Thursday, 5th September 2019 The penultimate day of the tour takes us from Inverness by train down to Glasgow. After a leisurely breakfast the tourees gather with their luggage in the hotel reception. A man with a van duly arrives and the luggage is loaded into the van and will be delivered directly to our rooms in this evening’s hotel in Glasgow. A coach arrives and takes us into central Inverness. The tourees then have three hours to themselves to discover Inverness and have lunch. I go for a wonder on my own, first visiting the Victorian market opposite the railway station. A walk beside the River Ness gives me views of Inverness Castle. On the other side of the river to the castle is Inverness Cathedral. Back across the river I climb up to the castle to get the views. There have been several castles built at this site over the centuries. The existing castle was built in the 1830s and is currently used a Sheriff Court. Since it is a working court you can’t wonder around inside, unfortunately. In the weeks before the Battle of Culloden, in 1746, 3,000 of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite followers seized the then castle. They plundered the stores for food and weapons before razing the site in a blaze of explosives. When Mary, Queen of Scots visited in 1562, the Governor had entrusted the castle to his Captain. The Captain refused entry to the Queen, causing great offence, so he was executed and […]
04-OHS1909-Outer Hebrides & Highlands
Wednesday, 4th September 2019 Today we head north from Stornoway for a trip to the beach, then some free time in Stornoway before catching the ferry across to the mainland at Ullapool and a coach to Inverness. As we drive north with our own version of the Chuckle Brothers (Chris, the guide and Jon Murdo, the driver) we pass through the village of Tunga. This is the birthplace of US president, Donald Trump’s mum. Donald’s cousins still live here and he has previously visited them. Between 1918 and 1923 the island of Lewis was owned by Lord Leverhulme [of Lever Brothers and Persil fame]. He proposed a road from Tolsta to Port of Ness. It was a time when servicemen were returning from the first world war and wanted land for crofting and not work from Leverhulme. The road was never completed. The only part ever built was a bridge at the southern end in Garry: during its construction 140 men mixed the concrete by hand. Since construction of the road stopped it is now know as ‘The Bridge to Nowhere’. The views from the bridge are stunning. Don’t be alarmed by the blue bits of sky, it was just a temporary break in the rain fall. Our driver, John Murdo, gave us a quick bagpipe recital next to the Garry beach. To watch and listen see the Video of the day at the bottom of the blog. A walk on the beach. We returned to Stornoway and were able […]
Tuesday, 3rd September 2019 Today’s itinerary is a journey, by coach through the Isle of Harris. We are again guided and driven by the double act of Chris Ryan and John Murdo. Heading south from Stornoway we travel south through the Isle of Lewis and down to the Isle of Harris. They are, in fact, one island, but were ruled by two distinct McLeod clans so have historically been treated as two separate areas and hence the names. Once in Harris we travel down to Seilebost. The landscape changes in this area to a ‘lunar landscape’. Stanley Kubricks’ 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Jupiter, alien planet surface scenes, where filmed here. At Seilebost we stop for views of the sandy beaches. On arrival in Tarbert we have lunch at the Harris Hotel. After lunch we visit the Harris Tweed shop. We then walk to the Harris Distillery. This distillery was recently built as a community project, first distilling in 2016. In order to be called a Scottish single malt whisky, it must mature in barrels for 3 years. Harris distillery plan to mature theirs for longer. As a consequence in order to generate funds while they wait to sell their own malt whisky, they distill, bottle and sell Harris Gin. The botanical that is unique to the Harris Gin is a seaweed called sugar kelp. The sugar kelp is hand-harvested by a local diver from the deep underwater forests of the Outer Hebrides. So following our visit to the stills, we […]
Monday, 2nd September 2019 Today’s itinerary is a journey, by coach, around the north of the Isle of Lewis. After breakfast at 08:00 we depart from the hotel at 09:30 with our local guide, Chris Ryan, and our driver John Murdo, from Lochs Motor Coaches,. Chris provides a running commentary as we travel throughout the day, interspersed with humorous interjections from John Murdo: a very good double act. As we travel north we pass the peat diggings in the crofts. On the left are the mechanised ’sausages’, on the right the rectangular manual diggings. At the Butt of Lewis we visit the lighthouse at the top of the island, which is unusual as it is a red brick construction, rather than being painted white. We look at the view across the Atlantic to Canada in the distance. We take in a visit to the northerly Port of Ness. As we travel down the westerly side of the island we stop to visit the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village. The village is now a museum. The Blackhouse Village features traditional blockhouses. The village has recently been preserved having fallen into disrepair when the residents moved out into more modern council-provided housing nearby. The houses are thatched and have double stone walls. There was no incentive for the residents, who had rented the properties, to make any improvements to the buildings as they did not have secured tenure. If they had made improvements the landlord could potentially kick them out and then rent the […]
Sunday 1st September 2019 Today we travel from Fort William to Stornoway. A more leisurely breakfast is available from 07:30 to 9:00 and while breakfast is eaten our luggage is taken from outside our rooms down to reception. Brian, the driver, arrives and we load the luggage onto the coach. Departing at 9:00 Brian drives us up to the ferry port at Mallaig, where we arrive at 10:15. I pop into the ferry terminal and collect all the individual tickets for the three ferry crossings that we will take during this tour. I have a quick moment to cross the road to visit Mallaig railway station. Mallaig station is at the end of the railway line from Fort William and the end of the Jacobite stream route. It is also the most westerly railway station on mainland Britain. Surprisingly, further west than Penzance. At 10:30 we begin boarding the ferry. Although we arrived on a coach, and the same coach with our luggage on drives onto the ferry, we have to walk on as foot passengers. At 11:00 the ferry departs for the crossing to Armdale on the Isle of Skye. Whilst the coach journey to Mallaig had been accompanied by rain, the crossing to Skye was dry, sunny and calm. The ferry takes 35 minutes to cross from the mainland. Arriving at Armdale . . . . . . we re-board the coach and Brian drives us for an hour and a half up to Uig at the north […]
Friday 30th August 2019 This tour starts with the Tour Manager, in this instance me, meeting the tourees at the first hotel, in Glasgow. So I have a relatively early start to get the train into London before catching my onward connection from Euston at 10:30. During the four and a half hour journey up to Glasgow Central I spend the time working on the plans and arrangements for my next tour, in two weeks’ time, which is to the Isle of Man. The Great Central Hotel is located at Glasgow Central and has an entrance in the station concourse as well as one on the road next to the main station entrance. The hotel has been refurbished to very modern standards and features a champagne bar with views over the station concourse. And a spectacular chandelier, that reminds me of something. Having arrived at the hotel and checked in at 15:00, I take a quick stroll in the pouring rain to familiarise myself with the 15 minute walk to Glasgow Queen Street: the route which I will be escorting the tourees along on the following morning. When I get back to the station I first have to sort out an issue with the evening’s hotel booking. From 16:00 to 18:00 I wait around in the hotel reception, meeting and greeting each of the tourees. This is the time when I can give them the evening dining arrangements and ensure that they have the special luggage labels for the next […]