Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with a look at the island of Canna and the return journey to Arisaig.
Yesterday in my series about my Scottish holiday (May 30th to June 6th) I dealt with the grounds of Canna House. Today I conclude my coverage of the Tuesday.
THE ISLAND OF CANNA
Canna is a beautiful little island and we only saw some of it – the grounds of Canna House were as far as we got, meaning that much, including the main church and an important bridge escaped us. We found out not long after landing that the cafe was closed, but the shop, which operates an ‘honesty box’ principle was open, and there were tea and coffee making facilities there. We also saw a very curious little church – it was utterly devoid of any kind of embellishment, and had no altar, just a large pulpit from which the preaching would be done. There was some interesting bird life. The journey back did not feature any go-slows for wildlife, but there were still a few things to see.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here is my gallery for this post…
The outside of the tiny church mentioned in the text.The gateway to the churchyardStanding alone in the churchyard, a Celtic cross grave.Inside the church.A view of the outside of the church.The map on a t-shirt I bought from the shop.Oystercatchers in numbers (several pictures)A large corvid with a silver patch on its upper back.The bridgeI could not work out what species these birds were. I have included six pictures of the Jacobite Express.These last few pictures feature Morar, the only place of significance between Mallaig and Arisaig.
Some pictures of the Jacobite Express as it leaves Mallaig on the return run to Fort William.
On the way back from Mallaig after our return crossing from Canna yesterday we overlapped with the departure from that station of the Jacobite Express making its return run to Fort William. I capture a very short video which is below and a few photographs. For an account of what the actual journey is like start with this post from 2017 and read the next few as well.
Remember that to view photos at larger size you need to click on them.
A post dedicated to a Minke Whale sighting during today’s ‘Canna Puffin Cruise’, where I was doubly lucky: 1) to be on it at all and 2) to manage to get photographs of the whale.
Earlier today I had the good fortune to go on today’s “Canna Puffin Cruise” during the course of which a Minke whale appeared above the waves on a few occasions, and I captured the evidence on camera. What follows is a short series of pictures…
The first, less good picture:
In the front of this shot part of the rump of Minke whale can be seen just above the surface of the water. Nearby two tiny puffins look on. This was somewhere between Mallaig and Canna.Close up extracted from the first picture showing the whale rump and the two puffins looking on.The mid-portion of a Minke whale including the dorsal fin appears above the sea somewhere between Mallaig and the Isle of Canna. Unedited original.A closer crop showing the whale and a cliff in the distance.Edited version of the above pictureA different edit of the same pictureAnother cropAn edited version of the second cropA different edit of the same crop
Another crop
An edited version of the final crop.
An edited version of the final crop.
I will be producing more posts about this day, including a ‘wildlife highlights package’, but just to get things started I have opted to give the Minke whale a post all to itself.
Finishing the account of the Friday of my Scottish Holiday.
This post continues my series about my holiday in Scotland with an account of the journey back from Eigg to Acharacle which included a diversion north to Mallaig. This is my fourth post about Friday’s activities and the penultimate post in this series.
EIGG TO MALLAIG
The voyage back to the mainland was calm as the outward voyage had been, and we set off along the coast road to Mallaig (there is a quicker main road which we used on the way from Mallaig to Acharacle). This route is very scenic. Mallaig was very busy when we got there but we found a parking space not too far from the centre.
MALLAIG AND BACK TO ACHARACLE
Mallaig well repaid a brief visit – there a few things of interest to be seen there, including a good account of the coming of the railway (late by British standards, early 20th century), and some splendid views. I first passed through Mallaig nearly three decades ago, when I arrived by ferry from the Isle of Skye and travelled on by train to Oban (one change at Crianlarich), and also saw the area immediately around the train station much more recently when I travelled on The Jacobite between Fort William and Mallaig in 2017.
The journey back to Acharacle passed without incident, bringing to an end the active part of a very enjoyable final full day the holiday.
Starting an account of the Friday of my Scottish holiday. There will be several more posts about the day.
I continue my coverage of my Scottish holiday with a multi-part account of Friday’s activities. In this post I set the scene for several more post.
THE PLAN IN OUTLINE
We had arranged to visit the island of Eigg, which involved journeying to Arisaig (home of mainland Britain’s most westerly railway station) to catch the boat. We would explore Eigg, get the boat back and then pay a quick visit to Mallaig before returning to Acharacle. To ensure not missing the boat we were underway by eight AM.
ACHARACLE TO ARISAIG
The journey from Acharacle to Arisaig is exceedingly scenic. Capturing said scenery on camera was rendered slightly challenging due the problems created by being in the back seat of a car with rather small rear windows, but I did get some good pictures. We arrived in Arisaig in good time, and were seated aboard the boat by 9:30, for a 10AM sailing.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are my photographs from leaving home to getting on the boat…
The account of the first half of the return journey on The Jacobite.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the next post in my series about my holiday inScotland. This post commences the coverage of the return journey from Mallaig to Fort William on The Jacobite.
EXPLANATION
Why am I covering the return journey? Because although I was still on the non-ideal side of the train, rge fact that the locomotive runs around the train to be attached to the opposite end did mean that I was facing the direction of travel for the return journey, which meant that I got more and better photos than on the outward run.
MALLAIG TO GLENFINNAN
Although we would not be stopping for long enough for anyone to disembark on this return journey we would have a stop at Glenfinnan to allow a regular service to pass us. Thus, Glenfinnan once again forms a logical break poiny.
