'Bealach Na Ba' (the treacherous road to Applecross)

Hi reader

Have you heard of Applecross? It's an extremely isolated place in the west of Scotland and for many years it was only accessible by boat. These days it's part of the NC 500 route and so I followed the signs. If I'd known what was ahead, I think I'd have skipped it and gone another route.

Before I describe this part of my trip, you should know that the place often referred to as Applecross is NOT called Applecross by the locals. They refer to it as Shore Street or just 'The Street'. I'm a bit confused about all this, but you can get on Google and read up on it for yourself.

The road starts out easy enough, but it quickly becomes a narrow, single track with very sharp turns and perilous slopes at its edges. My pictures here don't do justice to how dangerous the assent was because the only places I could get out to take photos were when the road occasionally widened enough for two vehicles to pass. the rest of the time I was gripping the wheel, changing up and down through the gears and just praying my van could handle the gradients.

The sun was out for part of the time, but mostly I was driving in sideways rain and strong winds. When I finally reached the top, I was greeted by this amazing rainbow that seemed very close ... almost like I could walk over there and stand inside the rainbow. Maybe find a pot of gold?

Some of the gradients were ridiculous, and I did a lot of the climb in first or second gear. There was one very scary part where I was in first gear with the accelerator floored and the van was barely crawling forward centimetre by centimetre. 

I remember that before I started out on this journey around Scotland, one of the worries going through my mind was 'what if I break down in the middle of nowhere and have no phone signal?' Bealach Na Ba could have been that place. Luckily the plucky little Ford Connect made it to the clouds at the top.

This is Applecross (Shore Street). There's not much to it really. A pub that was closed. A food van that was closed. I had a walk, took a few pics and headed on my way. 

The food van had a sign that made me chuckle:

Thankfully you don't have to get out of there the same way you came in. There's a winding coastal road (opened in 1975) which travels around the edge of the peninsula to Sheildaig and Torridon.

And that's my journey to Applecross. Not as challenging as Henry Alexander driving a Model T Ford to the top of Ben Nevis, or Gandalf leading the Fellowship of the Ring over the Pass of Caradhras, but my own little tale of endurance and peril not for the faint of heart. 

See you next time. Thanks for reading,

Brian

Hamish Macbeth

Hi, reader

Thanks for checking in with my blog as I continue up the northwest coast of Scotland.

I've arrived in a small village called Plockton, although British TV fans might recognize it as Lochdubh, the fictional setting for the 1990s mystery comedy-drama series, Hamish Macbeth starring Robert Carlyle. The show ran for three seasons and was loosely based on a series of novels by M.C. Beaton. I've never seen the show myself, but I might check it out at some point now that I've been to the location.

Apparently various scenes from The Wicker Man were also filmed here.

Plockton is also known as 'The Jewel of the Highlands' and it sits on a sheltered bay with stunning views over Loch Carron. In 2020, the population was 468 people. The nice German lady who works in the Plockton library (I didn't get her name) told me that a lot of people who work in Plockton can't afford to live here, and sadly a high percentage of the houses are holiday homes owned by rich people who live elsewhere.

I parked up the van and walked along the main street to get some pictures. 

Plockton has public toilets that open from 8am to 8pm. The sinks have hot water and plugs, so I was able to have a shave. I also found a drinking water tap and filled all my bottles.

You can walk from one end of Plockton to the other in ten minutes. The views are incredible.

The weather was pleasant in the evening, so I went for a walk to get my daily steps up to 10,000+. A local guy showed me a footpath that went through a woods to various lookout points. That building over there is Dunraig Castle, and I'd see it up close the next morning.

More fungi. I didn't eat any, but I'm interested in learning about foraging in the future. There are loads of delicious, edible mushrooms to be found around Britain.

Look at this view! I think that's The Isle of Skye over there.

On the way back to the van I noticed these gigantic leaves. I took a photo with my hand in shot to give an idea of the scale. If you know what these plants are, let me know in the comments.

A chilly evening. I watched some TV on the laptop, read my book and snuggled in for the night.

What an awesome view to wake up to in the morning.

Breakfast was porridge, strawberry jam sandwich, a banana and a strong cup of tea. I've been making sure to get a decent breakfast every day on this trip.

As I was getting ready to leave Plockton, the rain started again. I took a wrong turn somewhere and suddenly found myself driving up to Duncraig Castle, which I'd seen in the distance across Loch Carron yesterday. 

