HAIR CLOG

This was probably not a good idea - changing our normal April getaway to May.

Not because we did not have a good time, but only because we are getting older and confusion becomes ever more the enemy.

Nonetheless, May it was and what an inspired choice.

Pam and Hugh had found a little bit of Shangri-La in Big Sand near Gairloch and on the morning of Friday 5th we set off for the wild west.

It was fine as we left Inverness and only got finer and bluer as we headed further west.

This was the view as we started to see the blue remembered hills.

The car in the distance belongs to Jimmy and Jacque.

The first stop for most of us was the Gairloch Golf Club, where Hugh had organised 18 holes for the adventurous among us. I say the first stop for most of us, because Hugh and Pam had actually stopped for a bacon roll at Tarvie! Now, they could have arranged that we all met there and experienced what sounds like a fine breakfast, but no, they kept it to themselves.

Here are some of the ladies relaxing in front of the clubhouse. Of course, it was easy for some of them to do that, they weren't about to embark on a major challenge.

Here are all the gladiators ready for the fray.

There now follows a selection of photos of people trying to play golf and in various poses, some of which do not show the best of form. We were all having a nice time in the sun, so form wasn't really everything. As Dave often says - "It isn't the Ryder Cup."

It wasn't all about the golf - the scenery was pretty good too - well if you ignore the foreground.

There was a lot of purposeful striding.

A bit of dancing around the pin.

In between holes 9 and 10, we fitted in a nice soup and sandwich lunch at the Sheiling in Gairloch. After hole number 18, Which is very picturesque, we headed off to our home for the next few days.

Once we found the right road and the house we soon settled in and cracked open the first drinks of the weekend.

There were some very fine views from the conservatory sitting area of the house.

Once we had settled in and found the gin, it was time for dinner - an Asian feast cooked by the Smiths, Pollocks and Hutchisons.

Here is Robin checking on Pam's coriander chopping skills.

Here we are getting ready to start eating.

This is Jimmy announcing that, after a number of different accounting attempts, he is finally able to announce that he has won the golf competition.

His prize is duly hung round his neck.

So the sun began to sink on a fine day, but the sunset gave us all rose tinted spectacles through which to view the world.

The end of day 1 - could it get any better?

Well, yes, it could and it did.

Saturday dawned as beautiful and blue as Friday and everyone was in good spirits as we had our breakfast and got ready for a walk on the wild side of Poolewe.

Hugh and Sue took in the view while the eggs cooked.

Maureen joined them.

Then Pam arrived as well for a bit of al fresco chat.

Then there was trouble.

Robin's car would not start. No jump leads, no easy way to push start on an upward slope.

What to do?

Well we could all stand around and look as if we knew what the answer was.

Luckily Maureen had the bright idea of asking the neighbour if they had jump leads.

They did!

Fantastic!

Everyone is happy.

However, after a little while it became apparent that the jump leads were locked in their other car and the keys had been put somewhere safe by their son who was not at home.

Sounds like they could have been Dinosaurs.

So after decanting walking gear into other cars we finally got on the way to Poolewe, where we parked up and headed off to the start of the walk round Loch Kernsary.

At least that is what we thought. We had failed to take account of the Second World War!

We had barely started walking when there was an enormous bang, followed by another. It turned out to be a Russian tank!

As we carried on we came to the camp site which had a Pipe Band and loads of people dressed in 1940's clothes. There were lots of soldiers and sailors and a great number of young Russian cadets and mariners.

There were also some old men wearing white berets. These were veterans of the Arctic Convoys, just like this venerable gentleman, who was only too proud to let us take his photo.

The Arctic Convoys were ocean going convoys sailing from the UK, Iceland and the US to northern Russian ports during WWII. 78 convoys sailed during the course of the war and 1400 ships were involved. 104 merchant ships and 18 Royal Navy ships were lost along with 829 merchant seamen and 1944 Navy sailors.

The convoys provided vital supplies to the Russians and also occupied German forces before the opening of a second front. Their contribution to the war effort was significant.

From 1942, the convoys were assembled in Loch Ewe prior to sailing to Russia.

The journey was particularly hazardous due to weather - ice in winter and almost constant daylight in summer. The long daylight hours made attacks from German air forces a 24 hour risk. The convoys also had to sail close to occupied Norway and were susceptible to shore based gun batteries, as well as air and sea forces. Much of the materials transported to Russia ended up supplying the besieged city of Leningrad.

