Myrtle Simpson – Arctic explorer, skier and mountaineer.
Every Easter holiday of my childhood was spent within the Cairngorm mountains in the Scottish Highlands. Skiing if there was snow, hiking and biking if there was not. It conjures up memories of the sound of the wind in the Caledonian forests, the earthy smell of peat bogs and pine sap, with cosy cottages to come back to after a long day on the hill.
When I sat down to design my fair isle head band taking inspiration from the purple and pink heather, grey-green lichen, peat and granite rock of the Cairngorms, my mind would wander to think of our old family friend Myrtle Simpson, an Arctic explorer, spirited and very much still to the fore even in her late eighties or possibly even nineties.
I have known the Simpsons all my life. My Dad first met them when skiing in Glencoe. As a young doctor he would race up the road to ski as the first doctor on the hill would receive a free ski pass...
Having finished my head band design, I felt compelled to give Myrtle a call. I caught her on the hop, she needed to jump into the shower as she had just been for a dip in the river Feshie... Needless to say Myrtle now has her very own Myrtle fair isle headband to keep her cosy through the Cairngorm winters.
You can listen to my conversation with Myrtle below:
Myrtle in Peru 1958
Myrtle in Peru in 1958.
Myrtle in Peru 1958.
Planet Range, Svalbard 1960
Myrtle in Greenland 1965.
Hugh and Myrtle on North Pole expedition 1969.
Myrtle on North Pole expedition 1969.
Back at High Arctic base camp with Rory, 1969.
Family at base camp for Rory’s 1st birthday, 1969.