2013-06-16 On Taking the Long Way to Loch Ness

June 16, 2013 - Sunday

We got up and had our breakfast of pork pie and left over fruit.  Eric came by to see us off.  Eric, it turned out, is a retired police officer who injured his shoulder badly before he retired.  He helped us bring our luggage to the car, and then we set off for the North.  We drove out of Edinburgh across the Queensferry bridge on our way to Braemar.  We stopped at the Glenshee Pottery and visitor centre, where we had tea and scones and bought some souvenirs from the gift shop.  The pottery also serves as a visitor centre for skiers at the Glenshee ski area in the winter.  The lady who ran the place was very friendly and we had a nice chat with her.  She told us that she would stay open later in the winter to accommodate all the cold skiers who come to her shop to have warm drinks.

After a rather protracted stop at the pottery, we got back on the road. We passed more sheep than cars on most of the roads.  The low mountains (or maybe they seem low because the road we were on was half way up the mountain) were almost barren – we did not see trees, only grass, scrub and shrubs.  Some of the mountains still had snow on the sides.  The mountains had a kind of stark beauty to them.  We do come across the occasional forest of conifers, and they provide a big contrast to the minimalistic landscape.  We saw waterfalls and streams meandering along the valleys.  It was all rather beautiful.  There were sheep with black faces and white bodies grazing in some of the valleys.  The landscape was scattered with little stone houses called bothies.  Bothies were originally farm accommodations for itinerant workers; it is now an open shelter, usually in a remote location, where travellers can use.  They are usually at least several hours walk from the public road. At one point, we were fortunate enough to see a herd of deer grazing in a field.  Petros also spotted a grouse in a field.  He has really sharp eyes and spots all kinds of wildlife while he’s driving.

 We drove through Braemar and thought that we might make a short stop at Balmoral Castle. We saw a herd of deer grazing in a field.  For most of the way, we drove beside the River Dee.  We veered off to a side road, which we thought might lead to the castle, but it did not.  We went back to the main road and carried on our way past Crathie and the sign post for Balmoral Castle  and on to Ballater.  We did not stop at Ballater, choosing instead to continue on to Tomintoul. This was basically a scenic drive by kind of day.  It was getting late and we wanted to get to Urquhart Castle which is on Loch Ness so we also just drove through Tomintoul. We drove over the River Spey, which is home to the greatest concentration of malt whiskey distilleries along its shore, and passed by well-known estates such as Glenlivet as we made our way to Inverness on the way to the castle.

Open 9:30 am to 6:00 pm; Adm GBP 7.90; concession GBP 6.40; http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/places/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=PL_297&PropName=Urquhart%20Castle;

Petros thought we should visit Urquhart Castle as he had really enjoyed his walk around and amidst the ruins in 2011.  We drove into Drumnadrochit and passed the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibit. Loch Ness monster advertisements now begin in earnest with signs such as Nessieland abounding.  We arrived at Urquhart Castle to find it had just closed for the day.  So, we had to content ourselves with snapping a few shots of it from the parking lot.  Urquhart Castle was one of Scotland’s largest castles and the ruins now include the 5 storey Grant Tower on the north end that commands a splendid view of Loch Ness and Great Glen, sitting as it does, on a promontory that juts out into Loch Ness.  The present ruins date from the 13^th to 16^th centuries, though built on the site of an early medieval fortification.  The castle played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14^th century, was held as a royal castle and raided on many occasions by the MacDonald Earls of Ross.  It was granted to Clan Grant in 1509 and then largely abandoned by the mid-17^th century.  It was partially destroyed in 1692 to prevent its use by Jacobite forces.  The Grant Tower partially collapsed following a storm in 1715.  It passed into state care in October of 1913.

We then left for Beauly and our next bed and breakfast destination.  Beauly is only about a half hour drive from Urquhart Castle.  Along the way, we passed through some pretty country and the River Beauly.  We found Chrialdon without any trouble.  We checked in and got our rooms.  Florine and Petros had a very big room.  Ours was smaller but looked comfortable.  We got recommendations for dinner at “The Comm” Bar + Bistro at the Priory Hotel from our hostess, Isobel, who said that the bistro shared the same kitchen as the hotel but you paid more to eat at the hotel.  Sound advice.  We enjoyed our starters of a trio of smoked beef, chicken and venison, bread and salad and a duck, venison and wild boar pate with oatcakes, salad and prune and apple chutney.  We actually forgot to take photos of our mains. We must have been hungry!  I think we had a steak which came in a sizzling platter and roast beef, it being Sunday and all.

After dinner, we walked around the Beauly Priory cemetery and inside the Priory Church ruins.  Beauly Priory was a Valliscaulian (a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church based in Burgundy) monastic community, most probably founded in 1230.  The French monks and a local landowner, Sir John Bisset, had a strong enough French-speaking presence to give the location and the river the name “beau lieu” (beautiful place) and have it pass into English. 

Only the abbey church now survives.  It takes the form of a Latin cross, with a three-bay choir to the east, a seven-bay nave to the west, and at the junction, two flanking transepts to north and south.  The church houses some fine funerary monuments including one to Prior Alexnader Mackenzie (who died in 1479) and another to Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintall who died in 1492. 

After that, went back to Chrialdon and Irene and I hung out with Florine and Petros in their room until it was time for bed.

Where we stayed:  Chrialdon Bed & Breakfast, Station Road, Beauly, Inverness Shire, IV4 7EH; 44 01463 783486; cell 44 07787 111926; Isobel