.....as the member of the crew of the 'Sir Walter Scott' joked, when I explained that we had just enjoyed a very hairy drive from Crieff to catch the 10.30, 2 hour sailing on Loch Katrine.
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| The 'Sir Walter Scott' | | |
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| Heading west on Loch Katrine |
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| The landing stage at Stronachlachar |
We arrived, sweeping rapidly into a fortuitous parking space directly in front of the Booking Kiosk, as they were about to cast off the mooring lines.
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| The tree lined drive leading to Drummond House |
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| Drummond House |
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| The gardens |
During that nail biting drive, additional time was lost while I attended to a call of nature in a public convenience that I could only compare to an unsavoury waterless latrine I had the misfortune to use some years ago at the Zambian Customs Post on the border of Malawi and Zambia!
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| Balloon over Crieff |
No longer in the first full flush of youth, we had again decided to tour Scotland in our 4/4, despite our advancing years, which means that we have constantly to assess whether or not we can get into and out it. No problem getting in, you just sort of drop in, but getting out is a different matter entirely, demanding a certain level of upper body strength to avoid ending up in a heap on the pavement!
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| The spacious garage at 'Garden Cottage' |
We had spotted the advertisement for 'Downfield Touring' in our copy of Miscellany, the Morgan Sports Car Club magazine and what a great find it has proved to be. Wonderful hosts and superb self catering accommodation in Crieff, a great central location from which to branch out to all four points of the compass.
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| At Crieff Hydro |
Crieff itself is an ancient market town, established around 1690 when the River Earn was bridged and is the second largest town in Perthshire, after Perth itself. Wrapped around the Knock of Crieff it descends to meet the River Earn.
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| Glenturret Distillery, oldest 'legal' and most visited ditilllery in Scotland. |
Historically, its wealth and growth stemmed from excellent communication links, both to the Highlands and Lowlands and by 1700 vast herds of highland cattle from these areas were driven along traditional drove roads to the centally located cattle market in Crieff.
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| Surrounded by a flock of sheep. |
We didn't meet up with any highland cattle being driven but we did have to contend with a flock of sheep being similarly herded along the road!
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| Kenmore at the eastern end of Loch Tay |
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| Pitlochrie |
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| 'The Queens View' of Loch Tummel |
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| Eastern end of Loch Rannoch in a gale of wind |
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| Rannoch Station |
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| Rannoch Moor with Glen Coe in the distance |
It is a 4-5 hour drive from the Fylde Coast to Crieff and we completed this drive in 'dreich' conditions with the hood up....so we were extremely cosy and at least the hood suppresses the motorway noise to some degree.
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| Glen Coe |
For the rest of the week we travelled open top on some great roads both for Morgans and also for cars of a similar ilk. The pictures I hope tell the story.
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| At Tebay Services Cumbria on our return trip. |
On our return home after a blistering drive back in 4 hours, we had covered 820 miles, bringing our overall mileage up to 28000 since 2008.....and she didn't miss a beat!
