trout which were anything but the expected “currants, raisins and cloves” described by Henry Williamson, being rather silvery fish with stubby tails looking poorly and limp, and I even caught tench on the fly in one Estate Lake in Kent.

I went on to fish a local reservoir; a vast water with depths of up to 70 or 80 feet but where the majority of the trout are caught near the surface for most of the year, only becoming unreachably elusive during the extreme heat or the severe cold. I loved the splashy rise, the gentle sip or the “roll over” as the flies were taken and, for a while became adept on the bank and in the boat – by adept I mean that I occasionally caught a few of these ‘wilder’ fish and my casting improved. I enjoyed the solitude of these larger waters, though of course, the fish were still stocked; on the borders of Kent and Sussex, wild trout are, rarely, found in one or two locations only, so if one wishes to catch a trout one must necessarily travel or put up with stockies.

I came to appreciate the art of tying my own flies, always preferring to use natural materials, or at least natural looking flies whenever possible. Much of my writing about trout fishing traduces the “lure” – that flashy imitation of nothing earthly - that angers a fish into snapping at your “fly”, rather than taking one that it has been fooled into believing was a nymph or midge lava or even a fry. Yet although I have used lures, especially on the ‘dog’ days, when fish are reticent, deep or sleepy, I’m not very adept at fishing them and feel less satisfaction catching with them – I am very definitely a nymph man at heart.

But in 1990 I ‘discovered’ Scotland. I arrived in Glencoe at 4 o’clock on a darkly glowering, crepuscular November afternoon and seemed to feel the enormous weight of the mountains around me, their very mass barely discernible in the heavy, wintry dusk, as the attenuated light leaked from the landscape.

Scotland hooked me too. I was captivated by its history, its forthright, sometimes dourly pragmatic inhabitants, its cheerful national optimism and its gloriously diverse and enchanting landscape. From that November accident (we started in Bath and just kept driving… ) began a consanguineous affiliation that adhered to my Celtic descent and forced a return, time and time again, sometimes two or three trips a year. It would take me chapters to attempt to explain why I was so entranced by a country that most people think too damp, dark or hard to reach, and in the end it’s such a nebulous concept – a love affair with a country – that it would be too difficult to define anyway.

Peaceful tranquility...

Naturally, the love of fishing and the love of Scotland would coalesce, but it took a year or two for them to do so – I had separated them in my mind as perhaps one would a mistress and a wife – never conceptualising the union of the two. But of course it did happen – I was asked by my partner at the time why I hadn’t taken fishing tackle with us on our Scottish trips and I could give no valid, believable explanation, mumbling something about ‘not fishing on holidays’ an obvious piece of fabrication as it hadn’t stopped me Marlin Fishing in Gran Canaria or Bass fishing in Cornwall. Thus the two loves – a country and a sport - were combined.

As far as Scottish fishing is concerned, there are so many famous places and rivers. The sea at Malaig and Oban, the lochs of Leven, Lomond, Ness and Ken, the rivers Tweed, Spey, Dee, Tay and Don and a myriad of smaller rivers, burns, lochs and lochans – even one lake. There are towns whose names are synonymous with the sport, Dunkeld, Beauly, Kelso and Thurso and the entire country is veined with meandering watercourses and potholed with glacial lochs of vastly differing sizes – it is a veritable dream country for a fisherman.

Beautiful country....

It was in a marginally famous river that I caught my first Scottish and truly wild, brown Trout – the Blackwater.

It’s namesake in Ireland – the Munster Blackwater - is probably more famous, starting in Kerry and flowing out through Youghal harbour in County Cork with some magical salmon and trout fishing beats in between. I have fished that river too, now. As we walked down towards the falls of Rogie from the car park towards the Scottish Blackwater near Contin, salmon were showing everywhere, splashing in pools as they fought their way up-river in the inevitable battle against contour and elements to spawn. I was persuaded by my girlfriend to fetch my gear from the car and have a go, so I did, to some extremely disgruntled looks from the Salmon Angler opposite. I tied a small red tag stick fly to a four pound point fishing as I would in a fish farm stew pond back home – not knowing any better - and cast it into the pool.

 It felt like a momentous occasion that first cast, almost ‘heavy’ yet I felt lightheaded; my hand tremulous, my breathing fast and light. I didn’t want to catch a salmon – Heaven knows I wasn’t ready for that yet – I just wanted to ‘fish’ and I wanted to hold a real, proper wild, brown trout in my hand and just look.

It was perhaps three or four casts later that I caught my first ever Scottish Brown Trout – a tiny, dark peaty fish of maybe six inches or so. I was like a small child on his first ever minnow fishing trip, amazed and filled with awe at the cascade of colours on these predominantly green fish, but with so many swirls, whorls and blotches. I counted several other colours and, surprisingly, not much actual brown. Only six inches, but that first trout from Scotland could not have been more welcome or more life changing for me. A few seconds after releasing the first fish, I caught another, slightly smaller trout and then another.

The first 6 inch Brownie

It was a wonderful moment in time; the very slight pull on the line - sometimes like a breath of gossamer, or as if a slight breeze had caught the material of the fly - would cause my hand to twitch the rod a fraction of a second later, yet often that fraction, that slight hesitation between sensation and brain impulse was eons too long in trout time, the fish had already realised its mistake and spat out the coarse imitation in disgust. Yet I had fooled it for an instant. I had duped the trout into thinking that my size 16 twinkle midge was a real insect, a genuine item of food. It didn’t matter that all the fish were small, what mattered was the moment, the whole short episode of time, the period in which everything around me tunnelled in on those few fish, that short, magic spell of catching ones first truly wild trout.

By this time the surly salmon angler had moved downstream and I was inexorably drawn back to the ‘real’ world by a loud splashing and sudden movement on the opposite bank. I watched entranced as he played and then lost a large tail-walking salmon. The fish was there one second and gone the next, the line sagging towards the water like a broken washing line as the water of the pool resumed its slow, washing-machine tumble. I would have been completely distraught, raving and stamping around, throwing my rod in the bushes and chewing through the nearest tree trunk, but he just stood looking blankly at the water, still for a moment, then seemed to give an inward shrug before retying his cast. No doubt his fate was different to mine; he has probably caught many salmon each season and one lost fish is just another episode in his ordinary, daily life.

I felt that it was time to retreat. The tranquillity of the pool had been transformed into an angry, brooding entity, the benignity had gone, the still quietude banished. The dark, rocky shelf surrounding the pool was now a forbidding presence, a malevolent gaoler rather than a welcoming gatekeeper.

Another wild Brown Trout

As I climbed the hill back to the car park it occurred to me that I had been blessed with some nice fish as a gift, if you like, from the river, and this feeling has been prevalent from time to time over the years. I have learned to react to the changing character of rivers, lochs and lakes, when I am astute enough to feel these imperceptible nuances of character shift and to accept the gifts when given with thanks. Sounds daft? Well ok, I can accept that in the here and now, but I will still watch for those mood changes and I will welcome them as gifts or warnings as appropriate.

Scotland had presented me with a gift and has pretty much kept on giving since. There have been many wonderful trips, an amazing amount of magic moments to write about and to commit to memory. I still go back to Scotland as often as I can – I just can’t keep away. 

Beautifully clean

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