Scotland 2022: The Walk to the Singing Sands

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with the first of two posts about the walk that formed the centrepiece of the Wednesday.

Welcome to the latest post in my account of my Scottish holiday which ended a week ago today. This post is the first of two posts covering the walk we did on the Wednesday. This involved a short car journey to the car park from which the walk began (doing it this way the walk was in region of six miles, three out and three back, which is manageable for all of us).

A LOCAL LANDMARK

The Singing Sands is the name given to a beach because when the wind is blowing it does indeed sound like the sand is singing, and it is approached by way of a good track which runs through what used to MOD territory and then more recently was managed by the Forestry Commission. The beach is accessed by a side path off this track.

THREE DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS

The walk starts alongside a patch of mud flats, then after the crossing of a bridge from which the remains of at least two earlier river crossings can be seen the track heads into the woods, and then finally one emerges to a sight of the beach which is remarkable. I will be covering the beach and the walk back in my next post.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are some photographs from the parts of the walk covered in this post:

Cornish Winter Break 9: Tintagel 1 – A Bridge to the Distant Past

Beginning my account of Tintagel, the next stage of my account of my Cornish Holiday.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this latest installment in my account of my Cornish winter break, which is the beginning of a ‘series within a series’ – a number of linked posts about Tintagel, mythical birthplace of King Arthur and an English Heritage site.

THE JOURNEY

To get from southeast Cornwall to Tintagel involves a journey across Bodmin Moor. My sister who was driving took what Satnav considered to be a short cut, which in brute distance terms it was, but that fails to take into account the relative quality of the roads involved. We found a space in the car park in the village (like many other places in Cornwall a former rotten borough), walked to the visitor centre only to find ti closed, and then headed for the castle.

HEADING TO THE CASTLE

The path down to the bridge which takes one into the castle grounds (of which more later) is very steep, and offers nothing to grip on to for support, so I opted for the Land Rover service instead (costs £1.50) as did my mother. The Land Rover drop off point is right at the bridgehead.

A NEW LANDMARK THAT COMBINES ACCESSIBILITY AND FUTURE PROOFING

I consider the new bridge that enables one to enter the castle grounds without descending right the valley floor and then climbing back up the other side to be a landmark in its own right, and as the driver of the Land Rover I travelled in explained, it is vital for another reason – before it was built the site was one major landslide away from being turned into an island, whereas now it will remain accessible for future generations. This is a place that definitely dates back to the 4th century, and maybe earlier (the Arthur connection is that whoever lived here then was rich and influential enough to still be importing stuff from the Mediterranean, Rome’s declining influence notwithstanding), and for it to have been cut off what have been a tragedy.

P1290959 (2) — The surface of the bridge.

Will The 2019 Aspi.blog Calendar Be All Cornish?

Presenting an idea for the next aspi.blog wall calendar and inviting suggestions in response.

INTRODUCTION

Those of you familiar with this blog will know that a photographic wall calendar has become something of a tradition – the 2019 effort when I finally do it will be number four. I have started thinking about and this post is intended to show one possibility.

A CORNISH THEMED CALENDAR

Those of you who saw my “A Grockle’s Eye View of Cornwall” series (you can access them all from here) will be aware of the amazing scenery I saw while I was down there. Since it was obvious that a number of those pictures would have to feature I then started thinking about how a Cornish gallery calendar might work, and this is where I have reached so far.

THE FRONT COVER

To provide a clue of what is within this is my envisaged front cover pic if I go the “pure Cornish” route:

OTHER POSSIBLE PICTURES

January would be this one:

The other pictures that I have identified as possibles, in no particular order are these:

The Brunel bridge — This bridge is so iconic that my shot of it would have to feature.

St Michael's Mount panorama — After a number from St Ives, we move on St Michael’s Mount and its surroundings.

WHAT DO YOU SAY?

Do you think the “pure Cornish Calendar” idea works? If so do you have any other of my Cornish pictures that you would like to see featured? If not feel free to suggest others of my pictures that should be there.

Greece – an Aperitif

Introducing what will be a series about my holiday in Greece.

INTRODUCTION

I am just back from a week in Greece, mainly in places without internet connections. I have huge numbers of photos to edit, so to keep things going for the moment I am presenting a selection from across the week, plus the return flight, on which I had a window seat.

