Travelled 161km
Stay: near Ardlingnish- lookout carpark N56.6825 W5.9814
Visited: Glenfinnan Monument (National Trust non-members £4pp), Ardnamurchan Lighthouse
It was a wet start to the day again so we drove into Fort William to Morrison’s and filled up with fuel, water (thanks to Mike and Pam) and food. The clouds were low which unfortunately covered the peak of Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Britain at 1345m. So we headed west on the A830, destination Glenfinnan. We weren’t prepared for the chaos of its popularity. Ok so rain may probe people out of the wilderness to visit other attractions, but this was ridiculous. Especially that the monument built in 1815 was a poignant reminder of the clansmen who gave their lives for the Jacobite campaign. It was here that Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his fathers standard (flag) in 1745.
But it didn’t take us long to realise that the main attraction was really due to Harry Potter. It was here that the Hogwarts Express steam train was filmed crossing the famous viaduct, which was built in the 1890’s and is the longest structure on this line from Fort William to Mallaig ferry, to enable ease of access to the Isle of Skye. Unfortunately it was absolutely bucketing down and our level of enthusiasm was not motivating enough for us to venture out to watch the train. (Here are a couple of shots from the National Trust website).
We eventually just managed to escape our parking spot (cars parked all over place) and headed further west. Along the way we got caught up in the hysteria and stopped a couple of times to take photos of the train!
We got to the cairn where Bonnie Prince Charles escaped to France after the failure of Culloden.
We then decided to turn back from here and make our way to the most westerly point on mainland Britain, Ardnamurchan Lighthouse. It was 25miles of lovely scenery, single lane roads and the obligatory sheep and cows.
As we approached the lighthouse we were not prepared for the traffic light to allow one way traffic to the carpark.
Mark was very happy to see another fog horn (no. 5) and the remains of the machinery that was used to create the pressure for it to operate (it hasn’t been used for 20 years).
We had a chat with a young man that was volunteering to watch for dolphins and whales for the summer.
We unfortunately missed out on seeing the minke whales that inhabit these waters.
As there was ‘no overnight parking’ allowed we doubled back along the B8007 for 14 miles to a lovely lookout and finished our day here.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We would love to hear from you...leave us a message below.