It’s official; Scotland is our favourite place in the UK. From highlands to islands, across moors and lochs, at the Highland Games and sheepdog trials, we’ve had a hoot-mon!
It seems people fight over Scotland a lot. We arrived just weeks before the referendum on independence from the rest of the UK.
A nation divided?
The polls seemed pretty evenly split until the day dawned and the No campaign won through. But the ballot boxes had barely been stored away before voices of regret began to be heard.
More than 250 years ago Bonnie Prince Charlie must have had a few regrets as his army became bogged on Culloden moor and was routed by the English – sealing the fate of a nation to this day.
Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived here to start the Scotish revolution. Within nine months he was defeated and on the run
Sometimes history is made in the most unassuming places – Culloden field
Now the fields grow cattle fodder, in 1746 they were filled with human canon fodder
The boggy marshes of Culloden field were the downfall of the Jacobite armies
We had no regrets in Scotland. The sun shone almost daily – bringing the bluest skies and gorgeous views from the Highlands and Islands alike.
We couldn’t believe how sunny and blue it was as we hiked the Black Cuillin
Big sky over Skye – at Broadford
Fire and ice in the sky as the sun sets and the moon rises over the Kyles of Bute
We sailed over the sea to Skye; hiked up to the Black Cuillin and out to Neist Point lighthouse; met the most majestic sheep we have ever seen and much, much more.
The view from the Cuillin – nearly high enough to touch the sky
Over the sea to Skye
Hiking up to the Black Cuillin, Skye
Neist Point, Skye
Neist Point lighthouse, with basalt cairns and a huge foghorn!
The magnificent and increasingly rare, four-horned Hebridean sheep
One of many glorious days camping in Scotland
Loch Dunvegan, Skye
The moon over Loch Harport at Carbost, Skye
Oban has a couple of stand out landmarks. The first is a folly – the huge Coliseum style building looming over the town and the whisky distillery that gave the town its name and occasionally gives its scent.
Whisky and folly galore!
Oban harbour
In Oban we met an American woman making ready to compete in the Masters International Highland Games the following week in Inverness. We couldn’t resist the trip.
We were cheering for Angela – who told us about the Games.
At the risk of sounding dismissive – Highland games revolve around throwing unfeasible long, heavy or awkward objects around.
This sport is not for the meek – that stone weighs nearly 90kgs
They call them The Heavies
This lady turned up late, with a broken nose after a car crash, and still won the round
Just pick up this 110kg stone and throw it over that bar, would you
Equalling the women’s world record (17ft) for throwing a heavy weight over a high bar
Sometimes the size, shape and requirements are too much to handle.
It can be hard to keep control of a caber – and a risky business too
It was a Masters tournament, so that means over the age of 40. The oldest competitor was 84!
Looks can be deceiving – this old fella tossed more cabers than men nearly half his age
The over sixties were pretty impressive.
It was incredible and topped off with a world record simultaneous caber-tossing extravaganza!
The caber-tossers are standing by for the record attempt
A caber-tossing frenzy
The caber-tossing Guinness World Record official
Inverness is a lovely city – with the fish-filled River Ness running through it and of course the infamous monster-filled loch close by. It has a handsome castle,
Inverness Castle on the River Ness
the most fantastic arts centre, where we saw the premiere of the Nick Cave film, 20,000 days on Earth , took lovely river walks,
The Ness river running through Inverness, and still open for trout fishing
complete with mid-stream wooded islands stuffed with proper toadstools and the most moving pet cemetery. We were very taken with Inverness!
To Noddy – one of the tombstones at the Ness Island pet cemetery
Tombstones in the pet cemetery on Ness Island, Inverness
Ness Island toadstools
There are many more photos in the slideshow than we’ve featured in the blog – so please, raise a glass to Scotland and enjoy the beauty of the place with us. If you still haven;t supped enough of the spirit of Scotland, there are even more photos on our Flickr page – so have a peek at those too!
