Peter Cobley — Blog — PeterCobley.com

Peter Cobley

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Oh, the grand old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men..... Ben More

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Saturday 1st March saw the A-Team head up, in unexpectedly lovely weather, Ben More, followed by a dip in the sea at Calgary Bay. Both were great. One was friggin freezing and it was not the one that involved a 961 meter high Munro.

Oh, the grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.

When they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down.[2]

Courtesy of Wikipedia

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Deery me... it's the cheeky deer of Tobermory

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The battle is ongoing and a war of attrition, and one of ritual. Namely me keeping an eye out for the deer that think they own the garden and that it is fair game to scoff the bird seed from the feeders I put out, and have to take in at night!

The four legged monkeys even have the audacity and bravery to strut their stuff in the garden, when The Boss if off to work teaching!

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Cobley in an Isle of Mull winter

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Well, it is changeable weather here on Mull with rain, extreme wind, interspersed with rain squalls or downpours. For some grim, for me exciting, dark and brooding, and it makes me really feel alive to be in the centre of it all. So I can safely say with us coming into March that I have not only survived my first Mull winter, but have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Calgary Beach

But is has not all been harsh weather over January and February, there has in fact been some stunning days which allowed for swimming on Calgary Beach, and a snow clad climb up to the summit of Ben Cruachan - more on these below.

10th February - Calgary Beach

The 10th saw Claire in the water at Calgary, which can be found on the west side of the northern part of the Isle of Mull. It’s a fantastic location and out of season only sees locals dog walking, swimming, or running the adjacent peninsulas.

It is a wide crescent shaped beach sheltered from the open waters of the Irish Sea, sandy bottomed, with no real currents, and gently sloping. It’s a fine place in which to outdoor swim and practice it. A short grassy walk from the car park. You can also surf but suspect that being more the case when the weather wild.

Climbing Ben Cruachan with its peak in snow - 12th February

Two days later on the way to Killin and Hamilton we stopped near Lochawe, parking up on the Pass of Brander near the Cruachan hydro electric plant and right by the Falls of Cruachan train station where access to Cruachan starts.

Beneath the railway line at the Falls of Cruachan station

We set off through forest clinging to the very steep hillsides of Loch Awe to then reach the access road for the Cruachan dam that feeds the hydro electric plant.

From the dam it’s a sharp left up a river gully to take you to a col beneath the summit. It started with grassland which then became covered with wintery snow and ice which we worked our way up carefully, not armed with crampons or ice axes.

The snow section to the Col was hard going and yet not cold and without wind, with our eventually reaching the col (Bealach an Lochaline) about two and a quarter hours into the walk.

Bealach an Lochain

From the col/bealach it’s a steep climb up a rocky scree ladden route to the summit, except in this case the first couple of hundred metres could be seen, the rest hidden in deep snow, some of which scoured by wind into a smooth treacherous surface. On this stretch the steep wind would hit us from the west edge of the ridge at a brutish rate forcing us to keep away from the edge for safety.

The weather report had the ambient temperature at minus four degrees centigrade, and a wind chill of minus fourteen. And that we felt was correct. We ran the risk of being knocked over and becoming dangerously cold, and dealt with this via proper gear, gloves, a hat, and a balaclava. It was tough going indeed on the snow on what is a steep climb. Despite the gear we did have a spell of cold fingers due to the wind chill.

It was worth the effort for the view of the surrounding landscape and ridges, and it was quiet, stunningly quiet with no wind on the summit.

At Ben Cruachan summit with Loch Awe behind

Looking from the summit across the ridge linking Ben Cruachan to Stob Daimh

Cruachan Reservoir and Loch Awe

We had the Munro all to ourselves having only seen two Drax workers in a vehicle atop the dam. It was magical just Claire and I together.

Heading down from the summit back to the col was going to be tricky as we needed to navigate a deep snow covered rocky ridge with a strong wind and our weight behind us in our rucksacks. The snow was smooth in places from the wind and dangerous to walk on, so we made use of Claire’s walking poles which were vital for testing snow and carrying our weight where we had to step down from rocks.

It was slow and arduous but worthwhile for the views. On making it safely down to the col, we could then start the snow covered grassland part of the climb running alongside the river in the clough (Coire Dearg) back down to the reservoir track.

We had to be careful due to the ice which had formed on the path, which was also obscured by snow in a number of places. It was safer to keep off the path and walk on the snow covered grassland even if it was not the most direct route. It took a short while before we reached the path out of the snow and enjoyed the easier walking alongside the river.

