Scotland
We arrived in
London bright and early Sunday morning. We spent the day finding
our feet. Bright and early Monday morning (Ok not so early) we
caught our train to Inverness, Scotland. It was an 8 hour
trip.
Tuesday morning we left Inverness and got our rental car. I wouldn't
drive. I decided driving on the left side of the road was not my
style. We got into the car and within 1/2 mile we hit our first
traffic circle or roundabout. A roundabout is a traffic circle
with various offshoots, used instead of the normal intersection.
In roundabouts you give way to traffic coming from the right including
oncoming vehicles which may cross your path while turning right.
The problem is they are coming very fast and you can't see them until
it is almost to late. Our first roundabout we almost got hit by a
bus. It wasn't long before we were on our way to the Black Isle. Not an island at all, the Black
Isle forms a peninsula in Easter Ross, Highland Council Area, between
the Beauly Firth and the Cromarty Firth. Formerly known as Ardmeanach,
it is said to be black because it seldom takes the white of winter
snow. Measuring 12 miles (20 km) in length by 7 miles (11 km) at its
widest, the Black Isle comprises fertile farmland surrounding a
central forested ridge. We stopped at Channonry Point and saw a pod of
dolphins heading out to sea although we couldn't get a picture of
them.
Everywhere we went we saw golf courses. We finished our
drive in Dingwall. Home of Tulloch Castle, the Davidson family castle. Tulloch Castle was probably built by
the Norsemen. It was once owned by a Kenneth davidson who sold it
to his cousin, Henry Davidson on the 13th of January, 1762. Yes
there were many Davidsons visiting while we there. They put us
into the "honeymoon suite" in the
front of the castle. We had the balcony as well as a four poster bed. We ate a very good meal in
the castles world famous resturant.
Outside of Castle Tulloch there is a monkey puzzle tree. The common name of
Monkey Puzzle Tree comes from a comment from an Englishman in the
1800's, who thought it would certainly be a puzzle for a monkey to
climb. As there are no monkeys native to the area in which this tree
is indigenous, this name has spawned many false stories. It is perhaps Archiblad
Menzie's most unusual introduction of a new species into England.
One night, Mr. Menzies was dining out in Chile. Unable to identify
some nuts on the table, he popped a few in his pocket. A number of
them sprouted on the voyage home. In this manner, Araucaria
araucana, or Monkey Puzzle Tree found its way into the rare
plant collections of 18th century Europe!
On Weds we
were off to Fort Augustus. On our way we stopped by the Loch Ness
and the castle ruins. Castle Urquhart (pronounced "urkhurt") stands on a rocky promontary on
the north shore of Loch Ness. As soon as you get here you cant help
thinking, "Well, if I were going to build a castle to survey this wide
glen, and the loch itself, this is where I'd build it!" In fact people
were almost certainly here at least 4000 years ago. At nearby
Corrimony is a burial cairn dating from about 2000 BC. However,
although some evidence has been found of a fort on this promontory
dating from the Iron Age, and also remains from Pictish times,
earliest written records for the existence of a castle date from the
1200's.
On our way to the hotel we
stopped at the clansman center where we could see how highlanders
actually lived. We spent the night in Invegary at an old coaching
in. The Invergarry Inn. we ate dinner in the Pub I had
the best Steak and Ale Pie!
The next day
were off Ft. Willaim which sits at the base of Ben Nevis,
Britains highest mountain. We were going to ride the gondola to
the top but because of bad weather it wasn't running. We did take
the scenic drive to Mallaig. It was a very interesting supposed
two lane road, although in spots in really only had room for one small
car on the road. We found the best way to deal with it was to
follow a bus. Everyone got out of the way! It was a
very beautiful drive.
On Friday we
drove the back way, back to Inverness. This wasn't on the "to
see" of the tourist maps but we loved the views and scenery and the
way it was so uncrowded. We even saw the famous Highland cows.
Once in
Inverness we visted the Battlefield of Culloden. On a cold drizzly day in April
1746, two armies faced each other across a bleak moor near the town of
Inverness in the north of Scotland. One of them was made up of what
were in effect tribal clans who, ostensibly fighting to restore the
Stuart dynasty to the throne of Britain, were actually making a last
stand for their ancient way of life.
The battle lasted for less than an
hour and the outnumbered Highland clansmen were crushed by a storm of
grapeshot and musketry fired by the redcoated government troops.
It was the last battle ever fought on the soil of mainland
Britain. After the battle the Brittish soldiers killed all
the wounded they could discover. They continued into the
surrounding country side and killed any men they could find. The
result was the end of the Highlander way of life.
Bath Canal
England
- Week 1