Work Hard, Play Hard

Here at CSS we very much support the ethos of work hard, play hard. After a busy week, I took the opportunity to spend some quality time with my son and go hill walking.

As Lewis and I made our way up the Aonach Eagach ridge walk in Glen Coe, I was overcome with how tough the walk potentially could be as it was a particularly hot day. As we continued along the ridge I was finding it tougher and tougher, but I pushed myself on.

Despite the uphill battle, at the peak of this beautiful ridge walk and for five glorious hours we saw Scotland in all her splendour and magnificence, reminding me why I wanted Lewis and I to experience this together. That fuzzy feeling of being truly alive and a sense of achievement and well being will stay with him for the rest of his life, which is exactly what I wanted.

Eventually, it was time to make our way back down the Mountain – an easy undertaking you would think. Wrong! I was absolutely knackered, making the trek back down that little bit harder.

At the end of the walk, it occurred to me exactly why I was so short of breathe and jelly legged. It was about thirty years ago I last did the Aonach Eagach ridge walk and I was probably about two stone lighter at the time as well. Walking back to the car Lewis turned to me and said if he had a son then he would do this exact walk again with him and this was truly the cherry on the cake for me.

We were away all day and hardly spent a penny. We shared our pieces and for once there was no mobile phone signal meaning a mobile free day. The rest of the world was just the same as it was when we started our walk but the two of us got to bond and create wonderful memories together.

Paul Connelly

Managing Director, CSS