Part three of our holiday and we again go sightseeing in the
morning prior to an organised "Afternoon Tea" with
the dogs.
There's plenty to visit in this area, so we start at the iconic
Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness.
We also had time for extra exploring before lunch and after
the tea today, so lots to do, no time to waste . . .
Urquhart Castle, sadly not National Trust for
Scotland but Historic Environment Scotland, so we had to pay
!
We booked on-line the night before as it was
busy, but only noticed the small print about no dogs when we
walked in.
The ticket office guy was very nice, but adamant
that they could not enter . . . so they had to return to the
car.
- - - o o o - - -
Urquhart is another classic castle with a thousand
year history
This one is on a promontory overlooking Loch Ness
and seen by everyone who passes on the main road.
Like so many of these castles they have been built
up,
knocked down a bit, built a bit bigger and a bit
better,
bashed about by the Scots, then the English
then the Lords of the Isles.
In the end it was partially destroyed by English
Parliamentary Forces,
to stop the Jacobites taking it over, leaving it
in the state it is today.
- - - o o o - - -
In the grounds a contemporary, life size model of
a ballista or catapult
of a type that would have been used to attack castles
such as this.
It is an ex-film prop but comes complete with stone
'cannon balls' to throw.
The public are not encouraged to give it a try !
- - - o o o - - -
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The castle is built on a raised outcrop of rock,
with a moat or ditch surrounding it for added security.
Loes is standing on the modern fixed bridge,
but no doubt it would have been a mechanical drawbridge to prevent
attacks.
Seen in the last photo but only really obvious
when you are up close.
These lumps of masonry originally were part
of the towering gatehouse that was blown up in 1692 to prevent
it being used as a military stronghold.
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The way
through the gatehouse into the castle. |
The five story Gants
Tower destroyed eventually by the weather. |
The original castle was smaller and built on
the top of the rocky outcrop seen here to the right.
The lower parts of the castle were newer and
included kitchens, the Great Hall, the stables and all the ancillary
buildings of a major castle.
On the lake-side of the mound is the Water Gate
which gave access to the loch down an easily protected slope.
Boat travel would have been easier and quicker
than roads in the old days, but boats weren't usually available
to invaders.
The catamaran we saw at Dochgarroch yesterday,
was today giving tours of the castle, here viewing it from the
water.
Loes and I climbed to the highest and oldest
point of the castle,
where you could look down and appreciate the
overall design of the structure.
Looking down on the moat and drawbridge
and a whole group of people by the piers who
had disembarked from one of the boats.
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- - - o o o - - -
Considering the fact that the castle receives
about half
a million visitors a year
it was remarkably clean and well kept.
To be fair the paths were wide and in good condition
so people had no need to walk on the grass.
Having seen all we wanted, we returned
over the bridge to the modern visitor centre and
shop
which seemed to sell everything Scottish under the
sun.
The cars are parked behind the blue fence, on top
and behind the shop.
We returned to the dogs and headed off for
Glen Affric.
- - - o o o - - -
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The afternoon event was scheduled for 3pm so,
as we were early, we drove on through the village,
past the Slater's Arms which we would use one
night for an evening meal.
Glen Affric is famous for being a remote Scottish
glen with plenty of trees and lakes.
On the way up we saw a sign to "The Dog
Falls" so just had to stop to check them out.
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Like at
the Hermitage, the river was flowing fast and peaty
today. |
The main falls are in
a ravine cut by the fast flowing River Affric. |
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From a second
viewpoint lower dow the river you can look down
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. . . on a bridge on
one of the many local walking trails. |
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- - - o o o - - - -
A short car-distance up the valley there was a car
park
and a signboard telling us that we had reached the
lake.
This is one of many large Scottish Hydro Electricity
schemes
( we had past a large generating station further
down the valley).
- - - o o o - - -
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The base
of the dam was gushing water to supply the river . .
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. . . you could see
where the peaty colour in the falls had come from. |
The Water Take-off Tower and the start of the
pipeline that heads off towards the generators near Cannich.
3pm, back at Cannich and time for afternoon
tea.
This afternoon's get together was so that people
could meet and socialise. A lovely tea followed by a "pub
quiz" on "most things Golden Retriever".
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The tent had been decorated with bio-pics
of various Scottish breeders. |
One of our older dogs had Camrose
pedigree in him like this one. |
A video on a projector screen was playing in
the background.
Strangely it was a "no dogs" event,
one of three in the week.
After putting them in the car at Urquhart we
had to once again put them in the car this afternoon, I (and
others) were not overly pleased.
The organisers said it was because of the presence
of the food, but in fact if you look at the first photo,
there was no room inside the tent for all those
people and all their dogs anyway ! Perhaps it was a good
thing after all.
- - - o o o - -
Afterward the event there was still time for
a walk so we headed up the valley to try and find Guisachan
House
where Thursday's event was to be held.
Along the way we passed the Post Office and
Stores at Tomich. When open they serve teas and refreshments
to visitors.
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In the village
was a memorial to Lord and Lady Tweedmouth. |
He was a rich brewer and
Liberal Member of Parliament. |
Golden Retrievers were first bred here in 1868
when Lord Tweedmouth mated a yellow Wavy-Coated retriever with
a Tweed Water Spaniel
in order to develop a hunting dog with stamina
and the ability to swim. He wanted a dog capable of retrieving,
to accompany him whilst out hunting.
Along the way he had managed to created one
of the best all-round and popular of family dogs we know and
ones we cherish to this day.
Several years back the Friends of Guisachan
got permission to erect a statue of a Retriever in the village.
- - - o o o - - -
The Golden Retriever
Beloved the world over.
First bred on the Guisachan Estate
by Lord Tweedmouth in 1868
This tribute statue was erected on
10th August 2014 by the friends of Guisachan.
- - - o o o - - -
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Dylan tries to live up to his heritage . . .
a pretty good likeness I think.
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My two are
used to sitting on Cumbrian trig points . . . |
. . . so with just a
little effort I managed a trio of Tomich retrievers. |
- - - o o o - - -
Statues are all very well but we still haven't found the
famed Guisachan House !
We continue on up the road, past a road up to Guisachan Village
. . . but it didn't match the instructions.
The road continues on past Hilton Lodge with its lovely lily
pond . . .
Somewhere along the way the tarmac disappears and we got
onto an unmade forest track . . .
We've gone too far for The House . . . but the car park at
the end has an information board that caught our eye . . .
Glen
Affric . . . Plodda Falls Time for that walk.
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We set off
through some magnificent Tweedmouth Pines. |
There are some good
waterfalls here . . . but is that Plodda Falls ? |
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This one's even better, full of brown
peaty water . . . |
. . . then we come across a wooden
walkway ! |
The falls on the Eas Sochach stream were
impressive . . . but nothing compared to what we were about
to find !
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Walking out to the end
of the viewing platform, we looked down ! |
All we had seen before was dwarfed
by a 150 ft (45m) waterfall. |
We were looking down on the river Abhainn Deabhag
which has carved a deep gorge into the landscape.
The rich waters from our stream cascade over
the edge in an uncontrolled drop to the river below . . . check
out the platform in the second photo !!
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Following the path down
we view the falls from below . . . |
eventually dragging ourselves away,
to continue the walk back to the car. |
- - - o o o - - -
The time had moved on and the walk had made
us hungry, so we back-tracked to the village and found the Tomich
Hotel.
An early supper was enjoyed . . . along with
the photos in the foyer that gave us a taste of what might follow
in just two days time.