From the track we retraced our steps back to the train station with the walk taking 6 hours in all. The route we took down after the dam followed the official path, whereas we’d taken a non-official route when climbing up to the track and dam. It was tough going due to heavy erosion, probably man made and natural and involved clambering down a number of stepped drops through a forest, hanging off and using trees.

Despite this final effort we were not too tired as we took our gear off and began the drive to Killin.

Feeding a very inquisitive and hungry Robin Red Breast by the parked campervan

Some Scottish photos - where do you want to be?

It is a delight to be able to post these photos, some of which are breath taking. I am enjoying island life on Mull with regular visits to Oban and elsewhere on the mainland. Claire loves her school and is very happy.

I do miss the good people who were in my life back in England and I keep in touch with a number of them.

I don’t miss those people who only think of number one and occupy the societal group of individuals that are both morally bankrupt, and in less salutary language would not even piss on you if you were on fire. So to these I extend my arm, then bring it back to place my thumb on my nose, to then wiggle my fingers rapidly. I really don’t miss you, and if anything pity you.

I am in fact a castle against you marauders - people who only seek to break into another’s mental, emotional, and spiritual sanctity; ransacking and making off with their ill gotten gains, whether money or ego. In my opinion people who do not give back to life but instead only service their selves and ego. People who think they are nice, but are not (see Brigden, Ulwin-Bishop, Sarjant, Burke, Jones, Hutchinson etc. etc. etc. They are all the same.)

So were do you want to be? I know where I am.

Blowing a Hooley as they say in Scotland (Tobermory)

I can safely say from the safety of my lounge that Storm Eowyn is battering Tobermory, yet I am singularly amazed that our garden’s small birds are in flight and feeding off the seeds I left out, including hanging off a swinging bird feeder that lurches about like a deranged pendulum. Blue Tits and Chaffinches, nothing bigger apart from Seagulls soaring above.

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The found us office view - Thursday 16th January 2025

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A panoramic view from the found us office over Tobermory and the Sound of Mull.

Today is a splendid day for found us. Glorious morning up until 1pm whereupon I catch a lift to Craignuire to meet up with some fellow islanders. Back for a nice dinner this evening.

I have decided to blog on petercobley.com and not foundus.co.uk, but talk about found us, my 10+ year consulting business in advertising, marketing, and media.

What the scores on the doors, found us?

Well the business is 10 years old since inception on 28th February 2014. I am now 53 and back then was 43. A lot indeed a lot has happened to me, the business, life, the world.

Me

As mentioned I am now older, more experienced, wiser (Claire my wife may disagree vehemently), and have over ten years of running a solo business through economic malaise, COVID, world disorder, and anarchy, a move to Tobermory, Isle of Mull from Saddleworth, and last but not least an advertising industry that was over staffed and bloated and needs consolidation.

If I am also honest, and I need to be, those ten years were plagued with deteriorating mental health due to progressive addiction to alcohol, my OCD, and childhood trauma that finally was brought to bear and dealt with.

So I am right royally pleased with myself for having survived when the odds were certainly stacked against me, of my almost losing myself, and of having to bear cruel judgement by others of my addiction and being ill from it.

But, and we don’t always see past out strife to and beyond the but’s, I have a peace and serenity I’ve never had, and a clear view of the seabed floor like a swim off Mull, where I can see all shapes and things in real time. And my being able to see, listen, and experience the moment, not the past or future, is a true gift. I can dip my head under the surf and waves of life to see my gentle and clear waters beneath, and it is my choice to choose where I look. My view is no longer opaque with my life’s turbulence sullying the water.

Life and the World

There has been a lot happening over the last ten years of business and I oft wonder that if I’d had a crystal ball whether I’d have embarked on starting a business. That said the decline my business has seen is self inflicted. But I’ve also been subject to some bad players I suspect, a downturn in the market over which I have no control, and the simple fact of running an advertising business whereby if you don’t speak to people you get forgotten about, with advertising adhering sadly to the old adage of he who shouts loudest gets heard.

Yet I am always a big believer that in adversity one can see great opportunities in which to prosper (and this does not purely mean money) and in this present moment as I type in the office I am blessed with having come to the end of a long period of upheaval and shittiness, and can now embrace the what next, the fun and challenge of change, being able to re-launch and enhance (not re-invent) what I am and what found us is. I also have the beauty of choice honed by experience so allowing me to not to have to work with advertising arseholes. And believe you and I they are plenty apiece.

