Laggan Dram
The Story
Never Be Without Your Combat Body Armour! How it all began – June 2008, Afghanistan Phone rings ‘hello sir’ it starts and I receive the following news ‘I’m happy to tell you that because you’re halfway through your operational tour and you’re not dead or haven’t been sent home you’re entitled to your tax free, still being here, bonus! ’Computer pings……email message from beloved wife, it reads ‘Bruichladdich Distillery has offered newly filled casks to private customers for the first time in ages! ’The problem of what to do with the ‘still being here bonus’ has been solved!
Patience is a virtue (apparently)
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So while waiting for all of the above to appear (some of the sample bottles still have some whisky in them!) it is timely to discuss my great love of fishing on Islay, a sport which I very much enjoy today.
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​I had the great good fortune to first enter the water under the instruction of this man – Nigel Hargreaves. We both served in the Royal Air Force (Nigel was a doctor), we were great friends, and he very kindly agreed to show me the ropes shortly after I returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. He was the consummate coach, patient, rightly critical and great fun to fish with. Together we fished across the UK but our real joy was returning every year to fish the River Laggan on Islay. It was on Islay that I caught my first salmon, he was delighted, but Nigel being Nigel he walked up the river after the celebrations and caught a bigger fish!
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Skills
We lost Nigel to prostate cancer in June 2022, he was a wonderful man, and I remember him every time I pick up a rod and step into a river. He was not just skilled with rod and reel, he was also a gifted fly tier, not just for fishing, many a lady (and me for that matter) wear these splendid brooches made by the master’s hand!
