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Friday, 16 July, 2010

Home

After leaving London Heathrow Airport to fly to Melbourne our first stop was at Copenhagen for a short stopover before boarding our SAS flight to Bangkok, which left Copenhagen at 10:25 pm, five minutes before schedule,. SAS claim to be the most punctual airline in the world and the flighst we had with them this trip certainly enhanced that reputation.

We arrived in Bangkok fifteen minutes ahead of schedule with a ten hour wait before our Thai Airline flight to Melbourne but SAS provided a room at the Novotel Airport Hotel, just ten minutes from the airport. This enabled us to have a swim, a nap and a shower and put on fresh clothes for our last leg.

We arrived back at the airport and hour or so before departure and we were advised at the Thai business lounge to allow plenty of time to walk to the departure lounge as it was a kilometre away. We probably walked past 700 metres of shops on the way and then had to wait for an additional half an hour before we could board, and then they discovered a passenger hadn’t boarded but his luggage had, so it was another hour and a half before they found his two bags and removed them. Then to add to the late night every time they started serving the meal we hit some turbulence and everyone had to return to their seat, so it was after 3:00 am before we finished dinner. In spite of the early morning we probably managed nearly five hours sleep and we were only a little over one hour late when we landed.

A quick check through customs and without a wait our bags came out on the carousel so we would soon be heading home. Wrong!! When I went to pull up the handle on my case there wasn’t one so we had to go through the procedure of reporting damaged luggage and then I had to carry the case as I couldn’t wheel it.

In spite of the delays we were home just before 4:00 pm, 45 hours since we left my cousin’s house in Kent on Wednesday morning.

A wonderful holiday and now we have all those mundane matters to attend to, check nine weeks mail, mow lawns, weed the gardens, prune the roses and try to find my car and front door key which have hidden themselves in our absence.

Now to start planning our next holiday.

Homeward Bound

Wednesday, 14 July, 2010

London – Heathrow Airport

I’m writing this in the SAS Business Class lounge waiting for our flight to Copenhagen which will depart in two hours. This is the start of a 33 hour trip to Melbourne which includes a 9 ½ hour stop over in Bangkok but at least SAS put us up in a hotel so we won’t be stuck in a transit lounge.

Since writing my last Blog we have travelled to Maidstone in Kent to spend some time with a cousin and her family. A pleasant few days doing nothing except talking and a little family tree research, just what we needed to recharge the batteries before our flight home.

I may add to the Blog in Copenhagen or Bangkok or the "sign off" paragraph may be written at home. However after nine weeks we are ready to return home.

London

Friday, 8 July, 2010

London – Hampton Court Flower Show

After breakfast we caught the underground from Earls Court, changed at Wimbledon onto the South West line for Hampton Court and walked to Hampton Court Palace to visit the Hampton Court Flower Show which we were told was equal to the Chelsea Flower Show.

This was the 21^st year the show has been held and the theme this year was based on Shakespeare’s plays and the first area of the show we visited included small gardens, Shakespeare’s comedies scarecrow competition for children and all the entries were based on a Midsummer’s Night Dream. Nearby were gardens with themes from the plays, “As You Like It”, “The Merchant of Venice”, “The Taming of the Shrew”, “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” and others. In front of these gardens a group of actors presented snippets from the plays which were very entertaining.

Our next stop was to the floral marquee which was over 200 m. long and contained displays from well over a hundred commercial plant and flower growers and most had produced very innovative displays, literally works of art to showcase their plants.

After lunch we visited another marquee featuring food and drink from small producers and many offering small samples of their wares, a sip of wine here, a piece of pork sausage there, some cheese, pickles, soup and many other little nibbles, we should have visited before lunch. Leaving the marquee we wandered past dozens of stands offering everything from floral “wellies” country clothing, gardening tools, sculptures, through to glass houses, outdoor furniture and cottages.

From the commercial area we walked through many show gardens with various themes, sustainable, bee gardens, the UK has lost a large percentage of their honey and bumble bees and there is a nation wide campaign to plant gardens to encourage bees. Other gardens showed the changes of plants over the past hundred years and what may occur if these trends aren’t reversed. A most interesting garden was the Shakespeare garden which was growing plants and vegetable that would have been found in the Bard’s time, one of the plants was the white carrot which preceded the orange carrot by a hundred or more years.

After walking past all the theme gardens we entered the rose marquee which as well as displays from many rose breeders and growers there were many other commercial plant growers’ displays. London has been experiencing hot weather over the last few days and today’s 30C+ temperatures have badly effected the displays and the roses in particular were wilting and dropping petals as were many other plants and with two more days to go the growers were very worried as they didn’t have back up plants or roses to cut for their displays. Visitors on Saturday and Sunday may be confronted by a lot of “dead heads”.

After nearly eight hours at the show we walked around 1 ½ km to the station to be greeted by rail staff telling us to form a queue to enter the station, the queue tailed back onto the bridge over the Thames and we had to wait nearly half an hour before we entered the station and were lucky to obtain a seat on the train. Arriving back at Earls Court ten hours after we left, our first stop was at a pub for two pints of the best and some fish and chips and then back to the hotel for a large pot of tea, we then felt that we had restored our fluid balance which in spite of drinking a lot of water at the show was at a low level.

