June 12, 2013 - Wednesday
Our original plan had
called for a drive to Ullswater before leaving for New Lanark. We thought it over and decided that we could
skip it and drive straight to New Lanark.
We thought it would not be that much different from the other places
that we had already seen, and it is a long drive to the North. The sky was overcast and ominous as we drove
along the highway towards New Lanark, which is south of Glasgow. New Lanark is a World Heritage Village. It was founded in 1785 by David Dale and
became famous as a model industrial community under the enlightened management
of Dale’s son-in-law, Robert Owen, from 1800 to 1825. Owen transformed life in New Lanark with
ideas and opportunities that were ahead of their time. Child labour and corporal punishment were
abolished, and villagers were provided with decent homes, school and evening
classes, free health care and affordable food. There is an extensive area of
woodland and network of paths on the hillside which were laid out by Robert
Owen, who believed that workers should be surrounded by gardens, have abundance
of space in all directions to keep the air healthy and pleasant. He also believed that they should have walks
and plantations before them. Irene went
to the yarn store and bought some yarn made in New Lanark. Florine and Petros went looking for eagles
and peregrines at the Falls of Clyde. We
could have spent more time exploring the village but Loch Lomond beckoned.
We drove to Loch Lomond and
the Trossachs National Park. We decided
to stop in the village of Luss, on the west bank of Loch Lomond. Luss is a conservation village with
picturesque cottages. We walked around the village and then went to the Coach
House Coffee Shop for soup (carrot and one other soup that we shared), cream
tea with homemade scones, jam and whipped double cream. After our snack, we wandered over to the
church and then to the pier, where to the north, Ben Lomond dominates the
skyline and to the south, Conic Hill marks the geological boundary between the
highlands and the lowlands. The conifer
plantations to the north of Conic Hill form part of the Queen Elizabeth Forest
Park.
We drove along the shoreline
of Loch Lomond for a while before we reached the Rest & Be Thankful Pass
between Glen Kinglas and Glen Croe, on the edge of the Argyll Forest Park. We got out of the car to admire the
spectacular view from the Pass. We
continued on our way and were fortunate enough to see a deer grazing at the
edge of the forest. We drove along Loch
Fyne, a sea loch, on our way to Inveraray.
Inveraray is the
traditional county town of Argyll and ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll, who
found the town in 1745, alongside his residence, Inveraray Castle. Much of the town was designed and built by
Edinburgh-born architect, Robert Mylne between 1772 and 1800. We drove to the castle but it had closed for
the day. Inveraray Castle was featured
in one of the Downtown Abbey episodes.
We had a look at the castle through the gates and saw parts of the
garden as well. After that, we drove
back into the town and found a parking spot and walked around for a while.
We had considered walking
up to Dun na Cuaiche (which means the fork of the hollow of the hill) but it
would have taken 3 hours and we did not have enough time to do it. Dun na Cuaiche is a prominent landmark from
Inveraray and is a wonderful viewpoint for looking down at Inveraray. We could see it, far in the distance, on a
hill, from the war memorial on Front Street.
From Inveraray, we set out
for Investrae Bed & Breakfast, which is located near Dalmally. Along the drive beside Loch Awe, we passed
the ruins of Kilchurn Castle the ancestral home of the Campbells of Glenorchy,
who later became the Earls of Breadalbane.
The original castle with a tower house and a hall was built by Sir Colin
Campbell, first Lord of Glenorchy.
Various additions were made to the building from about 1500 to
1691. In the 1760, the castle was badly
damaged by a violent storm and was abandoned.
We saw the elaborate castle like Loch Awe Hotel across the loch. The hotel lies between the shores of Loch Awe
and the towering slope of Ben Cruachan. We had a little difficulty in finding
Investrae B&B has it involved driving off the paved road, but with the
instructions from the website in hand, we were able to make the right decision
at a fork in the road and eventually pulled up in front of a closed gate. As we approached, we would see a herd of deer
grazing in the nearby field. They ran further down the hill as we approached
but they did eventually stop and continued to graze. We opened the gate and went into the grounds
of the house and parked the car towards the back. Jim Mallen welcomed us to the house and
helped to bring our luggage in. We met
Ina, his wife, and Jack, their black cocker spaniel. We had arranged to have Ina cook dinner for
us as Jim had said that the b&b was rather isolated and Ina had a bit of a
reputation as a cook. We got into the
b&b earlier than we had planned and it was nice to be able to relax. We joined Jim in the living room and had gin
and tonics while Petros had a beer. Ina
was in the kitchen cooking but was able to join us for part of the time. They are a delightful couple and told us a
little about their lives and the house they now lived in. They have 2 children, a daughter who live in
Switzerland with twin girls and a son and daughter-in-law and 3 kids who live
in South Carolina. I think Ina is 75 and
she continues to work occasionally, looking after an 85-year old lady and
during the hunting season, when she would cook and clean at a hunting lodge
every 2 to 3 weeks for a week at a time.
They also run the Investrae as a b&b. She’s a firm believer in feng shui and a
friend had told her to put citrine and rose quartz on her cheque book for
financial health and she had done that and she believes that fact that the
b&b is fully booked for the season is a
result of that. Her friend also
had her move a jade plant into the kitchen, where it seemed to be
flourishing.
Dinner at B&B GPB 22
pp-booked; Our dinner started with baked Portobello mushrooms topped with
tomato and meat. It was tasty though Jim
and Ina did not join us for the starter course.
They claimed that if they had 3 courses every day, they would get really
fat. Ina made lasagna for us, but took
the time to make a gluten free version for Irene. We had wine with our dinner. There was a green salad with hard-boiled eggs
and tomatoes as well. For dessert, we
had a mixed fruit salad. After dinner,
we gathered in the living room and chatted for quite a long time. Jim and Petros sampled a couple of whiskies
while the rest of us had teas. It was
very nice, sort of like being home with your parents or grandparents. We did not make it to our beds till pretty
late.
Where we stayed: Inverstrae Bed &
Breakfast, Lochawe, Dallmally, Argyll PA33 1AP; 44 (0)1838 200495; James & Ina Mallen
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