En route to the Western Isles - 26 August 2008
Our day dawned fair and we travelled north from Luss on the A82, passing this lovely looking hotel, The Tarbet, just north of our own.
The Information Centre in Luss was closed until after 10.00 but this hotel was a mine of information – much more helpful than our own! In fact, we wouldn’t recommend The Colquhoun Arms Hotel – nothing we could really put our finger on and we both slept really well – but the service was almost surly – not at all what we expected from Scottish folk!
The road would round the western edge of the Loch so our journey was very picturesque for mile upon mile – although very grey!
Unfortunately the cloud dropped lower and lower and rain soon set in – not a problem for us as we had quite a long journey to cover. Occasionally there were road works and this sign by lights amused us both!
Close to Fort William we passed Glencoe one of the most poignant names in Highland folk lore, remembered for the infamous massacre. In 1692 the Chief of the Glencoe McDonalds was five days late in registering an oath of submission to William III, giving the Government an excuse to route out a nest of Jacobite supporters. For ten days 130 soldiers captained by Robert Campbell were hospitably entertained by the unsuspecting MacDonalds. At dawn on 13 February, in a terrible breach of trust, the solders fell on their hosts, killing some 38 MacDonalds. Many more died in their wintry mountain hideouts. The massacre, unsurprisingly became a political scandal although there were to be no official reprimands for three years.
As we neared Fort William, there was a break in the clouds as we passed beside the beautiful Loch Linnhe.
Leaving Fort William on the A830, we got stuck in some serious road widening of the road to Mullaig (which has been going on for over a year already) we had time to sit and enjoy the beautiful heather
When we arrived in Mallaig in an uncomfortable drizzle, without a reservation for the night, we happened upon a lovely B&B called The Anchorage, Gillies Park, Mallaig, anchoragemallaig@btopenworld.com
which we’d highly recommend. We found the Ferry terminal for our early morning sailing and then wandered around the tiny village and talked to the local shopkeepers who were a fount of information.