A special occasion requires a special location.
Peter and Bunty were celebrating their 65th Wedding Anniversary, so Bob, Sharon, Sandra and Chris, took them away to Argyll for a few days to celebrate. This is the story of these few days.
Day 1 Monday 21st September 2020
Bob and Sharon were a bit late on leaving Inverness to go to Forgandenny for the evening. This was just as well as Peter and Bunty were having all sorts of issues with their kitchen sink. It wasn't that they wanted to pack it and take it with them, more that it was leaking a bit. Chris and Sandra had gone through to see if they could help. That made them a bit late, too. So, we were all a bit late together, which didn't really matter.
We all had a very nice dinner with one of the fabulous steak pies from the Monifieth butchers taking pride of place. Thanks to Peter and Bunty for providing that. It got us all off to a good start after a slightly fraught day.
We had a bit of a long drive the next day, so it was an early night.
Day 2 Tuesday 22nd September 2020
We were up at a reasonable time ready for a good breakfast before we got on our way to Argyll. This was to be no straightforward road trip. The obvious route would be to go via the Rest and Be Thankful road. However, that had been closed by a landslide that had involved boulders as big as cars! The diversion by the Old Military Road was a bit dodgy and could also be closed by heavy rain. The alternatives were ferry from Gourock or a significantly longer road journey. Undaunted, by the complicated logistics we set off, intending to use the Old Military Road as it was still open.
After breakfast, we took Peter and Bunty and Sandra and Chris took Blue, the blind dog. We headed for Crieff, then Lochearnhead. It began to get wetter and wetter. This was not a good thing for our chosen route! It was quite grey and damp along the side of Loch Earn.
By the time we got to The Rest and Be Thankful it was lashing down. The main road was still closed by the landslide, but the Old Military Road was still open, using a convoy system. We had a long wait to get going on that system.
Soon, we were trundling along at a snail's pace.
There was plenty evidence of the damage caused by lots of rain, like the rain that was falling steadily while we drove along a centuries old roadway.
You could hardly see the queues of traffic due to the intensity of the rain, but we did get to the top and back onto the main road eventually, for which we truly were thankful.
The Old Military Road was begun just before the Jacobite rising of 1745 and was overseen by Major William Caulfield. Of course, Major Caulfield lived at Cradlehall House just a stone's throw from Bob and Sharon's house. Cradlehall House is so named, because the Major did a fair bit of entertaining. So much so, that he had a cradle installed in the house to lift his guests upstairs when they had drunk too much port!
The road follows a difficult steep route and zig zags up the hill to the highest point. At this point is a stone inscribed with the words "Rest and Be Thankful" and said to have been placed there by the soldiers and navvies who built the road over 270 years ago.
Once we were over the summit, it was really downhill all the way to the coast and on to Shelduck Cottage on the shores of Loch Riddon or Loch Ruel as it also known.
It was still a bit damp when we arrived, but it was less wet than the Rest and Be Thankful. It did reduce the views from the cottage windows.
It was quite cool when we arrived, but Chris is an expert fire starter, so we soon began to warm up once the log burner got going.
We soon settled down in the comfy lounge with a cup of tea.
After a fine dinner of Shepherd's pie prepared by Sandra followed by apple pie, we had some games and then retired after a pretty tiring drive.
Day 3 Wednesday 23rd September 2020
Wednesday morning could not have been more different than the day before. Blue skies and endless sunshine were the order of the day. This gave Bob the chance to go and take a few photos while everyone was getting breakfast ready!
The cottage is reasonably new, but it is built in a traditional style, with white walls and a slate roof. It fits the site well.
The River Ruel and the Loch are literally a step across the road from the front garden.
Bob couldn't take that single step across the road as it was rush hour!
Once the coast was clear it was time to look at the clear coast.
It was lovely.
There was a squirrel in the next door garden, but Bob couldn't get a photo. He did spot this chaffinch trying to hide in the red leaves, though. There is no escaping the camera.
After breakfast, we split into two groups. The hunter gatherers went fishing, while the women went to find civilisation and shops.
The owner of the cottage has some fishing on the river at a small village called Clachan of Glendaruel. Clachan is the Gaelic word for a small hamlet that has a parish church. Glendaruel is more difficult to translate. Glen is straightforward and Da means two. Ruel seems to have been derived from ruadhail which means red spots or ruahda meaning points or headlands. Either way it is not very obvious.
