LOOK AT THE ESTATE OF MoO

 After considerable heart searching and prevarication, we decided to go ahead with the October walk. It was our walk and it just so happened it coincided with a fair number of people unable to go and the impending arrival of Storm Ashley! The former wasn't an issue, but the latter threatened torrential rain and winds of 40 to 60 miles and hour! Not exactly conducive to a pleasant walk for some old dinosaurs.

Rather than commit to the whole walk, we felt we could break it into stages and bail out as conditions dictated. Thus we gathered a little earlier than arranged at the car park at the back of the local care home in Muir of Ord. The choice of starting point was wholly coincidental as we don't need it. Yet!

Once the rain eased off and everyone had arrived, we got out of the cars, admired the autumn colours and questioned our sanity.

Undaunted, we set off, heading towards the local skate park and not just because it offered a bit of shelter. 

Luckily, Skater Shaz was really stoked to be able to shred some tricks in a session at this spot. She's the kind of skate rat that can be a bit hesh if she pulls a gnarly move. If you are in the know, you might recognise her stance is a goofy, rather than a regular and she's not doing it as a fakie or a switch, but she could be heading for a slam or even a sack or wipeout.

If you understood any of that, you're a bit if a cool dude, or you read up on skater lingo.

Having been suitably entertained, we carried on out of the shelter and into the rain, crossing by the side of the Black Isle Showground.

The Black Isle Show hasn't always been held here. The very first Show was held in Fortrose in October 1836. From then on, the Show was held at the farms of various members of the Black Isle Farmers' Society. The showground at Muir of Ord was bought in 1955, with the first show being held here in 1957.

We walked along the farm road to a wee Church. This was the former parish church of Kilchrist or Tarradale. The church was thought to have been burnt in 1603 and  was re-roofed about 200 years later. It is no longer used as a church, but as a mausoleum for the MacKenzies of Ord. The graveyard is still in use, but there is not a lot of space left.

There is a Commonwealth Grave within the yard. This belongs to Roderick Mackenzie, who served with the Royal Armoured Corps and he died in April 1945 aged just 19. I have been unable to find out any further information, but he was serving with a training regiment at the time, so he may have just enlisted.

We did have a bit of a look to find his grave, but to no avail. It was also a bit damp in the long grass.

The building itself is very plain and simple.

Apparently, I look fairly dashing with my new walking stick. At least that's what I think!

There is a fair amount of prehistoric and later agricultural activity and settlement hereabouts, so a place of worship might be expected here as well.

The church sits next to a farm steading, to the rear of which is this dilapidated building. The windows look to have been robbed from another building lending the whole structure a feeling of almost lost grandeur. Apparently, it was latterly used as a hen house.

In the building opposite is an old Rapid Hammer Mill. These were used to grind grain into a coarse flour to be fed to cattle.

Leaving the farm behind, we were striding out along farm tracks in a bit of inclement weather.

While we were walking in the dreich, rainy weather, Susan and Robin were in Türkiye. Most people seem to do that for a Brazilian butt lift or a hair transplant. I thought I knew what a Brazilian was and I didn't think you needed a hair transplant for that. In any event, it turns out that they were there for something else altogether. Susan texted us to say that she had had a baby on their walk! A miracle at her age, and a bit more permanent than a Brazilian, I should think. Here is said baby with, I assume, the donor.

At the entrance to Bellevue House, we debated whether to go on. The next stage of the walk was pretty exposed to the elements. We met a lady who was out walking and seemed to be local. She advised that we could cut the walk a bit shorter, so we decided this was a plan.

The lady did not take a sweetie for her help, but Agnes took a whole Cadbury Flake and then proceeded to mimic the old advert.

It wasn't exactly how I remember it, but my memory may be failing a bit.

Bellvue House, on the other hand, does have a pretty good view.

We were going down the bank to some old farm buildings. You can just make out the Beauly Firth through the gloom. It is a bit odd finding the sea so close to Muir of Ord.

Here are the farm buildings we were heading for - built about 130 years ago. A nice little ventilation arrangement on the top of the roof.

There might have been a bit of light in the sky, but it was a long way from where we were heading!

