SKYE

 REACH FOR THE SKYE

Skye-vers :-  Mike and John

Speed Bonnie boat like a bird on the wing

"Onward" the sailors cry

Carry the lad that's born to be king

Over the sea to Skye

( Bonnie Prince Charlie)

More than 70 years ago I  sang  this song as a school boy in the annual Preston "School's Music Festival".  I have, ever since, had a yen to visit Skye this magical Island...... and although I have been before it was always wild, windy and wet. Definitely "DREEK" as the Scots would say, Not at all enjoyable .... not this time though ! Five gloriously sunny and warm days.

Early morning mist in the air was soon evaporated by the sun

Following an invitation from our hosts, Monica  and Gordon McDougall, Mike and I drove the 400 + miles to stay on the Island for a few days.

Gordon, who is now 86, is an enthusiastic DIY man and the immaculate  house and garden pay tribute to this. A very significant attribute is that he has completed ALL the scottich Munroes. Mountains over 3000ft.

This rear view of their home is deceptive, It is a magnificent "House" not a Bungalow. It has four large bedrooms. Three large lounges  Large kitchen and all the other rooms and facilities of  large and comfortable home.

The view from my bedroom window

Just a part of the well stocked (Flowers fruit and veg) 

and well maintained garden.

We cut the 400 mile journey to Skye in half by staying a night at the "Premier Inn" in Dumbarton. As we were not impressed by the "in house" restaurant we opted for a short walk in the town centre were we bought fish and chips and sat by the "River Leven". (Photos in phone, hope to put them here when I work out how.)

The next morning we followed the road alongside Loch Lomond which took us onto The wild and desolate Rannoch Moor thought by some to be Shakespeare's setting for the Three Witches scene in "Macbeth". Here's a fragment. 

Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.......

Followed by a long list of super vile ingredients...then

By the pricking of my thumbs

Something wicked this way comes

and finishes with a dire prediction

Thou shalt be king hereafter (Macbeth)

Then came Glencoe, scene of the famous massacre when members of the Cambell clan  murdered many of the McDonalds their historic arch rivals. Thought to be political i.e. part of the Jacobite Rebellion.  but other thoughts abound.

Taking photos in Glencoe was all but impossible as the road was narrow and difficult and even the tiniest layby was packed with tourists. The three photos below convey only little of the massive grandour of the almost vertical mountains we passed including "THE THREE SISTERS". who had a lot of equally grand siblings.

We , almost by chance, bypassed Fort William which was very busy but stopped on the outskirts for a brew and small snack. The a long twisty road.  Over the bridge and onto Skye to be handsomely greeted by Monica and Gordon,

Each morning there was a superb sunrise which quickly melted the whispy clouds away. There was also a bowl of porridge expertly made by Gordon.

On the first day of our stay (The journey ate up 3 days of our 5 day sojourn. Remember 400+ miles each way.) we decided to explore part of the Island. Only a part as it is a BIG island. As Scotland has no more famous export than whisky and as there are seven distilleries on the Island, a distillery visit was an obvious choice.

On Skye there are hills, BIG HILLS so after winding our way past Lochs and through Glens we parked at the "TALISKER" distillery.

We booked for the tour and here we are waiting four our guide (excellent) to lead us off. The group consisted of 2 English men (us) 2 French, 2 Brazilians, 2 Dutch and 3/4 Japanese. and a German.

The guide talked us through the whole , lengthy. process of producing whisky. Not all of it crystal clear (The talk not the Whisky)

JW with a look of total mystification.

At this point M Holleran was looking for trouble !  The guide said take as many photos as you wish but NOT in here as the air can be explosive with the "Alcohol ?" from final distilling process. As I was IN the photos, who took them ? The guide waved at him to put the camera away. Naughty !

The final part of the trip was to sit around a table with three tots of whisky to taste in front of each of us. As we did so the guide took us through the qualities of each. An expensive but illuminating guided tour. We omitted to buy any whisky as the prices started at £40+ and rocketed upwards ( I think it reached the Stratosphere 

From here we drove further north to Skye's  capital,  PORTREE. Not an exciting place. About the same size as Garstang or Longridge but without all the recent new builds making towns in England so much bigger. And so back to McDougall's. We had been warned that any journey in the Highlands was  

L  O  N  G . This was true as habitations were few and far between with steep climbs and claustraphobic glens in between.

