Nessie, Where are You?
Day 12: The Various Waters of Scotland
Rogie Falls
This short walk visits a series of lovely waterfalls in the Highlands. Rogie Falls are surrounded by attractive woodland with miles of forest trails. There's a car park very close to the falls where you can pick up the trails along the Black Water River to a viewing bridge suspended above the falls. It's a fantastic spot with the rushing waters surrounded by interesting rock formations with sloping trees. Look out for jumping salmon between June and October as they attempt to reach the upper parts of the river to spawn.
To extend your exercise you can explore the Contin Forest where there are miles of cycling and walking trails to try. The woods are great for wildlife with roe and red deer, red squirrels, butterflies and various woodland birds to look out for.
Glen Ord Distillery
"Nestled on the outskirts of Muir of Ord, Glen Ord Distillery is one of the Highland's hidden treasures producing liquid gold all year round. With a welcome as warm as the whisky, you'll be sure to leave satisfied after experiencing the world-famous Scottish hospitality at this 5 star visitor attraction. Open all year, Glen Ord offers a range of tours to suit everyone; from the whisky novice to the connoisseur."
Beauly Priory
Beauly Priory is one of three priories founded in Scotland in about 1230 for monks of the Valliscaulian order. The Valliscaulians came from Val-des-Choux (‘Valley of the Cabbages’) near Dijon in France, and adhered to strict ideals of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Beauly, meaning ‘beautiful place’, must have seemed to the monks a wonderful location in which to devote themselves to worship. Only the abbey church still stands today, housing some fine funerary monuments.
The monks clearly liked what they found when they arrived, for Beauly was referred to in the 1230s as Prioratus de Bello Loco: Latin for "Priory of the Lovely Spot". This suggests that the name Beauly, from the French beau lieu or "beautiful place" dates back far beyond the popular belief that it was based on a comment made by Mary Queen of Scots during her visit in the summer of 1564.
Beauly's patron was Sir John Bisset, whose family's lands were later joined by marriage to the predominant landowners of the area, the Frasers of Lovat. The monastery was complete by 1272 and in 1287 Sir Simon Fraser of Lovat was buried in front of the altar in the chancel.
In 1430 Sir Hugh Fraser of Lovat complained to the Pope that the priory was being mismanaged, and as a result the buildings were falling into decay. A programme of restoration and rebuilding followed.
The church, whose ruins still stand, was only part of a complex that included a cloister to its south, complete with east and south ranges accommodating the monks and a west range providing the prior's lodging. The standing south wall of the church shows signs of earlier roof lines, indicating how the rest of the priory was connected to it.
In about 1510 the priory changed its adherence to the Cistercian order. Substantial further work took place on the church under Prior Robert Reid in 1541, after lightning damage. Reid also held many other offices and is perhaps better known as the Bishop of Orkney and the founding father of Edinburgh University.
After the Reformation the priory fell into disuse, and the lead was removed from the roof in 1582. Much of the priory became a quarry used for its stone during the construction of other buildings in the town: and it is said that some of the stone was carted off for use in the citadel built in Inverness by Oliver Cromwell's forces in 1652.
The only part of the priory complex in anything like complete form today is the north transept. This was rebuilt by the architect Alexander Ross in 1901 to serve as a mausoleum for the Mackenzie family.
Beauly Priory has been in the care of the state since 1913 and is now looked after by Historic Environment Scotland. You may find on arrival that the gate from the main town square is locked. If so there should be a sign telling you where the key is held. Otherwise see the access info linked from this page.
Urquhart Castle
Urquhart Castle stands on a stubby peninsula projecting a short distance into Loch Ness where it turns the corner into Urquhart Bay. This places it some two miles south east of Drumnadrochit and about fifteen miles south of Inverness. The castle is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland and is consistently among their top ten most popular attractions. Which is hardly surprising to anyone who has visited: this really is a "must see" castle.
As a romantic ruin, Urquhart Castle must be the envy of romantic ruins the world over. It's not just that its intriguing shape reflects the irregular outcrop of rock on which it was built. And it's not just that for the last millennium or more this site has been the key that unlocks a major route through the Highlands. What really makes Urquhart Castle the definitive romantic ruin is the possibility that the 600 foot deep waters surrounding it on three sides may suddenly ripple, then part, as something completely unknown to science emerges to confound a sceptical world.
Nessie may or may not exist. But the possibility that she does provides a powerful draw to the visitors who flock to the area year after year. And although Loch Ness has roads on both sides, access to the lochside is surprisingly limited, and the views from the A82 are often restricted by trees, especially in summer. As a result, Urquhart Castle's good access to the loch, and good views across and along it, only add to its popularity.
The castle saw the opening of a superb new visitor centre in 2002, involving large new car and coach parks being built discreetly into the slopes below the main A82. The visitor centre itself is buried beneath the lower car park and largely hidden from the world, save for the face that overlooks the castle and loch below.