It's actually a bed and breakfast! I didn't find out how much it cost for a night, but I bet it's lovely to stay there.

That's about all for this post. In the last few days I've received quite a few kind messages from people telling me they are enjoying following the blog (hi Rob, hi Jo, hi Justin, hi Humphrey, hi Donna, hi Mat Sutherly and hi Thea). Weirdly, people seem to prefer sending their feedback and questions to me on Facebook or via Whatsapp rather than comment on the posts here on the blog. Regardless, thanks for reading my posts and following my travels. The librarian in Plockton very kindly got on her computer and made me a list of every library I'm likely to encounter between here and Inverness, so more posts to follow soon.

Best wishes

Brian

 

Over the sea to Skye

 Hi there, reader

In today's post I'll show you some of the amazing scenery on the Isle of Skye. My time on Skye spanned three days, although I only slept on the island one night. The other two nights I was on the mainland in the Kyle of Lochalsh, a small town right next to the Skye bridge. Did you know there's a bridge connecting Skye to the mainland these days?

I was excited to visit Skye as I'd met a girl two days previously who'd spoken passionately about the landscape of the island. She said that when she'd visited there she found it hard to believe it was a part of the UK. It reminded her of a holiday she'd had in Iceland. 

Skye is lovely to drive around. Some parts are wild and open and at times you can't see any other vehicles. Other times you might find yourself stuck in a convoy weaving between the mountains. The biggest town on the island is Portree, and like Oban and Fort William it's quite difficult to find free parking. But once you're out in the more open parts of the island there are lots of places to park, including overnight.

On the first day, I met this lovely couple called David and Ania, who have been living in their van with their two dogs since April. They're here in Scotland for the wildlife, but, like me, they've only seen farm animals and crows so far. No deer, no otters, no eagles, no seals, pine martins, whales, dolphins, osprey. Perhaps I haven't been looking carefully enough but I thought Scotland was going to be teeming with amazing wild animals, like the landscapes in RDR2.

The second day was mostly rain. Rain and strong winds. Whenever the rain stopped for a while, I got out and went to various viewpoints or old buildings. 

I noticed I had almost run out of water and spent ages driving around looking for a drinking water tap. I remembered the words of that old blowhard back in Dumfries: "Just let me tell you this, so that you know ... every graveyard in Scotland has a water tap." I remember at the time thinking that was a bold, sweeping statement. How could he possibly know that with such certainty, unless he'd personally visited every single graveyard in Scotland? Anyway, I used Google Maps to find the nearest graveyard - in the village of Uig. Drove over there and ... whoops! No water tap. He should change that to "Every graveyard in Scotland, except the one in Uig, Skye, has a water tap." In the end, I just went into a pub back on the mainland and asked the barman if he could fill three bottles for me. Job done.

The rain didn't let up as afternoon turned to evening and it started getting very chilly. I was happy to get into bed early, watch Zootopia and read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. 

I was asleep before 10pm.

Day three was the same sort of thing: rain, cold wind, driving around randomly and stopping at points of interest. 

I found a big patch of mushrooms that look similar to the ones you get in the supermarket. I sent a picture to David and Ania, who are into foraging for wild mushrooms, fruit, wild garlic and so on. Ania replied that white mushrooms are a minefield and it's hard to be sure ... so I decided not to cook these. I was reminded of a bad experience I'd had when I was about 13 or 14, when I cooked and ate a huge white mushroom I found in someone's front garden. I had an extremely painful stomachache that evening, but didn't tell my parents - just rode it out. My son, Hugo, is fascinated by that story.

Back on the Kyle of Lochalsh at the end of day three, I went to the local Chinese takeaway and got spicy kung po vegetables with chips. That's what I ordered, anyway. I think I actually got sweet and sour vegetables. Irn Bru to drink; when in Rome.

The rain continued through the night, and the van stayed dry on the inside. I stopped by a garage to put air in my tyres and picked up a bunch of groceries from a Co-op. Then goodbye to Skye and off to my next destination: Plockton.

Hope you'll join me again soon. Thanks for reading,

Brian

Another famous movie location

Hi, reader

My destination today was the Isle of Skye. I haven't had much luck with embedding videos in this blog but I'll try again. This is a time lapse video taken between Glenfinnan and the Kyle of Lochalsh, as suggested by my friend Andrew. 