Saturday, 10 July, 2010

London – Ham House

At home we have a book written by an acquaintance which is a modern day murder mystery and all the action is at Ham House on the bank of the River Thames at Richmond, as we had never visited Ham House before we thought it was time we did.

Ham House was built in 1610 and in 1626 William Murray, a childhood friend of Charles I leased the property and later as a reward for his services, Charles gave the freehold of the estate to Murray. After the Civil War and execution of Charles, Murray fled to France and left his wife Katherine and four daughters to manage the estate. After Katherine’s death the eldest daughter was able to retain the estate by apparently supporting Cromwell but all the time working to see Charles II restored to the throne. Following her father’s death, Elizabeth’s title as Countess was confirmed by Charles II and the house and estate remained in the family until the 1940s when it was passed to the National Trust.

Much of the original furnishings and room decorations remain almost untouched or had been restored by later generations so Ham House has many features dating back to the late 16 early 1700s. The Trust has also restored some of the gardens using the original plans and plants from these times, though the vegetable garden is probably only a tenth of its original size as the Trust depends on two gardeners and volunteers to maintain the gardens.

Leaving the house and gardens we walked down to the Thames to sit and watch “people messing around in boats” before returning to Earls Court and as it was still in the 30Cs we purchased some salad and cold chicken and walked to Holland Park to eat dinner.

Tomorrow we leave London.

London - Eventually

Thursday, 8 July, 2010

Cheshunt (Lee Valley YH) to Earls Court, London

Today was the end of our car hire and we were due to return the car To Earls Court by 10:00 am which according to a printout of roads to follow, it was about 21 miles from the hostel to the depot and to allow for slow traffic we gave ourselves 1 ½ hours to complete the trip. The way roads are marked in the UK makes it very easy to navigate by following the road numbers and there isn’t any need to know the street and road names and the directions usually don’t includes names.

The directions made navigation simple and the traffic was moving freely so when we were about ten miles from our destination we stopped to fill up with petrol, right to the top, as the tank would still show full when we arrived. All went well for around another five miles when we had to turn off the A503 onto the A4201 for a mile and then onto the A501 for a mile and then three other “A” roads to arrive at Earls Court.

We were starting to congratulate ourselves on how well we were doing and we were going to arrive at the depot on time, when our confidence was dashed, there wasn’t an A4201 signposted or painted on the road, so we turned in what we hoped was the direction we needed until we were totally lost. The only road number we spotted was for the A502 but that was in the wrong direction. Stopping to ask for help we were sent in the opposite direction and after several more twists and turns we arrived back almost to where we asked for help.

Taking a different direction we spotted a sign for the A503 in the direction we had come from and arriving back at Campden we made a “U” turn and started again, with the same result. We again sought help and we were told that where we had turned left previously we should have turned right, this was alright until we arrived at the intersection to find it was one way and we had to turn left but after a few right hand turns we were able to enter the road we wanted. Driving along crossing Harley Street, past Madame Tussauds and over Baker Street we thought we were back on track until we entered the Marylebone Flyover which wasn’t on our directions and appeared to be taking us to a motorway. Panic!!!

By now we were resigned with having to pay an additional day’s rental for a late return when we saw a slip road and an Earls Court sign and luckily at every turn, Earls Court was either painted on the road or there was a signpost pointing us in the direction. Eventually we found ourselves in Earls Court road and a right turn brought us to our hotel where we double parked to unload our luggage on the footpath and I set off to find a service station and the depot and when I arrived I was nearly 1 ¾ hours late. Listening to my tale of woe they didn’t charge me for the late return.

Walking back to our hotel I found that Ann had been assisted to take the cases inside and was checked in to our room, after lunch we walked around to the underground station to purchase Oyster (travel) Cards, so we are set to find our way to Hampton Court Palace tomorrow for the flower show.

Still moving South

Saturday, 3 July, 2010

Once Brewed (Hadrian’s Wall) to Ambleside

We set off on what should be an easy drive to the Lakes District but because of the route we had chosen we were soon back on narrow winding lanes, some of the time through woodlands and other times through open fells with hundreds of grazing sheep, after about forty miles we reached a large dual lane road near Penrith but we only had four miles before branching off for the Lakes.

Just before the turn off a large tourist coach cut in front of us and entered the lane first. The lane actually has an “A” classification but it was still a winding narrow country lane. The coach drove at around 20 mph and soon had twenty or more cars strung out behind, it was so wide that cars coming towards it had difficulty passing and at one stage there was a small truck parked on the side of the road and it took the coach five minutes to squeeze past.

After driving in second gear for about eight miles we saw a National Trust sign for Aira Force, a waterfall, and drove into the car park to give the coach time to get out of our way, eight other cars followed us in.

From the car park we walked for about two hours over a gravel and rocky track through woods, actually walking for quite a way past the falls as from the side we were on it didn’t appear very large and there weren’t any signs to indicate its location. A NT officer told us that they had removed the signs as people kept turning them around. Walking back on the opposite side of the stream we came to a small stone bridge from where we could look back up a narrow gorge to the falls and from this position it was far more impressive.

