Inverness and Deacon Peter Simpson

Peter in his new home, John reading Peter's hymn, lilies in the conservatory, Pluscarden Abbey, Elgin
On Monday June 15th Liz and I set off by bus and train to Gatwick (only having to pay denior rail card fare from Coulsdon South to Gatwick!) and got the Easyjest flight to Inverness without any problem. There we picked up the car a Peugot 307 and found Peter's delightful home in Culloden with a stunning view across to the Black Isle. He has a lovely garden and conservatory with beautiful lilies. We enjoyed a roast beef dinner and some excellent wine. His furniture is lovely too and we found the mouse on the table. On Tuesday we drove to Pluscarden Abbey which has lovely stained glass and a very Scottish solid feel. Alas no chance to play the fine Tickell organ. We lunched in Elgin at an excellent restaurant in the High Street and visited the Greyfriars convent. Sr Mary Oliver clearly enjoyed showing us round and nearly gave us the tea prepared for the Pluscarden monks who had come to town to shop! We drove along the coast to the distillery at Glen Morag. We were too late for a tour but enjoyed a sampling and purchased a small bottle of the 12 year old single malt whisky.
We were back in Culloden in good time for the communion service led by Peter in the lovely new church of St Columba's. This is purpose built and the sanctuary can be screened off so that it can be used for social functions. I played the keyboard for the hymn "The day thou gavest" and improvised on Alan Rees's tune for Peter's hymn. This was to be the only playing of the holiday! We took Peter out to dinner at the excellent Snow Goose.