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Im Stuart McWilliam and I was born in Dumfries in SW.Scotland. I have lived here most of my life except for periods in Welwyn Garden City,Herts when I was an Apprentice Instrument Technician with ICI quite a few years ago !
I love travel,sport and music and on this site I want to share some of this with you.

I was born here in Dumfries back in 1963 and have lived here all my life except for a few months here and there.
From a very young age i have always travelled and i have been lucky enough to have visted almost all the countries in Europe...although in recent years quite a few new ones have been added ( Latvia,Lithuania,Estonia and the other ex Soviet states ).
When i was a child we used to drive out to Spain and Italy in the Summers for our holidays and im sure it was these early trips which shaped my future love of travel and adventure.I am not happy unless i am planning our next trip and i love looking for great deals on flights,car hire and accomodation.
Over the years i have been to lots of places that i have grown to love. My fav Countries are France and Canada but i have also a great affection with Austria,Switzerland,Italy,Belgium,Holland,Luxembourg,Slovakia,Slovenia,Serbia,
Croatia,Czech Rep,Albania,Bosnia and many others.
In France i love Provence and the Cote d Azure as well as Chamonix which is a place where i could easily live. France is a country which has so many contrasts,a country with a great and varied coastline,stunning rural towns and villages,some of the best mountains in Europe and the World as well as superb food and wine and also some brilliant small Hotels which you would gladly return to again and again.
I am a Francophile and i cant deny it.
My other love is Canada. A huge Country in everyway. A place where people could not be more welcoming and where you can find all the adventure that you could ever wish for. Next year will be my 7th trip to Canada and it now feels like a second home. The area between Nelson,Castlegar,Trail and Rossland is where we get drawn back to year after year.It is an addiction and one i dont want to break.Vancouver,Calgary and Toronto are all fine cities which i always enjoy visiting. In the future i want to head up to the Northern Territories and the Yukon and also to visit the Atlantic Provincies. It will take some time but Canada is so big nobody will ever see it all.
I have been lucky enough to have visited all of the old Eastern Bloc and in the days of Communist rule things were a lot different from what "tourists" see today when they have short breaks to Prague,Berlin,Budapest etc etc.
One of my best memories was travelling into Northern Albania from the old Yugoslavia in the early 1980s and heading down to Skopje in Macedonia.
I will endeavour to gather pics and info from these old trips and put together a travel log.
I also have a great love of Scotland and the rest of the UK and Ireland and have had many trips to the mountains of Skye,Glencoe,the Cairngorms,the Lakeland Fells and the Welsh mountains in all weathers and all seasons. Walking,Climbing,Skiing or Snowboarding i will always be happy here at home as well as in places abroad.
 
My love of all sport is topped by my dedication to my local football team " Queen of the South" whom i have followed all my life...mostly through bad times but also the good times of which we have had a few in recent years. I love nothing better than cheering the team on either home or away and will support them no matter what happens.
 
As children we were brought up with Horses and Ponies and i cant remember never having them.They have always been a part of my life. I was always competing in Gymkhanas and Showjumping comps as a youngster and as i grew up i always had a love of Racing. My Sister was an Apprentice Jockey on the flat and i rode as an Amateur in Point to Points for a few years even although my weight was always against me. We now have 3 Horses and Jills old Pony "Geenie" at home. Jill competes at local Riding Club events and we will have a section of the site showing what events are coming up locally.
 
Over time i will try to build the site up with reviews and reports of trips,usefull links and info as well as pics of my trips.
Please feel free to contact me with any thoughts or comments.

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Favorites

I love nothing better than going to see live bands and we try to see as many of our local ones as we can.
This year we have managed to see the following play live. My fav gig this year was El Presidente at the Barrowlands...a brilliant performance and im sure 2006 will be a big year for them.
Looking forward to T in the Park next July as we have already got our weekend tickets and im sure there will be some excellent performances then.
My fav album of 2005 was Eye to the Telescope from K.T Tunstall, not a weak track on it.

29th March 2005
Feeder at Carling Academy Glasgow.
 
29th August 2005
Charlatans at Carling Academy Glasgow.
 
13th September 2005
Stereophonics at Metro Arena Newcastle.
 
17th December 2005
El Presedente at The Barrowlands Glasgow

3rd Feb 2006
El Presidente at the Liquid Rooms Edinburgh.
 

8th/9th July 2006
T in the Park at Balado,Kinross.

El Presedente

Feeder website

Charlatans website

Stereophonics website

dsdada

I have been lucky enough to have travelled a lot since i was young , firstly with my parents then independantly. I also got to visit some interesting places during my 13 years service with the Territorial Army (52nd Lowland Reg.KOSB)

This is the page where I'll describe myself in more detail.

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