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Ninety-year-old Olive Whitcombe and 88-year-old Rene Carter have been coming to Arran on holiday for 27 years. They have made so many friends over the years that they have become affectionately known as the London Ladies.
The island is a world apart from their home in the centre of London but the ladies love their three-week break here every summer. Olive and Rene always stay at Sandbraes and two years ago many of their Arran friends threw a surprise 25th anniversary party for them.
Olive said: ‘In the early days we used to cycle but now we prefer to take the bus.
‘We cycled everywhere but when we got to 70 years old it was time to give that up. The Island bus service has improved so much since 1982.
‘We used to come up from London on the overnight sleeper. We still come by train and it costs just under £70 return from Euston to Ardrossan and we get assistance with baggage at Glasgow Central.’
The ladies live in Westminster near to the Tate Britain gallery. Rene said: ‘We look forward to coming back to Arran each year. Everybody talks to us here; in London they just look the other way.’
