The Ardnamurchan Peninsula – to the Lighthouse! Days 17-19

As we held on to our seats in the buffeting of the now busy traffic to and from Kinlochleven, we had a long hard think about doing a bit more advance planning to avoid any more too-close-to-the-roadside sleepovers. And our first port of call for planning, Park4Night, didn’t disappoint, as it showed the possibility of a stopover in the front yard of a couple of camper friendly folk overlooking Loch Sunart (at £10 a night), with the island of Mull in the background. We’d never even noticed the peninsula in our scanning of the Highlands, but it had been recommended by a friend of Mrs B’s, Lindsay, who grew up there, and so off we headed…

 

In this part of Scotland, with its many lochs and promontories, getting there meant driving through Fort William, useful as a refuelling stop with a big M&S and fuel stations, and, as we were to come to realise, a major through-route for almost all traffic transiting up and down the mainland adjacent to the western isles! Mr B had spotted a small ferry at Corran that might have cut off some of the route, but as we fancied our chances at the famous ‘Harry Potter viaduct’ at Glenfinnan, we opted for Fort William and the longer route.

 

We are still making up our minds about iconic/popular/bucket-list type destinations and, as we approached Glenfinnan, we noticed double yellow lines on both sides of the road; cars, campervans, and minibuses parked all over the verges; and, as the traffic slowed to a crawl past the two full car parks for the viaduct and nearby Glenfinnan monument (erected to commemorate the start of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion) our decision was made easily for us; and we sailed past – with the double yellow lines continuing for some distance beyond!

 

After a brief lunch stop by Loch Eilt, Mrs B took her turn at the wheel and, after heading on to the peninsula and its mix of red and yellow striped single track roads, it soon became apparent that she had drawn the short straw of today’s two shifts! Although we had shared out the distance to drive more or less equally as usual, the final stretch was much more demanding. And, as we pulled into the driveway of Nick and Sally’s amazing house overlooking the loch, with an audible sigh of relief, we realised we would have to recalibrate the journey times in this part of the Highlands by quite some margin!

 

We were warmly welcomed by our hosts and their Spaniel Bruno, gifted a box of freshly laid eggs from their hens, and talked though some of the things we might like to do whilst we stayed (a trip down to the nearby jetty where we might see Otters; a yomp up the hills behind; or a trip to the distillery next door where Sally works!). After parking up and reflecting on how generous it was of Nick and Sally to share their home and space with fellow campers at just a tenner for the night, we had a quick cuppa whilst we decided what we would do before dinner.

 

 

 

Ready for some undemanding down-time, we chose to stroll down to the jetty, too early for otters but just right to enjoy the sunlight on the waters and flesh out plans for the next day – Mr B’s birthday and the arrival of State Pensioner status!

 

 

After reading about the Stevenson lighthouse at the end of the peninsula, and seeing that the road would take us past a very interesting castle that had been converted into a hotel and restaurant, we decided to set off for a birthday adventure – but not before nipping into the distillery next door and having a chat with Sally about the single malts! The distillery does do a tour and tasting, but we guessed, given our experience of the roads so far, we wouldn’t make it back before it closed at 1630.

 

And so, after a swift ‘splash in a glass’ tasting of the Ardnamurchan single malt with its 50:50 peaty/non peaty style, we soon walked out with a bottle to sample later when we got back!

 

 

The trip out to the lighthouse was quite something – not far in distance but it took some slow and careful driving to get there in one piece! And en route we met some of the locals…

 

 

Part of the reason for going to the lighthouse was Mr B’s enthusiasm for any ‘Stevenson’ lighthouses we may encounter, based on his enjoyment of the book ‘The Lighthouse Stevensons’ which tells the story of the building of the Scottish lighthouses by the ancestors of Robert Louis Stevenson. Plus, we are always partial to a lighthouse park-up when we can!

 

 

 And we were not disappointed with the one at the end of the peninsula, reached by a narrow track that led off the single track road, where we knew (hoped!) we would be able to park in the community run enterprise that now owns the non shipping bits of the lighthouse. This is a good bit of Scottish enterprise, in that the Northern Lighthouse Board (the Scots equivalent of Trinity House) whilst maintaining the warning beacon, has no interest in the buildings that used to house the keepers and their families, (nor much else as we subsequently discovered on Skye). So we felt very fortunate to be able to park for free/a donation, and make a small payment for a guided tour of the lighthouse itself.

 

 

 

Our guide, Kenny, explained the history of the lighthouse, and in particular, the highly disciplined, naval tradition that applied to the keepers, who had to undertake their work in what looked like full dress uniform by modern standards! And we were left in no doubt about the arduous nature of the many jobs they had to undertake – no lolling about admiring the views for them!

 

Unlike us, as we were able to enjoy the panoramic views from the narrow platform that was used to keep the glass clean…

 

 

After the tour we spent an idyllic couple of hours wandering around the peninsula, enjoying the varied views out to sea and back to the lighthouse itself…

 

 

On the drive back to Nick and Sally’s, we stopped off at the castle to have a look. We knew it was closed until the day we were due to leave, by when the timing would be too tight for us to get up to Skye in time for the start of the festival – but we did think if the weather looked fine, and the owners were happy to let us park up for the night, we might just pop in on the way back – not often you get a chance to eat in a castle with views like this…

 

 

The next day, and after a delicious Spanish themed birthday dinner rustled up by Mrs B, followed by a very tasty single malt from next door, we said our farewells and thanks to Nick and Sally – but not before buying a couple of Sally’s home produced candles that had a very useful function – her ‘Bother me not’ citron scented specials that might help ward off the dreaded west coast midges we had yet to encounter, as well as other wee flying beasties!

 

Along much of the road that skirts the loch, we had seen a few fish farms run by a company called MOWI – a brand of salmon we had really enjoyed earlier in the trip that boasts what looked like very impressive eco-credentials. So of course Mr B started to imagine this being a local, Western Isles speciality – especially as the fish was a lot less fatty than a lot of farmed salmon we had eaten previously. So you can imagine his disappointment when it transpired that MOWI is actually one of the three big Norwegian owned salmon farming enterprises in Scotland, with 48 farms in Scottish waters, as well as being the world’s largest company in the sector! (It did taste very good though and worth watching out for again!)

 

Continuing our theme of wanting to make sufficient progress towards Skye each day, but for the journey to be restful, we set our sights on Loch Garry for a possible sleepover. And unlike our Lochleven experience, we were able to find some choices on Park4Night that were well off the road! Which is how we ended up in a very quiet spot with views over the loch for a peaceful night’s sleep.

 

 

And in true Babley style, although we were the first to arrive, and we were joined by campervans from Slovenia and Germany for the night, we were the last to leave the next morning, excited in the knowledge that our next stop would be on the Island of Skye and our festival adventure (as well, of course, as another refuelling stop in Fort William en route)!

 

S&J 21.05.24