Rannoch Moor ©2006 Scotiana

Rannoch Moor ©2006 Scotiana

In 2006, on Itinerary 5, we stopped our car on the side of the A82. We love this road which leads to Glencoe, the place where, in 2000, on Itinerary 1, we definitely fell in love with Scotland in front of one of the most striking and beautiful landscapes we ever saw. There were already a number of cars parked here.The weather was fine though wintry and cloudy and the point of view we discovered up a little hill which dominates the area, would have been worth a painting with its blue, green and brown colours.

Rannoch Moor © 2006 Scotiana

People seemed to be energized in the clear and fresh atmosphere of the place and everybody looked happy and cheerful, not to say euphoric. It’s one of our best travel memories. But beware of the appearances! The weather is very changing in Scotland and Rannoch Moor may suddenly offer a gloomier face to its visitors and even prove to be dangerous for unprepared walkers …

Robert Louis Stevenson - Kidnapped

Robert Louis Stevenson Kidnapped (1886) Catriona (1893) Polygon Birlinn Limited (2007)

Some seven hours’ incessant, hard travelling brought us early in the morning to the end of a range of mountains. In front of us there lay a piece of low, broken, desert land, which we must now cross. The sun was not long up, and shone straight in our eyes; a little, thin mist went up from the face of the moorland like a smoke; so that (as Alan said) there might have been twenty squadron of dragoons there and we none the wiser. (…) The mist rose and died away, and showed us that country lying as waste as the sea; only the moorfowl and the pewees crying upon it, and far over to the east, a herd of deer, moving like dots. Much of it was red with heather; much of the rest broken up with bogs and hags and peaty pools; some had been burnt black in a heath fire; and in another place there was quite a forest of dead firs, standing like skeletons. A wearier-looking desert man never saw; but at least it was clear of troops, which was our point. (…) We went down accordingly into the waste, and began to make our toilsome and devious travel towards the eastern verge. There were the tops of mountains all round (you are to remember) from whence we might be spied at any moment; (…) (Kidnapped Chapter XXII The Flight in the Heather: The Moor Robert Louis Stevenson 1886)

Loch Rannoch © 2007 Scotiana

Rannoch Moor covers an area of around 50 square miles (130 square kilometres) between Loch Rannoch, Glencoe and the Bridge of Orchy.

Rannoch Moor © 2006 Scotiana

Rannoch Moor signpost Rannoch Moor © 2006 Scotiana

Rannoch Moor Bridge of Orchy © 2006 Scotiana

Bridge of Orchy © 2006 Scotiana

At an altitude of about 300 metres, Rannoch Moor is covered with a “blanket bog” or “blanket mire”, the kind of vegetation forming on acidic soils in upland areas situated above 200 m  and submitted to heavy rainfall and low temperature. One must remember that the uplands of Scotland are covering almost two thirds of the country and that around 14 per cent of that land can be classified as blanket bog. The blanket bogs and lochans of Rannoch Moor drain into Loch Tummel, via Loch Rannoch. Thanks to its very specific fauna and flora,  quite typical of peatland areas,  the Moor has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, SSSI. It has also been declared a National Nature Reserve, NNR. Rannoch Moor is also a proposed SAC, Special Area of Conservation and a part of it has been listed as Ramsar site of worldwide wetland importance. As a Natura 2000 SAC site it is of European importance.

Rannoch Moor © 2006 Scotiana

Vast and desolate, surrounded by mountains that rise to over 3000ft to the south-east and the west and to over 2000ft in the north, Rannoch Moor opens to you like a changing mosaic composed of lochs, lochans, streams and peat bogs. It is never the same, its atmosphere being as contrasted as the Scottish weather. Rannoch Moor can only be crossed on foot along more or less difficult walking paths or by train, following the lonely 16 kilometres of the West Highland Line rail track which crosses it.

Scotland's 100 best Walks Cameron McNeish Lomond Books 2005

I’ve crossed the Moor several times and have always been thrilled by its lonely emptiness. In 1792 The Revd John Lettice, later chaplain to the Duke of Hamilton, wrote of the Moor : ‘An immense vacuity, with nothing in it to contemplate, unless numberless mis-shapen blocks of stone rising hideously above the surface of the earth would be said to contradict the inanity of our prospects’. Lettice’s sentiments convey his enmity with such a landscape. I find it immensely appealing, an empty quarter where the spirit can soar in unfettered abandon. I find it moving and I find it humbling. (…) Can a moor share the same attributes as our highest mountains? The Moor of Rannoch can. (Cameron McNeish Scotland’s 100 Best Walks Lomond Books 1999)

Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë 1847 Random House Publishers 1945 edition Illustrated with wood engravings by Fritz Eichenberg

Given the very specific atmosphere associated with moorland, no wonder it has inspired so many writers. I have just given an extract of Stevenson’s Kidnapped, which takes place in Rannoch Moor. But who could have forgotten the Yorkshire Moors which serve as a background in Emily Brontë’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights or, along the same lines, the lonely and gloomy setting given by Conan Doyle to The Hound of the Baskervilles which happens to be situated in Dartmoor, one of the most desolate places to be found in Britain.

Conan Doyle The Hound of the Baskervilles Campfire (February 1, 2010)

Even though Conan Doyle did give an English background to one of his most famous stories he would certainly not have forgotten his Scottish roots…

By the way, and to end this post on a note of humour, did you know that Uncle Scrooge, one of the most famous characters of the American cartoon, had Scottish origins? Yes he has ! He is a member of the Clan McDuck and Castle McDuck, his ancestral home, happens to be situated in Dismal Downs, somewhere on Rannoch Moor.

