Anyone who knows me will know that I have a great love for the Scottish Highlands - a place which my wife and I have visited as often as possible over the past twenty years or more.

Our last few holidays there have been at the same cottage across the valley from the hamlet of Laggan near Newtonmore in the Central Highlands. During one visit I decided to document my encounters in verse, supported with photographs. Although around the Covid-19 epidemic, overall the restrictions did not impact too heavily.

Predominantly a walking holiday, I have tried to express my enthusiasm for the surrounding landscape and how it makes me feel - though descriptions and photographs can do it little justice. You have to be there to appreciate the scale and constantly changing moods.

These are not diary accounts, following a day-by-day timeline; they are more a montage of activities.

If you too revel in dramatic, beautiful countryside, regardless of the weather, you will enjoy spending time amongst Scotland's most stunning scenery.

I hope even in some small way this book encourages you to go and see the Highlands for yourself. Who knows, it might be the start of a love affair of your own.