Northern GB road trip
A few months ago an old friend, Tony, got in touch to say he’s coming back to the UK for a few weeks and fancied a wee trip ‘up north’, possibly encompassing Scotland and the English Lakes.
So Cumbria, The Trossachs, Glencoe, Isle of Skye here we come!
Well, what an amazing week it’s been. Catching up on news, reminiscing and sharing our plans for the future. We’ve clocked up a heck of a lot of road miles, had some great hikes, a lot of laughs, and stayed in some fantastic places.
This road trip took in some of my favourite UK destinations, and at a time of year that meant fewer people.
I first met Tony Wagner at Highfield Primary School in Hillingdon, West London in 1970. We were at the same secondary school too – Mellow Lane. I’ll expand a little on this at the end of this blog… But for now, back to the trip!
….and they’re off
Tony’s starting point for the trip was the flatlands of Norfolk where his UK family now live. So we agreed to meet in Doncaster, ditch his hire car and jump into mine. This made sense as my car is already kitted out with winter tyres and snow chains.
Luckily Emma’s cousin Jennifer lives in Doncaster, she kindly offered to car-sit for the week and put me up for the night in order to break up the journey. Tony arrived just after 10am and we set off on the journey.
Emma’s cousin, Jennifer, and her cat Dexter (Doncaster)
First Stop Trossachs.
Our first stop was at a beautiful HPB venue called Tigh Mor. I have visited this place before, so thought it would be ideal to use a as a base for some local hikes, rest and to acclimatise! We stayed for two nights taking advantage of the comfort on offer.
The hotel here has a long history, and sits on the edge of Loch Achray with awesome views and a plush interior. We spent hours relaxing in the pool, sauna and steam room.
It has a great snooker hall too, and it was good so see that Tony hadn’t improved his skills from the 1980’s Regal Snooker club days in Uxbridge!
We hiked up the nearest mountain, Ben A’an which is a short distance from the hotel. From the summit the views are tremendous, looking over Loch Katrine, where the Steamship – Sir Walter Scott is moored and where we’d visited the day before.
It was a great introduction to the Highlands, and not too cold either. It also didn’t rain so we didn’t need our waterproofs.
The road to Skye
via
Glencoe and Morar.
After our second night and a hearty cooked breakfast we set off and headed off towards Glen Coe and some spectacular wintery scenery along the A82.
This is a beautiful road with plenty of places to stop including the ski area which was open with plenty of visitors.
We took our time stopping to admire the breathtaking scenery, and at ‘The Meeting of Three Waters’, got chatting to some locals having a swim in one of the many pools dotted along the area above the waterfall.
I have done the same thing in the height of summer, but no chance of me joining them at this time of year!
When we reached Fort William we checked the CalMac ferry website, as the morning’s ferry crossing had been cancelled owing to high winds and rough seas. With no cancellation reported for our 4pm sailing we took a chance and headed off to Mallaig ferry port, keeping our fingers crossed, as it was an hour or so drive and a dead end route.
After stopping at the Silver Sands of Morar, we arrived with 30 minutes spare. Luckily the tiny ship sailed, and bang on time. However, it was pretty empty with only four other cars on board and a small handful of passengers.
The short journey across the Sound of Sleat to Armadale was uneventful, unlike the earlier crossing which by all accounts was pretty scary! We grabbed coffee and went outside to take in the views.
Things were looking up, and falling into place!
Skye
We really couldn’t believe our luck on this island. Not only was our accommodation first class, but the weather turned out to be pretty damned good too.
The hotel we were supposed to be staying at had a notice sellotaped to the front door directing us to their sister hotel called “Duisdale House Hotel” about 4 miles away. We were in luck, not only did this appear to be a lot nicer, we were also given a complimentary room upgrade.
The menu looked fantastic, so we decided to eat in, which was a great decision! The food was delicious and the bar very comfortable. That said, it was also an easy choice to make as it’s low season and there really wasn’t too much around this time of year, as most places are closed!
Our morning started with a 2-3 hour hike to the “Point of Sleat” through a farm and up to a beach called ‘Rubha Shleite’. We only saw one other couple and managed to return to the car completely dry, avoiding the wet weather fronts that were lashing the region.
The afternoon saw us doing a loop of the Northern Tip of the island, where we got to see some of the iconic sights that draw so many people in high season. Being winter we had the place to ourselves.
The single track mountain pass called ‘Quiraing Road’, between Staffin and Uig was particularly spectacular with the sunset casting the most magical light over the range of mountains and into the valley.
We spent the afternoon jumping in and out of the car, enjoying empty roads and empty vistas.