Leaving the falls we had an unimpeded drive for about ten minutes until we caught up with a motor home, so it was back to second gear through the hills with some ascents and descents with up to 20% inclines. At the top of the Kirkstone Pass we branched off on another even narrower lane, totally lined on both side with stone walls, it was called the struggle and the slopes were even steeper than before so I suppose coming up really was a struggle. After three miles we emerged at the town of Ambleside, whose streets were nearly as narrow and winding as the lanes we had been driving along.

Ambleside is at the top of Lake Windermere and being a Saturday there were thousands of tourists about and the traffic was bumper to bumper. The hostel is on the edge of the lake at Waterhead about two miles from Ambleside and about three miles from Windermere and our window looks out over the lake, a lovely view.

After we checked in to the hostel we walked along the road for a mile or so to Stagshaw Gardens, which is just steep woodlands with azaleas and rhododendrons scattered through the trees, unfortunately they had all finished flowering. We walked on for about two miles towards Windermere and then caught the bus back to the hostel and sat on the edge of the lake enjoying the sun until it was time to cook tea.

Sunday, 4 July, 2010

Ambleside to Tideswell (Ravenstor YH)

Looking out the window this morning we were greeted with heavy rain, what happened to yesterday’s sunshine?

The only thing planned for today is to pick a route that will avoid Leeds, Bradford and Manchester, so we spent quite a while picking roads that would keep us in the country and small villages and take us through the Peak District. This involved selecting a route along twelve different roads, though some were the usual narrow, winding lanes but we achieved our objective and only touched the outskirts of a couple of minor towns.

Apart from a lunch stop high in the Peak District National Park we drove straight through to the youth hostel arriving at 2:30 and were delighted to find that it was a 24 hour access hostel so we were able to check in and relax. On entering our room Ann commented, I thought we had booked a private room with en-suite, nor a cupboard with bunks and en-suite, it was that small, but the beds were clean and comfortable and in spite of 30+ young teenage girl students staying at the hostel on a geography study trip, we enjoyed a good night’s sleep.

The next couple of days we will spend with relatives, so we probably won’t have anything interesting to report.

Monday, 5 July, 2010

Tideswell (Ravenstor YH) to Nuneaton

The plan today was to drive straight through to Nuneaton but owing to turning left instead of right we found a NT property, Sudbury Hall a Jacobean residence. The house isn’t open on Monday but the Museum of Childhood which is in part of the house was open.

The museum has many different rooms and the first was devoted to child labour, children working in the mines from the age of 8, boys working as chimney sweeps at the age of 6 and many other examples of children working in factories and farms.

The other rooms in the exhibition had items more for children’s enjoyment than exploitation with display cases of toys, games, dolls and many other items for the amusement of children from the 1700s to modern times. In all the rooms there were games, toys and other items for children to play with while their parents looked at the displays and commented “I used to have one of those”. Another room was set up as a late 1800s, early 1900s class room with many old classroom items, including slates and desks with inkwells (though these could have been 1960s era), old maps, attendance books and discipline items.

A most interesting display overall and one item that caught the eye of a few, if they looked up, was the complete child’s bedroom fixed to the ceiling of one of the rooms, looking up it was as if we were looking at a mirror on the ceiling reflecting the room below, it must have taken a lot of time and patience to fix the bed, computer desk and chair, shoes, games on the carpet and dozens of other items from the child’s bedroom.

Overall a most comprehensive display which combines the collection of a few enthusiastic toy collectors, together with many items from the last ten years or so, these together with all the hands on items for the children makes it an ideal place for a family visit and I’m sure the adults enjoyed it just as much as the children.

Tuesday, 6 July, 2010

Nuneaton

The first day we have been able to sit and relax and apart from going out to lunch with our relative we just sat and read.

Tomorrow back on the road again.

Wednesday, 7 July, 2010

Nuneaton to Cheshunt (Lee Valley YH)

Following the advice of my cousin we headed off in the direction of London on the A5 and after about 20 miles we joined the M1. We usually try to avoid the motorways but at this time of the day the traffic isn’t very heavy so driving wasn’t a white knuckle event. About 50 miles on the M1 we were going to turn off at junction 6a to join the M25 but the sign said to Heathrow which was the opposite direction so we continued on and left at the next junction and eventually picked up the M25 only to find that we were heading to Heathrow, exiting at the first junction and doing a 360 degree lap on the roundabout we finally headed in the correct direction to the youth hostel.

Lee Valley YH is a purpose built hostel with a main building containing conference rooms, and dining facilities and the accommodation is in a series of A Frame lodges. On the ground floor is a little kitchenette and three twin rooms and upstairs two dormitories, the only problem being that the upstairs dorms have a school group in residence, we hope the teachers are in the building.

The hostel is beside the River Lee Country Park which is over 1000 acres in area with around 24 lakes which were once gravel pits and many miles of walks, with woodlands and conservation areas, two of the fields contain native orchids and with good management the numbers of orchids have increased from the six originally discovered to over 200. In the park there is an area of construction which will be the 2012 Olympic Games White Water Canoe Centre when finished.

Due to its location and facilities for the disabled the hostel is very popular for school holiday camps and for other groups and at the moments there are two schools and a group in residence.