It's quite shaky because it's a pretty low tech set up - just my iPhone held in place on the van's dashboard with tape. It kept slipping down when there was a bump in the road. Anyway, hope the video works, but don't be surprised if it doesn't. Failing that, here's a link to it on Facebook ...

time lapse video

I recognized this next landmark as soon as it came into view. The original Eilean Donan Castle was built in the 13th Century and became a stronghold of the Clan Mackenzie but it was destroyed in 1719. The present day castle is a 20th Century reconstruction of the original.

Eilean Donan Castle has appeared in many films and TV shows, including Entrapment (Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones) and the James Bond film, The World is Not Enough (Pierce Brosnan). However, I remember it best as the castle featured in the 1986 film, Highlander.

Highlander was a box office flop on its release, but went on to become a cult favourite, spawning (pretty dreadful) sequels and a TV series. Highlander's soundtrack is by my favourite band, Queen, and their song 'Princes of the Universe' was used in the Highlander TV series too.

Eilean Donnan, which simply means 'Island of Donnan' is named after Donnan of Eigg, a Celtic saint who was martyred in 617. Donnan is said to have established a church on the island, though no trace of this remains.

I hopped back in my van and got back on the A87 for the Kyle of Lochalsh and The Isle of Skye.

Thanks as always for reading and thanks to everyone who's left comments or sent me questions. 

Brian

 

All aboard the Hogwarts Express.

Hi, reader

All's well here in bonnie Scotland and my next port of call is Glenfinnan. 

It's a beautiful part of the country with lots of walks to choose from, but perhaps these days it's most famous as a filming location for the Harry Potter film franchise. As I arrived, there was a sign in the car park reminding all visiting wizards and witches to follow Covid safety guidelines.

So here's the main attraction: the Glenfinnan viaduct, which is now also known as 'The Harry Potter Bridge'. This curved bridge is 416 metres long, making it the longest concrete bridge in Scotland. The bridge has featured in four of the Harry Potter films, most prominently in Chamber of Secrets when Harry and Ron miss the train and travel to Hogwarts in the Weasley family's flying car.

Every day, Harry Potter fans from all over the world come here to watch the Jacobite steam train cross the viaduct. The train crosses the bridge twice a day as part of its 84 mile round trip from Fort William to Mallaig. When I got to top of the trail, there were already over 100 people waiting with cameras ready. Very exciting!

I wore my Slytherin scarf for the occasion, but I noticed that I was the only person sporting Hogwarts colours that morning. Rob the car park attendant told me that people often turn up in Hogwarts house scarves and one morning a coachload of octogenarians arrived in full wizard robes. I'd love to have seen that.

10:50 am, running slightly late, the train arrived with the new crop of Hogwarts first years. I haven't had much luck embedding videos into this blog so far, and it's telling me my video is too big. But here's a link to a YouTube video of the train crossing the viaduct.

And here's the link in case that doesn't work: https://youtu.be/ceJ5D6wluX0

Loch Sheil near the Glenfinnan visitors' centre also features in the Potter films. The spot where I took this picture is where Harry and Hagrid were skipping stones in Prisoner of Azkaban and it's also where Harry rode Buckbeak the Hippogriff. This loch is also used in the Triwizard Tournament in Goblet of Fire.

Here's Rob, the car park attendant. He's a fan of science fiction and anime and he's worked for the National Trust for 25 years. He's incredibly knowledgeable about cinema and Scottish history. Rob told me that lots of films besides Harry Potter have been filmed in this area, including Highlander, Skyfall and one of my favourite films, Restless Natives. Not many people have heard of Restless Natives, which I think is a shame. It's a 1985 adventure comedy about two unemployed friends who become modern day highwaymen, dressed as a clown and a wolfman. It's a lot of fun, it showcases the Scottish countryside, has a brilliant soundtrack and I urge you to check it out. I've got it on my laptop and I'll definitely be watching it at some point on this trip.

Rob was working here at Glenfinnan while they filmed the Harry Potter films and he had a chance to chat with a lot of the cast. He told me met Daniel Radcliffe (Harry, of course), Robbie Coltraine (Hagrid) and 'the ginger one' (I'm guessing that's Rupert Grint who plays Ron). He's also met Joanna Lumley, Charlie Sheen, Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and many others.  Rob then surprised me by telling me he's never read any of the Harry Potter books or watched any of the films.

If you're passing through this part of the world, Glenfinnan is definitely worth a visit. At lunchtime, it was time to get back in the van and press on north for more enjoyable driving through spectacular scenery and not far ahead I was to encounter another instantly recognizable film location.

See you next time and thanks for reading,

Brian