Welcome to the next post in my series about my holiday in Scotland. This post covers the hour and a half at Mallaig that The Jacobiteallows.
MALLAIG
Naturally, I commenced proceedings at Mallaig by taking the opportunity to get some photos of the train:
I had noticed the presence of a Heritage Centre close to the station. Unfortunately such is the extent to which Mallaig has embraced its status as a tourist trap that they were charging for admission, so I got nor further than the gift shop.
The rain eased sufficiently for me to explore a little further.
While on the train I had purchased a souvenir route map. In Mallaig I also bought a pictorial map of Skye and Wester Ross:
An account of the Glenfinnan-Mallaig section of The Jacobite journey.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to another post in my series about my holiday in Scotland. This post covers the second half of the outward journey on The Jacobite, ending with our arrival at Mallaig.
HEADING WEST
Although we did not stop between Glenfinnan and Mallaig, two stops before Mallaig on the regular route is Arisaig which has the distinction of being the westernmost mainline railway station on the British mainland.
ARISAIG – MALLAIG
The finish of the journey provided few photo opportunities, although travelling back the other way (a journey I had previously made on a regular train in 1993) made up for this.
The locomotive at Mallaig station – there are more shots of this to come in my next post, this being an aperitif.
Setting the scene for several posts about The Jacobite.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the latest installment in this series of posts about my Scottish holiday. We have reached the Thursday, on which day my parents were scheduled to look at houses in the Fort William area (about two hours drive from where we were staying) and I was hoping that The Jacobite, a steam train journey from Fort William to Mallaig, an hour in Mallaig and then back, would be available as a way to fill my day.
THE PRELIMINARIES
The advance bookings for The Jacobite had closed, but tickets were available for purchase on the day. With this in mind we set forth from Ferry Cottage at about 7:30AM. Barring the very start of it I had never previously experienced the route between Glaick and Fort William before, and although the best pictures I got of it were on the way back having mentally noted potentially good possibilities on the way down, I did get a few pictures on this journey.
The white spots at the top of this hill are unmelted snow.
FORT WILLIAM STATION
We got to Fort William station just after 9:30, and an inquiry at the ticket office saw me pointed to a queue for the train. I joined this queue although I was not expecting success (I was assuming ill-fortune so that I could not be disappointed, only get a welcome bonus). However, as time passed and the queue moved forward with no-one being turned away I began to speculate on the possibilities. Then came the moment when I was the next person to be served and I thought that it would be seriously rough luck to miss out at that juncture. I was duly issued with a ticket and took my place in coach C. Lady Luck’s support had been limited – although I had a seat it was an aisle seat facing against the direction of travel, which meant that taking pictures of the journey would be a challenge.
The Jacobite, Fort William Station
Inside Coach C
Slightly blurred, but proof that even from an aisle seat I could take pictures through the window.
Setting the scene for a series of posts about my recent holiday in Scotland.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to this first in what will be a substantial series of posts about my recent holiday in Scotland. Although I still have a lot of photo editing to do from said holiday I do now have enough photos at my disposal to start the series, and I will look to interleave the rest of the editing with producing posts for you.
THE HOLIDAY TIMELINE
I travelled up on May 26th and back on June 4th. These two dates were entirely taken up with travelling (14 hours each way approximately). In between these two days there were:
Saturday – most of the day spent waiting for my parents to arrive so we could go up to the house that would be our base for the week, three miles from Kyle of Lochalsh.
Sunday – a quiet day featuring some walking in the immediate vicinity of the house
Monday – A walk to Kyle of Lochalsh, lunch there and a bus back. A quiet afternoon.
Tuesday – a visit to the Talisker Distillery on the Isle of Skye.
Wednesday – a brief visit to Plockton to book the a table at the Plockton Inn for supper, a trip to Applecross and then back to Plockton for the supper (the birthday meal).
Thursday – The Jacobite Rail Journey (steam train between Fort William and Mallaig, a section of railway known to vast numbers of movie goers as the route of the Hogwarts Express).
Friday – the final full day.
THE LOCATION
Kyle of Lochalsh is on the mainland of northwestern Scotland, very close to the Isle of Skye, to which it is nowadays linked by a road bridge. Ferry Cottage, where we were staying is located at Glaick (pronounced Glike), three miles from Kyle of Lochalsh. Here are some maps for further clarification:
SOME PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE AREA
Here are a few photos from the immediate area in which we were staying:
Kyleakin viewed from high above
Ferry Cottage, where we stayed.
Kyle of Lochalsh from above
These last two pictures show the stretch of shoreline that includes Ferry Cottage.
THOMAS’ CALENDAR CHALLENGE
I saw some quite amazing scenery while in Scotland, and it has become something of a tradition to produce a photographic wall calendar each year. A number of my Scottish pictures will undoubtedly feature. If in the course of this series of posts you see a picture that catches your eye as worth a place in the calendar there are two things I invite you to do:
Post a comment identifying the photo that has caught your eye and/ or…
Create a blog post about the picture that has caught your eye explaining what it means to you and why you think it should be included. If you do this I will reblog your post.
Should you succeed in convincing me to include the picture in my calendar I will give you credit for doing so. I end with two final pictures, the second of which is almost certain to be in the calendar:
A rarity – the lighthouse is framed twice over, once by the bridge and once by the masts of the boat in the foreground.
This is the view across Loch Alsh from outside Ferry Cottage on a sunny day (yes, Scotland does have such things) with the additional feature of the world’s last remaining ocean going paddle steamer – this will almost certainly be in the calendar.
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