THE BATTLEFIELD BAND

For the September walk a band of us eventually went to Culloden (hence the title of the blog). I say eventually, because Jim and Jacque, organised the walk. I use the term organised a bit loosely because they had us going to Farr and then the Findhorn river before settling on Culloden.

They claimed this was because the weather forecast was so bad that Farr would be too exposed and then they decided that the Findhorn river would also be too exposed.

Culloden was going to be much more sheltered. Note, however, the wet-weather gear in the first photo. We would certainly need it on the EXPOSED sections of the Culloden walk.

Off we set into the woods with hardly any rain falling.

The men looking very butch beside a big tree!

On the other side of the big tree was a big stone, known as The Lord President's seat.

The seat (stone) is so named because the 18th century laird who owned the land used to take his wife to this stone to admire the great view of the Moray Firth. It was moved to its present position in 1855 to make way for the Highland railway being built.

 And here is the railway. Don't say that these blogs are not educational.

Next stop was St Mary's Well. This was a Cloutie well where people hung items of clothing and sought a cure for whatever ailed them. There are a lot of these wells about and they are still used today.

The Inverness Courier reported in 1946 of how six Cameron Highlanders, fighting Rommel in North Africa, had, on the first Sunday in May, tied "cloots" on a well in a Tunisian olive grove. Their wish, as they sipped the water, was that they meet again at the Culloden well if they survived the war. They did, and met there on the first Sunday in May.

One of the cloots near the well was golf glove. Hugh suggested that the owner was probably trying to cure a hook.

St Mary's Well is unusual in that it has a high, circular enclosure. This was thought to be for protecting the modesty of those who wished to bathe in the well. Given that modesty is in short supply among our group, the enclosure was not used.

It is also thought that Jacobite soldiers used the well before the battle at Culloden - it didn't appear to work for most of them.

A little bench at the top of a hill.

The rather limited view from the bench.

The Dinosaurs walking past a primeval looking tree.

At the top of the hill there were some pretty good views over the firth to the Black Isle.

The Prisoners' Stone.

  The Duke of Cumberland’s troops are said to have shot 17 Jacobites who had sought refuge.

One account says that up to 1000 Jacobites were killed at this stone. For decades after that grim battle, the ghosts of the slain were said to haunt here.

That didn't stop Jimmy climbing on top of the stone where he gave a good impression of someone who had been run through with an umbrella.

A patch of blue sky.

A real beastie.

Another beastie in the imagination of Pam.

It must have been warm here, because Janet began to take of her clothes. If only we had the modesty enclosure.

 A glimpse of light through the tunnel of trees.

 We were now feeling the heat a little and most of the waterproofs had disappeared.

Even Sandra divested herself of clothes.

A fungal village.

Jimmy could not resist the chance to give his opinion to a pollster who was surveying people using the forest. She began to glaze over when he started to rant about the merits of a tunnel under the river and canal.

It started to rain again, so Sandra started to put her trousers back on. Dave shows what he thought of that.

Out onto the Balloch road and this tree against the grey sky caught my eye.

 As did this two-headed horse that had obviously been dressed by Pam.

 The Cumbernauld Stone!

3 intrepid dinosaurs on top of the stone. Luckily most passers-by will have mistaken us for tourists.

 Luncheon was, rather unusually, taken on the roof of the Battlefield interpretive centre. At least there was some shelter from the wind.

Pam clearly felt uneasy and decided to stand to eat.

A dining room with a view.

Sandra looking enviously on as Hugh digs in.

 Who was this trying to get dressed before the rain came stotting down?

Why, it was Dave, who couldn't get dressed on his own without falling over.

A gingerbread house. 

Then off we set across the exposed part of the walk in the pouring rain and the howling gale. This was the last photo I took as I didn't want to get my hands out of my pockets. My fingers were numb by then and I couldn't press the shutter anyway.

Despite the exposure that we were supposed to have avoided, thanks are due to Jim and Jacque for organising the walk at the third attempt. Tea and cakes at the battlefield centre were really good despite some of us having embarrassing damp patches. 

