Blair Atholl to Mull

After leaving the Stirling area we travelled north to the Cairngorm National Park and Blair Atholl, where we stayed on the estate of Blair Castle. The campsite was big but had nice walks, free entry to the castle grounds and discounted entry to the castle.

An interesting fact about this castle - it has its own private army - the only one in Europe - the Atholl Highlanders.

Lots of wild flowers that I haven't seen before

Some pics from inside the castle.

Amazing weapons collection!

This dress is over 270 years old! So around 1753!
Is hand painted Chinese silk with gold thread 

I quite like a fan!

We even learned about the language of the fan!

We left Blair Atholl for the Island of Mull and had a lovely drive along a small road where we stopped for a walk and a cuppa.

However, before we reached Oban we had a text telling us that the dock at Craignure (on Mull) was faulty so vehicles could not be accepted. One option was a 3 hour detour to another ferry or do something different - we decided on the latter.

After a night in a small layby along a narrow road we decided to carry along that road over the old Clachen Bridge and on to a place called Ellenabeich. The Clachen sound is connected to the Atlantic at both ends so the bridge is known as 'The Bridge over the Atlantic'. For two weeks a year it is covered in purple flowers which have been decorating the bridge since it was built in 1792. When it was renovated, the flowers were removed and local people planted them in their gardens before they were replanted in the bridge.

Fairy Foxgloves on the side of the bridge

When we arrived we realised that we had found a little gem in a tiny little village with a tiny island you could get to in a beautiful bay overlooked by cliffs. We immediately decided to stay for at least two nights, as the village also had a motorhome park up area. This morphed into 4 nights! Mull could wait.

This is where we stayed (below), more in the next post.

Engineering, Art and History

We were based in between Stirling and Falkirk for 5 days - the truck went in for a service at Ford in Stirling. Phil and Purdy stayed at Ford for a couple of hours where Phil worked and Purdy got pampered by the staff! Dee went into Stirling and wandered around the historic centre and castle area. 

We were impressed with the Falkirk Wheel - it's basically a canal boat lift. It's pretty ingenious and was opened relatively recently in 2002. The boat goes in from the canal basin at the bottom and joins the canal at the top - which travels through a tunnel and then joins the main canal system. Or vice versa.

On the same day we went over to see the Kelpies - they are 30 metres high and inspiration was taken from Clydesdale horses who would have worked alongside the canals. A kelpie is a shape shifting mythical spirit of Scottish lochs - but are often in the form of horses. They are great sculptures.

This very ornate monument below is the Wallace Monument, dedicated to Sir William Wallace. He was a Scottish knight, fighting for Scottish independence. He was a leader in the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 which defeated the English army. This monument opened in 1869 and is 220 feet high. We went inside up to the top where you get a 360 degree vista - the spiral staircase is that bit on the outside on the left. There were different levels inside which have displays and info.

The Acton Coat of Arms - you could design your own!

Great 360 degree view from the top

We also visited the site of the Battle of Bannochburn in 1314, won by Robert the Bruce, another Scottish Knight, against the English - on their way to Independence - sounds a familiar story! We took part in a "Battle Experience" at the visitor centre and had a walk around the grounds where there is this impressive monument to Robert the Bruce.

We were then worn out of history!

Return to Scotland

The sea was flat calm for our ferry crossing from Belfast back to Cairnryan in Scotland. Stena were very generous with their food and drink - this is a kids portions of fish and chips and if you have your own cup, all teas and coffees were free! Sharon - a ferry for you! 

The small island of Ailsa Craig (the plug) in the background.
I (Dee) remembers seeing this on TV recently -
the granite from this island is used to make curling stones.

When we arrived on the mainland in early evening, we stumbled across the Royal Turnberry golf course with a piper playing outside - now called the Trump Turnberry! At first we wondered what on earth the place was - it is enormous!

We stopped for the night at a lovely spot on a farm overlooking the Firth of Clyde and the Isle of Arran. The farmer and his wife were really friendly and told us all about their farm. We were introduced to their pet sheep - a Suffolk - who was about to give birth to twins and learnt about the other sheep whose breed are "Easycare". These are self-shedding and so don't need sheering and come with lots of other benefits. All very interesting!

The farm was next to Culzean Castle (pronounced Culaine if you are local) which we visited before heading to our next stop just south of Stirling. The farmer from yesterday is the tenant farmer here for the National Trust and he was born here (in the farmhouse on the estate, not in the castle)!

Inside the castle there is a room full of swords and knives
on displays on the walls

This is a great wicker sculpture of the Kraken (a legendary sea
monster). He has a big basket to put any rubbish in that you might
find on the beach

Thought I would get some peace!!

Purdy loved running around in the castle grounds!

Belfast and Strangford Lough

From the Causeway Coast we travelled to the southern end of Strangford Lough, which is SE of Belfast. Driving through Belfast, we noticed lots of murals on the side of houses, some depicting the history of this Unionist area. We learnt some original murals from The Troubles have been painted over as they were said to be glorifying events. 

We thought we may as well pop by and see Dark Hedges - basically an avenue of beech trees, planted to give an impressive entrance to a mansion house in around 1775. The trees have no leaves at the moment, maybe the scene is more impressive when they do!

This is the mansion that Dark Hedges lead to

The Titanic Museum is an impressive building - it is designed with the shape of ships' bows, the White Star symbol (who owned the Titanic) and water in mind. It is sited right where she was launched, and just next to where she was designed and constructed. Inside, you go on a "journey" - starting before the build and ending emotionally with underwater images and violin music, with an enormous wall of remembrance. 

This is the SS Nomadic - she was built by the White Star as a
tender for the Titanic and the Olympic. She is very interesting
to see as is the last White Star Vessel in existence.

Samson and Goliath - these famous cranes are an iconic landmark
in the Belfast docks area. Harland and Wolff built the Titanic. 

Unwittingly we seem to be following a Game of Thrones trail! Dee found herself in an old quarry on the Causeway Coast where scenes were filmed and same at Dark Hedges. We stumbled across this place at Castle Ward estate where our campsite was located. Apparently they filmed 'Winter Fell' here and the guide here told us that the outfit next to me (Dee) is something to do with "Ned"...??

Castle Ward house (built in the 1760s) is unique because half of the house is in a classical Italian style and the other half is gothic. Literally split down the middle! It is not certain why but is guessed the family wanted to look trendy (the Italian side) and show they had a long history (the gothic side). 

Sunny spot for a cuppa in Strangford, which is a lovely little town on the lough. The ferry across to Portaferry was on strike so there was much less traffic as there was usually on a sunny weekend. We are eating scones here - again! Scones are lovely in Ireland - too lovely! The weather has been amazing in Northern Ireland - we have only had a single rainy day and the rest has been lovely and sunny!