After visiting yet another cafe we left to take the high road (literally) back to Broadford where our hosts lived. After a lovely meal prepared by Monica and the usual Malt whisky Gordon generously shared from his collection of malts . Well with me anyway.  We retired to bed. 

The following day (Thursday) we drove back onto the Mainland intending to visit the widely famous Eileen Donan Castle. (See above), As we arrived Mid Morning the car park was already virtually full and staff were at hand to guide you to suitable vacant spots. The castle had been a ruin for many years and it was only in the last two centuries when much of it had been repaired.  One look at the hordes crossing the approach bridge and we decided that we were happy just to see the outside of the castle. 

Where to now ?

That evening we had booked for a charity cruise from the village of Plockton including a buffet and alcoholic drinks. All in aid of the Macmillan Trust.

We left the main road and followed a winding, hilly side road to take a "Gander".

Here we are parked in Plockton. The sea loch was not as distant as it looks. It was in fact immediately in front of us hidden by the banking.

It was a quiet and pretty village so we had a short walk visited the cafe for a coffee and a snack and returned to the McDougalls.

Soon after our return we were off again to sail the seas from Plocktons harbour,

The boat was waiting for us at the end of quayside. SULA BHEAG. Gordon told us that in Gaelic the "B" is pronounced "V"

We were soon "All Aboard" except Mike,who , not being a sailor,  opted to stay ashore.  The owner and skipper of the boat does the trip for free to raise money for a charity. This year's being " Macmillan Trust" (nurses).

The Trip, around the small islands, lasted about 2 hours and included an excellent buffet , copious wine and beer, The Macmillan workers ( local people) kept coming round the boat to refill our glasses (in my case three times)

There's my wine glass which was soon emptied and refilled.

During the trip (apart from buffet time) we were entertained to a mixture of gaelic and popular songs. Invariably Scottish.

Monica chatting to one of her friends from the area

😟

There's a seal there. Can you sea it ? The daytime boat men advertise. "No Seals - No Pay"  I suspect our captain pays this seal to turn up when he goes out ????

Back to M & G 's.... A final chatter.... and Malt Whisky 😉  Bed and an early start to our long journey home.

We shared the driving as we made our long way home arriving about ten hours later.

A Great trip

Och Aye !!

John and Mike 

NO BLOG.

 Sorry -  Illness, holidays, extreme heat and other minor problems mean there will be no Blog this week (Thursday 13th August !)

Hope to see you next week

John

CHIPPING

MULTUM IN PARVO 

MINITUDES :-  Mike, Danny and John.

No Multitude I'm afraid but plenty of Parvo. This was a shame as Chipping had an amazing amount to offer.

Chipping is a tiny village on the edge of the forest of Bowland. Although some building has taken place in recent years it still remains very small.

But if you take the time to explore it there is much to see.

After an initial difficulty we parked the car in the Pay and Display and within seconds found ourselves in the heart of this ancient village. It's original name was "Ceapan or Ceping" which means "Market"

As we  walked along Windy Street we passed the old school. Founded by John Brabin. This, as you can see, is the girls entrance.

We know this because....................... It says so

and because................... there's a girl waiting at the door.

Could this be the boys side ?....................................... Looks like it. He appears to be carrying a cricket ball. Football did not have the popularity it has now.

From here we visited the Catholic church almost hidden away in the tree clothed valley. 

A phone call the previous day had promised us that the church would be open, A strong push on the door, which bore no handle , seemed to tell us differently.   We left.

In the church grounds and right in front of us and just to the left as we had left  was a solitary if not lonely looking cottage (house ?)

The address and the name of the occupant were displayed on the front door and we were very naughty and joked that this must be Spanish for "Mosquito" and moved on quickly for fear of getting irritatingly "nibbled" or worse still Susan's wrath.

A grassy path led us to a part of the garden which had become a community wildflower garden.

Not many photos as it began to rain quite steadily at this point.

