Date: Wednesday 26th
August 2015
Route: Fort William to Balmaha,
Loch Lomond (via Glencoe, Callander and Stirling)
Our Listening Pleasure: Psych
Miles today: 126
Total Mileage: 1,701
Today was very dreicht
(that’s Scottish for wet and miserable if you didn’t know!)
 |
| Boat on the Loch, and low cloud |
Heading out of Fort
William, a layer of cloud was very low and hung across the middle of the
mountain scenery like a sash belt. We had wanted to go to the Ben Nevis visitor
centre before we left Fort William but with the cloud so low, we knew our view of The Ben would be spoiled. Another time hopefully.
 |
| Low Cloud hung like a waist sash |
First on our list of
places to see today was Glencoe, an area of immense beauty. It was pouring with
rain when we got there and the clouds
still hung low.
 |
| The Beeb in the rain at Glencoe |
At the visitors’ centre we went to the viewing point and horror
of horrors there was a ghastly huge picture frame mounted. Just to give you a perspective, the picture below was taken from the furthest spot possible in the viewing area
 |
| Spoiled View |
We are not sure of
the exact purpose of this frame. We thought it was a bit of a gimmick, so people
could stand in front and take selfies with the frame in the background (sort of
creating their own picture postcard) or giving you a “frame” for your landscape
snapshots. However it’s about 20ft high and no-one, unless
they were about 10 feet tall, would have a hope in hell in getting a photo of
the mountains beyond in the frame. We tried and just could not do it. The purpose may be just to highlight the natural beauty of these places and is an advert to push to conserve them, otherwise all we would have is a photo in a frame?
By moving right to the front of the viewing area, we could by-pass the "frame" and get some shots of the cloud covered mountains
 |
| Glencoe shrouded with low cloud |
 |
| Glencoe in cloud |
The lady in the gift
shop was equally appalled.
 |
| Poster for the Art exhibition |
We fortuitously timed the visit with an exhibition of paintings by a wonderful Scottish painter, Hamish MacDonald.
The exhibition was run by his daughter who was on hand to answer any questions, and we had a lovely chat with her. His artwork good and there were many prints of his paintings from places we had already visited, so we just had to purchase some of the prints on cards.
 |
| The Brook at An Torr |
With the rain still
coming down, we drove through Glencoe, stopping off for a wander around An Torr
(part of Glencoe). With a little brook with white rapids and lovely dense forest
it was a nice wander.
 |
| An Torr area of Glencoe covered in cloud |
Back on the road and the
mountains turned to hills and then turned to fairly flat landscape and the rain
started to ease off.
 |
| Back on the road |
Before long we arrived in a small town, Callander, the
location for the filming of Dr Findlay’s casebook in the 1960’s. By this time the weather had improved dramatically and the sun was out.
 |
| The Beeb in the sun at Callander |
With it being a
Wednesday afternoon, some of the local shops were shut (disappointed we didn’t
manage to see inside what looked like an interesting second hand bookshop).
Just beside the shop was a canoe with a scarecrow in it! Stranger things have happened we suppose!
 |
| Scarecrow in a canoe |
We
had lunch here, in the café with the best name in the high street “Taste of The
Trossachs” before heading out towards Callander Mill where Hamish, the famous
Heilan’ Coo grazes.
 |
| Lunchtime in Callander |
 |
The sign about Hamish -
no mention he's deed! |
The field where the coos
graze has two, yes TWO perimeter fences. The story is that despite repeated
warnings to the public not to get too close as the coo’s horns are sharp, some
American did get too close and when Hamish turned his head, one of the horns
stuck the bloke! There was nothing malicious about it, Hamish did not “attack”
but the guy complained and as a result of health and safety getting involved,
the coos had to have a double fence (boo).
We were a bit confused
as we could not match either of the coos in the field to the picture of Hamish
that was on the information board. We found out later that poor Hamish died
last year. The black cow that is there now, with Honey has very, very long
horns.
 |
| The Black Coo with huge horns |
 |
| Honey |
Next stop was Stirling and we saw a dual carriageway for the first time in ages!!!! This old city is quite hilly, and the castle at the top of it looks quite
splendid.
 |
| Stirling Castle |
 |
| Stirling Castle |
 |
| Robert The Bruce |
Why are castles always built on hills? asks Minty……. We didn’t go
into the castle itself but had a wander around the immediate area where the statue
of Robert the Bruce guards the entrance to the castle!
Alongside is a neatly laid out cemetery
 |
| The Cemetery |
Some of the streets are
cobbled and this city is obviously steeped in history. The pub/hotel just at the bottom
of the castle grounds was the old grammar school (for “better off boys”) built
in 1787 and further down the hill, a coffee house was once the residence of
Mary Queen of Scots’ husband.
 |
| The Old Grammar School, now a hotel/pub |
 |
| William Wallace Monument |
Across the valley, and visible from the castle, is the
William Wallace Monument.
You could be forgiven in thinking this structure is
hundreds of years old and dates back to the times of Braveheart himself with
the style of building and the look of the stones, but it is only 140 years old!
 |
The Beeb at the top of the hill at Stirling Castle
and Wallace Monument in the distance |
 |
| The Oak Tree Inn |
Time was getting on and
we headed out to Loch Lomond and our hotel for the night, The Oak Tree Inn in
Balmaha. Just in front of this Inn is a 500 year old oak tree. Today it had a large pink ribbon tied around it.
We have stayed here before, and it was a bit of an anniversary visit
for us. Last time the booking got mixed up and we were put in the Bunk Room
with four bunk beds to choose from!!!
 |
| The Bunk House we stayed in last time!!! |
This time we got a free upgrade to a
cottage room in Dan’s Cottage, with a view and a patio area. It was quite
plush and spacious, with a stone decorated fireplace. There are actually 5 (self-contained) rooms in the cottage, and were a
bit unfortunate to have a couple of wildebeasts in the room upstairs who were
awake at 6am!
 |
| Our Patio |
Although the sun came
out to play for a short time, the rain returned before long so we never
got the opportunity to enjoy the patio to its full extent, but we have to admit
the view across Loch Lomond was gorgeous.
 |
| View across the Loch |
 |
| Another view across the Loch |
Light was fading so we didn't get the opportunity to explore this side of the Loch, so it was just a leisurely dinner in the Inn's restaurant and then an early night.
 |
| The Beeb dressed for dinner |
 |
| Inside our room, a lovely fireplace |
