Culloden and Clava Cairns, across Loch Ness to Fort Augustus
Many of us went for our Scottish breakfast with a spring in our step, as the gorgeous music of the pipes accompanying the lovely Highland dancers last night still reverberated through our heads.
Our morning excursion by coach took us on a city tour of Inverness and on to Culloden battlefield. This is where the Jacobites under the leadership of Bonnie Prince Charlie were beaten on April 16, 1746 by the government troops. The National Trust visitor centre has a fascinating exhibition on this era. Many of us were also quite enchanted by the wild flower meadows and the highland cattle grazing nearby.
Our second visit this morning was to the Clava Cairns. They consist of two passage graves and a ring cairn believed to be 4000 years old, whilst a small cairn is more recent. Iris Barry gave us an insight into the structures and their possible meanings as places to worship one’s ancestors and the sun.
We rejoined the ship to sail over lunch onto Loch Ness and up to Urquhart Castle – a huge ruin partly dating back to the 13/14th century. After an excellent photo-op, Iris enlightened us some more on the Jacobites on our sail to Fort Augustus.
Fort Augustus is a lovely highland village, with a former abbey dominating the place. We now had the options of a history and nature hike with David Barnes, a visit to the Rare Breeds Park with Iris Barry, kayaking with Rick Atkinson or a historical anecdotal photo tour of Fort Augustus with Konia.
After recap and dinner we relaxed after a fun day with a few drams during a fascinating and delicious whisky tasting.
