Scotland 2016

Saturday, 9 July 2016

Day 44 28/6/16 Fort William to Ayr via the Falkirk Wheel.

Day 44: Travelling from Fort William to Ayr

It was an early start today as we had a reasonable distance to travel to go from Fort William to Ayr for our overnight stop then on to Warrington tomrrow. We had some serious mileage to cover over the next 2 days but the Speed 20 had handled the pace to date and we had faith she would continue. The weather however was turning poorly again and it was drizzling this morning with further rain expected across Britain today.

We could just go straight to Ayr, skirting Glasgow on the Erskine Bridge, but had decided to take a slightly longer route via Falkirk on the outskirts of Edinburgh to visit the Falkirk Wheel, a boat lift built in 2002 to join the Firth- Clyde Canal to the Union Canal.

Road leaving Fort William along Loch Linnhe

Looking back toward Fort William

Ben Nevis in cloud

Boats on Loch Linnhe

To get there we basically retraced our steps along A82 through Crianlarch, then A85 to Lochearnhead, A84 to the M9/M80/M77.

Followed these directions (and ever reliable Garmin) to the outskirts of Falkirk and the Wheel.

The "slice" of canal containing the boats are lifted and rotated.

Miniture versions of the "Kelpies" at Falkirk Wheel

The canals system had fallen into disrepair and so when a decision was made to rejuvenate them for historical and tourism reasons it was found that a lot of them had been filled in or built over. The lock “staircase” that originally joined the two canals was now under several roads and a large highrise apartment block. A solution was found in the Falkirk Wheel which lifts the boats the 20 metres between the to canals.

As we had made good time, arriving at Falkirk just before noon, we decided to take the opportunity to ride the canal boat to the top of the lift, the journey takes you about ½ mile up the canal to where they can turn, and then back down to the starting point on the Forth Canal (1 small lock above actually) (about 90 minutes).

Looking from the downstream loch towards the wheel

Tunnel at the top of the wheel

Exiting the wheel at the top.

We are joined by a private boat for the ride back down - 2 canal boats side by side.

This is the loch system at the bottom of the wheel

We then returned to the M77 and continued towards Edinburgh. While the "M" motorways got a bit confusing here but we made it through unscathed, it was raining heavily as well which didn’t help, generally though the other drivers are very understanding, especially the lorry drivers.

M77 became the A77 and we soon found Ayr and Blackburn Villa’ B&B, complete with very friendly host and cats.

Not much fun for older cars on the "M" roads

Coming into Ayr

Day 43 27/6/16 Loch Linnhe and Jacobite Express in Fort William

Day 43: Cruise on Loch Linnhe and travelling on the Jacobite Express

Woke to an overcast day but (fingers crossed no rain...yet). We had a leisurely breakfast which was followed by a short walk to the pier to catch the Crannog Cruise around the Loch. The cruise takes you approximately 10 miles down the loch towards the sea. During the cruise the skipper kept us entertained with some historical and geological information on the area.

Loch Linnhe - the rain moves across.

The view across the Loch

Fort William pier

Sunny start but this doesn't last long.

Looking down the Loch out towards the open sea.

Salmon Farms on the Loch

A Crofters cottage - not a pleasant existence at all.

The weather would be best described as changeable with flashes of sunshine followed closely by showers of rain. Usually you get a good view of Ben Nevis, UK;s tallest mountain, but today it was shrouded in mist over about 3,00 feet (it’ 4,414 feet high).

Dale braves the weather (all on his own)

The cruise visits close to a seal colony on a small rock island in the Loch. The seals are not concerned.

Roman bridge crossing part of the Loch

Coming back into Fort William

Church in the main street on the way to the train station

Main Street Fort William

After returning to the wharf we had another walk around Fort William and a cup of tea before boarding the Jacobite Express to Mallaig. Well known to Harry Potter fans as the Hogwarts Express.

We had decided to go first class and this was well worth the expense. Although on the “wrong” or left side of the train, the views are still spectacular as the journey skirts the many locks and travels over the magnificent Glenfinnan Viaduct, a huge concrete arch bridge 1248 feet long, 100 feet high with 21 spans of 50 feet each. It was built using crushed rock from the many cuttings the line passes through. After dinner of fish and chips on the Mallaig wharf we re-boarded the train for the return journey.