UKC

In 1976 I was walking through a then-wrecked Huaraz, in Peru, when 'Farewell' by Rod Stewart came blaring out of an adobe shack.

In 1992 I was in a beach bar in Freetown, being shaken down by a local squaddie, when a(white) busker started playing 'Streets of London.'

And today, in a Provencal town near Avignon, a really rubbish jazz combo celebrating Labour Day in the square struck up with ... 'Dirty Old Town.'

Weird, or what.

Several years ago I was walking up Musala in Bulgaria on my own in miserable wet conditions. Reached the Everest shelter near the top to hear "Why does it always rain on me?" by Travis belting out.

I think for me it was hearing Roger Whittaker's "I've gotta leave old Durham Town" coming out of a shiny HiFi to a mixture of voices haggling in Russian and Highland dialect (and pointing out what a good product it was for the price) in the Post office in Ullapool some time in the 1980s.  The Russian I suppose was from one of the Klondikers out in the bay wanting something to take home.

Like a scene from "Local Hero".

Back in March 2012 I was at Stanage Plantation with Ralph, one of my long-term climbing partners and a very good mate. We were savouring the joys of retirement and mid-week cragging. It was a glorious Spring day and it felt like we had the whole edge to ourselves. Gradually we became aware of a strange music drifting up from somewhere in Hope valley: the skirl of bagpipes swirling on the breeze. It accompanied us all the way up Pot Black (E2 5b) as we creaked our way out of winter rustiness. We surmised  it must be some poor exiled Scot adrift in the Peak and indulging some Celtic melancholy. We sat on top surveying our kingdom, enjoying the distant lone piper and gazing at all the time we had ahead of ourselves, planning future trips and escapades. Our last climb together was less than 18 months later. Shortly after Ralph was dead of a brain tumour. The moment will be forever precious to me.

We were in the boondocks of Mongolia where a Kazakh father and daughter duo, were regaling us with traditional tunes, when they suddenly burst into a rendition of Rod Stewart's "Sailing".

E2 5b - my favourite grade! Sorry about your mate though.