Tomorrow, to London and we say goodbye to the car.

Heading for England

Thursday, 1 July, 2010

Loch Lomond to Minnigaff

When we looked out the window this morning over Loch Lomond it was raining steadily, probably the most consistent rain since we arrived in Scotland. The first part of our trip today was on major roads so we also had to cope with the spray thrown up by the traffic, however by 11:00 the rain had eased so we didn’t have to cope with wet conditions.

We made a quick stop at Ayr and then drove on to Alloway, the birth place of Robbie Burns who incidentally shares his birthday with Ann, though not the year. The Scottish National Trust now looks after the Burns family cottage and has a large visitors’ centre down the road called the Tam o’ Shanter Experience which plays a film adaptation of Burns Poem Tam o’ Shanter every hour. Next to the centre they are building a large Burns Memorial museum which will open in November and replace the centre.

The cottage which was Robbie’s and three sibling’s birthplace and he lived there until he was seven years old. The cottage has four rooms, one was the kitchen, dining and sleeping room, the next the good parlour, then the stable and cow room and the last room was the feed room. Each room has an audio playing with voices and noises applicable to that room; one visitor was startled when a rooster crowed in the stables as she was looking at a saddle.

From the visitors centre we walked over to the Auld Kirk Alloway which is now just a shell and the churchyard contains the grave and memorial to Burns’ father, the memorial also mentions his mother who is buried elsewhere. Crossing back across the road we entered the Burns Memorial Gardens which contains the Burns Memorial and inside a bust of Burns, also in the gardens is the Statue Room. This room contains life size statues of Tam o’ Shanter, Souter Johnie and Nance Tinnoch all who feature in the poem Tam o’ Shanter as does the Auld Kirk and Brig o’ Doon, the bridge which is just outside the gardens was the one Tam had to cross on his horse when pursued by the witch and as witches can’t cross running water he had to cross past the middle of the bridge to be safe which he did but the witch made a last minute grab and removed the horses tail.

Leaving Alloway to drive to Newton Stewart we decided to drive along a minor road which follows the coast instead of using a major road, this turned out to be a stroke of luck because looking across a small bay, perched on the top of cliffs was a large imposing castle. This turned out to be Culzean Castle and Country Park which is owned by the NTS so we decided to exercise our NT Life Members card for the second time today. Every building is built on a grand scale from sandstone and even the farmyard square and the castle stables could pass as mansions.

Surrounding the castle is around 600 acres of grounds and an earlier Earle is reputed to have planted 5 million trees and plants, many imported from around the world. The park has been declared the first Country Park in Scotland and receives funding from several sources. In the grounds is a walled garden which is the largest we have ever seen and was used to produce fruit, vegetables and flowers for the castle, it also contains several glasshouses which contain grape vines and stone fruit trees.

Some of the earlier Earls also built their own gas works and a small railway to deliver coal. There is a large Camellia House, two ice houses to store winter ice to be used during summer and a 16 acre Swan Pond.

The estate was given to the Trust in 1945 after the 90 year old Earl died, leaving three elderly sons, the new Earl decided to gift the estate when it was worked out that following his death the 74% inheritance tax imposed by the Labor Party would cost the family 2 ½ times the value of the estate. He placed one condition on his gift and that was that during his lifetime General Eisenhower was to have the use of the top floor in the castle any time he wanted to use it. The castle now has a permanent display devoted to “Ike”.

As we didn’t arrive until 3:00 we didn’t have the time to explore all the grounds, this would require at least a full day so we had to be satisfied with a quick two hour visit. Leaving the castle we had a forty mile drive to our hostel and as we had been driving on wider roads with fewer bends all day we expected a quick trip. Wrong! We were soon confronted with a very narrow winding road allowing a top speed of 40 mph, so it was after 6:00 when we arrived when we arrived at the Minnigaff Hostel.

Tomorrow we cross the border into England.

Friday, 2 July, 2010

Minnigaff to Once Brewed (Hadrian’s Wall)

Minnigaff didn’t live up to its’ reputation during the day “Come to sunny Minnigaff and watch it rain” but when we looked out this morning it was obvious that it had rained during the night.

Today was easy driving for most of the day, fairly wide roads and gentle bends and we drove through the largest expanse of flat ground we have seen in two weeks in Scotland.

Heading towards Gretna Green, Ann noticed on the road map that we would soon pass an NTS property, Threave Estate, so we decided a small detour was in order. Threave has a Boronial style house and several hundred acres of grounds and 64 acres of gardens and was given to the Trust, like many others, when the family was faced with a large death duties bill.

The gardens, walled garden and glasshouses are probably the best maintained we have seen at any NTS property and there seemed to be a large staff of gardeners and we later found out that the Trust runs a one year post graduate course for horticultural students, so that explained the apparent large staff numbers. Throughout Scotland at most of their properties the Trust has halved the number of gardeners and the gardens have suffered as a result.

Turning off the main road we followed a little coastal road towards Gretna Green and decided to stop for lunch in a park in a little village, the gardens in the park had a beautiful display of tuberous begonias, however as the wind was strong enough to blow a dog off it’s chain we retreated back to the car.