So, please don’t forget my little but perfectly formed found us which can offer some absolutely (excuse superlative) honest hard graft to help you grow you business and people. I love it, love working with nice people and companies, and live life with renewed vigour and calmness, of which someone out there, a business out, there will benefit from.

Say hello to founds us. And have a marvellous Thursday.

Looking South from the found us office.

A Wonderful Photographic Week on Mull

Nothing really to report as such, except that it has been a wonderful week experiencing Mull. Whether it was the loss and search for an iPhone, deer eating the seeds from the bird feeder, or a bracing icy Loch Ba walk, or lunchtime on Friday in the sun of Tobermory’s Main Street.

So thought to do a photo bomb as such on the blog. Enjoy…. Friends are welcome to visit us, we have a nice spare room; and as Basil Fawlty would say, “no riff raff.”

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Captain's Log - Lost Phaser, Tobermory Golf Course (no dogging)

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If anyone had cast their eye Friday night across the expanse of Tobermory Golf Course they may have thought something was up, as a pair of head torches bobbed about on the course and in the wilderness surrounding it.

Dogging people may have cried aloud, or that the local deer have been on a shopping spree at Brown’s, the local general store, for head torches.

In fact it was Captain Cobley with crewmate Claire Cobley looking for a misplaced phaser (iPhone) that fell out of a running bum bag earlier that evening. Said phaser was recovered (eventually…)

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Tobermory crime scene

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This week saw a band of ruthless criminals invade Ardshona South’s gardens and carry out a heist, depriving the small birds of Tobermory of their breakfast, nay sustenance in times of winter famine.

After Peter Cobley laboured hard in icy weather and danger to install a three tier seed feeder for his small fluffy friends, he became concerned at a noticeable run on the seed he bought, and the discovery of perches on the ground that should have remained in the feeder. He was perplexed.

But all became apparent one winter morning when he observed local deer around 9am acting as a “smash and grab” team. The cheeky so and so’s.

The bird feeder now has to be retired at night.

(All said and done, he is worried as to the deer since they must be staving heading into Tobermory at that time and eating bird seed in a feeder a good 6/8 foot up a tree.)

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Loch Ba walk

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Desperate to get out of the house and enjoy the scenery here on Mull, we drove Minty to Knock near Ben More, parked up at Knock Farm and began a walk on the south west of the Loch - 2 miles out and 2 miles back in windy, icy, and cold conditions.

But what a walk! Bracing yes, but the views and atmosphere of being alone in the wild weather wonderful.

It turned out to be a nice 4 mile walk with great views and chatting. After the walk we drove alongside Loch Na Keal toward the “Burg” (Ardmeanach) with the intention of having lunch. But the wind was that wild and rotary that two doors of the campervan were snatched out of my hands; so we enjoyed the views and then drove home to Tobermory for lunch.

Full photos can be seen on Flickr.

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When suffering from serenity.

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And that is what I am suffering from, and boy am I happy to be in such a state. This is a culmination of really working on myself, help from others, and some quality reading. And lastly living on a beautiful island in the Inner Hebrides, which has made such an impact to my mental well being.

Crater Loch as known locally (which is not actually a crater and is instead a glacial feature.)

I now enter my 12th week of living full time on the Isle of Mull in Tobermory and that’s not a great deal of time when I think about it. Roughly two and a half months. And what a good two and a half months, with each day getting better and better. And what is better?

Better is a sense of peace, where I don’t miss the rush, the litter, the depravation, the claustrophobia, and behaviour of people in Tameside and Dukinfield where I last lived after we sold the house in Mossley. I don’t wish to slag off or critise Tameside, but the district of Manchester is a result of its governance and people.

It’s Council is Labour, and from my own experience is too long in power, untouchable, and pooly run with a number of Councillors riding a gravy train.

It’s residents seem for the most part not to have an interest in where they live, or the people around them. A crying shame for those that do care.

It is said that one should not do a geographical to escape unhappiness as you only take your head with you, but in some cases that is not the case and I can safely say the move out of all of the sh*t in both Mossley and Dukinfield was the most inspired and correct thing to do.

But it all comes down to change and the adage, “nothing changes, if nothing changes”. Embrace change as this is what I did. Is it frightening? Yes. Is it unpredicatable? Yes Can it go wrong? Yes.

My advice is do something of change that you have dreamed of, but never had the courage to carry out. Take that leap of faith.