OR MONDE HILL

The August walk was to have been our annual barbecue and games day out at Roseisle. However, just a short time earlier, our honorary dinosaur David passed away.

David was not exactly a walker, but he did come with us for our weekends away where he enthusiastically joined in with all the food, drink and great times. David was one of a kind and I know we will all miss him very much. Our thoughts are with Maureen and her family at a very difficult time.

Here he is as I think most of us will remember - waiting on the food to arrive with a glass of wine on the table.

And this is us all together at Glenshee - happy days.

Maureen  joined us on our walk around Ormonde Hill near Avoch and I hope it was some comfort to her to be surrounded by some good friends.

 Here we are setting out on what was a really good walk.

 This is the view towards Ormonde Hill -  it wasn't actually the big hill, but it was in that direction.

And this is the view back to Avoch Harbour.

 A curlew on the beach.

 The same curlew flying off.

 A boat named after my wife - if only I could find where  Sharon 1 was, because this one is showing her age a bit!

One of the reasons for the walk - historical interest. Ormonde Hill is the site of a Medieval Royal Castle. We don't just walk for the fun of it, you know - it is all about being in tune with your environment.

A nice beech avenue.

 Sunday dinner, one day. 

Something you don't see often enough - a flower meadow.

 Looking back to Avoch.

 A gate photo rather than the usual bridge picture.

The lonesome pine.

A nice hedgerow. I told you this was all about being in tune with nature and the environment.

More history.

The view of Avoch from the top of the hill.

 3 witches trying to pretend they were interested in history.

 I can never get them all to look at the camera for a group shot - and so they should be.

The blank eyes of the house staring across the fields. What tales could it tell. We shall never know. Well it is only an old abandoned house and you shouldn't really ascribe human characteristics to inanimate objects - but then again you never can tell.

What can it be creeping through the undergrowth?

Why, its Maureen and Sue.

 This was us approaching Pam's Nemesis. 

And here they are. Actually, I should have used the plural - nemeses. Ah! the benefits of a classical education - well at least two years of Latin. And I know Nemesis is Greek, but who cares that much.

We split up here, with the bovinaphobes taking a route away from the shore and the cows. They were actually more scared of us than we were of them - at least that's my side of the story. So much so, that they stampeded off in the other direction.

While we bravely turned our back on them.

 That is, until it was safe to turn around.

 And this is one of the delights that the bovinaphobes missed out on.

Well that, and an encounter with a gate. It would be safer for me to make no comment here. 

 We also came across a very small Clootie well. Nothing like the one at Munlochy. Perhaps the healing powers here are a bit limited or maybe its the National Health Service version.

We arrived at the lunch spot, but there was no sign of the other half of the party, so Robin went off to find them. He left his lunch, so we knew he would be back.

At that point it got very grey and then proceeded to rain.

There's nothing like a nice picnic and this was nothing like a nice picnic.

 Susan making the most of lunch....and the umbrella!

Hugh got the healthy raisins.................

..............while Pam got the tasty crisps.

 Sharon enjoying the great outdoors.

At great personal risk, I waded across the mudflats to set up the camera to take this photo using the remote control. There was no way I was setting the timer and attempting to run back before the shutter went off.

 Before we left we were treated to Jimmy's unfortunate impersonation of breeding rabbits. 

And doesn't he look bucking happy?

 And then Jimmy and Hugh started reverting to childhood and began to throw stones into the mud.

 Pam and Jacque dragged them away by the ear and we set off into the sunshine. It only rained when we had stopped for lunch.

 That's the style.

You clearly get a better class on the Black Isle - a bird box with a deck.

Being in tune with your environment means making the best use of local resources.

Waiting on the plough.

And here it is.

Swallows sounding the last notes of summer.

The roof of the world.

The bulk of the party carried on up the hill........

..........whilst Susan and Jacque had a toilet stop and then went back for an umbrella. I'm not sure what the connection between the two events was.

Sharon makes a new friend. She must have heard what I said about the boat!

Finally, back to Avoch and ducks in the stream looking for something to eat. Unfortunately, they got to us after lunch.....

.......and before we got to Munro's Nurseries for tea and cakes.

Thanks to Susan and Robin for organising another great walk.