Once through the visitor centre you descend by steps or a sloped path in a dogleg to the castle itself. In the angle of the path half way down is a recreation of a wooden trebuchet, a fine example of a truly formidable siege weapon from the days before cannons.
You can think of Urquhart Castle as being build in a sort of "B" shape. You approach from the straight side of the "B", and the gatehouse is offset slightly to the left or north of the centre of the site. Beyond it is the lowest and narrowest part of the castle, complete with the water gate which would have allowed the occupants access to a pier. More than once during its troubled history the castle held out because it could be resupplied by ship.
From this central part of the castle, the ground rises in both directions. To the southern end, the highest part of the castle is the summit or upper bailey, commanding extensive views. At the other end of the castle lies the Grant Tower, once the five storey hub of the castle capable of being defended even if the rest of the castle fell to whoever wanted ownership at the time. The remains of numerous other buildings still add interest. The largest range is on the loch side of the castle towards the tower end. This would have accommodated the kitchens and great hall. On the low hill in the centre of this end of the castle are foundations which once probably supported a chapel.
The Grant Tower is by far the best preserved part of the castle, and extends from the vaulted cellars up to the original wallhead and gable. Better still, visitors can explore the various levels, via a very narrow spiral staircase that can become congested at times, and enjoy the views south over the castle and east and north over Loch Ness.
Opinions differ as to whether Urquhart Castle was originally the site of a Pictish fort visited by St Columba in 597, but there was certainly a Pictish settlement in the area at the time. The first real evidence of anything recognisable as a castle dates back to the years following 1230, when Alexander II crushed a revolt in Moray, to the north, and decided to defend this strategic route through the highlands.
In 1297 the castle was in English hands loyal to Edward I; and survived a night assault by the Scots. To no avail, because by 1303 it was again in Scots hands and under siege by the English, to whom it fell. Later it featured among a handful of castles keeping alive Robert the Bruce's claim to the Scottish Crown.
By the 1390s the focus of conflict had switched. Now it was the Scottish Crown trying to defend itself against incursions from the Macdonalds, the Lords of the Isles, from the west. And again Urquhart Castle was pivotal, with ownership moving back and forth between the two sides for a further 150 years.
The complex interplay of Scottish history led to further conflict around Urquhart Castle in 1513, and in 1545 it was besieged and subsequently plundered by the western clans. Repairs followed, but the castle fell into decline, playing little part in the Civil War in the 1640s. In 1689 Urquhart Castle saw its last action, when a small garrison supporting the new Protestant monarchy of William and Mary held off a much larger Jacobite force. The garrison later left, blowing up much of the castle as they did so; and signs of this can still be seen around the gatehouse. Its main role since has been to serve the local community as a convenient quarry, which explains why so much of the structure has gone.
As a place to visit, Urquhart Castle makes a fascinating half day out. There are many castles in Scotland that are more complete, and some that are larger. But there are few with quite such a turbulent history, and even fewer located in such beautiful surroundings. And in no other do you have the chance, however faint, of taking a photograph that proves that dinosaurs are not, after all, extinct...
Caledonian Canal
The Caledonian Canal runs for 60 miles along the Great Glen from Corpach near Fort William in the South West to Inverness in the North East.
The canal was started in 1803 to plans produced by Thomas Telford following survey work by James Watt thirty years earlier. It was the biggest of the building schemes undertaken by the Government to provide work and stem the flood of emigration from the Highlands. The huge scale of the work and the shortage of skilled engineers meant that the seven year schedule and £350,000 budget always looked optimistic. It was: by the time the canal finally opened in 1822 it had taken 17 years and cost £840,000. And instead of the 20 foot depth in Telford's plans, the canal when it initially opened was only 14 feet deep, too shallow for many of the increasingly large ships being built at the time.
Unsurprisingly, the canal did not initially prove successful. A second phase of construction was undertaken between 1844 and 1847. What emerged from this was, finally, the canal originally proposed by Telford.
Once finished, the Caledonian Canal provided the long hoped-for route between eastern and western Scotland. This allowed mariners to avoid the long and often hazardous route round the west of Scotland and through the Pentland Firth. The irony was that by the time the canal was finally complete, steam ships could make the passage around Scotland much more easily than the sailing ships in whose era it was designed. Nonetheless, until the railway reached Inverness the quickest way from there to Glasgow was by steamer via the Caledonian and Crinan Canals, probably calling at Oban en route.
Of its 60 mile length, 38 miles are along Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness, with the remaining 22 miles being through canals proper. The biggest problem faced by the designers and builders was one of level; and along the length of the canal there are no fewer than 29 locks.
There are many ways to see and enjoy the Caledonian Canal. You could, of course, sail through it, and there are also opportunities to sail on or along parts of it from Inverness, Fort Augustus, and Drumnadrochit in particular.
An excellent place from which to observe the Caledonian Canal in operation is at Fort Augustus, where a further ladder of locks lowers vessels to the level of Loch Ness, to the north. Alongside the locks at Fort Augustus can be found the Caledonian Canal Heritage Centre, an excellent place to find out more about the history and operation of the canal.