Ceud Mìle Fàilte – the Gaelic term for “One hundred thousand welcomes”- and we certainly were!
Friday 21 June
The longest day here in Britain and we’re off to bonnie Scotland, in particular to Drymen, which is a village that sits in the hills at the western end of the Campsie Fells, overlooking Endrick Water as it nears Loch Lomond. One of Julie’s best friends is celebrating a milestone birthday tomorrow and has kindly included me on her guest list.
So, it’s back to the airport, Stansted this time and an EasyJet flight to Glasgow. When we left Stansted, the sky was a glorious deep shade of blue and very sunny, and when we landed in Glasgow 70 minutes later it was pouring with rain! It is Scotland after all! Never mind, it wasn’t going to spoil our day, so after picking up our rental car we headed for Balloch which sits at the foot of Loch Lomond and stretches for 24 miles into the Highlands, a pretty village which is also the gateway to The Trossachs National Park, as well as the Loch. It is also home to Maid of the Loch, a paddle steamer which made her first ever public cruise on Loch Lomond on 25th May 1953 and was saved from sinking in 1995, and since then has been on the Slipway undergoing major restoration works to her hull and paddles by a community of volunteers called Loch Lomond Steamship Company. They have already spent thousands of hours bringing her back to life, and to be honest, it does look like there is a heck of a lot more hours to be put in yet!
Back to our lovely accommodation, a cottage, one of three, set in beautiful park-like grounds, where we changed for our dinner at The Clachan Inn, the oldest pub in Scotland. Rob Roy MacGregor was born at the northern end of Loch Lomond in1671 and was an outlaw turned Scottish folk hero. He became famous as a cattle dealer extracting money for the safekeeping of Lowlander’s cattle. The word “blackmail” derives from Rob’s activities as he looked after black cattle in return for rent - “mail” in the old Scots language. The first licensee of The Clachan was Mistress Gow, one of Rob Roy McGregor’s sisters. The pub was licensed in 1734 before any other existing pubs. As you can see from the photos, it is a beautiful old building and it is now a family run business. It wouldn’t be a dinner in Scotland without haggis – in my case haggis bon bons in a whiskey crème sauce – and I can tell you, they were delicious! By the time we finished, some of the other guests – Julie’s friends – arrived on their later flight, and we had a very convivial rest-of-the-evening in the drinking side of the pub!
Saturday 22 June
The birthday party starts at 2pm today so we thought we’d get out handy to knock off a little bit of sightseeing before the celebrations began. We had a nice coffee in one of the little shops in Drymen and then drove out to Balmaha, another pretty village on the shores of Loch Lomond, where we had a lovely walk along the water’s edge, and I managed to capture of photo with me and the Scotman in his kilt! En route for a drink at the Oak Tree Inn we passed Weir’s Rest. This beautifully landscaped area celebrates the life of Scottish climber and TV presenter Tom Weir. His TV Series “Weir’s Way” introduced the wonders of the Scottish scenery to millions of Scots, the TV show ran from 1976 to 1987 and Tom always appeared in his trademark Fair Isle jumper and toorie hat as he explored the country’s landscapes, wildlife and history. The centrepiece of the site is a wonderfully detailed bronze statue of Tom.
We arrived for the party at 2pm and left at 10pm with the shenanigans still in full swing – these Scots certainly know how to party!
Sunday 23 June
We’re not flying back to Stansted until 8pm tonight so we are determined to make the most of our day here – and its sunshine all the way today so perfect for our sightseeing plans. First stop was Loch Katrine at Stronachlachar where we had a delicious breakfast at the Pier and saw the SS Walter Scott glide in – we’re picking it up at its next stop in Trossachs Path. Loch Katrine is eleven miles long and 540 feet deep. The name comes from the Gaelic Ceathairne, meaning cattle thief and is due to its strong links with the famous cattle dealer and Clan Chief – Rob Roy MacGregor. It is deep in the heart of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, which we had the pleasure of driving through to reach Trossachs Path and is one of Scotland’s natural wonders.
We’re off on our cruise on the SS Sir Walter Scott, a steamship built in 1899 in Dumbarton on the River Clyde at a cost of £4,269. It was commissioned to replace the Rob Roy II. In 1809, the writer Sir Walter Scott holidayed in the Trossachs and spent many hours writing his poem “The Lady of the Lake”. When it was released in 1810 it was the blockbuster of the day, and 25,000 editions were sold in the first 8 months after its release. Sightseers flocked to Loch Katrine to see for themselves the scenes inspired by Scott’s vivid descriptions. He followed this with his adventure novel Rob Roy II in 1817 which romanticised the rogue-hero. Songs were used to break up the poem, one of which was “The Boat Song” more famously known as “Hail to the Chief” which was played to honour Presidents George Washington on his visit to Great Britain in 1815, and Andrew Jackson in 1829. These days it is always played to announce the arrival of the President of the United States of America! Sun shining, tartan rug on my lap to ward off the chill, it was a fabulous cruise along the loch, taking in the beautiful scenery with the ospreys flying overhead. In 1859, 235 miles of new aqueducts and tunnels were opened on Loch Katrine providing a water supply for Glasgow and Central Scotland. Up to 120 million gallons per day can be extracted from the loch via this gravity operated network, taking around 14 hours to travel to the treatment works at Milngavie and Balmore, just outside of Glasgow. The famous Tennant’s lager is brewed with water from this loch!
Afternoon tea when we disembarked to set us up for our next stop – a drive through the pretty village of Callander, with it’s beautiful floral hanging baskets, stone buildings – some very impressive - and charming little shops, and on to the town of Stirling. We just had enough time before we got to Glasgow Airport to have a peek at the castle and surrounds. Stirling is virtually dominated by its castle and the Church of the Holy Rude where the infant James VI was anointed King of Scots by Adam Bothwell, the Bishop of Orkney with the sermon by John Knox. He was later crowned King of England and Ireland in July 1603, bringing the countries of the United Kingdom closer. We walked through the amazing cemetery by the Holy Rude Church, a burial-ground since 1129, with some amazing memorials some dating back as far as 1579. The Castle has a long turbulent history featuring William Wallace, a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First war of Scottish Independence in 1297. Robert the Bruce, King of Scots from 1306 until 1329, Mary Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I, Queen from 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567 and Bonnie Prince Charlie, so called due to his boyish looks and charm, he was also known as “The Young Pretender”. Many royal dramas have unfolded here and until the Union of the crowns in 1603, almost every Scottish monarch either lived in the castle, was crowned, or died here. Sadly, we didn’t have time to go inside the Castle but walked to the top walls and saw Robert the Bruce’s statue and the Wallace National Monument which stands above the fields where he led his troops to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
A quick walk around Stirling Old Town Jail which was just next to where we had left the car - built in 1847 with its strict regime of solitude, labour, coarse food and discomfort, it was still in use as a military prison until 1935.
And that was it – 2½ days in Scotland and we managed to cover a fair bit. A wonderful weekend of different experiences and friendship. I am now sitting writing this at Glasgow Airport where it has just been announced that our EasyJet flight is now delayed, and we’ll be getting home around midnight tonight!!! All good things came to an end!