SCOTLAND THE BRAVE

Carlisle – Ayr

Our first day in wee Scotland was spent driving from Carlisle across to the west coast through Galloway Forest Park and north to Ayr.

We drove through magnificent scenery all day, particularly along the coast looking over the Atlantic Ocean towards Ailsa Craig, an imposing rock mound island, and Kintyre.  (The family may have broken out into a few choruses of the song “Mull of Kintyre”.)   

At Ayr, the magnificent 18^th century Culzean Castle, perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Atlantic, was spectacular.

Not only was the history and the architecture of the castle fascinating, the herd of red deer (does, fawns and stags) feeding peacefully under the oak trees was entrancing, and the Walled Garden with its myriad of coloured garden beds and beautifully manicured lawns was perfectly tranquil.  We all loved this castle.

Glasgow - Drumnadrochit

A brief stopover in Glasgow at the Kelvingrove Art and History Museum increased our knowledge on Scottish history.  We learnt about the early Scots, the Vikings invading Scotland, Robert the Bruce, Robert Burns the poet, Mary Queen of Scots, and her son James VI of Scotland (who was also James I of England).  The children learnt that kilts were only worn originally by Highlanders, and that they only came into existence around the 1600’s.  Clans designed their tartan around what they could afford (red dye tartans signified wealth as the dye came from a rare type of beetle). 

Next a bit of family history was investigated by Sarah at Renton, just north of Glasgow.  We visited the castle of some of her paternal relatives who sold the castle in the 1930’s.

Due to the enormous upkeep of the buildings, this castellated Gothic mansion was turned into a nursing home about 25 years ago.  We made ourselves known to the nursing staff and then took a wander around the home and its simple grounds.

The open rolling hills of farmland gave way to more extreme mountainous landscape the further north we headed towards Loch Ness and Drumnadrochit.

We stopped numerous times on our travels to breathe in the fresh Highland air and to marvel at the wild mountains and the cold glacial lochs.  A wee bonnie Scotsman was playing the bagpipes at one lookout which set the perfect atmosphere for our travels.

It was interesting to learn as we drove past Ben Nevis, UK’s highest mountain, that it was only 1344 metres high.

Neptune’s Stairs on the Caledonian Canal, which helps link the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean via Loch Ness, Loch Lochy and Loch Linnhe, was a very interesting stop for the boys in the family.  We watched a boat pass through part of the lock system which raises or lowers the boats 80 feet above or down to sea level.

Nessie did not show her face and fortunately we all felt quite at ease camping beside the loch.  Ellie had reassured us that she was “really friendly and didn’t eat people”.  Georgia (the horsey one) went for an hour long ride around a horse riding farm which overlooked the ruins of Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness.

She claims that she REALLY enjoyed it.  We visited the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre and learnt about the Loch Ness monster hoaxes and how they were solved.

Drumnadrochit - Ullapool

A day ahead of schedule, the family decided to head further north-west in search of more rugged landscape   ...   and we found it.

On our travels we stopped at the Falls of Shin and had the most unexpected surprise – Atlantic salmon jumping up the falls on their way to freshwater breeding grounds.  It was a wonderful experience witnessing these seafaring fish battling their way up fast flowing streams into the middle of Scotland.

The glacial cut landscape became more desolate the further west we headed, with very little vegetation and few inhabitants.  We assumed the low population was due to the inhospitable terrain, but we were to learn later that the clan numbers were significantly reduced by the English Red Coats after the Jacobite rebellion in 1746, to avoid the possibility of another Highland resurgence. 

We stayed that night at Ullapool, which typified the Scottish fishing village:  a village in Scotland with fish.  It also sported steep pebble beaches with an endless supply of smooth skipping stones.

Ullapool – Cairngorms (Grampian Mountains)

We passed through Inverness on our travels east, but as we were too invigorated by our stay in the Highlands, we didn’t stop in the city.  Just east of the city is Culloden Moor, the site of the last battle fought on British soil.

This battle was fought in 1746 between the English Government and the rebelling Jacobites and lasted for just one hour.  It saw the end of the attempt by bonnie Prince Charlie to regain the English crown for the Stuart family from the reigning Hanover family.

This battle led to the English building the fort, Fort George, only a few kilometres down the road at Ardersier.  We wandered around the military barracks and climbed the ramparts to catch a glimpse of the magnificent views over Moray Firth and out to the North Sea.

Dolphins swam lazily in the water just off shore, which was an added bonus to our day.

Time to turn south through the Grampian Mountains and into Cairngorm National Park.  A working water mill captured our attention at Blair Atholl and we learnt about the process of stone grinding oats and wheat to make various grades of meal.

We couldn’t resist stocking the pantry with their fresh home-baked breads.  Our highlight in Blair Atholl however was finally seeing some gorgeous Highland cattle with their enormous horns, shaggy coats and their shaggy fringes completely covering their eyes.

Heading south, we visited the Scottish Crannog Centre where we inspected a reconstructed loch dwelling from the Bronze/Iron Age.  These lake dwellings, and the lives of their inhabitants, are still puzzling archaeologists today.

The Centre had fascinating hands-on exhibitions encouraging visitors to try various arts and crafts from this bygone era, including how to light a fire without matches.  Vid managed to create fire, and Tom and Georgia loved trying the simple techniques of wood turning and grinding a hole through a stone.

The countryside continued to overwhelm us with its unique beauty as we opted to drive the narrow, hair-raising, no-room-for-two-vehicles road towards Edinburgh.  The baron windswept hills with low growing purple flowering heather were magnificent.  We felt alone (Vid quite enjoyed the lack of other vehicles) to the extent that we were on another planet when we saw some “golden” sheep.

Unfortunately as we wound our way down the mountains we approached civilisation again and the busy world we live in.

Falkirk - Edinburgh

The Falkirk Wheel was Vid and Tom’s highlight for the day before driving onto Edinburgh.  The wheel is the first boat “lift” and is an enormous feat for modern day engineering.

It works on the Archimedes’ principle of water displacement, and although the concept in theory seemed simple, the practicality of developing this amazing structure was admirable.

On to Scotland’s historic capital, Edinburgh, and in particular Edinburgh Castle.  Although there is quite a variation in the architectural styles of the castle (as it was built over many centuries) the stone buildings all had their own character.  The quaint chapel of St Margaret’s is the oldest building in Edinburgh and is the only building within the castle walls not to have suffered at the hands of battle.

The castle is the home to the Scottish crown jewels – the crown being the second oldest in the world after the Hungarian crown.  It has not been worn since the 1600’s.  We also saw the “Stone of Scoone”, a sandstone piece of rock which has reputedly been used for over one thousand years as the stone where the monarchs of Scotland sit for their coronation.

We stopped on the Scottish/English border to bid Scotland a wee farewell and enjoyed the magnificent views for a final time.

It is certainly a country we would all love to visit again.

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