I've been inspired to do a wee blog post about a trip I had to Fort William today... but first, allow me to give you a bit of the back story. So, I'm Gillian's first cousin, and have worked alongside her in the Gillian Kyle empire (!) for the last two years. Our Granny, who recently passed away at the grand age of 95 (yes, I'm hoping I've got her good genes too), was brought up in Fort William along with her 3 younger brothers. They lived in what was actually the 'old fort' - which is no longer standing - as their father (our great-grandfather) was the steam train driver of the Glasgow train. He was tragically killed in an accident involving his own train when Gran was just 11 years old, and she was forced to leave school to help her mother raise the boys.

Our Granny moved away from Fort William in her early thirties after marrying a Commando there during the war, who returned to being a policeman in Renfrewshire when the war ended. Her younger brother, Hugh, stayed in Fort William and started a successful shop called the 'Highland Homespun' in the 1950s, right in the centre of the High Street. On Monday this week, I got an email from an equally successful gift shop in Fort William, the Granite House, enquiring about becoming a stockist of ours. My excitement over this email was two fold: 1. it's a great wee shop, that all our family have used for years, and 2. the address of the Granite House is 74 High Street... exactly where Uncle Hughie's shop used to be!

So, today I went up to Fort William to meet the owner, Alistair, and have a good chat about our family connection to the Fort and to his own shop's premises. After speaking to his parents, he told me that they remember both our grandparents very fondly, and that Uncle Hugh's shop was affectionately known as the 'Hughie Homespun'.  It looks like Gillian Kyle products will be making their début on the Fort William High Street just before Easter 2012... something that we're very pleased about, and only wish that we could go and tell our wee Granny! Alistair sent me this old postcard image to use for the blog... isn't it a cracker?

Katrina :)