SCOTLAND - Warm Enough to Take Your Coat Off

The weather here today as been  fantastic - not only was it warm enough to take your coat off but it was actually ok in just a tee shirt. 

With the trains a bit iffy today, I caught a bus up to Spean Bridge for a nice long walk. Firstly I took a path that followed the River Spean past the ruins of General Wade's High Bridge.  This was built as part of a series of military roads to enable British troops to move quickly around Scotland during the 1700's and it was here that the first shots were fired in Bonnie Prince Charlie's 1745 Jacobite Rebellion.

Following on with the military theme, a short walk further on brought me to the Commando Memorial on the hill above Spean Bridge. During WW2 troops came to Spean Bridge by train from where they marched 7 miles (past this spot) to the training base at Achnacarry Castle where they trained as Commandos.

The view of the mountains was stunning. Ben Nevis is on the right of the picture below with its head in the clouds.

An easy 2 mile walk down a lane brought me to Gairlochy, the shores of Loch Lochy (not really an original name for a loch is it?) and the Caledonian Canal linking the loch to the sea.

Time for an afternoon nap on the shores of the loch - and yes I am now a little red

With the Caledonian Canal linking Loch Lochy and the sea at Corpach, it was a very easy walk back. The canal -  built by engineer Thomas Telford - was designed for large boats so the locks and other infrastructure are much bigger than we are generally used to in England.

Gairlochy Top Lock

Moy Swing Bridge

At Banavie, just outside Fort William the canal goes through Neptune's Staircase, a flight of 8 locks lifting the canal by 62 feet (19 metres).

Today has been nice and relaxing, in glorious weather and actually given the current issues quite sociable. Several people I have met out walking today have stopped for a sometimes rather long chat!