Discussion
chalda said:
Series 2 Episode 3 of the Highlands Quest today, aka "The dry day". Basically went from Ullapool to Laxford Bridge, as close to the sea as possible
Nice pics. 
But the first 3 are all more than 50 miles south of Ullapool.
1. Glen Torridon - https://goo.gl/maps/AaqMrJ1CvqS2
2. Loch Clair & Sgùrr Dubh - https://goo.gl/maps/uiVPuA9Gpoz
3. The obligatory Glen Docherty viewpoint - https://goo.gl/maps/YX4UEZGo2Wv
chalda said:
And the road from Inverpolly to Lochinver was majestic. Simply majestic.
Scotland is not all about WOT/V-Max. Red Devil said:
But the first 3 are all more than 50 miles south of Ullapool.
Well, I had to get there first…Today was mixed, no rain, little sun but warm. I basically re-enacted the run from the day before yesterday (the fish supper run). This time, I could at least see where I was going.
chalda said:
Well, I had to get there first…
chalda said:
Today was mixed, no rain, little sun but warm. I basically re-enacted the run from the day before yesterday (the fish supper run). This time, I could at least see where I was going.
https://goo.gl/maps/1JLX9iLEqgt
https://goo.gl/maps/njocRfLoiKR2
https://goo.gl/maps/gd2SUoQz9GH2
Red Devil said:
A small car works well on these roads. You can place it between the massive potholes on the left and the road markings on the right. While the little car takes every hit without complaining, I wince. Even if it is a rental car, it is a car and does not deserve those potholes.
Edited by chalda on Friday 12th October 08:36
chalda said:
A small car works well on these roads. You can place it between the massive potholes on the left and the road markings on the right. While the little car takes every hit without complaining, I wince. Even if it is a rental car, it is a car and does not deserve those potholes.
very true.also, on my trip last month i noticed just about all the hire cars were new 18 platers, with just about no 17 plates.
i wonder whether the hire companies move Inverness cars on early or down south for a softer life
Season 2 Episode 6 of the Highland Quest today. Weather started reasonably well, but then turned to being overcast and very windy.
So I went to the Gairloch Heritage Museum. Gairloch enjoys a history that goes back more than four thousand years, marked here by a stone axe, head and carved stone ball, possibly a symbol of power. The museum also has collections that illustrate the foundations upon which parish life was built: The school, the chapel, the village shop and the croft. This is a modest museum that well conveys its community, self-reliant, resilient, quietly proud. How lives have been lived here is worth the recording.
How lives being lived here are being improved currently is also worth recording:
On the way along Loch Maree on the A832, you then come along this at first unassuming landscape:
What you can (or better, cannot) see here is one of the earliest places of industry in Scotland. On the left, you might see a number of houses, Letterewe. A bit further to the right, on the shore of Loch Maree, there used to be the site of a blast furnace, erected in the very early seventeenth century (they say 1612). Now a metallurgist, and I happen to be one, would tell you that there are a number of factors you need to successfully produce hot metal ("iron" to you and me): Raw materials (iron ore and limestone), fuel (in those times charcoal), utilities (the blast furnace itself and refractories), skilled workers and a market for the product (foundries, later forges). In the Highlands, there used to be only one of these: Charcoal. So when the ironworks had used up all the wood in the area to produce charcoal to produce iron, it shut down again in the 1640s. Everything else had to be transported via Loch Maree. The workers were imported from the north of England, and the living conditions there in the early 1600s I cannot even imagine. What an incredible undertaking.
So I went to the Gairloch Heritage Museum. Gairloch enjoys a history that goes back more than four thousand years, marked here by a stone axe, head and carved stone ball, possibly a symbol of power. The museum also has collections that illustrate the foundations upon which parish life was built: The school, the chapel, the village shop and the croft. This is a modest museum that well conveys its community, self-reliant, resilient, quietly proud. How lives have been lived here is worth the recording.
How lives being lived here are being improved currently is also worth recording:
On the way along Loch Maree on the A832, you then come along this at first unassuming landscape:
What you can (or better, cannot) see here is one of the earliest places of industry in Scotland. On the left, you might see a number of houses, Letterewe. A bit further to the right, on the shore of Loch Maree, there used to be the site of a blast furnace, erected in the very early seventeenth century (they say 1612). Now a metallurgist, and I happen to be one, would tell you that there are a number of factors you need to successfully produce hot metal ("iron" to you and me): Raw materials (iron ore and limestone), fuel (in those times charcoal), utilities (the blast furnace itself and refractories), skilled workers and a market for the product (foundries, later forges). In the Highlands, there used to be only one of these: Charcoal. So when the ironworks had used up all the wood in the area to produce charcoal to produce iron, it shut down again in the 1640s. Everything else had to be transported via Loch Maree. The workers were imported from the north of England, and the living conditions there in the early 1600s I cannot even imagine. What an incredible undertaking.
It's even named on maps. - http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=196045&y=...
Slioch on the right.- https://goo.gl/maps/1sCmSKn8QVT2
Have you visited the preserved one near Taynuilt?
(across Loch Etive from Bonawe)
https://goo.gl/maps/m9e1LdYFuUA2
Even if you hadn't mentioned it, there could be only one source for those pics.
