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