Day 29 – Sunday 19 June 2016

We were off at 8am this morning & north over the Firth of Forth, we made fairly good time as there was hardly any traffic in Edinburgh this morning (Sunday). The rail bridge over the Firth of Forth was the longest bridge in the world when it was opened in 1890 & is very distinctive. On the other side a new road bridge is being built as the existing bridge (built in the 1960s) has problems with rust in the suspension cables. Our first destination this morning is St Andrews, the home of golf. We stop and have a look at the ruins of the former St Andrews Cathedral, built in 1158 & the largest church ever built in Scotland. What was a huge church was destroyed around the end of the 16^th century by a lightning bolt & then the remaining rubble pillaged by villagers to build houses over the centuries. There is a considerable amount of the ruin remaining & it is interesting walking around the ruins of this former grand building.

Our next stop is the home of golf & we go for a walk down the 1^st fairway, the grass is very short & almost like a bowling green, it is very well kept. After we finished walking the fairway a team of 5 groundkeepers were out in force repairing all of the divots from play yesterday. The small creek down near the 1^st green is bricked on both sides & impossible to get out of.

We walk back up past the golf museum for a view over the beach, where we view the Witch’s Pool, apparently a cliff where the locals threw people they suspected of being a witch off into the sea below. If they drowned they were innocent, if they survived they were guilty, then burned at the stake. There is also a Martyrs Monument nearby, erected to commemorate the deaths of 4 men burned at the stake because they refused to change religion.

As we pass through Dundee on the northern shores of the Firth of Tay we drive past Ernest Shackleton’s old ship, the “Discovery” sailed by him to the Antarctic on his exploration voyage & now on display in a dry dock.

Our lunch stop is at Pitlochry before we drive on to Blair Atholl & the stunning Blair Castle, unusual from any other castle, it is whitewashed. The castle was started in 1269 when the main tower was built. Added to over the centuries it is unlike all other castles we have seen, this is more a big country home. Upon entry we are struck by the display of armoury in the large entrance foyer, with displays of swords & old firearms around the walls. There is also a full size stuffed stag on display, complete with a fine set of antlers. We climb the magnificent wide wooden staircase, the balustrades are absolutely beautifully turned & carved. The rooms all have magnificent paintings of family members over the generations, with fine furniture on display. There is a lot of embroidered work, all hand-stitched by the ladies in the family over the generations. The castle has a lot of history with all manner of people staying there over the years, including Crown Prince Hirohito from Japan when he was 19. Another standout was the sheer quantity of deer skulls with antlers on display filling (there must have been hundreds of trophy antlers there) the corridors & the Ball Room walls, you wonder if there are any deer left on the large estate. The Ball room is the largest room in the castle (this room was used as a Red Cross hospital during the war).

It is starting to rain as we leave the castle, the mist starts to close in over the mountains & the cold breeze starts to chill us. Just what we don’t need for our next stop at Culloden, a swampy moor where a major battle was fought between Bonny Prince Charles’ Scottish Highlanders & the English in 1746. The Scottish Highlanders lost the battle with more than 1,700 men killed & buried in mass graves, with their fellow clansmen. We walked out on the moor in the drizzling rain & listened to the audio guide as we walked out to the memorial cairn marking the middle of the battlefield. We walked a little further & thought about how miserable it must have been for the men on both sides of the battle. We looked over the museum in the visitor centre briefly, it is well laid out & informative. Next stop Inverness & our hotel, not that far away on the banks of the Ness River that flows out of the Loch of the same name. Our motel is on the Ness River with views out to a castle across the river, our room is at the back with a view over a roof into some backs of buildings.

We had a lovely dinner at the hotel, but left early as we are feeling tired after the long drive.

This morning we woke at 4 am with the sunlight streaming in the window. This morning looked beautiful, blue sky & sunshine. After yesterday’s lovely sunny 14C I thought it can only get better. I wore a short sleeved T/shirt. Well, how foolish was I? We got up to 10C for a very short time & after that it got colder, windier & wetter. The thermals will be back on tomorrow & will stay on.