THE ROUTE CANAL

The Caledonian Canal must be our favourite route to walk. Whilst we haven't walked the whole length of it, we have walked numerous stretches and some of these a few times. That doesn't make it any less interesting. There's always something going on.

So, for March, Sue and Charlie chose a walk along the Clachnaharry end of the canal, with a detour down to the Merkinch Local Nature Reserve. This is actually one of my favourite walks, but I wasn't about, so couldn't go. That means, of course, that the photos were taken by others and I will have to exercise a harsh, judgemental approach as to what gets into the blog and what is cast aside.

Here is the first still from a newly released gritty gangster movie. The kingpin, guarded by his molls, walks out for a clandestine meeting. Nobody, but nobody, will get in his way! The molls may look harmless, but in reality, they are masters of dangerous and dark arts.

No-one will dare tangle with Mar Wick, John Wick's older and wiser brother.

                                                                                                                                                     

There might be a bit of a filmic theme developing here, so for those of you who have never seen John Wick before, here he is - the spit of his brother Mar!

Not only is Mar Wick a dangerous man to know, he is deadly with the ladies. They hang on every word he says and follow him everywhere. Don't be fooled by their little old lady looks, they are just as deadly as Mar!

I was not harsh enough with this photo, it would seem. Nobody can read the notice and only half of Agnes's face is in the picture. In circumstances like that, I just cheat. I paraphrase the notice, pretend I wrote it all myself and don't mention Agnes.

This, however, shows us the weather was nice and sunny and that the shy five have scared off a swan!

Five become four! But, they are still faceless!

Who can they be? Are they looking for Deadly Dave?

Will we ever find out who they are?

I don't know, but I do know that they got to the railway line where it crosses the canal.

The swing bridge is not the original. This one dates to 1906. On one side of the bridge is the now disused Clachnaharry Station. This opened in 1869 and closed in 1913, so there will be no 3:10 Clachnaharry.

Interestingly, the bridge is painted white. Why? To prevent expansion in the heat of sun. That seems a bit superfluous in Inverness! That seems a bridge too far to me.

This plaque commemorates the twinning of the Caledonian Canal with the Gota Canal in Sweden. It is about twice as long as the Caledonian, but like our canal it is now mainly used for tourist traffic. When I say our canal, I realise that we all Gota canal - its alimentary isn't it?

Strictly speaking, and with some reflection, this is not a bridge photo, more a lock, stock and three smoking barrels picture, which is why Mar Wick is just a bit edgy.

The remains of an old coal barge which apparently sank here some considerable time ago.

This is Mid Street in Clachnaharry. There is also a wall on the other side from the houses. If the road hadn't been there would it be Wall Street?

A low flying swan. White, not black.

Not in Anger, I hope, but definitely looking back.  Ord Hill and the Kessock Bridge.

Stop, Look, Listen. Good advice on any walk. Beware of Trains is a bit more specific, but still good advice.

The photographer has stopped, looked and taken a photo. Presumably, no trains were coming from the other direction.

Talking of direction, this must be some sort of sign.

Perhaps it was sign that Charlie was there and was going to tell them where to go next.

Most of the group were heading out to the Merkinch Local Nature Reserve. This is one of 75 LNRs in Scotland and most of them are found in or near to towns.

From the canal you walk down to the Witches Pool. Don't shoot me, this name is in common usage and no apostrophe is given in any descriptions that I have found. This is tidal, with an opening to the sea under the railway line.

Here is the merry band looking out to sea.

Here they are looking at the camera.

When the tide is out, as it was on the day, this mysterious object is exposed. This is locally called the Witches Coffin. Quite why it is so called is a bit if a mystery. It is, apparently, a brick foundation for a crane, which used to load cargo from ships onto the branch railway line nearby. Given the old branch line is at least a hundred metres away, I find this a bit unlikely, but it does seem to be the truth.

This pool is known as the Kingfisher's pool, although you are much more likely to see one of the large number of Herons here than an actual Kingfisher.

Back across the railway line again.

Conveniently, signage has been provided for very small people, like borrowers.

Here is Sandra about to cross the railway. This is a bit reminiscent of the disastrous (as in awful) disaster movie, The Cassandra Crossing, which also involved a train.

There is a nice little walkway off the path. The pools flow under the boardwalk, down by the sea.

At the end of this stretch of the walk, they turned round and walked back to the canal along the side of the Muirtown Basin.

Was this the low flying swan we saw earlier? It probably couldn't tell us if it was, because it is a Mute Swan.

The first photo sent to me was actually this one from Pam. Does this represent a feeling of isolation from the world? Is Pam trying to say that there are always insiders and outsiders, like landlubbers and sailors, perhaps.

Then again, maybe she just liked the effect of the lines.

Whilst the fence lines might have an intrinsic value in and of themselves, they just get in the way and seem a bit prison-like in this photo.

However, I'm so pleased that Pam took this opportunity to highlight the duality of straight lines and how these can lead to different interpretations of the landscape depending on the viewpoint of the observer..

An interestingly framed photo of a boat and breakfast ship. The real name of the boat is the Scotia W. It has 4 en-suite rooms with a deck salon and a breakfast room. All this on a converted trawler.

Looking back down the calm waters of the Muirtown Basin.

Nearly back at the cars, and Mar Wick looks very happy with his business today.

 

It was but a short step from there to The Ledge where they replenished their depleted reserves. I was more than disappointed that they didn't do any climbing at all. We could have finished the movie theme with a rerun of The Eiger Sanction, instead, we got something a bit more like Babette's Feast.

Well done to everyone for their efforts and thanks to everyone who sent me photos. You have no idea how much fun I had trying to put them in the almost the right order. Most of all, thanks to Sue and Charlie for choosing and organising the walk.