You Take the High Road

Scotland, pt1 scenery.

Welcome to the land of liquid sun and hairy cows!  Some time ago we booked a coach holiday to Bonnie Scotland.  Knowing the last couple of months were going to be somewhat hectic it was a relief to sit back, watch the world go by and let someone else do the 420 mile (676 km) drive.  The last (and only other) visit to these distant parts was in ’95 so we were quite excited to return.  Then we enjoyed a rare Scottish heatwave this time, though mild, slightly damp.  Our base was the lovely, remote Loch Achray Hotel and we had three full day trips out.  The advantage of these coach trips is you can relax, the disadvantage is if you see a fabulous view you can’t stop to photograph it!  Never mind, this Country is full of stunning scenery.  Here are a few shots I managed to get.

Morning has broken over Loch Achray and its not raining!………yet. Not a bad view from our hotel window

The Burn from Loch Katrine rushes under the bridge to Achray. Last of the autumn colours and trees adorned in moss and lichen make a pretty scene

The area we stayed in is the Trossachs & Loch Lomond National Park which is in central Scotland about 30 miles north of Glasgow.  The meaning of the word Trossachs is 1. a narrow wooded valley in central Scotland, between Loch Achray and Loch Katrine: made famous by Sir Walter Scott’s descriptions. 2. (popularly) the area extending northwards from Loch Ard and Aberfoyle to Lochs Katrine, Achray, and Venachar. (Collins English Dictionary).  There are some other mighty Lochs (lakes) in the area the most famous being Loch Lomond.  Nearly 23 miles (36.4 km) long, between 1/2 and 5 miles (1 & 8 km) wide and with a maximum depth of 620ft (190 m) this is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area.

The bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. No, not a mono shot just a wee bit ‘dull’

Loch Long is indeed long, about 20 miles (32 km) but the name came from the fact that the Vikings brought their longboats here then dragged them overland to Lomond (2 miles (3.2 km)! This water is connected to the sea via the Firth of Clyde and was used by the Royal Navy to test torpedoes up to ’86 and there are several wrecks in there

The River Forth at Aberfoyle Bridge. From here it winds it’s way east 29 miles (47 km) to the North Sea

I mentioned at the start ‘hairy cows’ and it would be somewhat inappropriate to do a post on Scotland and not feature at least one Highland Cow (or cooos as our coach driver called them).  Next time a few of the sights we took in.