I remember being 8 years old and sitting on Mum and Dads bed one Sunday morning. They were both mooching through the Sunday supplements for holidays in the Lake District. Mum declared "found it!" and started to read out the advert for holiday cottages run by the Forestry Commission. "They sound great." " Where are they" said Dad "by a Loch near Stirling" she said. "But Stirling is in Scotland, surely the term Loch gives it away?" Dad laughed.

So we ended up in Scotland that year and again every year for 10 years or more. I even took my own family there in 2005. The funny thing is that Mum hated the bagpipes!