Looking out over the sea toward Rum and Eigg.

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Saturday 4th January - from Craignuire to Oban and back again.

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Sat very comfortably and at the right temperature on the MV Isle of Mull as she chugs her way to Craignuire from Oban, where I’ve been since Thursday evening. I thought I’d post some photos that I took last night of Oban as I wandered back to the YHA where I stayed over. Cresent Moon and the night lights of Oban.

Looking forward to catching up with Wifey who has driven from Tobermory to pick me up at Craignuire.

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A second day of 2025 and what a walk

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Typing here in Oban in the YHA, nice and toasty, and enjoying the silence after the bedlam of a young family being rounded up for bed. It has been a rather good day. I was up early, reading away, spotted a group of female red deer using the garden, to then have a little lie down, followed by a lovely bracing costal walk near Glengorm Castle at Sorne Point by the ruined fort at Dun Ara, where we checked out the bathing pool, in fact a natural man made harbour of possible Norse origin that the fort guarded.

All the photos and videos for the day can be found online at Flickr.

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Turning on the Tobermory Christmas Lights

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Last night on Main Street, Tobermory, saw the turning on of the Christmas lights.

What a wonderful experience last night being part of the Isle of Mull community as we all saw the Christmas Tractor parade, children choir singing carols, the Tobermory Choir singing carols, Ukulele playing and singing of carols, a raffle, Banjo Beale judging shop fronts, then the countdown to the turning on of the lights.

Full photos and videos can be found at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/petercobley/0t5Cy5zpU1

Tobermory photos. found us. End of the week.

Vivid sunset one morning this week from the house about Tobermory

Sunday 1st December, end of the week, start of a new month and the run up to Christmas. I have had a productive week and one for the most part run on serenity.

I’ve mused over found us, my consultancy business, and am happy with work I have put into the website when consolidating what found us stands for, and for that matter me. It is a business that ultimately helps people, and is an exposition of my world view; give back what was freely given to you. And it is a shame a lot of people in advertising, marketing, and media don’t give back and possess a myopic world view that revolves around ego and self.

I think I demonstrate with found us that there is another way, that one is rich when one gives in business, in life. Monetary and material things naturally follow, but if one is not solely tied to the material world then they do not matter, and less attention is spent trying to screw people over.

Anyway, I think I’ll post some spectacular photos of Tob (how the locals refer to Tobermory), and why? Because the photos may make people think about making change. Claire and I make a major geographical change, that has helped drive change in self; whilst also dumping what I now realise were tenuous relationships with some not so nice people at the Saddleworth Runners.

A vivid sunrise and two photos of a frosty Tobermory, taken from Main Street

This week saw mixed weather to say the least. As fortune would have it the end of the week, Saturday evening, saw nice mild weather for the Tobermory turning on of the Christmas lights, which was wonderful. Read about it in the next post!

My God, its full of stars. I could not resist that with these two photos of Mull at night.

Swimming Thursday night at Aros Park, looking toward Tobermory

There is swimming and then there is swimming.

Looking back to Craignuire on the Oban ferry from Mull, and snow capped hills

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Day and night in Tobermory

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A post on Tobermory, a place of day and night in terms of living here. In a few mere hours we can see two very different Tobermory’s.

For me this is the delight of the island that is Mull. No one moment is the same visually, but then again is that not life?

Sunday morning of the 17th November 2024

The same view on the evening of Sunday 17th November 2024

It is Monday the 18th just after 5pm as I type. It is fresh but mild outside if that makes sense, and with no rain. We await potential snow as does the rest of the country, especially those in high places. So I may soon see my first snow on the Isle of Mull.

Was down on Main Street earlier, about a couple of hours ago, to do some shopping at the Coop, and it is cheese cake for pudding tonight!

Looking down Main Street this evening

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Isle of Mull Cheese (Sgriob-ruadh Dairy Farm and Distillery)

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A walk with The Boss today for lovely coffee, cheese and venison toasties, and cake at the Isle of Mull’s very own cheese factory (and distillery.)

The Glass Barn (photo courtesy of Isle of Mull Cheese.)

Yes it was a bit nippy and windy, and we got hit with a rain squall as we walked up from the house, but it was worth it - for the food, the café interior, its shop, and the wonderful company of my wife.

Isle of Mull Cheese is well know and produces wonderful cheese; spirits from the whey by-product of the cheese production. The site is one in the same as the dairy, so a wonderful experience for a family and children.

