Team Muz on Tour – to Mallaig, the Road to the Isles
Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 2:39 pm
An alternative name I had in mind for this tour was “In search of the perfect kipper” 
From the outset I have to say that this has nothing much to do with Bongos, except that we did part of this earlier in the year in our Bongo, and we’ve done some prior reconnaissance in the Bongo. And we drove to the station. In a Bongo
But the bit we did earlier in the year really did whet our collective appetites, so we were all keen to do the same again and more. Much more
I’ll stress at this point that I’m no trainspotting anorak (and by that I mean trainspotting, not Trainspotting, more on that later). But the West Highland Line from Glasgow to Mallaig, over Rannoch Moor and through Glenfinnan is voted the top rail journey in the world, ahead of the Trans-Siberian and the Cuzco to Machu Picchu line in Peru. On our last trip (details HERE if you missed that) we only did part of the line, from Upper Tyndrum to Fort William, so with renewed vigour we were keen to see the whole thing. And how cool would it be if the section from Fort William to Mallaig was on a steam train – The Jacobite or the Harry Potter Hogwart’s Express over the curved Glenfinnan viaduct - the only scheduled steam hauled train to run on the mainline in Great Britain.
And while we’re at it, why not start at Settle in North Yorkshire, and do the iconic Settle to Carlisle route as well – this trip we’ve done many times before and is highly recommended.
The Plan – printed before Google Maps changed the road colours and towed the Isle of Jura out into the Atlantic
So, leave the Bongo at Settle and jump on a train!! “Two adults and a child to Mallaig return? Sure, have 40 tickets and a spazzy plastic wallet you won’t be able to fit them all in”….
First, go to St Leonard’s church at nearby Chapel-le-Dale where there are two memorials to the hundreds of people killed....
....in the building of the Ribblehead viaduct and Blea Moor tunnel....
....either through disease, fighting or accidents.
The original of this is in the National Railway Museum, York
Then have a look at the weir & fish ladder in the Ribble at Settle....
....and the Settle Hydro 50kW reverse-Archimedean screw
Next – nip to Ye Olde Naked Man in Settle....
....for some Yorkshire curd tarts – but beware spoonerisms
Then get to Settle station....
....start of the fabulous Settle to Carlisle line built in the 1870s....
....by the Midland Railway Company
Park Bongy up here for a few days
All set, and without any support vehicle
....and onto the first train of the expedition
Ribblehead viaduct….
....24 arches in total....
….the deterioration of which almost caused the death of the line in the 1980s
There’s the remains of the construction workers’ camps here, grassed over but still visible
Then the run up to Blea Moor....
....here’s the Duchess of Sutherland giving it the bifters up the hill, it’s a 16 mile uphill slog from Settle into....
Blea Moor tunnel, at 2.4km long, the longest tunnel on the line….
….with some utterly useless information for the drivers From the Ministry of Information, a chain is 22 yards so there’s 80 chains to a mile. So 250 and 65 80ths minus 249 and 25 80ths is 1½. And 1 mile 880 yards is 1½ miles. So why don’t they just say that or did they expect the drivers of the day to know these things?
Let there be moonlight....
They used 7 separate construction shafts sunk from the moor above, the spoil still clearly visible 140 years later.
This allowed 16 gangs of workers to be used (one from each open end and two from the foot of each of the shafts). 3 are still used as air shafts – more spoil mounds in the distance.
You can see all this plain as day on the Google Maps satellite image. On the bottom one they just put a square fence around the shaft to stop sheep falling in, on the next two you can see the air shaft casting a shadow over the moor. Go back two pictures and you can see the fenced enclosure on the bottom mound and the top of the air shaft next to the middle one.
Blea Moor tunnel, north portal
Tart
Dent Head viaduct over the quarry that produced it
Artengill viaduct, seen from Stonehouse farm....
....over Arten Gill Beck
Dentdale (taken on one of several earlier scouting trips to get the other pics )
Dent station, nowhere near Dent but the highest mainline station in England at 1,150 feet
Dandrymire viaduct – originally to be an embankment until ¾ million cubic feet of earth had disappeared into the mire during construction
48151 just coming off Dandrymire viaduct, a preserved 1942 heavy-freight loco
Abbotside Common
Aisgill viaduct over Ais Gill Beck, the highest point on the line at 1,168 feet
The start of the Eden, the confluence of Hell Gill Beck in the foreground and Ais Gill Beck from the left
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
St. Mary’s Church, Mallerstang....
....and another memorial to those killed building this section of the line
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
Pendragon castle, which, according to legend....
....was built by Uther Pendragon, King Arthur’s father
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
Mallerstang Common, taken from directly above Birkett Common tunnel
Birkdale Common
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
Lammerside castle from the 12th century
Lammerside castle
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
Upper Eden valley
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
Smardale viaduct....
....highest on the line at 131 feet above Scandal Beck
Crosby Garrett viaduct over Crosby Garrett Beck....
....and Gallansay Lane
Upper Eden valley
Ormside viaduct....
