Inverness man making an emotional pilgrimage to the scene of his grandfather’s wartime heroics
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
David Balfour is taking part in a cycling fundraiser in the Nordic wilds in a trip with both purpose and poignancy
The bicycle-daft 60-year-old is cycling in aid of the 'World at Play' charity.
Mr Balfour's mum's father, the late Philip Sheridan, spent part of World War II serving on 'The Shetland Bus', a clandestine ferry-shuttle operation which took spies and supplies by fishing boat from Scalloway to Sotra island near Bergen.
The vessels, travelling under cover of darkness in often perilous North Sea conditions, were constantly at threat of destruction by German aircraft and patrol boats. They also rescued refugees fleeing atrocity in Norway.
After completing the 300-mile cycle around Norway's largest and deepest fjord, Sognefjord, and up into 'The Land of the Giants' - the country's highest mountains - Mr Balfour will complete his travels at Telavåg village on Sotra.
"That's where the Shetland Bus used to land," Mr Balfour, of Holm Park, said. "It is a place written into Norwegian national consciousness as the Germans eventually deported the entire male population to Auschwitz.
"Like most of his generation, my grandad never talked about the war, but I discovered he was part of some remarkable things.
"It is nearly 20 years since he died, but it will be quite poignant to visit.
"He had a few strokes in later life and we used to think he was talking gobbledegook when, in fact, we later discovered he had actually been speaking Norwegian.
"I loved my grandad. He was remarkable, but a very quiet, lovely man who ended up a bus driver in Dundee. He was somebody I really looked up to when I was wee.
"I've visited Scalloway, where the Shetland bus left from, so this will be like closing the circle for me.”
Mr Balfour, a father and grandfather, said World at Play's work struck a chord with him.
"It’s a wee charity that does big things for children in refugee camps across the world," he explained. "They provide play and sports schemes in places like Turkey, Africa and Kosovo.
"These are kids who have been robbed of their childhood, so they need someone to go and teach them how to be kids again."