Plockton & Eilean Donan Castle
After leaving the island we headed on to the picturesque village of Plockton.
On summers days this is a little slice of heaven… with palm trees and a warm microclimate fed by Gulf Stream waters.
We stayed in the Plockton Inn, one of only two places that are open in low season.
Being Thursday night it was ‘music night’ with locals rocking up to play and assortment of musical instruments and bash out some local tunes. It was a lovely treat which took place in the main bar.
The next morning we went for a wander around the village of Plockton. .
Now this was the only day we got wet, but we had planned for bad weather and so donned our waterproofs.
Of course we had to stop off at Eilean Donan Castle – and you can see why it’s one of Scotland’s most photographed and visited.
We drove back via Glencoe waterfall which was in full flow given the rain and looked very different from the calm trickle a few days ago.
The English Lake District – Ullswater
Ullswater is a gorgeous English lake not far from the Penrith junction of the M6, an ideal stopping point for our trip. So I booked a twin room in a traditional B&B called ‘Old Water Mill’ which is sited alongside the river Goldrill Beck in Patterdale. The owner could not have been more helpful as he popped along to the White Lion Inn to secure a table for us as we were running late on account of a road closure near Glenridding (requiring a 30 odd mile detour around Helvellyn and down Kirkstone Pass).
The next morning we headed off to the Pooley Bridge end of Ullswater, found a place to park near Martindale and went for a short hike to Halin Fell. It’s an easy hike, but gives some spectacular views the entire length of the water.
We headed homewards via Castlerigg Stone Circle, which is a 5,000 year old neolithic monument. Again, given the time of year there was only a small handful of visitors.
Brough Castle
We stopped for a leg stretch at Brough Castle which is along the A66 before our final leg back to Doncaster.
A great trip which exceeded expectations, especially with the weather playing its part.
1970 +
Mouth on a Stick
Tony and I first met at Highfield Primary School in Hillingdon back in the summer of 1970.
I lived in a newly built council estate and he lived in a bungalow on a road just the other side of local authority owned allotments.
The allotments are no longer there, after being inevitably bulldozed to make way for 70 new houses. But back in the day I used to take a short-cut across them in order to join Tony in his garden where we’d tinker about with anything with an engine, head off fishing, or just “be”.
There were a lot more green open spaces, woodlands and less paranoia back then. During my entire childhood there were never more than three channels on TV, no internet or mobile phones. Life seemed much less complicated and we genuinely spent most of our lives “outdoors”.
We spent a lot of the week reminiscing about our early days at Highfield Primary School, the teachers who helped us, and the girls we had mutual crushes on…
Among hundreds of memories, we recalled being dragged out onto the playing fields in 1976 to watch and listen to Concorde’s first flight from Heathrow. I was working at Heathrow in 2003 and so witnessed its last flight too!
We both headed off to the same secondary school – Mellow Lane, where despite the best efforts of the teaching staff I managed to just about scrape through (click here for open apology). Tony equally found school a challenge.
By the age of 14/15, we were both working at Richmond Ice Rink, where I was eventually sacked for lying about my age, I had told them I was 16 (but somehow Tony got away with it), and our lives started to head down different paths with different friend groups and careers.
That said, we’ve maintained contact over the years, and I visited Tony in Calgary back in 2001 where we had a few trips out to the Rockies, skiing in Lake Louise, Banff and Fernie. Live links take you to some old VHS YouTube videos taken back in the day.
We last met two few years ago when Tony last came to the UK with his daughter Abbi.
We discovered on this trip that we share very similar eclectic music tastes and life has thrown similar challenges in our direction.
Hints and Tips
Accomodation
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Trossachs, Tigh Mor, Holiday Property Bond
This is an absolute bargain and worked out at aprox £41 per person per night. However, this does require the ownership of Holiday Bonds, so there is an outlay required.
I love this place as it has everything you need for a great stay, and is in a great location. Pool, Sauna, steam room, games rooms, snooker hall…. and maintained to a high standard.
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Isle of Skye – Duisdale House Hotel
This was a great find, just along from the quaint/tiny Armadale ferry port.
Bed and Breakfast was £65 each. Beers in the bar are a little pricey, but the venue is gorgeous!
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A lovely good value hotel with great quality food and friendly staff. B&B works out at £52.50 per person. There is a lovely bar with a great selection of beers. Breakfast was served in the neighbouring facility called The Haven, owned by the same organisation.
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Patterdale, Ullswater, Lake District – Old Water View
A quaint traditional B&B with home comforts and great breakfast. Honesty bar in the main living room, huge drying room for wet clothes and boots. I recommend this place especially at around £55 per person (if booking direct)..
