Photo Trip Report: England and Scotland

[huahinjim]

Great photos Buksida. Many thanks.

[STEVE G]

They have all been taken throughout August. The Loch Ness trip was on Sept. 1.

Did you have any problems with midges, the Highlands used to be famous for them in midsummer?

[buksida]

Not really, even though we stayed rural most of the time they weren't really an issue.

We finished up our best day of the trip so far at the very touristy Fort Augustus for a fish n’ chips on the side of the Caledonian Canal watching the wealthy navigate the lock system in their yachts.

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[Dannie Boy]

F&C looks appetising and the boats and scenery are mouthwatering, but for different reasons!!

[buksida]

The next day we were on the move again, back towards our base but on the way, we stopped in Inverness to hunt down this elusive clan tartan. Naturally, of the ten or so dedicated kilt and tartan shops we went into, none of them had ours because it was a smaller, relatively unknown clan not like the popular ones of Stuart, Fraser, Mackenzie, Macdonald, Wallace, etc, (I ended up ordering it online where it was custom made). Inverness also had more churches than I’ve seen elsewhere in the UK.

Back on the road, we decided to take a different route back via the beach town of Nairn and down the A96. This ended up taking just as long as going through the national park since most of it is a single-carriageway and traffic is held up by slow-moving trucks and tractors ... however, we were not in a rush.

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[Big Boy]

Spent a few days in Inverness for a friends wedding. A very picturesque town. The thing that got me, and looking at your route you must have been enjoying it for days was the general lack of traffic. Even rush hour through Inverness was blink of an eye.

[buksida]

Yep, it takes longer to drive through Hua Hin at the weekend than Inverness during peak times! Most of Scotland was very light on traffic (can't say the same for south of the border though).

[Thistle]

Excellent photographs once again.
Good to see yo trying Scotlands other national drink along with your fish supper.

[buksida]

After a couple of days back on the farm catching up, we headed back to Stonehaven to visit Dunnottar Castle. The weather was great when we left but had turned into mist and fog by the time we reached the castle just a few miles up the road, such is the nature of things up here. The bleak weather just added to the eerie atmosphere shrouding the dank old medieval ruins. Dunnottar is best known as the place where the Honours of Scotland (the Scottish crown jewels) were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army in the 17th century.

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[buksida]

More from Dunnottar Castle ...

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[PeteC]

In 4566 my eyes are telling me that those are ancient horse hoof prints etched into the stone floor. That could very well have been where their horses were housed.

[buksida]

That was actually a holding cell for prisoners, called the Whigs Vault where 167 covenanters were kept.

[Nereus]

More from Dunnottar Castle ...

What an incredible structure! How in the hell did they ever get the building stones up there? In fact, how the hell did people get up there in medieval times and before? No helipad, so I cannot get up there!

Very detailed history for those interested, both on the castle website, and Wikipedia.

[caller]

I love this - a stunning photo. So evocative.

[buksida]

I actually took that one on a phone.

We were well into September now and the weather was starting to get colder and wetter so it was time for another jaunt into the Cairngorms. This time we would be going past Balmoral and on to Braemar to stay the night in a fancy wooden cabin that was big enough for six of us, and at £150 the price was right too. Unfortunately, the weather was not with us, and the journey up into the highlands was somewhat treacherous with driving rain and low visibility.

Braemar is a little like Ballater, a wee touristy town that ramblers and cyclists use as a base to explore the surrounding area. There would be none of that for us due to the rain so we explored the local pub instead. After hearing all of these horror stories about £7-8 pints in the UK, we were pleased to find that prices were around £4-5 on average still, even in touristy places. The evening would be spent at the barbeque at the cabin with some good music, good food, good people, and even better single malt. The drive back the next day took us through some spectacular landscapes, through Glenshee, and back out of the national park to Forfar before we headed north again back to base.

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