Page 5 - John Walsh 1935-2020: A Service of Thanksgiving

In the summer of 1962, newlyweds John and Brenda Walsh spent a memorable month-long honeymoon working as wardens at the remote Kishorn Youth Hostel near the Applecross peninsula in the North West Highlands of Scotland.
The hostel was a former school house, but their accommodation was a wooden hut in a field beside the building. It had bunk beds, but they converted them into a
double.
Their jobs included booking in hostelers and taking payment, lighting the stove before 7am so they could cook breakfast, clearing out the flue and keeping the place clean.
At that time, the road from Shieldaig to Kinlochewe was being constructed above upper Loch Torridon. One day the couple drove 'the Duchess' the full loop from Kishorn to Shieldaig and back via Kinlochewe and Achnasheen. On their return, a postman who had seen them that morning heading up the 'dead end' to Shieldaig, blocked their path with his van. He asked them where they had come from, unaware the route was open.
If the postie didn't know, then they reckon they have a good claim to be the first people ever to complete that journey.
For their 50th wedding celebrations in June 2012, the family booked a converted barn at Wardlow Mires in the Peak District. Some 20 people including grandchildren, nephews and nieces attended from all over the country. 5