- http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=196045&y=...Slioch on the right.- https://goo.gl/maps/1sCmSKn8QVT2
Have you visited the preserved one near Taynuilt?
(across Loch Etive from Bonawe)
https://goo.gl/maps/m9e1LdYFuUA2
GetCarter said:
chalda said:
...I am in the Corry Bothy which is perfect for me.
Nice place (I built the website).
Can anyone tell me if the road from Kyle of Lochalsh to Stromeferry (A890) is actually passable - google maps says it is closed.
I would like to travel from Kyle of Lochalsh to Tornapress and the Pass of the Cattle when I visit in November. Adds a lot of time if I have to go via Loch Ness.
Thanks
I would like to travel from Kyle of Lochalsh to Tornapress and the Pass of the Cattle when I visit in November. Adds a lot of time if I have to go via Loch Ness.
Thanks
Len Woodman said:
Ooops!
I am new to this thread - just looked back and found the information I needed.
But - I haven't driven the Pass of the Cattle since 1974 - has there been any changes or improvements?
This is it as it is... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idSuotx4HsYI am new to this thread - just looked back and found the information I needed.
But - I haven't driven the Pass of the Cattle since 1974 - has there been any changes or improvements?
(though some has been resurfaced since I shot this)
Len Woodman said:
Can anyone tell me if the road from Kyle of Lochalsh to Stromeferry (A890) is actually passable - google maps says it is closed.
Total closure is only at night. Limited opening times during the day.See - https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/19476/s...
Len Woodman said:
I would like to travel from Kyle of Lochalsh to Tornapress and the Pass of the Cattle when I visit in November. Adds a lot of time if I have to go via Loch Ness
When in November? The planned completion date is 23rd.Check the updates here - https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/1523/transport_an...
Relocated to Inverness today. Took a detour from Torridon to Fort William first, to visit the West Highlands Museum. Lovely place, lovely people. That is more than I can say about Fort William.
Going north on the A82 was tiresome at best until I reached Fort Augustus and could turn right onto the B862.
What an amazing and lovely road. Empty, sweeping and probably with amazing scenery, too. The scenery was difficult to assess today as it rained cats and dogs throughout the day and visibility went to zero due to mist. So no pictures. Sorry.
If you need, take the B862 from Fort Augustus until shortly after Whitebridge, then turn left on the B852 into Inverfairigaig. There you have two options. Either the corkscrew road towards Achnabat, or the earlier turn right towards Errogie.
On the HERO LeJog classic car rallye in 2009 we had a rather difficult timed regularity section around Inverfairigaig. This took us to Errogie as described, then immediately left again to Torness on farm roads. I was happy to drive them today again in daylight. Try to do them on a 30 mph average and then Imagine that it is dark, you have been driving for 12 hours and the road is covered in snow.
I will post the route of the rallye around Inverness tomorrow.
I want to go east tomorrow from Inverness. Any suggestions for good roads?
Going north on the A82 was tiresome at best until I reached Fort Augustus and could turn right onto the B862.
What an amazing and lovely road. Empty, sweeping and probably with amazing scenery, too. The scenery was difficult to assess today as it rained cats and dogs throughout the day and visibility went to zero due to mist. So no pictures. Sorry.
If you need, take the B862 from Fort Augustus until shortly after Whitebridge, then turn left on the B852 into Inverfairigaig. There you have two options. Either the corkscrew road towards Achnabat, or the earlier turn right towards Errogie.
On the HERO LeJog classic car rallye in 2009 we had a rather difficult timed regularity section around Inverfairigaig. This took us to Errogie as described, then immediately left again to Torness on farm roads. I was happy to drive them today again in daylight. Try to do them on a 30 mph average and then Imagine that it is dark, you have been driving for 12 hours and the road is covered in snow.
I will post the route of the rallye around Inverness tomorrow.
I want to go east tomorrow from Inverness. Any suggestions for good roads?
Red Devil will quit rightly correct me if I go wrong, but..
Depending on your thoughts of dolphins, head north east to chanonry point.
Otherwise, the a96 is not the best, but due east the road from Macduff to Rosehearty is really good.
Heading south , I would go Nairn, Ferness, Grantown, Tomintoul, Cock Bridge, Gairnshiel, Crathie, Braemar. Glenshee, left to Pitlochry before Perth.
Somewhere west of Pitlochry is a really nice narrow road, with a good hairpin with decent views.
Just some thoughts!
Edit, if you like museums, head north on the a9 to Dunrobin Castle, there is a small extra room out the back that gave me a bit of a surprise!
Depending on your thoughts of dolphins, head north east to chanonry point.
Otherwise, the a96 is not the best, but due east the road from Macduff to Rosehearty is really good.
Heading south , I would go Nairn, Ferness, Grantown, Tomintoul, Cock Bridge, Gairnshiel, Crathie, Braemar. Glenshee, left to Pitlochry before Perth.
Somewhere west of Pitlochry is a really nice narrow road, with a good hairpin with decent views.
Just some thoughts!
Edit, if you like museums, head north on the a9 to Dunrobin Castle, there is a small extra room out the back that gave me a bit of a surprise!
Edited by Peanut Gallery on Saturday 13th October 22:18
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