(Fort William, Ben Nevis, Great Glen, Fort Augustus, Loch Ness, Inverness)
Monday 3rd September 2018, Inverness
We left Glencoe and made our way towards Fort William. It is apparently the largest town in the Western Highlands, claiming to be the capital of the outdoor world! On a damp Sunday morning it looked a depressing little town. We found a parking area near the station. It specifically banned camper vans or "vehicles designed or adapted to be slept in". There was nowhere else in the town that we could discover to park and as we fitted into our parking space just as neatly as the saloon car beside us we decided to risk it. The ticket machine wasn't working so we had to purchase a ticket using our bank card. It was all very frustrating and coloured our opinion of the town, which was pretty dire anyway. The highlight of the morning was lunch in Wetherspoons! The tables here are just as grimy and wet as every Wetherspoons we've ever used south of the border but the coffee is good - cheap, strong and plentiful.
Church. Fort William. Scotland.
Museum. Fort William. Scotland.
Lovely as everywhere is up in the Highlands it all looks the same. Hills, forests of pine trees, long lochs, mountain vistas wreathed in cloud. Unfortunately for the hopeful traveller, the roadside bushes and trees effectively hide much of what is beyond. There are places to pull in and passing places, but the scenery, hidden behind trees and bushes, is not necessarily visible even when you do manage to stop. Traffic moves quite fast along the winding, twisting road and as people behind cannot easily overtake, everyone feels obliged to drive faster than they would wish. Thus we have seen little of the highlands apart from the stretch of tarmac ahead of us bordered by green trees and forests with distant glimpses of mountain scenery topped by wreaths of white cloud.
Outside of Fort William the road skirts Ben Nevis, the top hidden today by mist. However, we did find one convenient lay-by where Ian claims to have taken a satisfactory picture of Britain's highest mountain. At 4,406 feet it is more than twice the height of Yes Tor, the highest point on Dartmoor, back home.
The road passes through the Great Glen that to all intents and purposes separates the north of Scotland from the rest of the country. Our road ran beside lochs that are linked by canals providing a waterway from the west coast right across the country to the east, emerging, beyond Fort Augustus, into Loch Ness. This is said to be up to 700 feet deep in places and is the largest quantity of fresh water anywhere in Europe. Not only was the monster not in evidence today, the loch itself might almost not have been there I saw so little of it! Selecting an image to illustrate the loch just now it really looks like Nessie’s head peeping up from the water to wink at Modestine as we drive by!
With Nessie. Loch NessScotland.
At Fort Augustus we stopped briefly, restricted to 30 minutes free parking. Here everyone passing in either direction along the Great Glen had also stopped and the village was doing an excellent trade charging 50p a time for visitors to use the toilets!
Caledonian Canal. View towards Loch Ness. Fort Augustus. Scotland.
Drinking fountain. Fort Augustus. Scotland.
Canal locks. Fort Augustus. Scotland.
What we actually wanted to see was the series of locks that carried vessels using the canal up or down a flight of five lochs to or from Loch Ness. There was also a cruise company taking visitors out on to Loch Ness in the hope of seeing the monster! It was really the most practical way of seeing the loch which even from the village was well nigh invisible.
For the last twenty or thirty miles of the Great Glen, down into Inverness, we simply drove along the winding, undulating route through wooded hillsides with glimpses of the water of Loch Ness to our right, down into Inverness where we found a campsite just outside the town. It seems pleasant but fairly basic. Apparently there is a wooded riverside walk into the city which we will discover tomorrow.
This evening the sun came out and we sat outside drinking our wine until the warmth of the afternoon faded. Inverness has always seemed in my mind to be one of the major Scottish towns. By Scottish standards perhaps it is large but we have been surprised to learn that it has a population of only around 64,000!
Tuesday 4th September 2018, Inverness
It has been a lovely warm sunny day and the evening is only now beginning to be too cold to be outside. During the day we have been almost too hot. Now though the temperature is really beginning to fall. I think it will be a chilly night.
We decided to spend a couple of nights on the campsite at Inverness so yesterday morning we set off to walk into the city centre along beside the nearby River Ness. Like today, the weather was warm and sunny as we strolled beside the wide, shallow river as it tumbled its way through the city. A couple of fishermen in long wading boots were way out towards the centre of the river as they cast their lines. Presumably they hoped for salmon or trout though we did not see if they actually caught anything.
Also out in the wide river were several small islands which looked charming and a delightful way to reach the city. Each island was linked to the next by a light suspension bridge. Unfortunately for us the first one was closed off and being repaired so it was impossible to reach the islands at all. It didn't matter. The walk along beside the river was just as enjoyable with the leaves on the overhanging trees beginning to change colour.
As we neared the centre of the town, we could see the imposing buildings fronting the river with the morning sunlight lighting up the red sandstone and granite facades. The buildings of Inverness are all large, clean, impressive and undeniably handsome. Most buildings date from the 19th century and the town is dominated by the red sandstone castle building and courthouse above the town. The castle is now used as administrative offices.