There is, however, a church and it is a bit unusual, in that it has a T plan. This is a feature of many post reformation churches, where they were built like this to emphasise the pulpit and importance of preaching. The church here was built in 1783 adjacent to the site of a much earlier building. It is thought the stone from the earlier ruined church was used to build the present one.
This Heraldic stone is built into the church wall and is thought to commemorate Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchenbreck and is dated 1610. it is suggested that he built the previous church. The church is dedicated to St Modan, the son of an Irish chieftain who built a chapel in 522, that later became the site of Dryburgh Abbey in the Borders. There are records of a church being at this site from the middle of the 1200's
There is a lapidarium in the grounds of the church. A lapidarium is a place where stones or archaeological remnants are kept and displayed. This one was originally open, but is now roofed. It was probably the mausoleum of the Campbells of Auchenbreck. It now contains some of the finest carved mediaeval stones in the country.
The one in the middle of the photo below is considered to be the finest example of carving from the so called Loch Awe school of sculptors. Unfortunately the Loch Awe stones are never inscribed with the names of the dead, so we don't know who these amazing monuments were for, but we do know that they are between 500 and 600 years old!
While Bob was busy educating himself, the hunter gatherers were trying to find a way to the river to catch our dinner. This was clearly easier said than done.
The fence was broken before they attempted to get over it.
Ooops, nearly head over heels there, Chris!
It was a very pleasant stretch of river.
It didn't take them long to start fishing.
Have a go, Peter.
No, do it this way.
I'll just have a wee shot myself seeing we are here, said Chris.
No luck! Just as well Bob and Sharon brought something to eat for tonight.
While the hunters were not gathering anything, the ladies went to Tighnabruaich, which means House of the Bank. Apparently there was a time when only one house stood on the high ground overlooking the Kyles of Bute.
Before they left the cottage Sharon and Bunty took a selfie!
Then they stopped at the viewpoint overlooking the Kyles of Bute on the way to Tighnabruaich. The viewpoint is pretty spectacular and the beauty of it is only enhanced by these three.
They had a wee walk and wheel along the promenade.
It was worth it for the views across the loch.
Back home, the hunter was worn out by his unsuccessful efforts.
Once the ladies came back, they soon overcame their disappointment at the lack of fish for dinner and we went out to sit in the garden to take advantage of the sunshine.
After a spot of lunch and sunbathing, Bob and Sharon went to Tighnabruaich, taking Peter and Bunty with them, while Sandra and Chris did a bit of exploring. Part of the reason for the trip was to sort out some picky food for the next evening.
As Bob had not seen the viewpoint we stopped there and took some more photos.
It is a pretty spectacular view.
You can understand why there are lots of big, expensive boats around these parts.
This is a Nordhavn 47 Trawler Yacht called the Annie M. She appears to be heading south in the Irish Sea as I write this. Apparently these boats are very popular with retired people who want to see the world at their own pace.
We managed to get a couple of things in the shops at Tighnabruaich and then headed up to Botanica at the Barn, where the ladies had taken tea and coffee in the morning. We ordered the picky food for the next day and arranged to pick it up in the morning.
It was only when we got back to the cottage that it seemed Bob had somehow mislaid the key to the house, possibly at Botanica. A phone call to Sandra, who was out walking Blue with Chris brought her bounding along the road to let us in. There was a fair amount of acrimony directed at poor old Bob for losing the key. He felt really sorry to have let everyone down and sorry for himself for the abuse he was suffering.
We would have to visit the shops and Botanica tomorrow morning to try and find the missing key. The thought was that he had dropped it when he pulled his mask out of his pocket.
Stupid Covid!
We had a nice chicken dinner followed by apple and bramble crumble. Then more games and one or two little drinks before bed.
Day 4 Thursday 24th September 2020
Anniversary Day. Once again the sun was shining and Peter and Bunty were greeted with balloons and bunting to celebrate 65 years of wedded bliss.
There was no time for Bob to celebrate. After breakfast, he and Sharon had to hot foot it to Tighnabruaich to pick up some nibbles and to look for the errant key.
Here he is, rushing down his toast to get going as soon as possible.
There was no sign of the key at the general store in the village. There was none in the car park of Botanica, but there were these rather fine looking cakes and bread on the table. Sharon would not let me buy a cake, claiming we would have enough to eat today, without cakes.
