Friday
Our original plan today was to go to the ‘Harry Potter Viaduct’, or to use its proper name the Glenfinnan Viaduct. However, it was a bit of a schlep back and would have been a 3 hour return trip so we decided to go to Fort William instead.
Fort William is a lively town in the western Scottish Highlands, known as the gateway to Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest mountain. Set beside the beautiful Loch Linnhe, it’s a popular base for walkers, climbers, and outdoor enthusiasts. The town is also the end of the famous West Highland Way and the start of the scenic Road to the Isles. With local shops, cosy pubs, and stunning natural surroundings, Fort William is a great place to explore the Highlands and enjoy the best of Scotland’s wild landscapes.
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Our visit
It turned out to be a good decision as Fort William was lovely.
We parked by the side of Loch Linnhe, and wandered into town, which has a pedestrianised high street full of Highland Tweed shops.
We briefly considered buying kilts, so we could impress (or amuse) Lynn and Jim when we see them in a couple of days (Lynn is Steve’s cousin and her and Jim live in Glasgow) but we thought, on balance, that matching kilts were taking things a bit too far.
Nikki did continue her Highland Coo obsession though, this time buying a very nice print of two very attractive beasts to be hung somewhere on the wall at home, maybe over her desk.
We also almost bought 4 white rolls, until we found out they were £7.20 (£1.80 each …. EACH) !!! They must have been very special, and clearly we were missing something about them.
After a brief stop in the Grog and Gruel, we headed back to our campsite to visit the Glencoe Visitors Centre, literally next door.
Turf and Creel House
The main attraction at the Glencoe Visitor Centre was a recreated Turf House. It had been very well done, and there was loads of info about how the National Trust for Scotland had researched and recreated it.
Also stories about the Glencoe Massacre in 1692, involving two Clans, the MacDonald’s and Campbells, and our site Manager mentioned to us on arrival that there was a pub nearby which still has over the door ‘Campbells not welcome’.
Laroch
After the visitor centre, we had a couple of relaxing hours in the sun (yes, it sometimes shines up here), before heading out to the Laroch Inn in Ballachulish for dinner.
There was a path to the village, and we had two options to get there, walk or cycle, and as the bicycles we had borrowed had remained firmly attached to the Beast since we set off, we decided to cycle.
Nikki borrowed her bike from our good friend Pete and it was his daughter Emily’s bike. She is a bit of a cyclist, so it was lightweight and probably very expensive, with shimano gears which Nikki could change up and down at a flick of a switch. Nice wide wheels too which made the going very easy. Steve borrowed his bike from another good friend Phil, who is not a cyclist and had got it free from someone in Takeley village, probably from a geezer in the local pub there knowing Phil. As a result, Steve’s bike was probably heavier than Steve, it did have gears (a little rusted) and the ‘going’ for Steve was not so easy, especially as we couldn’t raise the saddle, so Steve’s knees kept hitting his chin. We did get to the Pub for dinner, and got back, but I suspect the bike’s will not be coming off the Beast again anytime soon.
Dinner was fantastic by the way, Steve had Pork Belly with Scalops and black pudding, Nikki had Sea Bass with pea and asparagus risotto.
