A beautiful gift by Trevor Gill

Trevor Gill as Bottom. Pic: Topher McGrillis

The initial reason for travelling to the UK in June was to visit Belfast, meet old friends of almost forty years standing and catch my friend Trevor Gill play the role of Bottom in the Royal Shakespeare Company's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Trevor and his fellow amateur players were, quite simply, brilliant. It would have been impossible for anyone who didn't know the cast personally to tell which people on stage were the professionals, which the amateurs (accents aside).

Over this weekend the Belvoir Theatre mechanicals helped to bring the RSC Dream 2016 to a close at Stratford-upon-Avon. What a buzz. How richly deserved.

Trevor wrote of his feelings and impressions about being involved in this remarkable project for the last year. The RSC published his thoughts on the production's blog. Trevor started his short essay this way:

This Friday night, five of my good friends from The Belvoir Players and I will stand at the very heart of world drama. We will step out onto the stage at the RSC’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST), Stratford on Avon in the 400th anniversary year of William Shakespeare’s death. We follow in the footsteps of the great and the good of UK and international theatre. 

Sometimes I still find it hard to believe that it’s happening.

Read Trevor's whole piece here.

Lucy Ellinson (Puck), Spike, Trevor Gill (Bottom) and me at the Belfast show after-party.

If ever there could be a good reason to fly 10,000 miles around the globe it would be to cheer on Trevor and his team. We had fun. I can't imagine what it must have felt like for TG and the Belvoir Theatre players.

We are sailing ...

Ship ahoy! Pic: Stena

Almost all the 'nuts and bolts' of our trip to the UK in a few months are in place now. I've just finished making our Web booking for the ferry crossings between Cairnryan and Belast where we'll see my old mate Trevor Gill perform the role of Bottom in The Royal Shakespeare Company's A Midsummer Night's Dream. How exciting is that?

We have all but one of our flights booked now, both our ferry trips (Belast and Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands) and all of the hotel accommodation in Tokyo, Prestwick, Belfast, Kirkwall, Edinburgh, Manchester, Weymouth, London and Singapore. And all the accommodation is wheelchair accessible. Hasn't the world changed in thirty years. All that's left to do is book the travel between 

• London and Prestwick, 
• Prestwick and Belfast, 
• Prestwick and Aberdeen, 
• Aberdeen and Edinburgh, 
• Edinburgh to Manchester, 
• Manchester to Weymouth and 
• Weymouth to London. 

All train journeys, apart from the first leg. The online booking system at Scotrail hasn't reached the 6th June yet. I think that will tick over tomorrow. Choo, choo!

Final booking made and paid for

After a week or so of back and forth with hotels in Singapore trying to confirm the existence or otherwise and circumstances of any wheelchair accessible shower area ...

• Novotel - no but have a good day
• So Sofitel - yes but there's a marble bench
• Ibis - yes but it's in a single-occupancy room

Rendezvous Hotel, Singapore

... we finally made a booking today. We'll be staying at the Rendezvous Hotel on Bras Basah Road. It's central, near the art gallery and museum, not far from Raffles if Spike insists on another Singapore Sling. I'm hoping it won't be too far from a Singapore Chilli Crab dinner which I missed out on last time we were in Singapore (my mother sought out more familiar fare).

This booking means we've arranged wheelchair accessible showers at every stop on our trip: Tokyo, Prestwick, Belfast, Kirkwall, Edinburgh, Manchester, Weymouth, London and Singapore. That's nine towns or cities in five countries. Ten years ago, maybe more recently than that, I doubt if I could have arranged that. Thirty years ago, when I first started travelling between continents, it would have been impossible. 

So we're moving ahead. There is some way yet to go but all one can ask is that we keep moving forward, keep making progress. The Dougie Herd who boarded that flight to Hong Kong back in 1988 would be impressed how far we have come. And he would be pleased to know he would play his small but important part in kicking along greater inclusion. For sure, though, he'd tell me to keep up the work because we've not yet reached the end of the road.

No-service with a smile

We'll be staying somewhere else then ...

Dear Mr/Ms. Herd,

Greetings from Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay!

Thank you for your email.

We regret to inform you that we do not have a wheelchair bound room in the hotel.

In the interim, should you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact or email us.

Thank you and have an exceptional day!

To the Ring of Brodgar

Ring of Brodgar

We spent weeks in December/January trying to figure out how we could get me and my wheelchair from Glasgow to Stornoway in the Western Isles when we visit Scotland in June. I was beginning to give up hope but said to Spike this morning I would get back on to finding solutions this week coming. Spike said, 'ok but we could try Orkney too'. 

Skara Brae

This evening I started searching the web for information about Orkney. I wrote 4 e.mails to not very promising-looking hotels. Within an hour three indicated they have rooms with easy access showers. Checked train times between Glasgow and Aberdeen. Checked ferry times between Aberdeen and Kirkwall. Began to find evidence of wheelchair accessible buses and taxis on the main island. Less than three hours after starting our search it looks as if we have a week on the Orkney Islands more or less established. I'm a very happy man and these are just a couple of the Neolithic sites we shall now visit.