Arriving at Gretna Green we decided to by-pass visiting the old forge where run-away couples were married as it has been turned into a tourist production and is nothing like the place we saw many years ago, so we crossed the border into England and dropped onto the M6 and drove for about ten miles before leaving it to drive towards Hadrian’s Wall where our next hostel is situated.

A little over 2 miles from our hostel are the ruins of Homestead Fort which was built by the Romans against Hadrian’s Wall about 128 AD to provide living quarters for the troops guarding the wall; previously they had been stationed many miles away. The fort covered several acres and contained around ten barrack buildings, each provided accommodation for 80 troops, there was a hospital, the commander’s house, a bath house, granary and many other buildings to support around 1000 people living there. From the ruins of one of the turrets on the wall we could see the wall winding away into the distance, this made us realise the massive job entailed in building the wall as the stones came from quarries miles away and each Roman troop was responsible for building and manning a section of the wall.

The Lakes District is our destination tomorrow.

Glencoe

Tuesday, 29 June, 2010

Ratagan to Glencoe

At breakfast this morning we looked out across the loch with the a mountain reflected in it, a beautiful sight as the mountain was not covered in cloud, unlike the Five Sisters of Kintail which were covered in cloud, all these peaks are over 1000 m. high.

Our first stop was at the site of the Battle of Glen Shiel but apart from a sign with 1719 there is no information to indicate the significance of this location. The battle occurred in 1719 during one of the early Jacobite uprisings but this was quickly put down by the English army.

Driving on to Spean Bridge we arrived at the Commando Memorial which was built to commemorate the WW2 Commandos and in 1942 this area became the training base for the Commando Units. Since our last visit a circular memorial area has been built and on its inside perimeter are hundreds of small personal memorial to Commandos who have died in service or just of old age, some very recent ones were for men killed in Afghanistan, one a young man of 21 had his Green Beret laid with the small memorial.

The next memorial, the Glenfinnan Monument, is from an earlier age and it is situated at the head of Loch Shiel and commemorates the site of Bonny Prince Charlie’s raising of his father’s royal standard and calling the clans to support his attempt to restore the Catholic Stuarts to the English throne. The monument was built in the early 1800s and can be climbed inside by a narrow winding stone staircase, 60 steps to the top; at the top we had a view down Loch Shiel and back towards the mountains and the Glenfinnan railway viaduct. We have now completed a Bonny Prince Charlie trip in reverse, starting with his defeat at Culloden and finishing at the start of his uprising.

Near Fort William we arrived at the end of the Caledonian Canal, another of Thomas Telford’s engineering works, the canal runs from Loch Ness and finishes with the “Neptune’s Staircase” a series of nine locks dropping 21 m. to Loch Linnhe. After the last lock there are two swing bridges, one carries road traffic and the other the train line, while we were there we watched two yachts pass through four of the locks and past the two opened bridges before entering Loch Linnhe to return home, one to France the other to Finland. The charge to travel along the canal is £18.50 per metre of boat length and is valid for eight days.

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From the canal we drove on to our hostel for tonight, through the village of Glencoe and along a single track road, tomorrow we hope to find out more about the significance of Glencoe.

Wednesday, 30 June, 2010

Glencoe to Loch Lomond

We started the day with a visit to the National Trust of Scotland’s Glencoe visitors centre. Glencoe, literally “The Valley of the Weeping” is probably best known for the slaughter of members of the MacDonald Clan but it is a popular centre for walking and mountain climbing in both winter and summer.

In 1691 King William demanded the Clan Chiefs swear a pledge of loyalty to the English Crown by January 1^st 1692, with the threat of reprisals if they did not comply. The Chief of the MacDonalds missed the deadline by five days because of the atrocious weather conditions but pledged his loyalty on the sixth; however the authorities in Edinburgh would not accept this late pledge and ordered the troops at Fort William to eliminate the Clan. The soldiers, many of them from the Campbell Clan and led by a Campbell Captain accepted the hospitality of the MacDonalds for ten days but early one morning in February 1692 the Captain ordered the attack and more than thirty men, women and children were killed and their homes burnt, many who survived the slaughter were stripped and sent out in the snow where dozens more perished. Many Clan members survived and it is thought they had received a warning from troops who were against the planned attack.

From Glencoe we headed south towards Glasgow driving past many more “Munros”, mountains over 3,000 feet, which the serious walkers try to “bag” as many as possible, some have climbed every one. About 15 miles from Glencoe the country flattened out between mountain ranges, this was Rannoch Moor which featured in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Kidnapped, and is also famous for the many species of rare wildlife is supports, including the ferox trout which origins go back to the ice age.

Leaving the moor we moved back into the mountains with the winding narrow road and steep inclines, at least the moor allowed us to relax a little. Ten miles from the moor and about four miles from the head of Loch Lomond we stopped to walk to the Falls of Falloch, not as spectacular as other falls we have seen in Scotland but a pleasant walk along the bank of the winding river.

At the head of Loch Lomond the cliffs almost reach the water’s edge and they probably did before around 17 miles of road was carved into them, so although it is a two lane road it takes a great deal of care to avoid an oncoming bus or truck. All along the road are signs indicating winding road for a mile or so but as the whole distance is winding we wondered why they were there, also approaching bends there were signs advising reduce speed or slow down but as at times we were only travelling at 20 mph we asked “how slow do they want us to go?”

