SCOTLAND - Walking to Rannoch

The original plan for today was to go up to Nevis Range and take the cable car up Aonach Mor. However, cloudless skies were forcasted for today with temperatures nudging 20 degrees and I figured that it was probably going to end up being a bit crowded. 

I also received news yesterday that the landslip had been fixed and that the trains would be running through to Crianlarich again from yesterday evening. With that news and good weather there was only one thing to do today - head back to Corrour for some serious social distancing!

I was therefore up early for the first train at 07:44 and when we got to Corrour, me and 12 others - some with mountain bikes - got off the train.

Loch Ossian is looking fantastic today

I think I had better explain why there is a station at Corrour. In days gone by it was a "Block Post", a passing place high up on the moors on the single track West Highland Line and so had a signal box and accommodation for the signalling staff. To serve the Corrour Estate and the hunting, shooting and fishing fraternity a station was built.

These days the passing loop is not used and the signalling is all in the train cab via radio but its healthy passenger figures means it stays open. Believe me there are many villages out there that would love 1400 people a year to use their railway stations let alone 14,000.

The plan for today was to walk the 11 or so miles across the moor to the next station down the line - Rannoch. Easy enough as long as I remembered that I had to be there in time for the 15:12 train as after that its a 6 hour wait for the next one!

So after a quick bacon butty at the Corrour Station House I was off. The skies were blue, the sun shining and it was a lovely walk.

Wild open moorland

Be prepared to get your feet wet at the fords

Social Distancing - Keep 2 MILES apart !!!

Rannoch station is another remote one but is quite cosmopolitan compared with Corrour because it has a road! It sits at the end of the B846 (yes the road finishes at the station) but is around 35 miles from the nearest A road - the A9. The road means that the Station Tea Rooms that are in the station building are busy with non travellers but also probably accounts for the fact its usage figures are much lower than Corrour's at around 8800 people a year - its just not so special.

I got to there with a hour to spare for the train, so was able to have lunch from the tea rooms, sitting in the sunshine on the station platform.

SCOTLAND - Steaming through the Highlands

Today as a special treat I have been given permission by The Ministry of Magic to take a ride on the Hogwarts Express.

Come on folks - after that picture a couple of days ago of the steam train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct did you really think I would miss out on that?

West Coast Railways have been running steam trips between Fort William and Mallaig  (marketed as The Jacobite) alongside the normal Scotrail service for many years now and it is one of the rare instances of being able to regularly travel by steam on the main line in the UK (Another is to Whitby, Yorkshire). It has always been popular but ever since the train, the landscape and that viaduct appeared in the Harry Potter movies it has become very busy and they now run two return trips a day throughout the summer.

Todays loco was Black Five number 45212

At Fort William

At Mallaig

And lets face it if you are going to do it you might as well do it properly so I went First Class.

You know all about Glenfinnan by now, but after that the train goes along the side of Loch Eilt.

It then reaches the sea at Arisaig which is the most westerly railway station in Great Britain - you weren't expecting that were you? Look on a map and you will see Scotland is very lopsided and sticks out much farther west than Wales or Cornwall. 

During the trip, while I watched the stunning scenary go by, I was served with a cream tea. Now you know I like a cream tea and although it came in a box - Covid meant no white linen and china - I was very pleased to see that the Scots have to rely on good old Rodda's Cornish Clotted Cream.  Of course wherever I am, I always lead by example in showing the locals how its eaten - JAM FIRST 

The end of the West Highland Extension Line and the steam train journey is Mallaig, still very much a fishing port - the railway line was originally built to transport herring south. Ferries also leave from Mallaig for the Small Isles - Rum, Muck, Eigg and Canna - in addition to Armadale on Skye. Not a lot there but on a fine September evening a very nice spot.

This last picture is not the best because of the evening light and the moving train but I wanted to show you how amazing Loch Eilt looked on the way back. The surface of the water was like a mirror and the reflection was perfect

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!

SCOTLAND - Choose Corrour

With the railway line south blocked by the landslide, I had reconciled myself to the fact I was probably not going to be able to make a trip in that direction. A pity, because I have a tee shirt and I haven't been to the place - which I think is the wrong way to do it .......

I popped into Fort William station this morning and noticed that there was a train advertised to Bridge of Orchy, the last stop before the landslide. The staff told me they were running trains today for people that were stranded at intermediate stations but they were not sure if they would run them tomorrow because of the fuel situation with the two trains trapped at this end of the line. When I say stranded at intermediate stations you will see later on in this post that I am not exaggerating. If I took the 1140 today I could have 3 hours at Corrour while the train went down to Bridge of Orchy and back - that was too good an opportunity to miss.

Why choose Corrour? - well it is the highest, most remote station on the National Rail network, it is literally a platform in the middle of a peat bog. However over 14,000 people a year choose to alight at Corrour and now it was my turn.

I boarded my trusty Class 156 at Fort William, not surprisingly the only passenger, 3 more got on at Spean Bridge, 2 more at Tulloch and all but one of us got off at Corrour - that's the magic of the place.

There are only two buildings at Corrour - The Station House which is a restaurant and B & B (you sleep in the old signal box) and a Youth Hostel. There is no public road, just a dirt track across the Corrour Estate and of course no phone signal. I really can't convey just how remote and therefore how special it is, but hopefully the picture of the station below will get the message across,

So what to do for 3 hours? Walk, soak up the place and just go wow! I walked down to Loch Ossian but the photos don't really do it justice because the moody weather isn't captured very well.

I walked for two hours but this is not a place to miss the train at so I spent the last hour at the Station House where I had a big  bowl of Venison Casserole to keep me going. Very nice!

