I first moved to Inverness almost four years ago from Carlisle and it would appear that I am moving back to the Cumbrian capital next month (if all goes well with the new flat).

I left the Inverness Courier last month because I felt I wanted a new challenge and, after writing on spec to the News & Star where I worked previously, I was offered work as the local democracy reporter.

Basically that would involve reporting on meetings of the newly formed Cumberland Council.

There used to be six district councils and a county council, including Carlisle City Council as well as Cumbria County Council, but they have been replaced by two unitary authorities – Westmorland and Furness as well as Cumberland – which harks back to the old days before the boundaries were changed.

The wheels have been set in motion and hopefully my start date will be in July – I have applied for a flat in the same block where I used to live and I am just waiting to hear back from the letting agent.

I have made a good start on packing up the flat but one complication is that I need to travel to Birmingham for a four day course. Having said that the content of the course looks quite interesting.

I have enjoyed working in the Highlands and I like the area. Loch Ness is just down the road and I live five miles from Culloden battlefield. As I have an interest in Scottish history it was perfect.

Hopefully I will be able to get back to regular posts once I have moved to Carlisle but as you can imagine I might be a bit pre-occupied with all the arrangements in the next few weeks eh?