2016 started off really badly and, apart from trips to Scotland and car events, continued that way. First, Gordon broke his ankle while doing trail work in the snow, in the Spring he had Lyme disease, later there was the stupidity of the Brexit vote, though that didn’t affect us directly, then there was the rise of the great BS-er and liar himself, Donald J Trump. Of course, it’s always worth reminding oneself what trump means to us northern Englishmen. So we can call him the fart in chief, or “he who must not be named” in polite circles.
Anyway, this is about our Scotland trip at Easter and it was only slightly tempered by Gordon wearing an ankle support. The medics had deemed the healing to be well on its way by the departure date and we even bagged a Munro. It was also very early in the season an the weather forecast was far from good, but we hoped to be able to get over to Mull and bag Ben More.
This year we flew to Manchester and added trips around England after the usual week in the highlands. Phil had booked accommodation at Ardgour, which is near the northern end of the Corran Ferry.
Tuesday 28 March
Flew to Manchester on American Airlines via Philadelphia. Not much to report; cabin crew cheerful, food poor, video system poor, extra legroom seats good (why did we have those I wonder?). We managed to doze off for a while.
Wednesday 9 April
Landed at MAN at 8:00 am. We had to use the stairs and not the jetway., No doubt AA is too tightfisted to use a more expensive means of getting off the plane. The bags appeared with no issues. Of course, as usual, we found TSA cards in both of our checked bags. We rented a sporty Vauxhall Astra fro Avis. It even had WiFi.
First task of the day was to visit the Apple store in the Trafford Centre. Betsy had installed a new version of IOS on her iPad the day before and it had not gone well. We hoped that the people there could help, but we were early and had coffee while waiting for them to open.
Our appointment was at 11:00 am. The technician was able to reboot Betsy’s iPad and restore a backup from the previous September. All photos were lost, but everything else was fine. Gordon bought an O2 card for his iPad.
Time for lunch and we went to Wagamama, then on to Middleton to look up some of Gordon’s family history in the churchyard at St Leonard’s because this is where Sam Bamford is buried – one of the family’s notable members. For more about Sam there is plenty on line and most of his writings are still in print.
Drizzly day, checked in at the Premier Inn in Milnrow, did some shopping at Morrison’s and the Co-op. Dinner in the John Milne pub: Chickpea and spinach burger with chips, baked chocolate pudding, shower, in bed at 9:00 PM.
Thursday 24 March
Slept until until 8:00 am. Big buffet breakfast. Bought flowers and cleaned up the Taylor-Ashton grave in Shaw. Took Peter Jump to the Fairview Inn for lunch and a chat, said hello to Joy Dunkerly and the Halsteads. Took the tram into Manchester for drinks and dinner with the Mitchells. We met at the Café Beermoth where we had “Franconia” – it must have beer a New England style beer, but was made in New Mills, Derbyshire. Then caught the bus to the Red Chili Chinese Restaurant. Nice meal; most customers were Asian students; traditional Chinese food. Tram back to Milnrow. In bed at 11:00. Alarm set for 7:00. Long drive tomorrow.
Friday 25 March
On the road to Kendal soon after breakfast by 9:00 am. We met Bob in the town after some Good Friday slow traffic on the motorway. We had coffee and a hot cross bun am noted the scheme for local businesses to provide public toilet facilities – we spoke to a local resident that complained about how funding had been removed for public conveniences because of government cutbacks. Next stop was our B&B across the loch fro Helensburgh. The satnav was not very helpful in Glasgow, but we arrived OK at the Easter Garth B&B where we had tea and a nice homemade evening meal (pea soup, bread, chicken curry with rice and chutney, Greek yogurt with berries and honey for dessert).
Saturday 26 March
Up at 7:15 for breakfast at 8 – Betsy had the veggie option with homemade bread. E drive back to Dunbarton and did all the group shopping and more for our contribution on Wednesday; lasagne. Returned to Helensburgh to see Mackintosh’s Hill House. Great to the rooms, original stencils, furniture. Betsy took notes and we bought some souvenirs. After tea and scones we headed north to Rannoch Moor. It was raining for most of the day – flooded roads next to Loch Lomond, waterfalls gushing on the hills, rivers in spate. We took the short Corran ferry crossing to Ardgour House at 4:30.. Greeted friends, chose corner room with a view of the front. Dinner was Dr Oatker’s pizza courtesy of John Ormerod, followed later by meat pie, red cabbage, fresh fruit on meringues. Wainwright and Hobgoblin beers. Clocks changed. Dining arrangements were such that at least one night’s eating had to be in the adjacent cottage and we all took turns at this.