THE PHOTOGRAPHS

Lizard I — The first few pictures here are from in and arouns Tseria, where I was staying.

Map — This map is part of the decor of the shop from which my new Sandals came.

Me at the gateway to Methoni Castle — My new profile pic – me at the gateway to Methoni Castle.

The bridge connecting the Bourtzi to the main castle — The bridge linking the main castle and the Bourtzi

Heraldic lion, Methoni — A heraldic lion set into the stonework of the outer wall of the castle

The Bath of Nestor — The bath of Nestor, Pylos

Adult House Martin visits one of the nests — An adult House Martin visits one of the nests

Distant view of Karytaina Castle — Karytaina Castle

Waterfall, open-air museum Dimitsana — The next three shots show water power – all taken at the open-air museum of water-power, Dimitsana

Karytaina Castle from below I — Two shots of Karytaina Castle from below

Lousios bridges I — The first of four shots of the bridges over the Lousios.

The Alfios, the other river guarded by Karytaina

Small castle between Tseria and Kalamata — A tower between Tseria and Kalamata, the last picture taken from ground level to feature in this post.

Major bridge from 37,000 feet up — Even with 37,000 feet of vertical distance between me and it this bridge looked impressive.

Bridge links two landmasses — Another fine bridge (two shots)

Sharing our airspace — This aeroplane was flying at a lesser altitude than the Airbus A320 that I was aboard

Stretch of coastline — A stretch of French coastline.

White cliffs — The approach to Britain – I believe we flew directly over Brighton, if the combination of a large pier and a major cricket ground (Sussex CCC’s HQ if I am correct) is anything to go on.

The 2018 Wall Calendar

Seeking reader participation in the selection process for the 2018 wall calendar.

INTRODUCTION

When I began covering my holiday in Scotland I brought up the subject of my plans for a 2018 photographic wall calendar, which will be my third such. This post now takes the story forward, and seeks to bring my followers in on the selection process.

THE CANDIDATES

Some of these pictures were nominated by Oglach (“Oglach’s Selections“), a couple by my aunt Celia, and the rest are others that I consider especially worth sharing. Most of the selections are Scottish for obvious reasons.

MY AUNT’S PICKS

My aunt Celia nominated two from the return journey from Scotland:

MY ADDITIONAL SCOTTISH SELECTIONS

These are the Scottish pictures that I have selected as possibles on my own:

Steamer5 — One of these steamer pictures will definitely feature.

Farewell to the Jacobite — I may assemble a composite image of several “Jacobite ” pictures.

GV4 — At least one of these Glenfinnan Viaduct pictures will feature.

single span bridge 2 — Bridges on Skye will definitely feature somewhere.

Balmacara House to Craggan Cottage2 — This is the stretch of Loch Alsh on which Ferry Cottage, where we stayed, sits.

OGLACH’S SELECTIONS

I have of course shown these before, but for completeness sake here they are again:

NON-SCOTTISH PICKS

These are the pictures from outside Scotland that I consider worth a second look.

NOMINATIONS

You can nominate by commenting on this post identifying the pictures by name. If you right-click on a picture and select “open image in new tab” from the drop-down menu that appears you can see its name. If you have a blog of your own you can nominate by creating a post featuring your choices and putting a link in the comments (this will earn you a reblog as well by the way). Those whose pictures make the cut will be acknowledged on the page(s) that they get in the calendar.

Scotland – The Last Post: Inverness to Peterborough

The final post in the series about my holiday in scenic Scotland.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this concluding post in my series about a Scottish holiday. In this post we deal with the last stages of my journey home.

AVIEMORE AND THE CAIRNGORMS

Aviemore is the first station the train calls at on its way out of Inverness towards Edinburgh, and also marks one edge of The Cairngorms national park.

DALWHINNIE TO BLAIR ATHOLL

The next stage of the route takes us to Blair Atholl.

BLAIR ATHOLL TO MARKINCH

Markinch is situated two miles from Glenrothes town centre, a fact that is advertised on the platforms.

MARKINCH TO EDINBURGH

The train arrived at Edinburgh so promptly that had it been allowed by my ticket I would have had time to get the 13:30 to London instead of the 14:00. As it was I was glad to be able to take things a bit easy at this interchange, the corresponding one on my journey up having been a little close for comfort.

