The incredible majesty of Glencoe

I've just had a lovely week off so there's several blogs to come of our adventures on the west coast of Scotland. This post is just going to cover our journey to our destination of Ardrishaig which is where we stayed. We traveled down the A82 to go through Glencoe, which is one of the most stunning bits of scenery in Scotland - that's saying something as the whole country is scenic.

Glen means valley and Glencoe is a long valley that is surrounded by rugged mountains that make you feel very small.

It's very popular with tourists and at regular points along the road there are spots to pull off for walkers to leave their cars and for people to take photographs. The car park below is always very full of cars - this is just part of it, and there is usually a piper there for the tourists but I think he was having a day off when we were there.

Lots of the young people were taking selfies with the mountains behind them so we thought we should as well, as we're very young (at heart). (The very observant amongst you may notice that I've finally gotten rid of my grey hair for a while).

Lovely waterfall by the road - the photo below that shows a man down in the pond trying to get the perfect shot. I know a few people that would do that, in fact too many to mention here as I seem to be friends with and related to many photographers.

If you've read some of our previous posts you may have seen the phenomenon of people putting locks on bridges and railings to show they've been their or to highlight their love and yes it has made it to the wilds of Scotland as there were locks all along the bottom of the railing overlooking the waterfall.

We stopped in an area where there were only a couple of cars so that Ken could take Bramble for a walk whilst I sat on a convenient bench and enjoyed the view. If you have really good eyesight you might be able to spot Ken in the picture below. Imagine what it must be like living in that house in the middle of winter - you'd have to make sure that you have lots of supplies just in case.

The next few photos are one's that my beloved took when he got down to the river - shows the mountains from a different angle and how breathtaking the landscape is.

This is his arty shot - wild foxglove with the mountains behind.

Final shot of the valley before we left it. There is a lot of history in these hills but probably the most famous is the massacre of the MacDonalds by the Campbells in 1692 and if you'd like to know more about it click HERE to read more. Basically it was a very dodgy episode in Scottish history that once again was the English trying to get rid of any rebellious Scots. The valley has also been used in lots of films including Highlander, Braveheart, Monty Pythons Holy Grail, and more recently Harry Potter.

We finally reached our destination of Ardrishaig in Argyll which is a small town at the end of the Crinan Canal, and before the canal was built in the late 1700's there were only 4 houses there. The canal is now only used for recreational purposes but the harbour at Ardrishaig has an important role to play in the timber industry and the evening we arrived there was a ship docking to be loaded with logs.

The hotel we stayed at was just below the canal so it was a perfect spot to walk Bramble - the photos below were taken after 10pm so that's why they're a little dusky.

Lovely tiny pink orchard that was growing wild beside the path - it's about the size of my middle finger.

Lovely orange and pink flowers.

Pretty shot of the canal to finish - the water was so calm and we hoped it was a sign of good things to come with the weather for the next few days.

So that was day one of our short break to Argyll - there is much more to share so until then be good, stay safe, and have a really good week.

Pamela & Ken
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Brodie Castle in spring

Early in Spring we stopped at Brodie Castle for a wander as it's quite close to Nairn where we live. It's a 16th century castle set in a 71 hectare estate. As it was quite late in the day we decided not to go through the castle, leaving that for another day and instead had a look around the gardens and woods. There may have also been a stop for cake in the cafe but as there's no photographic evidence we'll ignore that.

There are a couple of areas you can go in without paying, one being the kitchen which is on the way to the cafe. I love seeing the kitchens set up as they would have been 100's of years ago and imagining the smells and sounds that would have been there.

 

This was the butter room with the churns and pottery bowls to put it into - because of the way the room was set up it was cooler than the the other rooms. It reminded me of home as I used to love helping mum churn the butter when I was little.

There is a huge walled garden that the National Trust is slowly turning back into the garden it would have been. I did my usual thing, touching the walls and picturing the people that have been before.

A lovely old door to feed my obsession.

Beautiful frilly tulips, one of my favourite spring flowers and my beloved always buys them to put around the house when they are in season.

More pictures of the garden for you to enjoy.

They have a lot of daffodils in the walled garden which we presumed they sell and provided a perfect backdrop for our selfie.

In one of the flower beds there are daffodils with the year they roughly originated in - the one below is pre 1869. (sorry for the bit of my finger in the corner of the picture but I was trying to balance down low).

More shots from around the garden where there are lots of rhododendron plants that are very old and overgrown.

This looks like the perfect spot to sit and read for a while

The castle from the side - it's a proper princess castle as it's got several lovely turrets.

We then went for a walk down to the very large pond and the the woods that surround it.

We found another geocache and I claimed the little girl with the rainbow hair - this could become a habit.

In the woods we were fortunate enough to find the Clan Brodie graveyard - how wonderful, except for the fact the gates are kept locked. It's in such a peaceful spot with no roads and surrounded by nature - a fine spot for a final resting space.

This is me extreme tree hugging as I thought this tree probably doesn't get many hugs because of it's awkward angle over the water. Some other visitors had a bit of a chuckle when my attempt at getting upright again resulted in Ken having to help me otherwise I would have ended up in the water.

Ghostly but beautiful trees.

This is my arty shot of the day - a broken branch off one of the trees dying amongst the daffodils that are the sign of new life beginning.

Hope you've enjoyed this visit to the grounds of Brodie Castle and we will go back in the future to have a look inside.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and do something this week that nourishes your soul.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: Final shot is of the puppy treats that Ken bought for Bramble today - they're called Bramble's Puppy Treats.