From the garden we could see a large house made of brick. Something of an anachronism as the rest of the village was mostly stone. As we left the church grounds we took a look at the big house but had no idea why it was so large and different.

Back to our walk of discovery. As we searched for a cafe we passed this solid looking building which served as the Town Hall. (Town's Hall ?) In later years it became a butchers shop. JW who has  long associations with Chipping could remember it quite well in it's butcher days.

The once famous "Cobblestone Corner Cafe" was closed on Thursdays ( How many times has that happened to us ?)😕😠

There was , however, an equally prestigious cafe only a few yards away.

At the door of the cafe was an instruction . We followed it but wasn't too difficult.

The combined shop and now cafe have been trading continuously for.........

343 years

Gold medal stuff that !

After having an excellent Coffee and an equally refreshing tea we set off to explore more of this "Tardis" like village.  We left by the back door  passing a miniature garden and making use of the outdoor loo.

Here's Mike having just made use of the loo over which there was an amusing if rather "Bold" message. "Now wash your hands you dirty rogue" (or something similar)

Before visiting the Anglican church of St Bartholomews Danny suggested we further investigate the large brick house wich had intrigued us earlier in the morning

We speculated at random. The arched windows made  it seem ecclesiastical.

Something to do with the church we surmised.

As we turned once again to the middle of the village an elderly woman and her companion stopped to chat (thought we'd never get away)

They told us two things of interest to us that Afternoon.

1. That the mystery large brick house was infact a replacement for the original Vicarage for the Anglican church of St Bartholomews

2. That the Catholic church was indeed open and our efforts to open the RIGHT hand door were of no avail. we had to push hard on the LEFT hand door.

.......and so in we went.

Leaving the "Papists" behind we now went to see the Anglicans.

Before going to the church we returned to the  "OLD" cafe for lunch which was acceptable but not exciting, A passing gentleman assured us that the mill wheel which powered the flour mill was still to be seen if we returned made our way behind the Catholic church and looked upstream. Yes there it was but the dense foliage on the banks of Chipping Brook made it very difficult to photograph..... I FAILED..... Sorry.

Danny, nimble as ever, waited for us at the top of these rather daunting steps. They were not meant for ageing meanderthals,  particularly when wet. 

WELL HOW STUPID. I DIDN'T GET A PICTURE OF THE CHURCH 😖

This is a proper church.......with bell ringers

and a delightul flock of paper doves

The first church on this sight was during the 5th Century. Long gone.

The present one was built in the 13th Century and rebuilt in1450.

As with all old buildings there are always debates about dates.

In my humble opinion some minor parts of the church were rather anachronistic. in particular the modern light fittings (JW)  ( No way are you 'umble-....... Big 'ed ) It was still, nevertheless,  uplifting to wander around and read many of the enlightening inscriptions.

OUR VISIT WAS COMING TO AN END

But before leaving the village we climbed into the car to follow John's wish to return to his childhood and "Feed the Ducks"

We drove north out of the village passing "Berry's Chairworks and "Tweedy's Foundry" Both now defunct. As we drove Danny told us that Barbara and himself had a couple of Berry's chairs when they were younger. John also said he had a Berry's chair.  Here it is.

It looks quite normal untill you notice that he is holding it in his hand.

FEEDING THE DUCKS

WURZ THEM DUCKS ?

HERE THEY COME

AND THERE WAS  ALSO A HERON 

(IF YOU CAN SEE IT. IT WAS ACROSS THE OTHER SDE OF THE MILLPOND)

Bread all gone we continued driving north for a short but rather narrow and  scary journey going past Wolfen Mill back into Chipping and home.

A surprisingly  excellent visit spoilt only marginally by light rainfall for most of the time

BYE

JW

p.s.  MULTUM IN PARVO means A LOT IN A LITTLE !

The Naturalists and birders tell us it is wrong to feed bread to ducks ! I have been feeding bread to ducks since I was about three. With my parents, my children and my grandchildren, (77 years). Whilst I would not wish to argue with the experts  there still seem to be a lot of ducks wherever we go. And of course they have to forage their natural food for the large percentage of the time.