New book set in Sutherland
Ralph Cross
A new fantasy book which will be available in print later this month, is partly set in one of Sutherland’s most scenic spots, Raven’s Rock at Rosehall.
The Bend in the River, is the second offering from the pen of Herefordshire based lawyer and entrepreneur turned author, Ralph Cross.
His first venture into fiction, a gripping drama entitled Diamond Fire, is also largely set in Sutherland.
Ralph’s choice of the county as the backdrop for his storylines comes as no surprise as it has played an important part in his own life. Indeed he says he regards Sutherland as his ‘spiritual home.’
"I just love Sutherland. I just love everything about it; the places, the people - everything. I am happy in empty places," he says.
The 65-year-old lived in the Strathoykel and Bonar Bridge areas for around 20 years, from the early 1980s until 2001.
He explains: "After qualifying as a solicitor, I worked in England for many years but I had a house in Strathoykel and used to visit regularly.
"Eventually I grew tired of running my own legal practice and just wanted to live in Sutherland permanently so I decided to make the move.
A born businessman, Ralph, was not stuck for a means to earn a living. Along with his then wife, he set up a home delivery business, selling fresh foods, fruit and vegetables from door-to-door.
The venture flourished with the couple expanding into railway catering. They also established various fruit and flower retail outlets.
"We started running catering trollies on trains running between Inverness and the North and down to Kyle," recalls Ralph
"From that we established fruit and flower shops throughout Scotland - mainly located at railway stations. We also had a flower stand at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness."
Ralph will probably best be remembered locally as the owner of the former Caledonian Hotel in Bonar Bridge which he purchased in 1995. He ran a delicatessen from the hotel called The Trading Post.
Those with a long memory may also recall another of his brilliantly creative business ideas - airboat tours of the Kyle of Sutherland, believed to be the first such service for tourists in Northern Europe.
"After we got the hotel, we realised that having a water front was important and we wanted our visitors to enjoy a water related activity," he says. "I’d travelled a lot in the states and had seen airboats in operation in the Florida Everglades."
Ralph sold up and left Sutherland in 2001 for personal reasons. He initially lived in the West Midlands before settling in Herefordshire.
Life has come full circle for him in that he is once again living in England and practicing as a solicitor. But his creative streak is still very much in evidence, only this time as a published writer.
"Writing has been in my blood since school days," he reveals. ."When I was living in Sutherland, the magnificent surroundings spurred me to compose short stories for my children."
Along with three friends, he has formed a company, Trading Post Publishing, through which to market his work. He is very disciplined about his writing and is normally to be found at his computer by around 6.30 or 7am. He writes for at least three to four hours, five days a week.
His first published novel, Diamond Fire, is a gripping drama with its hero, self-made, wealthy jeweller Ian Sandison who stumbles over the body of his business partner in their office in Hatton Garden.
He then loses his business, his home, and all the trappings of his luxury life and seeks solace in the empty places of the North of Scotland.
Says Ralph: "This is the first book in a planned trilogy chronicling families where ruthless behaviour, including murder, becomes common place."
Meanwhile The Bend in the River relates a journey made by two foxes, a vixen and her precocious cub, many hundreds of miles back to the place where the vixen had been born – the gorge of Raven’s Rock at Rosehall.
Says Ralph: "I actually wrote the first draft of The Bend in the River when I was living in Sutherland. After my move south, it sat in a box for some time while I became engrossed in Diamond Fire."
The new book is already available on Amazon Kindle and a printed version will be available on 17th June. For further information visit www.ralphcross.co.uk
