Tag Archives: Scottish Highlands

‘Glenbogle’ Ardverikie Estate, Scottish Highlands

Posted on by
6

a Glenbogle 1

On our recent trip up to the Highlands with Peggy we were driving along admiring the views, well Jack couldn’t do so much admiring because he had to concentrate on the driving, when Peggy remarked that a lodge house we had just passed looked like the one from the TV programme Monarch of the Glen. When we saw a sign by the side of a few shops saying Glenbogle – she just about went off the scale of excitement! It is in fact Ardverikie estate and the loch is called Loch Laggan. The series was based on the books by Compton Mackenzie.

Glenbogle/Ardverikie estate

That road is pretty twisty turny but we did find a lay-by to stop off in and we climbed under/over the crash barrier and down a steep thistle and nettle edged path to reach the edge of the loch. As you can see we had a great day for sightseeing.

Glenbogle /Ardverikie estate

What a view the owners have from their home, I believe it was on the market a few years ago – asking price a mere 7 million quid. I wonder if it is now owned by a Russian oligarch or some such. The house is built in the Scottish baronial style, very popular in Victorian times.

I spotted the wee jetty that features in the programme too but seem to have managed to miss it of the few photos I took. I hope Peggy managed to get it.

The beach is my kind of beach with lovely glittering mica laden stones with bits of pink granite scattered around too. But we couldn’t linger all that long as we wanted to reach Dornie where our B&B accomodation awaited us. We did plan to go past ‘Glenbogle’ again and check out the few shops nearby but a slight change in the route back meant that we somehow missed the turn off. Ah well – maybe next time.

Scottish Highlands, Loch Linnhe and Loch Leven

Posted on by
2

This is another photograph from our recent trip to the Scottish Highlands. Taken from the bridge at Ballachulish, it’s of Loch Leven. There are a few lochs with that name in the world, a couple in Canada, although I think one is a hamlet rather than a loch and a lake, Loch Leven in California US, and there’s even another one in Scotland, in Kinross and Perthshire.

Loch Leven

The photo below is of Loch Linnhe. It was taken from the bridge looking west.

looking to Loch Linnhe
Again the photo below was taken from the bridge at Ballachulish but looking north west.

looking to Loch Linnhe

There used to be a ferry at Ballachulish, but obviously it’s the bridge which is used by travellers nowadays. Whenever I hear that name Ballachulish I think of that comic song which The Corries sang years ago, if you fancy a laugh, have a listen to it below.

West Scottish Highlands again

Posted on by
2

Loch Ba

We drove past this wee loch on the way up to Fort William and I thought it looked gorgeous, it reminded me of the fjords in Norway which have lots of islands in the middle of them. Except in Norway the people build cabins on the islands and use them as summer homes and weekend getaways. It’s called Loch Bà and we stopped off on the way back home to get some photos, it was a much nicer day then anyway. Loch Bà is a shallow irregular shaped freshwater loch lying to the southwest of Glen Coe within Rannoch Moor, Argyll and Bute, in the Highlands.

Scotttish Highlands, mountainshills

The photo above was taken at Spean Bridge, it doesn’t give you any idea of the grandeur of the scenery there though or the height of the mountains. As you can see, there’s a patch of snow on the mountain, and that was taken just last week on a very hot day in the middle of June. Some snow never melts up there. This is the area where the first commandos were formed and trained, during World War 2 and there is a memorial to them there, a spectacular spot for it but also very sad as there is an area set aside for personal memorials and although some date from World War 2 a lot of them were commemorating the deaths of men in Afghanistan, and they were all just lads really, a tragic waste to my mind.

If you have seen the Bond film Skyfall, you might recognise some of the scenery as they used this area of the highlands for some locations. You can read about it here.

misty hills

More snow patches. Further south near Crianlarich.