Blind Summit(s) Ahead

Today was an adventure. We left the lovely Isle of Skye for the Ardnamurchuran Peninsula (the most westerly point of mainland Britain) and it turned out to be quite the drive. We had to ferry over at one point which was expected and quite lovely and really allowed us to get some good photos of the Isle of Skye and other adjacent land masses.  It seemed like much of today's four hour drive was on single track roads which means there is only room for one vehicle. It's all well structured with lots of passing points to pull into and the drivers are all very courteous at giving way whenever it is their turn. We've had lots of practice now at single track roads but these ones even had Sir IF raising his little ol' eyebrows a wee bit. 

As it is Easter Sunday the first part of our drive was in an area more known for its beaches so it was fairly busy. The middle part of the drive was in a much more forested and mossy-type of environment and wasn't quite as pretty as things we have seen so far. The latter half of the drive was quite remote though we still encountered quite a few vehicles. But oh was it windy and twisty! We think we had almost 25 miles of up, down, windy and twisty roads that had Meg pretty nauseated by the time we reached our final destination. There are sheep everywhere we drive and the whole last portion had them by the side of the road, and even on the road which was kind of fun to see. It is quite amazing that the sheep move away from the road as soon as they see you approaching. We also saw a herd of four deer, two of them stags, huge, leaping across the farmland as we got close to the castle. Beautiful although we understand there are so many on the peninsula that they have a regular culling season. We haven't really seen any of the highland bulls yet which are the very large, shaggy animals. 

The deer are in this photo if you can zoom in. 

Blind Summit(s) Ahead, this post's title, relates to the fact that when we started out the day, the road sign said, Blind Summit Ahead, so we anticipated that we would have to get to the top of one hill before we could tell if there was another vehicle coming. But to our surprise we encountered a Blind Summit Ahead sign almost every time we turned a corner, or well at least twenty times on today's single track road to the point that Sir IF felt we should change the sign on our way back to add an 's' so it reads Blind Summits Ahead. 

The Ardnamurchuran Peninsula

Pleased to report that we arrived at the castle safe and sound and in one piece. A warm welcome and of course a nice cup of tea and we were shown to our room in which we shall be very comfortable for the next few days. Sir IF was thrilled to walk up to the parapet outside with the great view. 

Sometimes they offer substantial courses for the meals here but as we are the only guests for dinner tonight they've honoured our wishes for just a three course meal which thus far smells absolutely delicious, the smell of the bread baking in the oven as we write. We're sitting in the drawing room having drinks before dinner with a stuffed eagle and pheasant keeping us company. Evidently they have far too many eagles in this area right now, a real danger during lambing season. A taxidermied bear is in the next room though they have conceded that probably came from our parts. And there are a number of portraits equivalent to the Great Grandmother here so she would be in good company in this locale. 

The castle is owned by the laird of the estate in these parts and we got to meet him tonight because he was the "first call handyman" come to fix a problem with the plumbing in our suite. He was apparently so concerned to see the castle fall into ruins on his estate that he arranged for twenty Yorkshire carpentry experts to come and renovate the castle over a two year period using oak and stone from the estate. It's quite impressive to see how beautifully they have made the castle look. Should be an interesting couple of days for Sir IF and Meg!