Arisaig 2026 6: The Monday

A look at the cottage we stayed in and its surrounding area, featuring pictures from among others three walks that I took on the Monday.

I am now back from my Scottish sojourn, though I have a large amount of photo editing still to do. I put out a few small posts while in Scotland, though have not put anything up since Thursday. I now resume chronological coverage of the week, going back to my second full day in the area, the Monday. My parents had to go to Fort William and back, and had to do so by car, because the most important thing they had to do was set for a specific time that was enough to rule out the train journey. I opted to stay at our cottage, and was left with the key so that I could go walking if the weather allowed.

My first walk started at 11:30AM after a couple of false starts, when opening the front door revealed that the rain had not in fact abated. I was out for an hour and a half on this walk, and did not get wet. I walked in an unfamiliar direction and got as far as Traigh Golf Course before I decided to return. For my second walk I took the second unfamiliar road and followed it for a while before turning back. The third walk followed the route of the first as far as the river crossing before I returned. Two of the pictures that featured in the ‘wildlife feature‘ post were taken during these walks, and in the gallery that follows you will see another of these pictures, taken through my kitchen window.

My usual sign off…

Pensthorpe – The Trailer Ride

Completing my account of the WNAG visit to Pensthorpe a week ago with the trailer ride.

Welcome to the final post in my series (posts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 can be viewed by clicking the appropriate number). about the West Norfolk Autism Group trip to Pensthorpe. This post deals with the trailer ride (we had two booked, and I was on the second at 12 noon).

There are some parts of Pensthorpe that cannot be accessed on foot, and others that sufficiently far from the starting point that doing so would take a very long time. The vehicle that pulls the trailer is a Land Rover Defender. In the course of the journey one sees some of the farm area, both old and new growth woodland, lakes, ponds that are a remnant of the last ice age and nesting sites of one sort and another for birds and bats. We got a glimpse of the Aberdeen Angus cattle but not the longhorns that they also have. The route takes in parts of two former railway routes which crossed the land – one was part of a major railway company, the other a smaller local route, and both were killed by Beeching in the 1960s. We also saw a family of greylag geese, with six youngsters. On a day like we had the absence of shelter was never an issue, and being in such an open vehicle did make photography easier. If you do not do the trailer ride you will never have anything close to a complete picture of Pensthorpe.

Here are my photographs from the trailer ride…