All this happened 75 years ago, hence the celebrations in Poolewe. They had not laid this entertainment on especially for us, but it was good to see.

The girls, and Robin, managed to find a couple of young Russians to pose with.

Some sojurs.

The Russian tank.

Note that I am taking this photo from the blunt end of the gun.

It was getting increasingly difficult for us to get going on the walk and make tracks.

Before we could finally leave, some of us had our photo taken with Churchill and Stalin. This isn't something that many people can say.

Soon we were on our way in the bright sunshine.

It wasn't long before we left the 1940's behind and went back about 1000 million years to the time of Torridonian Sandstone, over which we were now tramping!

We were brought back to the present when Maureen got out the sherbet sweeties.

The views were quite magnificent.

Here we are taking one in.

Flora and Fauna too.

Ancient history as well - a crannog, (on the tree covered islet) on Loch Kernsary.

Crannogs date from 5000 years ago and, in some cases, were in use up until the 17th Century. Most date to the Iron Age and they were largely defensive/residential structures.

Interestingly, ( well at least to me) there is a boat shaped stone walled building about 20 metres south west of the crannog. This is 10 by 5 metres in size and had an unknown purpose. It has an opening in the "bows" facing the crannog and is thought to have been built at about the same time.

Soon we were heading towards lunch.

This looked like a nice place, but a fit young couple had beaten us to it, so we settled for a nearby slope covered in bluebells.

Here we are enjoying our lunchtime rolls.

And this was the lovely view from our lunch stop.

While we were taking in the view, a female Wheatear was watching us.

So were the local ponies.

There has obviously been settlement here for some time as the ruined house where we had lunch showed. So too does this re-roofed barn, which looks like it was an original cruck-framed house or barn.

You can see why people thought it a desirable place to stay.

We didn't see any unpropped bodies, but I can see why they might be a danger.

Lunch was about halfway along the walk and we were soon heading back to Poolewe on a nice wide track.

This Stonechat followed us for some of the way.

A bridge photo. This was a bridge over the Inveran River.

Snow in the distance.

Pussy Willow. The name actually derives fro the flowers before they reach this stage when they are covered in soft grey fur like a kitten's.

A belle beside the Bluebells.

The River Ewe and we are nearly back at the cars.

No sooner had we arrived back when a Spitfire flew overhead as part of the Arctic Convoy celebrations. Fabulous.

After marvelling at the Spitfire we decided to go to the harbour at Gairloch and see the Russian cadet ship which was berthed there.

Not only did we get to see it, we were allowed on board for a look about. The Cold War really is over.

Luckily the ship was anchored and tied up, otherwise we were off.

Sandra was dressed for a trip to St Petersburg.

A bridge photo of a different kind.

After our nautical adventure we went back to the house for a group photo before our Italian/American banquet.

However, before we had our dinner it seems some of us had to have drinks on the deck.

Another fine meal and a bit of fun and games afterwards.

So the sun set on another fine day, marred only by the choice of Take That as after dinner entertainment. Still, the stars were coming out tonight and so was the moon.

Another fabby end to another fabby day.

The next morning was our last full day in the house. Before breakfast we watched the Gannets diving for fish in front of the house. Unfortunately, i was only able to catch the splash as they hit the water.

It was pretty spectacular, believe me.

The day actually started a bit less bright than we were used to, but it soon became blue and beautiful again.

We started our walk at the same point as where we all met up on Friday - at the golf club car park. Today, however, no irons were needed as we headed for the Big Beach.

We had a Spitfire yesterday and today we had a remote controlled plane swooping overhead. Other than that, the beach was pretty quiet.

At the south end we had a great view back over the empty sands. If it wasn't for the midges and the rain, there would be high rise hotels as far as the eye could see. A small price to pay if you ask me.

As Hugh was our leader, we had to check the map a couple of times.

Happily we made it to the harbour where the Russian training ship was still tied up.

From the harbour, we started off on the Flowerdale Glen walk up to the waterfall.

Pretty soon we reached Flowerdale House with it's Bluebell lined drive.

Flowerdale House was built in 1738 for the MacKenzies of Gairloch. It was added to in 1904. It was the first house in the area to have a slated roof. Lloyd George was staying here in 1921 when he was advised of the rejection of the King and Empire by the Irish and he called the Cabinet to meet at Inverness. This was the one and only time it has met outside London.

Flowerdale is named and known for the profusion of blooms along it's length.

As we climbed a bit higher, we crossed the river, giving us an opportunity for a bridge photo.

