20 – Bill O’Neill – What We Do In The Winter

In this episode I talk with Bill O’Neill of Ceann Cuin, near Penmore outside of Dervaig.   Born in Stirling within spitting distance of the castle, Bill grew up in the Raploch.
He was a soldier in Cypress and Libya, and on returning to the UK lived and worked in Sheffield, Stirling and then Sheffield again, before settling on Mull in 1989.

Bill and his wife Jackie live in the house he built with his own hands over the course of 8 years, without the aid of power tools.

We talk about his childhood in the Raploch, his years in service, working at Cruachan, and various driving jobs before we come on to his life on Mull towards the last third of the podcast.

It is at this point that I should make a declaration of interest, as Bill is my father in law and Grumpa to my son, Coll.

I had a few issues with my equipment during the recording, so I’m quite low in the mix. Which is probably quite a good thing. Also there’s a pitch invasion by Fingal, one of our cats, so there’s quite a lot of purring at one point, as he rubs himself against the microphone.

Episode Links:

The Raploch

Riverside School baths

The Hunchback of Notre Damme Staring Charles Laughton.

Billy Bremner

St Ninians, Stirling