Posts about Scotland
The older I get, the more I enjoy walking, so holidays and time off are increasingly filled with plans for hiking and getting out into the fresh air. I made plans for a first serious walk in the UK to celebrate my fortieth birthday last year in the Lake District, when I went as far…
As part of our travels in Britain – in particular since Jo’s parents moved to the northern part of Scotland – I’ve wanted to visit the far extremes of the islands. I’ve decided to make do with the mainland destinations first, as they’re within comparatively easy reach. Jo and I made it to the end…
Jo commented that the video I shot under windy conditions on Iona was remarkably steady. I did my best to hold the camera as steady as I could whilst filming, but the wind got the better of me and so the original film sequence is quite wobbly. The final version on YouTube, linked in this…
When we first began planning a visit to the Isle of Mull, off Scotland’s west coast, we decided to stay in the tiny port of Fionnphort. We chose the Seaview bed and breakfast primarily because we’d planned to visit the island of Staffa, travelling by boat from Fionnphort to see Fingal’s Cave, but also because its…
Looming over Evanton on the Cromarty Firth is Cnoc Fyrish (Fyrish Hill), topped by the strange construction of the Fyrish Monument. The construction was the brainchild of Sir Hector Munro of Novar, who had it built in 1792 to provide work for the unemployed during the time of the Highland Clearances.
If you’re heading along the A9 across the Cromarty Bridge in Scotland when the tide is out, you’ll see a number of blackened stumps sticking out of the mud of the estuary just next to the Ardullie roundabout for Dingwall. There is more of a history to them than you might think: they aren’t just random…
As I travel fairly regularly, I am no stranger to renting cars. It’s always a slightly nervy moment for me after having so many unsatisfactory experiences over the years; from awful cars to tricky situations involving deposits. The most recent experience, though, is one that I want to share, as it’s an important lesson from…
Jo and I spent two great weeks in the highlands of Scotland, travelling from the airport up through the Trossach mountains to Rannoch Moor, Glen Etive, Glen Coe and then on to the islands of Mull, Iona and Skye before staying with Jo’s parents near the Cromarty Firth. There were few goals along the way, other…
…and Mull, and Glencoe, and Cromarty… I’m exceptionally looking forward to flying to Scotland soon, for a holiday during which Jo and I will get to see the west coast of Scotland and the “Western Isles” again. It’s been getting on for three years since we were last on the west coast, and a full…
Travelling, even in my own country, has given me much more interest in the places which many pass by with little thought. A small Forestry Commission car park at the side of the road not far from Inverness offers a place to stop at one such place: the “Clootie Well” at Munlochy. For hundreds of…
Alness, on the shores of the Cromarty Firth in northern Scotland, has a heritage of floral displays and the town won many awards between 1997 and 2007. Winter is certainly not the most picturesque time to visit, yet the small town has its charms and is a pleasant place to visit. It’s a slight anachronism,…
As the A9 main road winds its way north, along the eastern coast of the north of Scotland, it crosses the Cromarty Firth before winding along to the Dornoch Firth, right at the head of the estuary as the river runs out to the sea. Dark, brooding weather is a common feature of the northern…
Driving back from Tongue, on the far north coast of Scotland, our journey through part of the most remote areas of the Highlands coincided with dusk. Wild deer come down from the hills at this time of night to make their way to the water of the lochs.
I’m back from an extended break over Christmas and the New Year, which I spent with family in Scotland. My photographic goal was to get out and capture the landscape no matter what the weather threw at me, and I’m quite pleased with the shots I achieved in the “dreich” (grey, wet and overcast) weather.…
OK, OK, I know: I’m a city boy at heart. But I defy anyone to be less than impressed when rounding a corner on a lonely road in the Scottish Highlands at dusk to be confronted with a hillside covered in wild red deer.
Any photographer offering free photos should have a good reason for doing so. This is why I’ve chosen to make a large portion of my photographic archive available.
Although it doesn’t look much, this remote – really remote – hamlet was the turning point on our mammoth road trip last summer, from Switzerland to Scotland and back.
Beyond Kinlochbervie lies one of the most beautiful sandy beaches in Sutherland: Oldshoremore.
Clouds draw in over a remote sea loch in the far north west of Scotland, as we pass by on a long day’s round trip from Alness.