It was a windy night with rain and snow on the hills. We found a large gap between the window sashes and stuffed a copy of the Guardian in to stop the draft. The house looked great outwardly, but was actually in a poor state of repair. However, it was very grand and seemed to be something from a different age.
27 March, Easter Sunday, Ardgour.
Rainy start; waves of storms, then clearing, repeat…. Walked to nearby Alt n alean House to deliver pans. Took a walk with Dev and Heather plus Dave L. along tracks and lochs to the main road near the ferry. After Dave and Heather headed to climb a nearby crag the rest of us visited the Maclean family cemetery and did some bird watching while following the edge of loch. Many sheep, some dead! No lambs yet – early Easter.
We walked back through rain, hail, clearing skies, stopped at the lighthouse cottage. returned to the main house with John and Keira. tea and late lunch, shower, laundry, writing notes.
It was still raining at 6:30 PM., Sheep were grazing on the lawn, fog was obscuring the hills. We watched TV. Excellent dinner of spiced squash soup, tarteflete with greens, apple strudel. We showed our Antarctic video to those that were interested and had a thoroughly good reminisce with Pam, Dave B, Dave L.
Birds seen: cormorant, herring gull, oystercatchers, pied wagtail, sparrow, blue tit, chaffinch, hooded crow, blackbird, robin.
Monday 28 March. Trip to Strontian
A mostly dry day with light drizzle to start; a big improvement on the day before. We walked the 3-mile loop. Excellent views of the Strontian River. This area brings back memories of some Munros that we climbed there is 2001.
We walked the 3+ mile in Ariunble Oak Woods. There some first class views along the Strontian River. Moss covered trees, fungus and a hillside loop to the site of an old croft. We had lunch on the path.
After lunch on the path we went to the hide at Sunart Woods which looks out at Garbh Eilean. There werre many seals and birds. he area is popular with families
We then went back to the house and had tea. There was a fire in the drawing room before dinner. It was an excellemt dinner: stuffed peppers, chicken vesuvio, trifle. WE talked with Dave Wharton, Dan, Pat and Phil.
Birds seen: Buzzards (2), blue tit, long-tailed tit, grey herons at a heronry with 8-10 nests, oystercatcher, Herring gull, Canada Geese, mallard, Heard a great spotted woodpecker. Also saw seals from the hide – they were on small islands visible from the hide.
Tuesday 29 March. Trip to Glenfinnan
The weather was forecast to be mixed so this was to be a day in the car. We headed to Glenfinnan by the road on the north side of Loch Linnhe. The riverwalk was closed for repairs (it looked fine to us), but we took in some of the views and then chose a walk from Arisaig that was described in Dave Brough’s book. Arisaig is a bit further up the coast.
We were very British and ate lunch in the car park. We also posted a card to Walter Fisher. We then started to walk along a farm track, but met two bulls in the path. Discretion was the best tactic, so we returned to the Rhu Road and followed the return route in reverse. It rained and the surface was muddy through birch woods to a small beach There were cattle in the fields and sheep near the beach where we had a quick snack then we returned by Glen Cottage to the main road.
We then drove back towards Ardgour with a stop at the Glenfinnan nature center for a loo break.The single track road north of Loch Linnhe was the best, otherwise we would have had to use the road throiugh Fort William and the Corran Ferry, so we returned the way we came, but stopped to take photos occasionally; there were some good views across to Ben Nevis and Fort William.
This was our night to eat at the Alt Alean cottage and not with the big group. Excellent food as usual: kedgeree, meat pie + veg, cranachan with shortbread for dessert. Ther starts were very visible as we walked by to the main house.
Birds seen: treecreeper, hooded crow, oystercatchers, herring gulls (huge flock on Loch Linnhe), grey heron (flying at Loch Linnhe), maybe a golden eagle (they next in the hills above the loch), rooks, chaffinch, pied wagtail, robin, dunlin(?).
