We circle Loch Ness

This day we were again in our guides (M and K's) hands, it was wonderful not having to make any decisions as to where we should go and what should we see today - it all just happened.  Anyway we ventured out at about the usual time of around 10 am and headed south - the plan was to circle Loch Ness.

 

 

 We travelled through some stunning country

 

 

on the east of Loch Ness 

 

 

 Surprisingly this is is the original road down the side of Loch Ness, not the popular West side - and the Great Glenn walk,  which is a comparatively recent development.

 

 

This east road was built in a network of military roads across the Highlands in the aftermath of the 1715 Jacobite uprising.

 

 

Our first stop was at the Falls of Foyer

 

 

Kevin and I decided it was photograph time, but I only covered about half of the route, Kevin continued on and took these following shots.

 

 

The Falls of Foyer is a waterfall on the River Foyers - it has a fall of about 165ft

 

 

and the River Foyers drops into a gorge leading to Loch Ness

 

 

 Highland Cattle enjoy their Loch Ness surrounds

  

 

The next river we came to is the Fechlin at Whitebridge

 

 

and the "Wade" Bridge built in 1732 - one of the finest military bridges in Scotland

 

 

General George Wade was the British Military Commander of the Army  from 1715 - between 1725 and 1737 Wade oversaw the construction of some 250 miles of road, plus 40 bridges, including the Tay Bridge at Aberfeldy.

 

 

General Wade let William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland (age 24) take command of the army in 1745 (mind you General Wade was 72 at that stage) - they pursued the Jacobites to their eventual demise at the Battle of Culloden.

 

 

This bridge is currently under repair and restoration.

 

 

We then drove through a stunning Glen.

 

 

The Great Glen

 

 

stunning views wherever you turned

 

  

 

 

Our wagon parked high in the Glen

 

 

We passed a couple of smaller Lochs

 

 

en route to Fort Augustus - yes, named after the Duke of Cumberland - William Augustus,

 

 

and its outstanding Caledonian Canal.

 

 

This canal connects the Scottish East coast at Inverness with the West Coast at Corpach near Fort William.

 

 

It was constructed in the 19th Century by Thomas Telford and is a sister canal of the Gota Canal in Sweden, also constructed by the same brilliant engineer - Thomas Telford.  He built this Canal with a team of people, many of whom had helped him with the great Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in North Wales, which we had visited, and taken a longboat across about a month prior.

 

 

The canal runs 62 miles from north east to south west. 

 

 

Only one third of the entire length is man made,

 

 

the rest being formed by Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness (entry below), Loch Oich and Loch Lochy.

  

 

These Lochs are part of the Great Glen - a geological fault in the Earth's crust. 

 

 

There are 29 locks, four aqueducts and 10 bridges in the course of this canal (pinched the photo above - just for the aerial view of such a project)

*****

It was just a little damp in Fort Augustus, so after checking out the canal, the Canal Visitors Centre, a shop here and there, we went to a quaint little pub on the banks of the Caledonian and had a long hot coffee, before heading north on the western side of Loch Ness.

***** 

Next stop - Urquhart Castle

Once one of Scotland's largest medieval castles,

 



 

Urquhart Castle remains an impressive stronghold despite its ruinous state.

It is situated on the headland overlooking Loch Ness

 



 

The remains include a tower house that commands splendid views of the famous loch and the Great Glen. 

 

 

When one first enters - they have the opportunity to view a movie about Urquhart, and at the end, the curtains are drawn and there she sits in her magnificence right in front of you.



 

 

Urquhart Castle is Historic Scotland's 3rd busiest site.



 



 

It is believed this castle was built in the early 13th Century



 

This Castle witnessed considerable conflict throughout its 500 years as a medieval fortress



 

and its history from 13th to 17th centuries was particularly bloody.

 



Following Edward 1's invasion, it fell into English hands and was then reclaimed

 



and lost again!

 

In the 14th century, it figured prominently in the Scots' struggle for independence and came under the control of Robert the Bruce after he became King of Scots.



 

How's this for a view over Loch Ness??

 



 

Back to the history - In the 15th and 16th centuries, the castle and glen were frequently raided from the west by the ambitious MacDonald Lords of the Isles.

 

 

One can't help thinking, if you were going to build a castle to survey this wide glen, and the loch itself

 

 

this is where you would build it!

 

Many of the sitings of the Loch Ness Monster are seen in this area

 

However, we did not venture anywhere for spotting "Nessy".

*****

 

We continued back up the west side of Loch Ness, through the Great Glen,  and followed up our superb day with an absolutely delicious dinner at the "Crofters Bistro" in Rosemarkie.

 



 

An extremely popular local dish here is "Cullen Skink".  Yes, we tried it, absolutely superb - smoked haddock, potatoes, leek etc in a creamy sauce - just sooh good.