As we left with our goodies for the evening, but without the key, Sharon put her hand in her pocket. What did she find there? Yes! The key. It wasn't Bob's fault at all. He had been subjected to all that scorn for no good reason. To say he was happy to just find the key would be to misunderstand his reaction entirely.
Once he had overcome his joy, we had a bit of time for a wee circular drive to the south of the village. It turned out to be quite spectacular, with some great coastal views
Looking across to Arran, where we have been a couple of times.
We got back to the cottage in plenty of time to get ready to go out for a celebratory lunch. We had arranged a big taxi and the driver was very chatty and helpful. He got us to the Colintraive Hotel in plenty of time where we discovered that a slight disaster had taken place. The beer pressure system had exploded, meaning there would be no draught beer or cider. Bob was all for going somewhere else, but they had some nice bottled stuff, so the day was saved.
Colintraive is where you get a ferry to Bute. It is a very nice little village and the Hotel has a good reputation, with the chef having worked with Angela Hartnett in London.
Colintraive derives from the Gaelic for swimming narrows and cattle used to be swum across here from Bute to the mainland.
We had a nice seat by a big window overlooking the sea.
The lunch menu was very nice and, although tempted by the halibut, Bob, Sandra and Chris had the Haggis bonbons with the homemade brown sauce. Quite delicious and remarkably round. Sharon had beetroot and goat's cheese.
Most of us then had the chicken schnitzel with a rocket and parmesan salad, which was really nice. Chris and Peter had fish and chips which they found to be very satisfactory.
The taxi driver was prompt in his return to take us back, although we let him have a cup of coffee in the bar, as apparently it is locally ground and very good.
Here are the happy couple and their good daughters ready to leave.
It didn't take long to get back to the cottage and for Bunty and Peter to open up some cards and gifts. There did seem to be a bit of alcohol involved.
Blue was hoping for crisps or some other form of food!
As is often the way with great minds, or whatever, Sharon and Sandra had managed to buy exactly the same cards!
Bunty was not surprised.
Peter checked them over until he found a tiny difference between the two versions.
After all of that, it was time to eat again. This time, there was cake, specially made by Sharon. Due to Covid, there were no champagne flutes in the cottage, so wine glasses would have to do the job.
There was, of course, some champagne. Chris managed to open it without spilling a drop - he had clearly done that before.
Time to cut the cake.
After a decent interval, some of us were beginning to need something more than cake to keep body and soul together. Cue the nibbles that Bob and Sharon had picked up from Botanica in the morning. A nice array of nibbles to keep us all going.
Some of it was even healthy.
After we had all had our fill it was time for games and drinks. As this is a factual account, I am obliged to recount that Bob and Peter ended up as the champions of champions of the dominoes. Of course, I would have recorded this if it had been anyone else, no matter how unlikely that would have been. Honest.
After that triumph, it was time for bed after a good day.
Day 5 Friday 25th September 2020
We were up reasonably early this morning as we had to leave to go home. It was a case of eating all the breakfast food out of the fridge and sharing out the rest. Once we ready, we got on our way. Bob and Sharon took Peter and Bunty, while Sandra and Chris kindly finished off tidying up. At least, they said that's what they were going to do.
Our journey went without incident to the Rest and Be Thankful, which, thankfully was open, although subject to traffic lights. There was nothing like the wait we had on the way in. The weather was markedly better as well.
We were held up quite a bit after that, though. We seemed top pick up all the lorries, camper vans and slow tourists that were on the road. However, we got to Gloagburn outside Perth, where we had a very nice lunch, indeed. After that, we took Peter and Bunty home, ensured that they could get in the house and everything was as it should be. Once that was done, we drove back to Forgandenny to stay overnight with Sandra and Chris. Bob even shared a glass of whisky with Chris, having been bought a very nice bottle by Peter and Bunty by way of thanks for lunch. Sharon got a bottle of gin. She appears to be making a collection of these for some reason.
Sandra and Chris looked after us well in the evening and even gave us a bed to sleep in, which we did with ease. Then it was morning, time for a quick breakfast and we were off up the road home. Sharon's niece Karyn, husband Lindsay and children Georgia and Rory were staying in our house while we were away. They had not burned it down, but had prepared a very nice lunch for us, which we shared with them before they had to leave to go home.
A good way to end a hectic, but most enjoyable few days away.
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