Tag: Inverness

Bishops Visit – Ullapool – Granny Who?

One of the reasons we travelled to Inverness was to enable Doug Bishop to visit the place of birth of his granny. At first he said the village was just outside Inverness. Then we find it is just outside Ullapool which is just outside Inverness. Well on the other side of the country from Inverness actually.

Despite this set back we determined to see what we could see. Now Ullapool is on the west coast and Inverness is on the east coast of Scotland. Fortunately this must be the shortest distance across the country – only 79 miles, so after 1 hours driving through some very pretty hills and glens, we arrived in Ullapool.

 

The weather was once again kind to us with the sun racing us across the country. I think we won because there was still daylight in Ullapool when we arrived. The post office was our first place to visit. Enquiries with the postmaster revealed that Granny’s village was a further 40 miles north along a rather crude track. The sun was tracking below the horizon and the weather had decided to rain on our party. So we decided that Doug needed to do some more research before we trekked into the wilderness of the Highlands.

We took some shots of this lovely little village and its harbour before finding FBI – Ferry Boat Inn – the locals find the abbreviation amusing. FBI had a lovely fire with views over the harbour. So we warmed our selves with fire and fire water (Whisky) before dining and heading back to Inverness. The journey home was a little less comfortable to the journey there. With darkness falling around 5.00pm, travelling home at 7.30pm was pitch blackness without aid of street lights in drizzling rain.

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Bishops Visit – Fort George – An expensive insurance policy

Outside of Inverness is Fort George. Built following the defeat of the Jacobite rebellion at Culloden in 1746, the fort was intended to be a deterrent to further rebellion by the Clans who sought to restore the Stuarts to the throne of England and Scotland. It cost 200,000 pound which was an enormous sum for the time. It incorporates some old defensive items like two moats and draw bridges, a palisade, battlements and watch towers, but it includes modern innovations like the low profile and the star shape none of which has ever been tested as James fled to France never to contest his right to the throne against William and Mary. By the way Jacobite takes its name from Jacobitism, from Jacobus, the Latin form of James.

The fortification is based on a Star design, it remains virtually unaltered and nowadays is open to visitors with exhibits and recreations showing use at different periods, while still serving as army barracks. Originally the depot of the Seaforth Highlanders and later the Queen’s Own Highlanders (Seaforths and Camerons), it was more recently home to the Royal Irish Regiment, and as of 2007, the new garrison of the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland.

 

The fort housed a lieutenant-governor as administrator and as the fort became like mini village wives and children also. The governor’s residence has been turned into the Highlanders’ Museum – well worth a visit to understand all the different highland regiments that have been formed.

 

As it is on the end of a promontory into the Firth of Moray, it is open to the wind and it must get bitterly clod on the battlements. My trip up on a sunny day with little wind was enough for me to be certain I did not want any guard duty. Entry costs about 8 pound and you get an audio tour guide. When we returned our audio guides to the gift shop, I noticed “Stag’s Breath”. so one of my readers will be happy to know that I remembered him despite his criticism of my blogs – he may be lucky enough to see it arrive back to Australia unopened.

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Bishops Visit – Brodie and the Laird Brodie

 

Our first icy windscreen but the day is clear. After removing the ice, we decide to drive east to the estates of Clan Brodie.

In 1990 Kerry and I were in Scotland and we discovered Brodie Castle. This was the ancestral home of Clan Brodie and the Laird’s (known as the Brodie) home. The area is named Brodie so he is the Brodie of Brodie. The Brodie’s have mysterious origins but can claim their rights to the ancestral lands come from a grant form Robert the Bruce in the 13th century.

We were fortunate to be shown the castle by the Brodie Montagu who used the name Ninnian because of his theatrical interests. Ninnian died in 2003 but before dying he entrusted Brodie castle to the National Trust of Scotland. The present Brodie is Ninnian’s grandson Alexander but he no longer resides in the ancestral castle.

Now in 2014 we have returned. We chose an excellent day for our visit. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was a clear pale blue. The wind was light but chilly. As we pulled into the car park there was a sense that something was wrong. Nevertheless we walked down the path leading to the castle and saw that there were cars parked beside the castle. The castle is closed to the public for the season and this is the staff arriving to undergo training and to attend to cleaning and maintenance. Kerry checks the web site and then rings to find out why the web site says it is open. This leads to the Estate manager letting us into the castle and arranging a personalised tour for us.

The present castle is a mixture of a 16th century defensive tower, and extensions in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. We only got a shortened version of the full tour viewing the basement hall of the tower with its ancient armaments and memorial to the Brodie Castle a member of the family constructed in Madras India, the space that was the original kitchen now part of the entry, the library, the dining room with it extremely different ceiling (plaster ornaments decorate the entire ceiling), the drawing room and it’s supplements from the Gordon Clan through a fortuitous marriage. No photos allowed so you will have to visit it yourself one day. I can recommend it.

 

Castle Brodie
Castle Brodie

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