IMAGINE ("THE NORTH HIGHLANDS") AS JOHN LENNON DIDNOTE FOR PICTURE EDITORS. IMAGES AVAILABLE - SEE END OF COPY FOR DETAILS.John Lennon's links with his Scottish childhood holiday home are being officially promoted for the first time to attract tourists to the north highlands. Lennon spent long summer holidays at Durness in Sutherland - between the years when he was aged 9 to 14. He even returned in adult life with his wife Yoko Ono - and survived a bad car accident on a single track road! Now in a tourism initiative headed by HRH The Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay, it is hoped that visitors from all over the world will travel to see the remote and rugged beauty that helped shaped one of the greatest songwriters of the century. The area had such an impact on the ex-Beatle that it is said it was part of the inspiration for the seminal song, In My Life. The celebration of Lennon's still little-known links with the extreme north come at a time when the world marks the 40th anniversary of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - constantly voted one of the greatest albums of all time - the launch of a set of stamps by the Royal Mail featuring images of The Beatles' most famous album covers and a novel,The Next Big Thing, about Lennon's links with Durness. The Next Big Thing has been written by former Shadow Scottish Culture Minister Michael Russell and is published on February 14 by Balnakeil Press, which is based in Loch Croispol Bookshop and Restaurant in Durness. In addition a film about Lennon's life in Durness is also in the pipeline. So the launch of a new website -www.northhighlandsscotland.com - which highlights Lennon's links with the area is perfect timing. Lennon and his first cousin Stanley Parkes used to stay at the family croft at 56 Sangomore at Sangobay. Ironically Mr Parkes was working as a tourist information officer in Durness when he received a telephone call soon after December 8, 1980 telling him Lennon had been killed in New York. "John never forgot those times at Durness. They were among his happiest memories. He loved the wilderness," said Mr Parkes. "John was nine when he started coming up with my family to the croft in Durness. "The croft belonged to my stepfather, Robert Sutherland, and John just loved the wildness and the openness of the place. "We went fishing and hunting and John loved going up into the hills to draw or write poetry. John really loved hill walking, shooting and fishing. He used to catch salmon. He would have been quite a laird! "In the last letter to me before he was killed he quoted a famous Scottish saying that says 'It's a braw, bricht moonlicht nicht since I last had a word'" Lennon even returned to Durness with Yoko Ono and their respective children, Julian and Kyoko, in 1969. But the holiday was marked by a bad car accident by Loch Eriboll. Lennon had notoriously poor eyesight, rarely drove himself and crashed on one of the narrow northern roads. He received 17 stitches for facial injuries and Ono had 14 in her forehead. The accident and five-day stay at the Lawson Memorial Hospital in Golspie, Sutherland, was reported at the time. They returned to London by helicopter and private jet and Lennon told reporters: "If you're going to have a car crash, try to arrange for it to happen in the Highlands. The hospital there was just great." Mr Parkes remembered:"Yoko had the car, a white British Leyland Maxi, shipped to their home in Ascot, England, and mounted in the garden on a concrete plynth as she considered it 'a happening!'" A memorial commemorating Lennon's links with Durness was unveiled in 2002 by Mr Parkes. Now Lennon's connection with Durness are being officially highlighted on the North Highland Tourism Operators Ltd (NHT) new website: www.northhighlandsscotland.com to help lure tourists to the area beloved by the composer. "I am delighted that John's life and times in Durness are being highlighted. I hope many tourists will visit the area that meant so much to him and enjoy its beauty and charms as he once did," said Mr Parkes. The NHT has been launched by HRH The Prince Charles who spends part of every summer at the Castle of Mey - the Queen Mother's former home in Caithness. Officially launching NHT, Prince Charles said :"I have always been struck by the riches of the area in terms of, not just its natural beauty, but of the human tradition, of music and culture which are so precious and which I can only hope will become more and more recognised as people begin to discover this extraordinary part of the world for themselves." The area is being marketed under the banner "Pleasure In The Extreme." And Author Mr Russell said that was exactly what Lennon found in Durness. "Durness had a major impact on John Lennon. It really was where he was often happiest in an at times unhappy childhood," he said. "It is really a little known story even today. During my research it was quite clear John connected hugely with the area and it holds an untapped potential to attract tourists to see the place that helped shaped John Lennon over the period when he grew from a boy into a teenager." Mr Durrant Macleod, company secretary of NHT, said the area's beauty had clearly inspired Lennon. "As our advert says, 'here in the extreme north of the Scottish Highlands the lochs are so deep and the air so clear, the seas so wild and the beaches so long that there's space to think about the things that are close to your heart.' That all clearly impacted on John Lennon," he said. The website also focuses on the area’s history, heritage, genealogy and culture - as well as arts and events - and activities like touring, walking, cycling, wildlife, fishing, shooting, golf and adventure sports. It also features comprehensive accommodation and town/village guides. ENDS Images available:- |
  
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