Wednesday 30 March
Our day to help with meal preparation.
A day in Fort William and a meeting John and Marj Foster. Bob joined us for the trip. We made sandwiches for the day. This time we used the ferry as it was the quickest way to Fort Bill. We had coffee at Morrison’s and walked along the Caledonian Canal for 1 1/2 hours. There were some boats going through the locks. After the walk we had lunch at The Moorings pub. After saying goodbye to John and Marj we visited Morrison’s again in order to stock up on provisions for our dinner offering. Then we headed back to Ardgour to start chopping vegetables. Our contribution was 4 pans of lasagna, 3 bowls of salad, a large quantity of garlic bread. Richard took the portaion over to Alt n Alean. The rest of the meal was: prawn cocktail starter with chocolate chip cheesecake for dessert. G&Ts were needed to fortify the chefs. The meal was well received.
Early night because we intended to take on Ben Moore on the following day.
Birds seen: pied wagtail, mallards, hooded crows, herring gulls.
Thursday 31 March
A big day: a dash to Mull and bagging Ben More.
Up at 6:00 am with breakfast and we were out of the door before 8. We made it to Lochaline in time for the 8:45 ferry to the east side of Mull. It’s a decent drive across the island using a single track road to the trailhead at foot of the Ben. The parking area was full, but we were able to find a suitable place. The path runs close to a few buildings at Dhiseig. The weather was sunny and the loch calm, but the hilltops were in cloud. The path was boggy at tje start. it then crossed scree and volcanic stone midway up and the summit had snow. Mist and fog became rain, hail and snow, and the wind increased significantly on the upper section.
Fortunately there were many cairns on the path and several other parties making the same trip, so navigation was not a problem. We were soaked by the time we tried to eat lunch on the descent, but eating was curtailed by more showers
On returning to the car park, we saw a family whose van had become stuck in the mud, so gave them a push. then we nearly got stuck in the same way . Heavy rain continued on the way back to the ferry, but it washed the mud off then car. There were more rainbows too. We were at the ferry in time for the 5:30 crossing back to the mainland.
We were back at Ardgour by 6:00 PM. The weather had been less than good, but we had succeeded in getting the Munro and the conditions had turned it into an adventure so there was no cause for complaint. Plus the ferry ride and the morning dash to Lochaline had added to the whole experience. A good day! On return we walkled to Alt n Alean for dinner after a hot shower. Dinner was lentil/sweet potato soup, Phil’s stuffed salmon, banoffee pie. Stars were clear on the walk back to the main house.
We discussed politics with Dave Brough (who else!), and others in the lounge until 11:30 PM.
Birds seen: grey heron, hooded crows, herring gulls, pied wagtail, oystercatchers.
Friday 1 April
The weather was fooling us; despite the clear sky the night before it was miserable all day with heavy rain and wind. Even so, we were up at 7:30 and had a quiet morning other people were also slow to get moving. We went out at noon for a drive to Kinlochmoidart and Glenuig giving us a reminder of the great weeks we had spent out at Ardnamurchan. in the spirit of Bill Bryson, we ate lunch in the car while looking at the sea. We bought smoked fish and cheese at the Glenuig smokehouse then we purchased a venison roast at John Macdonald’s shop as gifts to Steve and Gail during the next part of our trip.
There was heavy rain all day; all streams, burns and rivers were gushing and there was some road flooding. We drove towards Ardnamurchan on a quest to find a new distillery that we had heard about from our friends, but we gave up at Glenborrow. It was a tortuously twisty road – all single track. We arrived back at 4:00 PM. Retrieved laundry that had been hung up to dry and we finished packing.
Saturday 2 April
The end of a good week as usual vene if it was marred by less than perfect weather.
Up early, had breakfast, tidied up. We took two bags of leftover items for Steve and Gail. We were on the ferry by 10:00 am for the drive to York. Of course we had a quick stop at the Green Welly Shop. We saw Clive, Di, Dave L and Keira (where was John?). We filled up with petrol in Dumbarton and stopped later for lunch at the motorway services. The weather improved as we went south.. Betsy drove for about 100 miles. We arrived in Woodthorpe at 6:00 PM. Excellent fish and chips from the nearby chippy. Coffee, chocolate and good conversation. We slept well.