Some nice coos. And what noise do coos make? MoO, is the answer. What is MoO short for Muir of Ord? Serendipity or what?

They were specially behind bars, in case Pam had joined us!

Next to the coos, was the ruin of a nice little farm cottage.

You can see the remains of the wattle and plaster internal walls just under the chimney breast.

It wasn't raining by the time we started to head back up the hill rather than walk out over the most exposed part of the walk towards the sea.

The sky was not exactly sparkling blue, though.

We were soon  back near the showground and the weather was showing signs of improvement.

Indeed, the sun was beginning to break through in patches.

By the time we got to a particularly photogenic tree, it was getting warmer and brighter by the minute. Of course, we were not to far form the cars, so doing the full walk was a non-starter.

After a while everybody was looking at the camera and we got a nice group photo.

As you would expect, the organisers had a contingency plan and, rather than go back to the cars, we headed for the walk around the Lily Loch.

If the leaves are not in colour, the berries certainly are.

Sandra started singing Under the Boardwalk when we got to this bit. Given how slippy it actually was, she might have ended up there.

Maureen and Sandra helped each other across, so that nobody found themselves under the boardwalk, down by the sea!

By now the sun was slanting through the trees and the day had a completely different complexion to it.

Even the Lily Loch seemed a much more pleasant place then it might have been on the pouring rain.

We did spend an inordinate amount of time at this spot talking about alligators and crocodiles, their differences, what they might like to eat, how the actually catch prey and how Amos Moses hunted alligators with only one hand - at least according to the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. The original Amos Moses song was written by Jerry Reed in 1970 and Amos could kill alligators with just one hand, which was just as well, 'cos that's all he had left. He lost the other hand when his father used him for alligator bait, by tying a rope round his waist and throwing him in the swamp! I feel it unlikely that there is any truth in the song, but if you've watched Deliverance, you might think it possible.

From the Lily Loch without lilies, it was back to the cars and off to the Estate of Ord for tea and buns. At least, that was the plan, but Pam was not there to help Hugh sort out his clothes and shoes.

We did not have too far a journey, although the driveway to the hotel is fairly long as befits a fine house such as a 380 year old one like this. Well, actually it isn't all quite that old despite the date stone from 1637 on the central chimney. The original house was built for John Mackenzie in 1602. His descendant, Thomas Mackenzie, 7th of Ord, enlarged and remodelled the house in 1810. Later the same man would be instrumental in the building of the Glen Ord Distillery, nearby. The 8th Mackenzie, Alexander, was buried in 1899 at the family mausoleum at the little Kilchrist chapel that we visited earlier in the day.

The house fell out of the hands of the Mackenzie's following a number of deaths in the family. The next owner was a Lieutenant Colonel Campbell in 1946. He and his wife were involved in many charitable causes and he was a champion of worker's rights. Bizarrely, they advertised in 1947 for 2 children aged 8 and 6 to move to Ord House and be educated along with the family's own children! Who knew that you could respond to a newspaper advert and have your children taken off your hands? I assume there was some sort of vetting on both sides, but you never know.

The house was a hotel, which closed in 2019, but was bought over by the present owners and re-opened after major refurbishment this year. We can all testify that it has been very tastefully reworked and we had a fabulous welcome from the owner George, who was an Australian outback sheep farmer a few years ago.

The tea and cakes were also wonderful - I really enjoyed the chef's fruit cake!

After tea, George suggested we have a look around the gardens, which we gladly did.

They have ambitious plans to restore the gardens.

Lots of old fruit trees.

A nice spot to sit in the now blazing sunshine!

It was so bright that Dave had to shield his eyes from the sun. Either that, or he was holding his head in despair as I read out the hotel's Christmas Menu. As they live almost next door, Agnes had gone home and got Richie to join us for coffee. Just in case anyone was wondering who this interloper was.

Much as we might have wanted to stay, it really was time to get home. I suspect we will be back sometime in the future, what a nice place it is.

Although the sun was out at Estate of Ord, the rain really was never far away and there was a fair amount of it on the way home. But sunshine and rain make rainbows.

A truncated walk, but good fun despite the rain. We may do the full walk some other time, especially if we can go back for tea and buns.