Loch Ness Monster Explained

Chapter 13c - MY MONSTER - VIPs

One of the most interesting aspects to running the Loch Ness Centre was meeting celebrities and dignitaries.

On one occasion, the Foreign Office of the British Government had organised a tour of Scotland for the President of Kiribati, a small group of Pacific Islands.

I had the pleasure of showing them around the centre and taking them on to one of Scotland's absolute gems – a small country house hotel called Knockie Lodge which, regretfully is now closed and has reverted to a private residence.

In the eighties, it was owned and run by the Milwards of needle fame. Ian and Brenda did all the hosting themselves and when staying there you felt like one of the family. When the Kiribati party arrived, the very first thing the ladies did was kick off their shoes and they walked barefoot throughout the rest of their stay. Touring Scottish businesses was probably completely alien to them and when the president had casually asked if he could see an oil rig, a helicopter was immediately organised and the entire party flown out to a working North Sea oil platform. Fascinating for them and fascinating hearing them talking about the amazing things our government had laid on for them.

Sometimes it is a surprise to meet some individuals. David McCallum, for instance, was a tiny man ... and to think a teenage girlfriend of mine was so besotted with Illya Kuryakin, his "Man From Uncle" persona, that she broke up with me.

I met both the Japanese Prince Naruhito and his sister on the separate occasions when they travelled to the loch to find out about Nessie, and there were endless television crews with famous and not so famous presenters.

The Highlands and Islands Development Board regularly invited me to dine with visiting travel writers and press crews and it was always interesting to see how their opinions on Nessie changed the more they discovered.

Behind all of this, however, my relationship with Ronnie Bremner was deteriorating and he piled more and more tasks upon me which really were nothing to do with business.

On days off I would get phone calls asking me to go off to some rugby match and film it for him because a golfing buddy was playing; or go and film his solicitor's wedding. Interestingly, recently I was talking to the solicitor's ex-wife (now divorced) and she told me Ronnie had recorded over most of the wedding video I'd filmed and, even more interesting, that her husband had come home the night of my meeting with Bremner in his office (described previously) and he said, according to her, "Ronnie Bremner has stitched up Tony Harmsworth." Too late to do anything about it then, of course.

His financial demands upon the business were also becoming excessive and squeezed my planned budgets and made my life increasingly difficult.

Then he decided to buy the Clansman Hotel (image at top of page), about seven miles along the road towards Inverness.

More debt, and the refurbishment took more than he could afford. The goose which was laid the golden egg, the exhibition, was being financially strangled while money was being thrown away on unnecessary expansion.

His abuse towards me was wrecking my life. Somehow, I had to get away from this distressing relationship.

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(C) 2018 Tony Harmsworth