We eventually reached a wider section of the loch road which meant we were unlikely to meet a wide vehicle protruding over the centre line, travelling a few miles we saw a Youth Hostel sign which was sooner than we expected, driving up a lane through woods we arrived at the hostel, a mansion not quiet as large as Carbisdale Castle but still an impressive building and it is claimed to be built on the site of Robert the Bruce’s hunting lodge. The house is classed as a pseudo-castle and was built in 1865. Another grand youth hostel, though we still prefer the smaller ones as the large hostels tend to be rather impersonal.

Tomorrow we continue our travels south, towards the English border.

Along the West Coast

Monday, 28 June, 2010

Ullapool to Ratagan

A comparatively easy day today after yesterday’s drive, there were still several single track roads to negotiate but not as many hills and bends, so the 120 miles was not as tiring.

Our window at the Ullapool Hostel looks out over the water and this morning a seal was swimming among the fishing boats, maybe hoping for some leftovers.

The road to Inverewe Gardens from Ullapool doubles back on itself but it couldn’t do any thing else as a few rivers and mountains get in the way. Just after we turned off the Inverness road we stopped to look at the Falls of Measach, we crossed a gorge; over 30 m. deep on a suspension bridge which has a tendency to sway as we walked over it, the falls cascading to just below the bridge. Further along the track it a viewing platform which project out over the gorge but providing an excellent view of the falls. Returning to our car we had to wait to cross the bridge as a coach load of people were coming across and only six at a time are allowed on the bridge. While waiting we were assailed by a swarm of Midges, the call had gone out “fresh meat for morning tea”. The coach driver kindly gave us some wipes that helped remove those that had landed and deterred the others from attacking. From the falls it was another forty miles to the gardens.

In 1865 a twenty year old, Osgood McKenzie purchased 50 acres of barren rocky land on the edge of Loch Ewe and over many years, with the help of his servant collected seaweed in wicker baskets and carried them back to mulch the ground. When he had built up the soil he then stated to plant exotic plants which include plant from Australia, South Africa, Japan, China and many other countries, including hundreds of species of Rhododendron, he also built a large walled garden to supply himself with fruit and vegetables. All these the plant have now matured and it is strange to see eucalypts and bottle brush trees growing in a location further north than Moscow, however the warm Gulf Stream runs down the coast protecting the area from extreme conditions. It is many years since we last visited and we were disappointed that nearly all the azaleas and rhododendrons had finished flowing and they weren’t as pretty as our last visit.

Leaving the gardens to drive to Ratagan a very small village on the edge of Loch Duich we made many stops to take in the grandeur of the many lochs and mountains on the way. We also stopped at the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve visitor’s centre, which provides an overview of the reserve and lots of interactive displays for children explaining about the animal and insects to be found in the reserve. The reserve is the oldest in Britain and was purchased originally to restore the Scottish Pine which was almost eliminated during WW2 by the Canadians cutting them down to make ammunition boxes.

The last time we visited the reserve was in 1975 with our sons and we camped in a motor home on a single track gravel road high in the mountains, in the morning we were driving through an open area with signs warning that sheep and deer may be on the road, imagine our surprise when a sign warning of elephants appeared, on closer investigation we found some one had altered a sheep to an elephant.

A little further on we stopped to view Eilean Donan Castle, situated on an island and connected to the mainland by a four arched stone bridge; this island has been inhabited from the 900s when St Donnan lived there. In 1220 a castle was built to fend off Viking attacks and in 1306 Robert the Bruce sheltered there. Over the years many castles had been built on the island and the last one was destroyed during the Jacobite uprising. Between 1913 and 1932 the castle was rebuilt to its old plans and since then has featured in many movies and TV shows and if you have a spare £1,000 you can have your wedding there but will have to go to a local hotel for your reception.

From the castle it was only a short drive to the hostel at Ratagen as the crow flies it is only 8 miles from the Isle of Skye but we decided this trip not to visit the Isle. We have been given the only room downstairs and with a bathroom right outside our door it almost as good as an en-suite and as an added bonus, the warden has made a large dish of apple crumble and invited us to help ourselves.

We've just looke out the window and there is a small porpoise in the loch and I'm to;d there are often otters at the front of the hostel

Heading North and West

Thursday, 24 June, 2010

Around Loch Ness

I’m writing this sitting in the Loch Ness youth hostel looking out the window at the waters of Loch Ness which is about 10 m. away, the hostel is located on the west shore about midway between Fort Augustus and Dromnadrochit.

We left Inverness and decided to drive down the east side of the Loch on a small single lane road which provided views of the Loch for most of the way until we climbed up into the mountains a little inland. Our first stop was to view the Falls of Foyers which in the late 1700s was rated as one of the three best scenic views in Scotland. Robbie Burns was so impressed when he saw it that he sat on a rock and wrote a poem, along the path to the falls are verses of his poem engraved on slabs of slate. Now days the falls are not quite as impressive as the Hydro Electricity Board has dammed the river and controls the release of water.

