Ring of Bright Whisky

"It may be, of course, that you will understand, sympathise with and fully approve of our dream of removing ourselves as far as possible from the City at the first available opportunity.

But it may, on the other hand, be quite clear to you that we must have been soft in the head. For Mankind is divided into two species. There are those who are never quite at ease in the City, and they seem quite unable to see the point of view of those of us who are never quite at ease while we're in it, any more than we can see theirs.

I know people who get fidgety in Hyde Park. They find it an irrelevant place of draughts and discomfort where God ran out of asphalt one day, so that one must walk carefully, for fear of mud. Where it is unsafe to stray far from the road, in case it rains, A place where there is nothing to watch, nothing to buy, nothing to do and nowhere to sit. An unused place, where not a single one of all those trees supports so much as a cigarette machine. The haunt of dogs, children and insects, (they hate insects) but of no interest or profit to a civilised grown-up.

There are others of us, though, who go of our own free will to the Park, to reassure ourselves that there are still places where things are normal and uncomplicated and permanent. Where things grow and you can breathe clean air and be by yourself." 


The nostalgic tour-de-force and, mostly, true story of the 1970's.

   Ring of Bright Whisky is the story of Cliff Prichard's escape from the cigarette-smoke-fogged and alcohol-soaked London advertising scene, a search for a mythic gaelic paradise on the west coast of Scotland. And for a more honest way of life than the Rat-Race of  the Seventies.   

   In it, Cliff deconstructs many of the human situations and behaviours he encounters on the way. And he does it entertainingly and with gusto. Cliff's gift for description combined with his eccentricity, humour and forthright views describe what it really was like to live in the UK in the ‘70s. Above all, whether describing the local people and situations, or musing on the dynamics between his nearest and dearest, Cliff's intelligent and generous spirit shines through. 

   L.P. Hartley said “The past is a different country: they do things differently there“, and the editor has provided extensive Endnotes, an Appendix and many links which provide fascinating context and insight into a time that is now over 40 years gone, with many detailed explanations of the history, language and interesting facts of Cliff's story.

"Well-written, and a very easy read!"