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  House and Falls of Bruar

  A weekend visit or mid-road trip stop at the House of Bruar is an absolute guilty pleasure, and on a wet and rainy day like today, I often find myself thinking about the next time I can manage to escape north. The House of Bruar is a bit difficult to explain – it is a…

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  Balmerino Abbey

  I recall summer 2020 as being a time of hope and a touch of freedom after a spring of uncertainty, lockdown, and fear. While work was still very much from home, people were taking advantage of the fine weather to be outdoors, even if socialising was still touch-and-go. I took advantage of having not long…

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  Craighall Den autumn walk

  In Scotland, a den is a narrow, often wooded valley, usually following a small burn or rivulet. Craighall Den, the subject of this post, is hidden on the outskirts of the town of Ceres in Fife, and it offers a gentle walk through some woodland, ending at the ruins of an old limekiln. It is…

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  Isle of Skye, Part 4 – rainy day and reflections

  We knew that the second day of our time on Syke was going to be wet – it was predicted to start raining at about noon, so we got on our way relatively quickly in the morning for the hour-long journey to Dunvegan Castle. It was the one and only castle I insisted upon visiting,…

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  Isle of Skye, part 3 – Hunglader to Fort William

  Hunglader is one of those place names that erases any question that the Norse settled in Skye. It was our home for most of the week, and our final morning dawned bright and blue as we packed up and tidied up the Homer. Before finally leaving the north, we ventured down to the local beach,…

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  Isle of Skye, Part 2 – the north coast

  I’ve skipped ahead in my story-telling to the third day we spent on Skye – the second was standard Highlands rainy, and we visited Dunvegan Castle before eventually retreating to our cottage for the afternoon. Thursday dawned clear and bright but increasingly windy as the day went on; the car was buffeted about and on…

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  Isle of Syke, Part 1 – from Fort William to Uig

  The Isle of Skye is a destination that everyone tells you is a must-see. First off, everyone is correct. But for any number of reasons – the distance, time, work – I have never managed to get there, even when most of my family have done so, usually as an add-on to a visit with…

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  Dunvegan Castle

  It has been longer than usual since my last post, but for the very happy reason that I have been on holiday with family. We went to Skye for my first time ever, and it was absolutely extraordinary, even on the rainy day we had when we chose to visit Dunvegan Castle. (and please be…

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  Stonehenge

  Epic. Spiritual. Mysterious. Ancient. All words that evoke one particular place: Stonehenge, one of the most easily recognisable World Heritage sites that has fascinated and baffled Britons for millenia. I visited Stonehenge more than fifteen years ago, as part of a trip through southern England with my mother, and it took my breath away. The…

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  Nevis Gorge and Steall Falls walk

  I first came upon this walk while perusing my well-used Pathfinder guide to Fort William and Glen Coe, and was immediately sold by the phrase, ‘one of the country’s most scenic waterfalls’. While the book also describes the path as ‘short and easy’, we soon discovered that while the waterfall description was accurate – and…

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