THE CLOSING STAGES

I located my seat on the express train that would carry me to Peterborough and it was in a designated quiet coach. Unfortunately there was a large family who had been assigned seats in that coach and who did not really understand quietness, so it was not as relaxing a segment of the journey as it should have been. A minor frustration at Peterborough when I stepped out of the station exit just as an X1 was heading off towards King’s Lynn. This half-hour delay notwithstanding I got home dead on 8PM.

Scotland – Homeward Bound: Lochluichart to Inverness

Continuing the account of the homeward journey, taking the story up to Inverness (Inbhir Nis).

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the next post in my series about my holiday in Scotland. This post continues the story of the journey home picking up where it’s predecessor left off at Lochluichart.

LOCHLUICHART TO INVERNESS

This part of the journey is not as impressive as its predecessor, but I did still get some good pictures.

Scotland – Thursday: Fort William to Glaick

The return from Fort William to Glaick.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest installment in my series of posts about a Scottish holiday. Having finished the account of my experience with The Jacobite, this penultimate post for the Thursday deals with the return journey from Fort William to Glaick.

LEAVING FORT WILLIAM

Before heading back to the cottage in Glaick where were staying we visited the Morrison’s in Fort William to stock up on food, including some ingredients which feature in the next post in this series. That done we headed off back towards Glaick, me with the camera at the ready.

Scotland – Thursday: Farewell to the Jacobite

The final stages of The Jacobite jnourney.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest post in the series I am doing about my holiday in Scotland. This post brings to an end the account of The Jacobite train journey.

THE LAST STAGE OF THE TRAIN JOURNEY

Once we were able to move on from Glenfinnan we encountered no further hitches and the train chugged into Fort William at 3:55PM, within a few minutes of the stated return time.

A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS
ON “THE JACOBITE”

This is unquestionably a very fine train journey, and to experience it on a steam train added something to it. However, I have to disagree with the ‘selectorate’ who named it The World’s Greatest Train Journey. Inlandsbanan in Sweden is one that I rate ahead of it, the other section of this same railway, Glasgow to Fort William, is as impressive in its own way, sweeping across a moor that sees it at one point seven miles from the nearest road, and as you will be seeing later in this series of posts the rail route from Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness is pretty special as well.

Scotland: The Isle of Skye 4- Bridges and Departure

The final post about my day on Skye. Some remarkable river scenes.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my final post about the day on the Isle of Skye. This series of posts about my holiday in Scotland now runs to:

THE BRIDGES

I had identified a place for photo stop on the return journey while we were heading towards the Talisker distillery. It proved even better than I had expected, and in a few minutes I had taken a number of good pictures…

The Land of the Mountain and the Flood — Enter a caption

stone bridge 2 — At least one of these pictures will feature in the Calendar.

LEAVING SKYE

I got a few more pictures during the rest of the journey home…

	Thomas on Should Bairstow Keep Wicket Fo…
	sidestreambob on Should Bairstow Keep Wicket Fo…
	Thomas on All Time XIs – England B…
	cindy knoke on All Time XIs – England B…
	All Time XIs –… on All Time XIs – Staffords…

INTRODUCTION

THE JOURNEY

HEADING TO THE CASTLE

A NEW LANDMARK THAT COMBINES ACCESSIBILITY AND FUTURE PROOFING

INTRODUCTION

A CORNISH THEMED CALENDAR

THE FRONT COVER

OTHER POSSIBLE PICTURES

WHAT DO YOU SAY?

INTRODUCTION

THE PHOTOGRAPHS

INTRODUCTION

THE CANDIDATES

MY AUNT’S PICKS

MY ADDITIONAL SCOTTISH SELECTIONS

OGLACH’S SELECTIONS

NON-SCOTTISH PICKS

NOMINATIONS

INTRODUCTION

AVIEMORE AND THE CAIRNGORMS

DALWHINNIE TO BLAIR ATHOLL

BLAIR ATHOLL TO MARKINCH

MARKINCH TO EDINBURGH

THE CLOSING STAGES

INTRODUCTION

LOCHLUICHART TO INVERNESS

INTRODUCTION

LEAVING FORT WILLIAM

INTRODUCTION

THE LAST STAGE OF THE TRAIN JOURNEY

A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS ON “THE JACOBITE”

INTRODUCTION

THE BRIDGES

LEAVING SKYE

A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS
ON “THE JACOBITE”