Carrbridge

Never has the rain been so hard when I got to Carrbridge on Wednesday. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. While the rest of the UK baked in 30 degrees Scotland froze it's ass off in a balmy 16 degrees, with thunderstorms and rain (and hail in some locations). Still, you can't do anything about the weather without an industrial revolution and a hundred years of polluting so I had to suck it up! I will return to this location later in the year.

On the bright side, I discovered the magic of Haggis Lasagne at the Cairn Hotel while waiting on the rain to go off, it's a cosy place with the worst wifi in Scotland but the Haggis Lasagne was unbelievably good. I've put a link to their website, be warned, the website matches their wifi...

Carrbridge's most famous landmark is the packhorse bridge, from which the village is named. The bridge, built in 1717, is the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands. It was severely damaged in the "muckle spate" of 1829 (a great flood in August 1829), which left it in the condition seen today. It is now unstable and walking over it is not recommended. The packhorse bridge celebrated it's 300th anniversary in May this year. There is discussion as to whether it is the oldest stone bridge in Scotland or the oldest in the Highlands.

These are shots that I managed to get when the rain abated a little, click the thumbnail if you are on a desktop for the larger image.

Private Yacht

After driving to Glencoe I thought it was worthwhile driving on to Corpach to finally visit the abandoned boat on the seashore. I have always been fascinated with old boats like this, I like to wonder what their story is and how they come to their final resting place.

It's an old fishing vessel, and I couldn't really find much information about it, apart from the news story that it's emergency beacon caused a major air and sea search. Apparently the beacon may have been triggered as it deteriorated. The report said that the vessel was abandoned "at some point" during the past ten years.

I didn't get the shots that I was hoping for but I got some that I liked that are displayed below. In the first shot you can see Ben Nevis in the background.

Buachaille Etive Mòr

With a break in the particularly miserable weather we have been experiencing in Scotland over the past week I took the opportunity to drive back up to Glencoe. I specifically wanted to get some photographs of Buachaille Etive Mòr. This is probably the most recognisable mountain in Scotland, a large pyramidal form that can be seen when travelling into Glen Coe from the Rannoch Moor side on the A82 (not that there is any other roads to travel on).

The Scottish Gaelic translation of Buachaille Etive Mòr is 'the herdsman of Etive'. I forget how many times I have summited this mountain and the munro's that are on its ridge but it remains one of my favourite places to be.

It was a rare opportunity to spend some time in the valley without midges being all over me; just enough wind to keep them away but not so strong to shake the camera during long exposures. 

Sir David Stirling

David Stirling was the founder of the Special Air Service. He was born in Doune, Stirling (1915). He entered the second world war as a sub-lieutenant and volunteered for the newly formed No. 8 Commando Unit which in 1941 formed a group called Layforce which was trying to reduce the advance of the German Africa Corps in North Africa.

Stirling was frustrated when Layforce was disbanded as he saw a opportunity for a small mobile force being able to cause considerable damage to the enemy. After discussions with British Deputy Commander in the middle east (General Ritchie) the formation of the Special Air Service took place.

He was captured by the Italians in 1943 and after four escapes they handed him over to the Germans where he was placed in Colditz Castle. He spent the rest of the war there. In the 15 months up to his capture it has been reported that the SAS had destroyed over 250 enemy aircraft on the ground, hundreds of vehicles and a huge quantity of stored supplies.

Field Marshall Montgomery was quoted as saying "The boy Stirling is quite mad, quite, quite mad. However, in a war there is often a place for mad people."

He was knighted in 1990 and died the same year. The memorial has stood since 2002 on the Hill of Row, near his ancestral home, looking towards the Perthshire mountains.

The Pineapple

A bizarre and beautiful folly (folly - costly ornamental building with no practical purpose, especially a tower or mock-Gothic ruin built in a large garden or park). Yes, I had to google the definition.

The Pineapple, often described as the most bizarre building Scotland, is located in Dunmore Park, near Airth in Stirlingshire. The Pineapple was built in 1761 by the Earl of Dunmore as a summerhouse where he could appreciate the views from his estate. At this time pineapples were among Scotland's most exotic foods. The Dunmore estate was broken up and sold in lots in 1970 and the Pineapple was originally bought by the Countess of Perth and subsequently given to the National Trust for Scotland.

To be honest I am not sure what the National Trust is doing with this amazing place, it's almost as if they don't want people to visit it. The road into the car park is very poorly signposted and the road itself is derelict. There are some nice woodland walks around the folly and the gardens. From what I witnessed, on a sunny Friday afternoon, it is very popular and many people take the time to visit. Don't take the lack of people in my photographs as a sign of how popular this place is though, it's more a sign of my patience than anything.

For some reason I remember going to this building when I was very young and thought it was somewhere in the south of Scotland. Much to my amazement, it's roughly 15 minutes drive away. I have been planning to visit the Pineapple for some time and as it was a rather nice sunny day it seemed like the perfect time to go. I am happy that I took this chance with some free time that I had today.

I took a few different shots, mostly long exposures as the clouds were moving and I like the effect that this creates in photographs (at some point I have to stop with the big stopper). For those on desktops/tablets larger versions can be seen by tapping/clicking on the thumbnail :-)