Was offered a Scottish breakfast this morning instead of the
full English. My hosts say most of their guests prefer it being from Europe.
There were three German guests today and me. We all enjoyed it.
Paul and Liz try to do things a bit differently and use
local produce. This was Venison salami, smoked salmon, locally baked oatcakes
and three local cheeses with a pot of onion marmalade.
I set off towards Mallaig and found myself running alongside
a railway line. Suddenly I saw smoke and pulling over was just in time to catch
the Jacobite, a famous steam train made even more famous by featuring in the
Harry Potter films.
Lots of the locals (and not so local train journey
enthusiasts) choose to travel on this 84 mile journey from Fort William to the
most westerly railway station in Scotland at Arisaig, as a special treat. It
starts near Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain, and crosses that other
famous landmark in Harry Potter Glennfinnan Viaduct.
You can order afternoon tea or a cheese selection from the
buffet car on route. You have to book in advance but great fun and a wonderful
day out. www.jacobitetrain.com
From Glenuig the land seemed much gentler, more fertile and
greener with lots of trees. I surprised a large stag at the side of the road.
I can see why the Scots might well vote to remain today. A
lot of the improvements in the roads in the Highlands are due to joint funding
from the EU.
You get a long stretch of single track, then seemingly out of
nowhere, a two way piece of road for a short distance. There appears to be no
rhyme or reason where these funded bits will appear - nowhere near a tourist attraction or a
village even so you have to keep your wits about you as a lot of road on the
peninsular are still single track.
More deer and some happy pigs.
The whole area is very unspoilt. My family spent a couple of
memorable holidays there as young people so I was keen to revisit and see if it
had greatly changed. Happily very little had. There were a few more residential
and commercial development but this lovely spot is not easily reached and there
is little to see when you do.
Salem is a small hamlet and has a jetty where one can put a
boat into the water, it has a new shop with a cafe and wifi but the village
hall and the local school looked unused.
On to Glenborrodale, a tiny place with a couple of houses and
a farm or two. Nothing much had changed here at all either. When we were
teenagers we stayed in the only hotel, a red castle that was a student tourism
training hotel. The manager and the chef were fully qualified – everyone else
was learning. Now it is closed, privately owned and theoretically closed to the
public. Two young men were scrapping rust off the gates prior to priming and
paint and they thought that since I was not a journalist (???) they thought I
could drive in a take a look.
The grounds were well looked after
But the castle looked a bit the worst for wear. Hopefully
one of the reasons the owners are keeping people out is to restore it. The
other reason I can’t disclose, or they would have to shoot me!
Time was marching on and I had to get back to Fort William
so I turned back at the castle and made my way towards Strontian, another little
village on the peninsula. As I passed the Salem jetty, two four by four
vehicles each towing a boat, pulled out
right in front of me and proceeded to drive headlong giving no quarter to any
other drivers behind them, me, or to any oncoming. They didn’t make any effort
to pull into passing places or to obey the code of practice – and they were
locals.
So I tucked in behind them and followed rather ashamed in
their wake and did not have to pull over or reverse even once till I reached
Strontian about nine miles on. This is
the main village on Loch Sunart and in the past Strontian lead was mined here
and the mineral Strontianite from which the element Strontium was first
isolated. |I asked the women in Visit Scotland what it was used for and she
thought it was red flare in fireworks. That can’t be all there is to it surely?
This village has a police station , a small fire station and a school as well
as a cafe where I had a wonderful cream tea sitting in the sunshine.
Once out of Strontian and heading for the ferry to get back
to Fort William, I was once again in harsh rocky terrain. The Corran ferry is
the shortest in Scotland and takes cars and passengers from Corran to Ardgour.
Passengers and bicycles are free. The rest of us pay £8.20 for a journey that
took exactly three minutes and 43 seconds. I timed it. Why don’t they build a
bridge?
I got back to Fort William just in time to visit their
Museum where they have the largest collection of Jacobite and Bonny Prince
Charlie artefacts in the country.
Shame the two elderly Scottish gentlemen volunteers had
never heard of the TV series Outlander. They have no idea what a potential
goldmine they are running. And at the moment it is free!!!
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