The aim of the walk was to get to the waterfall and sure enough, we did.

At the top of the waterfall we stopped for more fabulous home-prepared rolls.

This was the view from our lunch stop.

Of course, those of you who read the blog assiduously (and that better be all of you), will remember that we did the Flowerdale walk in April 2008 when we stayed at the Rua Reidh Lighthouse. As it happens I took a photo then of this same view, but with all of us in the foreground. As with all group photos, Sandra was not looking at the camera.

It was a similarly stunning day, but the difference in a few weeks made it that much greener.

So, we finished our lunch, crossed the river and set of back down the glen.

On our way down the hill we pass the memorial to Iain Dall MacKay who lived from 1658 to 1754 - a pretty good age in these days. However, his father died when he was almost 100, so longevity seems to have been in the genes.

Iain Dall MacKay was blinded by smallpox when he was young and, later, after training, he followed his father into piping. His father was the piper for the MacKenzies and when he died at 100, Iain took over the role. He was also the bard to the chiefs of the clan and it was quite unusual to hold both posts at the same time. He is particularly famous in piping circles as a composer of piobaireachds, a number of which survive to the present day. His first was called The Nipping of the Lice and was written about the bed bugs at the piping school in Skye that he attended. I think I have been to hotels like that!

As we got further down the track towards Gairloch, we caught a glimpse of this wee trout in the river. With a bit of luck it might grow up to be somebody's dinner.

The final leg of the walk took us into the Arboretum near to Flowerdale House. Just as we entered the walk there was an old cut tree stump, which people had begun to hammer pennies and the like. There were not enough to make it worth trying to get them all out.

Some nice yellow poppies in the sunshine.

There were trees in the Arboretum as you might expect. However, they were not labelled, nor were they particularly interesting.

Well this one was quite interesting - almost like a giant stick insect.

There were some Gunnera in one of the low-lying parts of the walk. This is sometimes called Giant or Chilean Rhubarb. Some of the South American species are, in fact, edible and are commonly eaten raw. They are not the largest leaved plants in the world, but they are quite close and some leaves have been recorded as being over 3 metres wide.

There were some nice views over the golf course from the Arboretum path.

There was also a miniature world in a tree stump.

We also came across this memorial cross. This was erected for Sir Kenneth John MacKenzie, 7 Baronet and 14th Laird of Gairloch. He was born in 1861 and died in 1929. The memorial also commemorates his wife Lady Marjory, who was the daughter of the Earl of Mansfield. She died in 1943.

A nice sunny spot.

Finally on this walk we passed by a small pond and the cherry blossom was floating on the surface of the water like so many silver pennies.

I know pennies don't float and they are not often silver, but you get the drift.

It was back to the cars and then home to the house for most of us for the rest of the day. Jim and Jacque went to Aultbea to see some more of the Arctic Convoy stuff.

They certainly got a closer view of the Spitfire than we did the day before.

Apparently this is a representation of the Ops Room at Aultbea. A well oiled military machine, just like a Dinosaur walk.

 We all relaxed in the sun before going out to a nice dinner at the Old Inn in Gairloch.

We managed to get back to the house in time to see the hills turn pink as the sun set.

The moon was also visible as was Jupiter and 4 of its moons, through the high powered binoculars in the house. At least they were, if you could get them to work by following Robin's instructions. 

After breakfast the next morning and a tidy up of the house we were off for our final adventure which was a stroll around Inverewe gardens.

The garden was created by Osgood MacKenzie in 1862 on a 2100 acre estate bought for him by his mother! Whilst I have some sympathy for the view that all property is theft, he made a pretty good job of it all. He passed it on to his daughter Mairi Sawyer. It was she who rebuilt the house at the site after the original was destroyed by fire. The house has only recently opened to the public and it is a real delight.

Our whole visit was fantastic and, despite the magnificence of the garden, I think the house was such a joy.

It was all so marvellous that I have few words to describe it and will just show some photos without very much commentary at all. I think that for many of us it was a real highlight of the weekend.

 

On to the house.

Were they all waiting on Ladies?

The apron says it all!

The Bothy boys!

Back to the garden.

We had lunch at the gardens and then it was time to leave the west and head for home.

It really was great weekend away and Hugh and Pam really did us proud with all their organisation - especially of the weather.

The food that we all cooked was really good and better than you might get in many a restaurant. The company was as good as always and long may it continue.

Thanks also to everyone who gave me photos for the blog.

Looking forward to the next one.