A few miles further along the road after a slow climb, 12% incline, we were treated to a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains but not the Loch, while we were enjoying the view two cyclist arrived having peddled their bikes 5 miles, all uphill, from Fort Augustus but were looking forward to the next 25 miles to Inverness, after they have descended from the mountain the road follow the Loch edge and there are only a few hills to negotiate.

Arriving at Fort Augustus we had to wait for ten minutes at the swing bridge was open to allow a boat to leave the Loch and enter the Caledonian Canal, from the road we could see about six locks going uphill from the Loch.

We then turned north and continued up the west side of the Loch past the hostel to Drumnadrochit which is the main Loch Ness tourist town, where we booked a one hour boat trip on the Loch. The boat owner was a very knowledgeable about the Loch and “Nessie” and has been involved in many research projects searching for it. He pointed out that they don’t refer to it as the monster but by its Gaelic name which means Water Horse. While we were travelling along the Loch he had the Sonar running which showed the bottom to be flat and 230 m. deep which is three times deeper than the North Sea. The nearest water this deep around Britain is 75 miles out from the coast in the Atlantic.

The Loch is 37 km long and almost 1.6 km wide for its length except near Drumnadrochit where it widens to 2.4 km, the depth is consistent at 230 m. except for one hole on the floor 30 m. deep and 30 m. in diameter, this hole was discovered by the boat owner when he was on “Coast Guard” duties. Yes, the Loch does have a Coast Guard as the waves can reach 2 m. high and the winds nearly 100 kph.

As we turned to return, the owner took the boat to within 5 m. of the Loch shore and the Sonar showed the water was still 30 m. deep and very quickly returns to 230 m. You would have to be careful if you decided to have a paddle at the water’s edge as the first step would be a big one, not that you would want to as the water temperature is 5C.

After we finished our cruise we drove back to the hostel which was opened in 1943, prior to that it was a half way house for travellers between Fort Augustus and Inverness. The hostel sits on the edge of the Loch four miles from the nearest village and with a million dollar view as the dining area and lounge have windows the full length of the room looking out over the Loch, as does our room and we have to pay the princely sum of £30 for a double room, I’m sure a hotel chain would love to take over the building and they would charge three or four times that amount.

Friday, 25 June, 2010

Loch Ness to Culrain

A very easy day today, as we had done the “tourist thing” for Loch Ness yesterday we drove north along the side of the Loch and then along side the Firth of Moray past several gas/oil rigs before heading north on some small roads to Culrain where the Carbisdale Castle Youth Hostel is situated. In all our years of hostelling this would have to be the most “over the top” hostel we have stayed in. From the entrance and reception we entered a large gallery lined with many painting and several full size marble statues with a large ornate wooden staircase which passes four large stained glass windows on the way to the first floor and several of the residential rooms. On the ground and first floors are two large lounge rooms around 10 m. x 25 m. with fire places with marble surrounds and partly carpeted, as is a large part of the castle, with a green and blue tartan carpet.

The castle was built between 1906 and 1917 for the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland by the son of her second husband the Duke of Sutherland. The dowager Duchess was left all the Duke’s estate in his will, which his son challenged and won and the settlement agreement required that he build her a home fit for her station in life.

During WW2 the King and Crown Prince of Norway lived here during the Nazi occupation of Norway and a conference of the Allies was held here when Russia agreed that should they enter Norwegian territory during the war that they would not remain there after the war.

The castle its contents and the estate and a large sum of money was gifted to the Scottish Youth Hostels Association by the son of the last owner and for many years has been the “Jewel in the Crown” for the Association.

Carbisdale is also the site of a battle in 1650 during the Civil War in Britain; just over a year after King Charles I had been executed. The Marquess of Montrose, who Charles had appointed as military leader in Scotland was defeated by Cromwell’s forces and later executed in Edinburgh. And you thought you had finished with British history when you left school.

Tomorrow we go to John O’ Groats – Why? Because it’s there!

Saturday, 26 June, 2010

John O’ Groats to Ullapool

We were up early to beat the school group into the kitchen as it isn’t designed for large groups, as a result we were on the road by 8:30 so could take our time driving to John O’ Groats.

We followed the north east coast road which is designated an “A” road but at times was like a small country lane, passing through lovely wooded area, small villages and farmland, quite a contrast to the mountains we have driven through in the last five days.

Our first stop was at Wick probably the largest town in the north east but still small enough to drive through in five minutes. From Wick instead of driving straight through to John O’ Groats, about 20 miles away, we branched off on a “B” road which finished on the North coast road near Dunnet Head which is actually further north than John O” Groats but doesn’t have a village. Driving from the head we arrived at the small village of Mey where the Castle of Mey is situated.

The castle was built by the Earl of Caithness in the late 16^th Century and the family lived there until the end of the 1800s when the 15^th Earle of Caithness died without a successor and the castle was bequeathed away from the Sinclair family. The new owners didn’t maintain it and it was in a poor state of repair when the Queen Mother saw it in 1952 when she had come to stay with friends shortly after the death of the King. As she was looking for somewhere to escape from the public eye she purchased the estate and restored the Castle and created a holiday home which she loved and continued to spend summers here for the rest of her life. In 1996 she created the Queen Elizabeth Castle of Mey Trust and transferred ownership of the estate to the Trust but continued to use it. Prince Charles is President of the Trust and since the Queen Mother’s death has stayed in the Castle in August every year. The Castle and estate was the only property the Queen Mother owned in her own name.

