WHERE THERE IS MUCK THERE IS RACH

November - a time of mists and mellow fruitfulness and also a time for the Dinosaurs to get away from the everyday cares of retirement, work and the likes and travel to far away places for some rest and recuperation.

We went about an hour down the road to the Muckrach Hotel at Dulnain Bridge.

Interesting and fantastical names - Muckrach and Dulnain. However, in deference to Sandra, I will refrain from writing the blog on a Game of Thrones theme!

Before we went to the hotel, we went to Carrbridge where some of us played golf and some of us went for a wee walk around the village. I only have photos of the golf, so for all I know the others went and sat in the cafe while we were playing around.

The ladies - well Sharon and Susan - played together and here they are approaching the 1st green. The gentlemen - Robin, Jimmy and myself, had already played that hole with varying degrees of success.

Robin about to tee off on the 4th.

It actually became warmer as the day progressed and he was soon in short sleeves. Hopefully this was the way the weather was going to be for the rest of the weekend.

Here are the golfers, looking quite resplendent in front of the clubhouse.

This was the nearest we got to a bridge photo all weekend. We were on our way to join the remainder of our our party at the Kitchen for luncheon.

The Old Packhorse Bridge is the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands, dating from 1717. It was built to allow funerals to take place at Duthil Church. These were often delayed as there was no place to cross the river if it was in spate until the bridge was built.

It turns out that the others did, indeed, go walking and Hugh sent me the photos to prove it.
Here they are in a bridge photo.

Presumably, the bridge was crossing over this river.

It is hard to tell, but these are horses at the far end of the field. Had they been cows, Pam would have been horsing off in the opposite direction.

Here is Pam, with a wooden horse's head. Reminds me of Gairloch a bit.

Posing with owls.

More owls.

There is a lot of wood stroking going on during this walk. What's all that about?

Then again, it looks they were welcome to the wood.

Gives a whole new meaning to a high backed chair - with attendant scary man peaking through the back.

Two more scary men.

We have been on this bench before and here we are again.
It does look like a bit of a squeeze if you are sitting down.

It was time for lunch. 
The golfers arrived in the Kitchen just as Dave had hung up his latest drawing of our logo.

How has it come to this? We are having a meal and we have ordered tap water. Years ago we might have been having beer or wine or gin or something else alcoholic. Old age has taken some toll on the sprightly young things we once were.

After lunch we made our way to the Muckrach, checked in and started to relax for the evening. It was a very clear night and the moon was high, giving us an opportunity to take some nice photos.

There was a fine sky outside.



There was a homely view from the outside looking in.

We had a very pleasant meal, drinks and a quiz, before we all went to bed, to get some sleep before the exertions of tomorrow.

The Saturday morning dawned bright, frosty and cold.



After a hearty breakfast, we drove through to Grantown and our walk through Anagach Woods. Anagach is derived from Gaelic and may refer to a nearby dangerous ford across the Spey, or it may simply be a derivation of Aonach, meaning hilly. The woods certainly occupy some hilly glacial deposits.
The woods date from 1766, when they were initiated by means of plantation and later by natural regeneration. This mix makes them very attractive to walk through.
We were soon ready and on our way.

The old Scots Pine are quite magnificent and gave an almost cathedral-like quality to some parts of the path.

The woods are well known as a refuge for Capercaillie. These are the largest of the grouse and they are threatened with extinction in Scotland due to the decline in their pine forest habitat. In fact, if they did become extinct, it would be for the second time! They first disappeared about 1780 and were reintroduced from Sweden. Two extinctions would seem to be a bit unfortunate.
We didn't see any!

Two elder statesmen resting on a bench.

Time for sweeties.

The woods are not all Scots Pine. There are other species on lower lying ground and this probably indicates areas where grazing continued up until the late 19th Century.

We met some dogs.

They didn't hold us up for long.

Once we were out of the woods a bit we found some fine views to the Cromdale hills.
Jimmy regaled us with a verse or two from a Corries song The Haughs of Cromdale.
This is allegedly about a battle that took place here in 1689. Mention is made in the song of a great victory led by Montrose. This is difficult, as Montrose had been dead for forty years before the battle at Cromdale took place. The other problem is that it was not a victory, but a defeat for the Jacobite rebellion of that time. In fact, it was the effective end of that rebellion. The government forces were thought to have lost less than 100 men over the two days of the battle. The battle took two days as some of the Jacobites had escaped the field and were caught the next day and slaughtered.
Still, it is a nice wee song.

The fields between us and the Spey were full of Greylag Geese, which have migrated from Iceland for the winter.

We were just a short distance from the Spey and a bridge crossing it and connecting us to Cromdale village. The bridge has a bit of an interesting history. It was erected in 1922 and was financed by the local residents. They had obtained the building as war surplus and it replaced one which was washed away in 1921. An earlier bridge was also washed away in 1894. These bridges were built to replace the original ferry across the river.

We were definitely in a more pastoral landscape now, with nice green fields on the river's flood plain.

Don't let that fool you, though. There was a hint of Deliverance about the place.

Just adjacent the path there is a cattle water pump.

