from the Great Fen to the Rhinns of Islay
13 October 2011
The North Atlantic Arc Home
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Thursday 13 October 2011--We'll have an easy day today, sticking close to Plockton. Start with a walk around the village. Last year I
realized that, despite staying here every year for the past ten years, I hadn't really explored the local environment much. Today I
want to show Ron the various nooks and crannies I found then, as well as adding a couple of new experiences.
Information panels in the visitor center, right by the main village car park, give us an overview of the village's history, from the herring fishery through the arrival of the railroad and on into the rapid social changes of the twentieth century. I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose, to find a full panel dedicated to Thomas Telford's handiwork here. One of his thirty-two so-called Parliamentary churches, funded by the government to serve sparsely-populated parishes in the Highlands and Islands, is still in use. The accompanying manse is now a guest house. A row of houses along Bank Street is his work, as is the stone arch bridge at Duirinish, which we cross every time we head for Skye or points south. The Bank Street houses are separated from their shore-fronting gardens by a track just wide enough for a car. This corner of town, called Dall, is surprisingly quiet. Up behind, we see doors open on the shed that is the Plockton Brewery, and stick our noses in. Owner/ brewer/accountant/delivery boy/bottle washer Andy is in the middle of something, but is perfectly happy to take a break for a blether. He tells us that his tiny two-barrel plant can barely meet demand from Plockton's hotels in the summer; in winter, he occasionally gets to send a cask to Aberdeen or Edinburgh. Just now he is finding it impossible to procure Amarillo hops, which he considers vital to one of his recipes. Up on the Brae, behind Harbour Street, we look down on Calum's whimsically decorated terrace. His zaftig green girlfriend is still passed out. We continue on up to the end of Frithard Road, thinking to walk up to the Frithard lookout, but the track leading to it is very muddy, and we are wearing our town shoes. We pick up the car back at the B&B and drive the short distance to the beginning of the access road to the radio mast up on the Creags, opposite the bay from Plockton. The walk up is a bit longer than we thought it would be, about two miles, and it's quite steep at the end. The views over Plockton, Applecross, Raasay, and Skye make it well worth the effort. Back by the local airstrip, we have a look at the beach at Dubh-Àird. It's session night in the Plockton Inn tonight, a can't-miss for me. We fall in with a couple of couples from Edinburgh. It's Mike's fiftieth birthday, and he seems determined to spend it buying us pints. We manage to reciprocate after a while, but at the end of the evening we've definitely gotten the better part of the deal. All the best, Mike--hope you feel better in the morning than I will. Next |
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Bank Street
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Bank Street Gardens
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Bank Street
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Plockton Brewery
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Andy
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Sleeping Beauty
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Plockton
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Plockton
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Access Road
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View Toward Raasay
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Summit View North
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View Over Plockton
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Plockton
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B&B and Pier
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Dubh-Àird
Next
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