CANALSIDE YULETIDE

We might walk every month, but Christmas comes only once a year, which is probably just as well. There aren't enough hours on telly for all the Christmas adverts as it is.

Happily it is all now a fading memory and normal life can resume.

Bah Humbug!

As is our wont, we did not travel too far at this happy time and we went to the Loch Ness Country House Hotel - formerly known as the Dunain Park to us oldies. Dunain means hill or fort of the birds.

It rained pretty heavily as we travelled to the hotel and continued as we sat waiting in the car park for everyone to arrive. Luckily the rain did abate and we were treated to some blue skies during the day.

The Hotel is a Georgian building, probably originally built as a private residence. However, I cannot get much more information than that, so will have to leave it there. I am sure some of you are quite delighted about that, although, I would say that the Georgian era immediately preceded the Victorian era and lasted from 1714 to 1830.

It was raining a bit when we bravely set out to walk down to the Caledonian Canal, but that did not deter us, nor dampen our spirits - it was Christmas after all.

 On the road down to the canal, you get a fine view over towards the city and, in the foreground, some line-dancing sheep. 

 

 Soon, we reach the canal and walk along the north side on a fairly good new path.

In October 1846,  a several hundred yard section of canal, in the vicinity of Torvean,  was subject to a catastrophic failure  In just a few hours all of the water in the canal between Dochgarroch and Muirtown discharged into the River Ness, causing serious flooding. Indeed, if the Dochgarroch lock had not been shut and able to withstand the weight of the water in Loch Ness at the time, the consequential flooding could have been far more serious than it was. The flood was partly due to the use of locally available loose sands and gravel to construct the southern bank of the canal which was located on the old bed of the displaced River Ness.
Torvean itself, is derived from the Gaelic - Torr Bheathain - Hill of St Bean. St Bean was a cousin of Columba and built a cell nearby at Kilvean. This would suggest that the place name of Torvean is very old indeed. There is a possibility that King Brude of the Picts had his fort at Torvean, but the quarrying away of the top of the hill makes it impossible to tell. Suffice to say that a very large silver chain was found at the foot of the hill in 1808 at the time of the building of the canal, suggesting some form of high status use of the site.

There was considerable disquiet at the effect of building the canal had on local watercourses. The widening of the outlet of Loch Ness was of huge concern and Telford was said to have got the location and design of the entrance to the canal completely wrong. It was exposed to the prevailing wind and made entry or exit difficult. It also suffered from silting due to material being carried there by the River Beauly.

So it seems that the Caledonian Canal was not  the unalloyed success and engineering triumph that we all were lead to believe.

It is still pretty impressive, though.

We came across a dinky wee garden of remembrance and bench.

After walking a little further it was time to stop and retrace our steps back to the hotel for  lunch. However, before we could do that, Hugh and Pam wassailed us all with cups of mulled cider and a mince pie!

This, of course, is a very traditional thing to do at this time of year. The original wassail was hot, mulled mead punch, drunk from a wassailing bowl. Later this evolved into mulled cider, especially in south-west England where cider making was prolific. It was often associated with ensuring a good harvest of cider apples the following year. The tradition dates back to the Middle Ages. Pam and Hugh are younger than that by some distance.
 

The addition of citrus fruits and the use of polystyrene cups is thought to be a very modern addition to the tradition.

 Suitably fortified, I managed to get them to pose for a group photo. This can be difficult at the best of times, but can you imagine what it is like after drink has been taken?
 

 Heading back to the hotel, we spot a rainbow above the pylons - the power and the glory perhaps.
 

Then, some evidence of a dastardly rural deed - perhaps a Midwinter Murder. It certainly looks like the remains of a scarecrow. 
 

We pass on by on our own yellow brick road anyway.

 The scarecrow hadn't been doing his job, in any event. Perhaps this is evidence of the hill of the birds.

Just as we end our walk we spy a gate, seemingly built to keep the trees in, or out. 

But nothing can keep us out of the hotel and we are soon in a nice room getting changed and ready for lunch, drinks and Secret Santa.

 

I did have a heap of photos of the festivities in the hotel but they seem to have gone to that place where computers hide things when they can't read your mind and actually do what you have mistakenly made them do by pressing the wrong buttons. They never seem to know what you are thinking and just do what you tell them instead. The complete opposite of wives, I think. Annoying really.

We had a good time and thanks to Hugh and Pam for the organisation and the mulled cider and mince pies.

Thanks to Janet for telling me that there had been flooding from the canal in 1846.

Thanks to everyone for some great walks during 2015 and we are all looking forward to more interesting and exciting times in 2016.