The interior is rustic, as though from a classic Constable painting or Cider with Rosie. It feels to be transported back to olden days, or days of youth. For me another discovery to be found on Mull.

The Glass Barn (1st photo courtesy of Isle of Mull Cheese.)

The walk back saw no rain but great views looking out and over into the Sound of Mull. I got to say hello to a moo cow.

The view from the dairy farm. And a moo cow.

Don't use Vodafone. From a customer who was with them for nearly 20 years.

I can safely say that Vodafone has gone down hill and the organisation would not know customer service even if it bit Vodafone on the bottom. Very hard on the bottom in fact. I say this as a customer from 1995 who left about 3 months ago this year.

  1. I originally acquired my Motorola flip analogue phone (yes analogue) back in 1995 from Carphone Warehouse (yes, I am that old.)

  2. The provider was Talkland, to be acquired by Vodafone.

  3. And believe it or not I stayed with them based on contract phones, other other tech, e.g. iPads, and their customer service and their being British.

  4. By 2024, I possessed an iPhone 13 on contract, my paying approximately £60pcm, V-Home, and Multitracker.

  5. I’d run my Mum’s phone as well via Vodafone.

  6. So I spent a lot of money over the years.

  7. One key reason for Vodafone was and is their network coverage, especially data.

So what did I notice?

By 2022 I reckon Vodafone had begun to turn into a shit show in terms of customer service, and certainly the case by the time I left in 2024.

What shocked me was my simply requesting the PAC code and Vodafone doing sod all.

  1. Shit customer service, when you could get through to a agent.

  2. Waiting times, not to mention the impenetrable and hard to navigate voice system, to then meet (normally and by no means my criticism of culture) a foreign language agent following a script unable to make decisions, and for the most part possessing bad product knowledge, with a failure to understand simple customer needs.

  3. Though when speaking to technical specialists I can say they did know their stuff.

  4. To then make matters worse Vodafone simply exited its V-Home portfolio of products, saying “bye bye” without some much as offering an alternative or saying sorry.

  5. On enquiring of EE off the back of shifting address with our BT home package I was astounded as to cost savings, service, native British speaking agents, better customer App and UI.

Conclusion

If anyone from Vodafone reads this I am glad to be out. You need to sort your customer services out. You prices stink. You let customers down, including me, as to V-Home. In fact you seem to flippantly deal with your customers. And lastly no effort whatsoever was made to retain a loyal customer of 20+ years.

So in the words of Lilly Allen…..

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Time in Tobermory. Time with Wifey. Time with the Parents-in-Law.

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Well I type as I watch vintage TV which I always enjoy with Claire and her parents in the house in Tobermory. Two Ronnies at the moment and very funny. I do think at times contemporary comedy crap.

This was this first full day in Tobermory and what a day. Claire off to school for her last day of term, with a half day then the hols, with a trip on the ferry to Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsular with fellow teachers for a meal. And they were very merry when I met them off the ferry. Ahem. All the more amusing as some of the soccer playing school girls bumped into them outside the Co Op and asked if they’d been drinking. He he he.

We bought fish and chips from the harbour and walked up to the house.

Earlier in the day Claire had headed for school whilst we pottered around at the house, with my eventually getting my arse in gear to put the running gear on and head up to Crater Loch: Lochan 'S Airde Beinn. A loch that sits in an ancient volcanic crater about 3 miles outside of Tobermory and accessed next to three lochs. It is a pleasant climb out of Tobermory on the Dervaig Road before you come off the road and climb a mile to the crater.

It is a spectacular sight, and maybe more so for me because of the strong wind, low grey clouds, and sense of isolation with my being the only person there. It is a highly recommended run or walk.

I ran back to shower to then walk with Josie and Ronnie to meet Claire at An Tobar (arts centre) across the road from where she teaches.

We were meeting there for drinks and food as next door at 2pm was a concert The Scottish Coast by the Inchcolm New Music Ensemble over from Herriot-Watt University with its Director of Music, Matthew Brown, someone I went to school with, sang with, performed with. A very talented, lovely fellow.

I’d had no idea at all about the concert and luckily a mutual school friend, Gareth Hatch, had spotted a Facebook post by Matthew and let me know. And I am so glad he did. The concert magical in the atmospheric Parish Church next to An Tobar. Matthew and his parents who were there, delighted to see us all. It made for good conversation.

The last piece (will need to find its name) was wonderful.

Ah, Tobermory. I love you every time I come.