Ness River. Inverness. Scotland.
Castle. Inverness. Scotland.
There are many churches in Inverness. I counted seven visible along the river frontage as we walked into town. They all looked clean and attractive. Crossing the river by the suspension footbridge we continued along the bank passing a monumental sculpture depicting Faith, Hope and Charity.
Faith Hope and Charity. Inverness. Scotland.
After some 20 minutes of walking since leaving the campsite we found ourselves in the centre of the city. It was still quite early and there was little traffic around. Indeed there were hardly any people around. Everywhere was clean, smart and harmonious. Not a speck of litter anywhere. The city is an absolute credit to Scotland.
Initially we simply wandered, discovering delight after delight. Near the bus station was the city library. It was as tidy as everywhere else with not a book misplaced! We stopped for a mid-morning coffee where the staff were very friendly, before continuing to the Victorian Market, an arcaded complex dating from Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.
Public library. Inverness. Scotland.
Market hall. Exterior. Inverness. Scotland.
Dunbar's Hospital. Inverness. Scotland.
Old church. Inverness. Scotland.
The rest of the day was equally enjoyable. We sought out the Tartan shop where I discovered my family name was linked to the clan Frazer. Ian actually wanted to buy me a scarf in Frazer tartan! I managed to dissuade him. We also discovered a kilt-making shop where we could actually watch kilts being made. On the streets grown men were striding around with their kilts flapping in the breeze, their knees just visible between the kilt hem and their sock-tops!
My family tartan? Inverness. Scotland.
Town house. Inverness. Scotland.
A unicorn for our granddaughter! Inverness. Scotland.
There did not seem to be any green spaces within the city where we could picnic for lunch in the sunshine. Eventually we bought wraps and rolls in Marks and Spencer's food hall and joined others for lunch in the city centre on specially placed benches where we were entertained by a student with an accordion playing "Loch Lomond", "Over the Sea to Skye" and other Scottish airs. It was enjoyable and at least it kept the bagpipes at bay.
The most frustrating thing all day was the wrong information on the finger-posts. A sign outside the tourist office informed us that it was several minutes walk away! When we complained that we'd been searching for ages to find it staff groaned and told us they'd moved to their present site over a year ago and were still fighting to get the signs changed to indicate their new location!
One of the most handsome buildings on the main street turned out to be a Wetherspoons impersonator! Prices, menus, choices were all as for Wetherspoons but that name did not appear anywhere on the menus or on the signage.
Caledonian Building, now Wetherspoons. Note texts on brickwork of nearest building offering sobering, religious thoughts to residents of the city. Inverness. Scotland.
Having discovered an area of the city with a number of 17th century buildings and explored one of the graveyards overlooking the river with the cathedral on the far bank, we returned down to the river and explored the cathedral. Incidentally, the Scots love to cram their tombstones with information about just about anyone with family links and there are references back to the umpteenth generation. A 19th century grandfather’s grave will likely have a mention to Wee Annie, or young Rabbi, on his gravestone!
Suspension bridge across the river Ness to the Cathedral.
Marble baptismal font, “The Angel of Baptism”
The work of the 18th century Danish sculptor, Bertel Thorvaldsen. Cathedral, Inverness, Scotland.
We returned along the riverbank, passing beyond the campsite to skirt the neighbouring sports centre with its water park, ice rink, football pitch and other energetic activities. Here we found the botanical gardens with its hothouses filled with delicate plants, cacti and exotic bromeliads. Outside were flowerbeds of brilliant dahlias and fish-ponds filled with giant carp.
Botanical garden. Inverness, Scotland.
We fell into conversation with an elderly gentleman resting on a seat in the shade. He told us he'd retired with his wife to Inverness from Shetland back around 2005 and absolutely loved it here. They had plans for adventures but unfortunately his wife had left him - in the sense that she died a couple of years after they arrived. He no longer had the same longing for travel and excitement now and told us we must keep a sense of fun and a spirit of adventure. We told him we were hoping to visit either Shetland or the Orkneys, which would he recommend? He'd lived in both places and told us how very different they were from each other. Eventually he suggested it would be more practical and cheaper to visit the Orkneys. I am rather disappointed as I have worked my way right through all Anne Cleeve's Shetland novels and would favour a visit there. Ian is chuffed though as he's not remotely interested in Shetland murder novels and longs to get absorbed by the ancient burial tombs on Orkney.
We also met a rather strange man along beside the river Ness who was promoting the Flat Earth Society. This was right up Ian's street! I was obliged to wait while they argued it out, neither willing to change their view and prepared to argue to the death. Apparently the sun just slips under the edge of the world and makes a bee-line across to pop up again on the opposite edge to where it disappeared. I hope Ian doesn't see this or you will all be subjected to the full wrath of his condemnation of the poor wee Scotsman who simply wants us all to agree with him that the earth is disk shaped and the current crazy belief that it's spherical is simply a dastardly plot dreamed up by NASA. I was quite willing to live with that. Anything for an easy life!
Poster for the Flat Earth Society. Inverness. Scotland.