The makers are Lister and you can still buy these pumps from a variety of manufacturers today. They are operated by cattle pushing with their noses. They can lift water up from a depth of 26 feet or draw water along a length of 800 feet.

Approaching our lunch stop.

Eating our lunch.

Eating their lunch.

Eating his lunch.

Our lunch stop was a fishing hut and it was, of course, next to the river.

Anglers obviously can be a bit disobedient at times. It doesn't seem like a good idea to me to put your ghillie in a difficult position - especially on a boat.

Lunch was over and it was back to the walk along the banks of the river - not a ghillie in sight, whether in an awkward position or not.

After a while we left the river side and climbed a little bit higher and back into the woods for a short while. The area must be relatively unspoiled, as Juniper of this size takes a long time to grow.

There were some small farms here and some sheep trying to get some warmth out of the sun. As an aside, I have often thought that sheep and cows must hate the frost. It is one thing to eat wet grass, but another thing completely to eat frozen grass. Wouldn't you think?

More geese looking for grass as well.

Cattle too.

We were now heading back to the village and this tree beside the path was a bit strange. Did all these trunks just happen to fall in a star shape from the top of the tree, or did the tree surgeon have a sense of the bizarre?

We passed by the still frozen golf course and on to the cars.

It had been a fine walk in great weather, and now were back at the Muckrach, where there was a nice view of the nearby castle as the sun started to sink in the west. The castle dates to about 1585.

Once we had had our tea, it was time for a wee rest and clean up before dinner, which was in a room of our own. Clearly we had put the other diners off yesterday and they were trying to minimise the damage.

After another quiz, it was time for bed, before another walk tomorrow.

Tomorrow, or Sunday as it is often known, was another brilliantly beautiful day, with endless blue skies and twinkling frost.

We even had a seasonal Robin to greet us as we parked up in Nethybridge at the site of the old station. The station was built in 1863 and was originally called Abernethy, but goods often ended up in Abernethy, near Perth, so the name was changed to Nethybridge. It closed in 1965.

A coo has taken up residence now.

We were soon on our way along the old track bed, so the walking was easy.

Donkey oaty.

We had a distant view of Castle Roy.

While we were looking at the castle, the Jackdaws were looking at us!

We stopped by this nice little view through the frosted trees.

Next door was the remains of what I think must be a railway worker's bothy. Despite the fireplace, it is not going to keep you warm on a day like today. Gives a whole new meaning to open plan living.

We really were favoured by some fantastic weather.

One of the old bridges across the railway.

A living coo.

Does a bit of elevation make this a Highland Coo?

A group photo to show off the blue sky and the colourful jackets.

Jacque looks to solve the conundrum of the gate that thinks it is a fence.

Sharon takes a more direct approach.

Eventually they all get it.

Another, smarter bridge across the railway line.

At the bridge we were accosted by this mad old lady.

She ran off when these not so mad, and not quite so old, ladies appeared.

Look out for Robin Hood.

Hopefully, this is as close as they get to putting an arrow through a Capercaillie!

This was not some weird kind of woodland glockenspiel, but a means of counting the archers in and out. If the numbered peg is not in the hole, the archer is out. If it is in the hole, then the archer is in the woods and other archers should be wary of them.

Out of the woods without being punctured, we crossed the road and into this fairy land of frosted grass and trees. The photos do not really do it justice.

No, it wasn't a new game, it was Sharon, Sue and Robin trying to get the best close up of the frozen, sparkly grass.

It was well worth taking a few more pictures.

It wasn't just the grass that was caught in the frost's cold embrace.

I thought Charlie was looking back, concerned for my welfare, but he was checking the coast was clear before he went for pee.

We came down out of the woods again, to the roadside and close to Castle Roy. This dates from the 11th Century and is thought to be one of the oldest, unaltered castles of its type in Scotland. There is an alleged association with the Wolf of Badenoch, but the proof of that is a bit hazy. It is quite an interesting building and there is a local trust dedicated to doing some restorative work and perhaps finding some use for the shell in the future.

Next to the Castle is the parish church which dates from the 1770's, although there were ministers serving an earlier church at the site from at least the 1580's. One of the early ministers had Jacobite sympathies and was sacked and evicted for refusing to pray for the new King William and Queen Mary.

The castle and the church.

In the graveyard around the church is this quaint little shelter. This is actually a brand new building, but it replaces one from the Second World War. That was built by Canadian loggers who worked in the forests around the village as part of the war effort. They built the shelter using wood from every type of tree that they found in the area. It had recently fallen into disrepair, but somehow this new building has been erected and well done to whoever managed that. Nethybridge was home to many of these loggers and there is plenty evidence of their activities in the surrounding area.

Walking back to the village, the cars and lunch.

We were soon in the cosy little Nethy House cafe, where we had a splendid and warming lunch. Following that, we went back to the cars and then went our separate ways home.
It really was a fabulous weekend. While the weather was exceptional, it would not have mattered without the company, the walks, the hotel and the craic.
All of that was organised and arranged by Dave and Sandra, so thanks to them both.
Next stop - Christmas lunch! Ho,ho,ho.