Uncle Scrooge McDuck Rannoch Moor Scottish Castle Walt Disney Uncle Scrooge illustration 285 1994

Bonne lecture ! A bientôt ! Mairiuna

The Munros - Cameron McNeish

Hi Janice ! You know I’m a born player and since nobody has answered your question still,  I’ll give it a try myself.  I leave it to you to talk about the statue of Sherlock Holmes in Edinburgh.  ;-)  I remember you’ve taken beautiful close-ups of it during our last trip and don’t forget to talk about  the  “Conan Doyle” which is just across the street. What a pity we  didn’t have time to share a drink in that picturesque old green front pub. You often learn many interesting things and find a lot of ‘souvenirs’ displayed in that kind of place. Next time, maybe.

The Munros - Scotland's Highest Mountains

So fast is growing our  list of things to do or see in Itinerary 7 that I think we’ll have to stay several months in Scotland to carry it out then  !!! Why not climbing our first Munro for example ! Hum…wishful thinking but that’s another kind of challenge, a little more difficult, I think, than  simply answering to your question about the beautiful Scottish mountains.

So you  say that the Cairngorms are home to five of the six highest  mountains  in Scotland,  all munros . Let us see… we already know that there are 247 Munros in Scotland (above 3000 feet) and that Ben Nevis is the first one of them with 4409 feet (1344 m). Let me take a very interesting book I’ve bought recently. It contains a table of all the Munros and there is even a column  to write down the date when you’ve climbed one. It’s the big thrill in Scotland, to climb them all in one’s life. I like the idea even if everybody knows here how I hate heigths. But to make photos from up there… wow ! Cameron McNeish’s book is very interesting and contains stunning pictures. There are even the translation of the gaelic names of the mountains. Not negligible.

Winter Scene on Scotland's Highest Mountains - The Munros

And now Janice, here’s my answer:

Ben MacDui 4295 ft  (1309 m)

Braeriach 4252 ft  (1296 m)

Cairn Toul 4236 ft  (1291 m)

Sgor an Lochain Uaine  4127 ft (1258 m)

Cairn Gorm 4081 ft  (1244 m)

By the way, did you know Ben Macdui was  the second highest mountain in the United Kingdom, after Ben Nevis?

I’ve learned it on Wikipedia and also that it  lies on the southern edge of the Cairn Gorm plateau, on the boundary between Aberdeenshire and Moray. How beautiful these mountains !! Que c’est beau !

Calton Hill

Mairiuna, step into your most comfortable shoes as we are walking up to the top of Calton Hill, my favourite place for fantastic views of the city and let us not forget our camera as there will be magnificent panoramas to capture !

From the heights of Calton Hill (333 feet), we see in the distance the Firth of Forth and the prominent Arthur’s Seat, which we have yet to climb my dear friend

To bird view Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the Scottish Parlement, Princes Street and the New Town is a delightful experience. And much agreable to just stroll atop in a relaxed atmosphere, take time to rest, lye on the grass listening to tunes of musicians gathering on the National Monument to perform freely and with much enthusiasm.

Let’s take a look around !…..

Panoramic view Abbey Craig Wallace Monument 2003

Hi everybody, what about a deep breath of fresh air after all these pages of dark and bloody history ?

The weather was threatening when we visited Wallace Monument but don’t do as we did,  staying inside instead of climbing up to the top of the tower to get a panoramic view of the place !

Get equipped with a good parka, like most of our Scottish friends are, and fear no wind or bad weather, they’re part of the game ! And even if, like me, you feel terribly dizzy when looking down from a big height, try making a habit of climbing up any you happen to find on your way … hills and mountains, monuments, towers, castles, even the gondola or the big wheel will do for that matter… landscapes are breathtaking in Scotland and to see them from above is one of the best way to discover them… believe me it’s worth the effort !

Ochill Hills view from Wallace Monument 2007

River Forth from Wallace Monument 2007

Once on top of Wallace Monument look northward to see how the Ochill Hills are towering above Stirling fertile valley and notice southward the river Forth curving spectacularly on its meandering way towards the Firth of Forth. Of course you’ve already found Stirling castle on the lively map which unveils in front of you. Like Edinburgh Castle, it dominates the town from the height of its volcanic rock,  a very interesting place indeed this old castle and well worth the visit. We’ll come back there soon to see how, in olden times, the chief cook and his team did manage to get through the big task of preparing a medieval menu for the king and his court. We’ll also watch weavers at work on a magnificent and unique piece of arts and crafts composed of a series of five tapestries called “The Hunt of the Unicorn”. This reproduction of an old masterpiece is going to ornate soon the walls of the castle rooms as it would have been in the 16th century… that alone is well worth the trip.

Mind ! don’t play the fool while going round the area, the King of Scotland and William Wallace are guarding the place forever… see the majestic stone figure of Robert the Bruce looking from the Castle esplanade at that of Wallace brandishing his big sword on the wall of the Monument.

‘Ce n’est qu’un au-revoir’ but before going and turning this historical page let us cross once more the old Stirling bridge where the

Bannockburn took place a long time ago, on June 24 th, 1314.

We are going to cross many other beautiful old bridges in our tour of Scotland but this one is truly mythical…and it’s a Scottish landmark.

Old Stirling Bridge

Old Stirling Bridge