Monday 10th September 2018, Melvich, Highlands
Next for our assault on Castle Mey, the former summer residence of the Queen Mother. I regret that I cannot recall which of you lovely friends and blog readers recommended the trip but you will know. We do take account of your suggestions and where possible act upon them.
Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Castle of Mey, Scotland.
We've managed to visit Castle Mey which we very much enjoyed. The weather was cold and damp so an indoor activity was exactly what we needed. The property was delightful and reflected the taste of the Queen Mother charmingly, There were family photos throughout the house and small, everyday items of her daily life - novels she had been reading and a dvd of Fawlty Towers, according to the very friendly guides, one of her favourite TV programmes. We assume there would normally be splendid views across to the Isle of Orkney but even the sea was invisible, hidden beneath a blanket of Scottish mist.
Castle of Mey, Scotland.
A cruise ship had arrived just ahead of us and it was difficult to see, or enjoy our time, caught in the middle of several large groups being shown around by harassed guides obliged to meet the cruise ships deadline. From nobody all morning they suddenly had 150 people to show round in a very short space of time. We squeezed through and made our way round ahead of them returning to the entrance later to ask if we might go round again now they had departed. This time we were the only visitors left in the house. In each room the guides were sitting waiting and when we arrived they started to explain all over again. We had heard quite a bit on our first time around so they cheerfully went on to discuss different aspects of the tour and tell us more about the Queen Mother's time in residence. She apparently discovered the castle, neglected and in a poor state of repair, whilst she was visiting some friends after the death of her husband, King George VI back in 1952. She fell in love with the property and the owner was only too glad to sell it to her. Indeed he wanted to give it to her but she insisted it should be purchased. A token price of £100 changed hands and she spent the rest of her life restoring and adapting the property, returning for a couple of months every year to enjoy the tranquility of the house. She retained sixteen servants full-time whilst she was in residence and invited guests and visitors for informal suppers. Informal is the term used but compared with our informal suppers in Modestine, the polished mahogany dining table, silver candlesticks and gleaming cutlery looked off the scale of informality to us!
Prince Charles is still a regular summer visitor spending a month there alone each year fishing, entertaining private guests, walking and painting. He is greatly liked by the current staff who see him as a very ordinary, friendly person. He is not generally accompanied by his wife, Camilla, who does not share his particular holiday interests - something I can appreciate. Standing in several feet of water in the pouring rain in a pair of wading boots, casting a line in the hope of catching a salmon for supper, does seem a bit unnecessary when the staff at Castle Mey could surely rustle up something fit for a king from the resources of the castle larder!
We were invited to visit not only the various lounges and reception areas but also the kitchens, butlers pantry, bedrooms and bathroom. I was particularly delighted to discover the Queen Mother's bathroom has a pink suite exactly the same colour and design as ours! Ours was installed when our house was originally built in the 1950s. Her Majesty would have been having hers installed at pretty well the same period. That could be a useful selling point at some stage in the future - for her estate I mean! To have the same pink loo at Castle Mey that can be found in the home of Modestine's owners!
Outside there is a charming walled garden with fruit trees and soft fruit bushes intermixed with flowers. In one corner a viewing platform has been built to offer views across the garden wall and out towards the offshore islands; in another corner there is the potting shed where gardeners bring on young seedlings and trundle around with their wheelbarrow muttering "Morning Mahm".
Walled garden, Castle of Mey, Highlands, Scotland.
Castle of Mey. Walled Gardens. Highlands, Scotland.
Potting shed, Castle of Mey. Gardens. Scotland.
Royal onions! Castle of Mey. Scotland.
Jill explores the garden, Castle of Mey. Scotland.
The visitors tea room was serving tomato and olive soup with a cheese scone. There had been a run on the scones and they ran out with the lady in front of me. The staff were charmingly sorry and I was mollified by the baked potato with goats cheese and cranberries offered instead. It had been a delightful morning.
We continued on to Thurso which I did not warm to at all. I far preferred Wick which, while sadly drab and neglected we found was full of interesting details and had once been a busy, active little town. Thurso was clean and smart with some attractive buildings but the campsite was expensive and looked clinical. The young man in the tourist information bureau told us of another site along the coast at Melvich, where he lived, assuring us it was a nice site with a good pub attached. We followed his advice and left Thurso behind without regret. We passed close to Dounreay Nuclear power station but there was little to see as a visitor.
Dounreay nuclear power station, in process of being decommissioned. Scotland.
We discovered the campsite we were seeking which overlooks the sea. The sky was clear and that night the velvet blackness of the sky showed the stars as brilliantly white and very close. Never before have I noticed stars so large and brilliant. Apparently it is possible up here to actually see a moonbow if weather conditions are right at night where white lights shine as an arch in the moonlight. Also at the right time of year there are frequent displays of the Northern Lights.