The Castle is the same as when she lived there, with her clothes, personal effects and family photos still in the Castle, her notepaper, Wellingtons (gumboots), raincoat and other items are where she left them on her last visit before she died. The kitchen still has all the old appliances that she purchased in the 1950s when she restored the palace, except for the stove which was replaced in the 90s. The refrigerators could almost be classified as antiques but still work, her philosophy was, “if it still works why replace it?” This kitchen is still used by Prince Charles chef when the Prince stays there; the Prince also brings a cook who prepares the meals for the staff. How the other half live!

I think of all the palaces, castles and homes we have visited over the years, this was the most interesting as it provided an insight into the day to day living of the Queen Mother, even to a small table covered in shells that she picked up on her walks along the beach.

From the Castle we drove to Canisbay Kirk which the Queen Mother attended, a tradition carried on by Prince Charles, it was built in the early 1600s and was also the Church of the Earls of Caithness, and several members of the family are buried there. The Church also has the distinction of being the most northerly one in the UK.

From the Church it was a short drive to John O’ Groats which was established in the 1500s when a Dutchman arrived to start a ferry service to the Orkney Islands, a ferry still runs to the islands. I think the village now only survives because of the numbers of tourist who visit.

We drove from the village for about two miles to Duncansby Head, the most north easterly point in the UK with one of the many lighthouses around the coast; however the lighthouse is only 11 m. high, as it sits 67 m. above sea level and doesn’t need to be tall to be seen far out to sea. I don’t know if it is the location but the wind went straight through us, not around, so we decided only to walk to the hill top to view the Duncansby Stacks, two large pyramid shaped rocks jutting out of the sea, not to the cliff top, even though there are many colonies of water birds nesting on the cliffs.

Tomorrow we drive along the coast from the north east of the country to the north west.

Sunday, 27 June, 2010

John O’ Groats to Ullapool

Today we have probably the longest drive on any day, 180 miles to Ullapool right across the north coast of Scotland to the north west and then down the west coast. This would have to be Scotland’s answer to the Great Ocean Road, except with hundreds more bends and hills, some with 15% inclines and a large part of it only a single lane road with passing bays to allow cars to pass, this wasn’t too bad but the big motor homes were a worry and a lot were left hand drives.

Our first stop was at Dunnet Head, the most northerly point in the UK with views across to the Orkney Islands with Scapa Flow tucked in behind the closest island. From there we drove sedately due to the conditions and at times touching 50 mph. The first part of the road, the country side was open and reasonably flat but it wasn’t long before we entered the mountainous winding part, the scenery was beautiful with hundreds of lochs tucked in amongst the mountains, some as small as 50 m. and others so big that you couldn’t see the other end.

All along the road were little cottages, some sitting by themselves and others in clusters of up to ten, these were classed as villages, we don’t know where they would obtain their supplies and what the employment would be, but we presume many were employed in the sheep industry as hundreds of sheep graze every where and mostly unfenced so the road is their thoroughfare as well. In the inlets coming in from the sea were many floating structures which we presume supported cages for growing Atlantic salmon. The other thing that surprised us was that nearly every cottage had electricity supplied, no matter how remote and along the road were public phone boxes and letter boxes, often miles from any cottage. “Postman Pat” must have an onerous job collecting and delivering mail in this area.

Just before turning south we saw a sign saying Smoo Cave and after walking down many steps to sea level we arrived at a huge cave with a series of smaller caves running into it. The cave is about 200 m. from the sea with a very narrow inlet running up to it and was formed by erosion by the sea, the smaller ones were formed by rain water eroding the limestone as it filtered through. From middens and other items found in the cave it is estimated that it was around 7,000 years ago when the first people used it. Since then it has been used by smugglers and fishermen dragging their boats in to the cave to use it as a workshop.

All along the roadside there were wild flowers growing and some lochs were almost covered with miniature cream water lilies and at one parking spot there were about ten heather bushes in full bloom, these were the first we have seen because they don’t normally flower till July/August and there weren’t any more all the way to Ullapool, we can’t explain what caused this small patch to flower early.

About 25 miles from Ullapool we found the ruins of Ardveck Castle, reading the display we found that Marquess of Montrose was imprisoned there. After losing the Battle of Carbisdale he disguised himself and fled the scene but was recognised and imprisoned in the castle. As we had travelled several hundred miles since leaving Carbisdale we couldn’t understand how he came to be in this area but looking at the map it is only 25 miles cross country.

Our last stop was at Knockan Crag which is the area that amateur geologist discovered that many of the lower rock layers were much younger than those the top and they were then able to work out that rock layers lift and fold and helped explain many of the rock formation in the area and all around the world. There were many panels explaining the formation and walks that would take you past many examples of folding and layering but as it started to rain we headed back to the car to drive the last ten miles.

Ullapool is mainly a small fishing port with the ferry terminal to the islands of Harris and Lewis, the youth hostel is on the street along the harbour and from our window we can see many boats moored.

Tomorrow we re-visit the Inverewe Gardens.