When the train came back from Bridge of Orchy, it was empty, the 5 of us who had got off 3 hours earlier were waiting to board accompanied by one other person. A lady on holiday who had been staying in the signal box - yes the train was genuinely running to pick up stranded people and I met one!

SCOTLAND - In search of the Hogwarts Express

I should be starting this post by telling you all about my journey to Scotland on the Caledonian Sleeper. Starting from Euston, dining on Haggis, Neeps and Tatties in the restaurant car before retiring to my cabin with ensuite facilities for a good nights sleep. I would then tell you how I woke up as the train travelled though the Scottish mountains and had a lovely cooked breakfast before arriving in Fort William.  In reality it was anything but ........

Scotland has recently experienced some horrendous weather and with two main railway lines already closed due to weather related incidents noone was taking any chances when two days of very heavy rain were forecasted. On Sunday night the Fort William sleeper was cancelled. I was given the opportunity of travelling to Edinburgh and then forward by coach but with better weather expected on Monday, I asked if I could change my booking to the following evening.

By Monday morning a landslide had blocked the West Highland Line and nothing was going to Fort William from the south. So on Monday night I travelled by sleeper to Motherwell from where the final 4.5 hours of the 13 hour journey were to be done by coach.  I really could have done with the Hogwarts Express to magically bring me up here!

I arrived, tired and fed up, but I'm here and it's stopped raining so lets get on with the trip.

With two trains stranded on the Fort William side of the landslide, a normal service was running on the West Highland Extension Line to Mallaig so I dropped my rucksack at the hotel and caught the midday train as far as Glenfinnan.

Class 156 "Sprinter" at Glenfinnan

Glenfinnan sits at one end of Loch Shiel and is where  Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard and started the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion which aimed to overthrow the Hanovarian King George II and return the Stuart dynasty to the throne.

Monument to those who fought in the Jacobite Uprisings

Glenfinnan really is such a lovely spot

Of course for anyone who is not a Scot, Glenfinnan has a much more important claim to fame. It is the site of the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Built by Sir Robert McAlpine (Concrete Bob) and his team it, is the longest concrete railway bridge in Scotland. 

So why is a concrete viaduct over a valley in Scotland world famous? Well it has featured in the Harry Potter films with the Howarts Express crossing it and in the second film Ron and Harry chase after the train, over the viaduct, in Mr Weasley's flying car. In the Muggle world Scotrail run four return trains a day using the Class 156 Sprinters in the picture above. But those of us with special magic powers can also see the Hogwarts Express make two daily return trips in summer

 

MEXICO - CDMX - Bonus

Well blog readers you have a bit of a bonus report from Mexico as my flight is delayed by almost 24 hours because the pilot is ill. So I find myself in an airport hotel until tomorrow lunchtime. Before coming to the airport I spent a lovely few hours wandering around the city centre soaking up which should be that last winter sun I have this year - all be it with the Factor 50 on!

Here are some further pictures from Mexico City that I have taken over the last few days

 

MEXICO - CDMX - 2

This dome topped monument is the Monument to the Revolution. It was originally to be part of a new parliament building but problems with construction meant that the building was never completed. Rather than demolish it the structure was re-purposed as a monument dedicated to the 1910 Revolution.

In the suburb of Coyoacan you can find the former home of artist Frida Kahlo. A beautiful vibrantly coloured dwelling housing some of her paintings and artifacts relating to her life. I'm going to admit I knew very little about her before I went but it was a very pleasant spot and interesting the only place on the trip where I have encountered queues of tourists.

In the same area (although I didn't visit) is a museum dedicated to Leon Trotsky who apparently was exiled to Mexico and was assassinated here.

As you know I have been travelling around for part of the trip with Claudia's family and some of those are football fans. We therefore ended up at the Aztec Stadium where Mexico has hosted two World Cups (and Pope Jean Paul II celebrated a mass!) Not something I would usually visit I but very interesting to see inside one of these big venues never the less.

MEXICO - CDMX - 1

Over the last couple of days I have done quite a bit of sightseeing in Mexico City and this post is going to show you some of that. Firstly though I must reveal that today started with a practice session for a new Olympic sport - Getting on and off a Mexican metro train at rush hour!

Keeping 23 million people on the move is a major feat and to keep things flowing and to provide the number of trains per hour required, the metro system has to cut station dwell times during the peak periods. Consequently the doors are only open for 15-20 seconds at each stop.  There is no time for the British niceties of letting the passengers off first, it's a case of "He who pushes hardest gets to where he is going"

First sight to see for us was the Bosque de Chapultepec a large park in the centre of the city and in the middle of that is the Castillo de Chapultepec the only royal palace in Latin America. After Mexico got independence from Spain the country at that time was vast including all of Central America and the now US states of California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona etc. It appears that the Mexicans had a bit of difficultly controlling this large area and consequently ended up inviting the French to help them out. That at least is the official line but lets face it the Europeans were never invited to help with anything - France effectively took over Mexico. At this point the Castillo de Chapultepec became the official residence of Emperor Maximilian - who was the Habsburg monarch ruling Mexico at this time - and it took on a very French style. Later it became the presidential palace and is now open to the public as a museum. 

Bedroom - Standard Palace Fare

Beautiful Stained Glass Windows in this Gallery

The Central Tower was once an Observatory

Roof Garden

The mural is of Benito Juarez, a leader who championed Mexican independence. You know he was important to the country because the airport is named after him. All people who are important to their countries get airports named after them - John F Kennedy, Charles de Gaulle, John Lennon, George Best ,,,,,,,,,

The Zocalo is the main square in the centre of the city flanked on one side by the city's cathedral built in a very Spanish style and as you saw from yesterdays post the observation deck of the Latin American Tower  just up the road from the Zocalo gives good views of the city.