....over the river Eden
Eden valley
Coupland Beck viaduct on the adjacent (and earlier) Eden Valley Railway which once ran from Penrith to Kirkby Stephen via Appleby-in-Westmorland. Now only a couple of miles is operational from Appleby to the Ministry of Defence training camp at Warcop
Eden valley
Weir in the Eden at Appleby-in-Westmorland, with the footbridge in the distance and the castle above
Appleby castle, Appleby-in-Westmorland
Not open to the public but they do occasional guided tours. No photography inside or outside though
Great Hall, Appleby castle
Clifford Bedroom, Appleby castle
River Eden, Appleby-in-Westmorland
River Eden, Appleby-in-Westmorland
River Eden, Appleby-in-Westmorland
Eden valley
Culgaith tunnel
Eden valley
“Long Meg and Her Daughters”, a bronze-age stone circle
Eden valley
Eden Lacy viaduct....
....over the river Eden
Lacy's Caves, a series of five chambers cut into the red sandstone cliff above the Eden, named after Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Lacy of who commissioned their carving in the 18th century
Eden valley
Eden valley
Eden valley
River Eden between Lazonby and Kirkoswald
Armathwaite castle overlooking the river Eden, built in the 15th century to defend against the Scots
between Armathwaite and Carlisle
Eden valley
Carlisle station, also known as Carlisle Citadel station because....
....Carlisle citadel is right outside. This southern entrance to the city housed, until recently, the civil courts in the East Tower (R) and the criminal courts in the West Tower (L).
The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity or Carlisle Cathedral....
....home of one of the finest examples of Flowing Decorated Gothic tracery in Britain
....and the choir isn’t too shabby neither
Carlisle castle, built over 900 years ago....
....during the reign of William II, son of William the Conqueror
As it’s a bank-holiday weekend, there’s a medieval castle life demonstration with some period cooking going on as well
Onto our next train....
Over the river Eden....
....one last time....
This part of the trip isn’t as scenic....
....so settle down with a book
….then over the river Sark at some speed....
....the western border between England & Scotland, made famous in Robert Burns' poem, Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation:
Fareweel to a' our Scottish fame,
Fareweel our ancient glory;
Fareweel ev'n to the Scottish name,
Sae fam'd in martial story.
Now Sark rins over Solway sands,
An' Tweed rins to the ocean,
To mark where England's province stands-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
What force or guile could not subdue,
Thro' many warlike ages,
Is wrought now by a coward few,
For hireling traitor's wages.
The English stell we could disdain,
Secure in valour's station;
But English gold has been our bane-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
O would, ere I had seen the day
That Treason thus could sell us,
My auld grey head had lien in clay,
Wi' Bruce and loyal Wallace!
But pith and power, till my last hour,
I'll mak this declaration;
We're bought and sold for English gold-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
....or fill the carriage with ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
River Clyde, Glasgow
Glasgow Central. We’ve 2½ hours to get to Glasgow Queen Street station which is a whopping 0.3 miles away. There’s a complimentary bus for all you couch potatoes but I reckon we’ve got time to walk it and have a look at Glasgow
I’m sure when I watched Star Wars, the stormtroopers weren’t wearing kilts
The St. George’s Tron Church in Nelson Mandela Place. Bizarrely, Mrs Muz was here last year with our local Baptist minister (no, not Barry the Baptist )....
....to see the surprisingly modern interior
Glaswegian buskers
Glasgow City Chambers
St Mungo's, St Kentigern's, the High Kirk of Glasgow or just plain Glasgow Cathedral....
....the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland to have survived the Reformation virtually complete
Glasgow Cathedral
Choir ceiling and organ, Glasgow Cathedral
Glasgow Cathedral
The lower church over the tomb of St Kentigern or St Mungo
Glasgow Queen Street
Mrs Muz own-brand coffee at Queen St station
Train 3 – Heading north out of Glasgow
Erskine bridge over the Clyde
Team Muz on tour – with a bewildered onlooker in the background
River Clyde
Her Majesty’s Naval Base at Faslane, home of Britain’s Trident nuclear submarine fleet....
....also home of worldwide tree-huggers
The mouth of Loch Goil from Loch Long. Loch Goil is where the subs go to play
Finnart oil terminal, Loch Long
The new Ardgartan Hotel at the top of Loch Long
Arrochar at the top of Loch Long
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond
Stunning scenery near Crianlarich
River Fillan, Crianlarich
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
Tyndrum
between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
Allt Coire Chailein between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
The horseshoe curve....
....between Upper Tyndrum....
(Allt Kinglass, horseshoe curve)
....and Bridge of Orchy….
….built because the engineers of the railway....
....couldn't afford to build a viaduct across the remote valley
Horseshoe curve, Upper Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy
between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
Near Bridge of Orchy
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Rannoch and Corrour
between Rannoch and Corrour, snowdrift fences leading up to....
....Cruach Rock snowshed, the only snowshed in Britain – a corrugated iron roof laid over a 200 yard cutting to keep the snow out
Overnight stop in Nowheresville, officially the most remote mainline station in Britain
First things first – a pint of Cairngorm Black Gold for the weary traveller
....while Muzette has something more sensible....
....and gives resident German wirehaired pointer Archie....
....some long overdue tummy-tickles
Ballotine of chicken breast, MacSween haggis & Argyllshire bacon, absolutely stunning
Risotto of pearl barley, Highland goats cheese, red pepper & pine kernel coulis and greens
A chilled Architetto. I think the dog chose this one
Time to watch the few scheduled trains....
struggle up to Corrour summit, the highest point on mainline rail in Britain....
....before disappearing over the edge into Rannoch Moor
Corrour Station House Restaurant....
....with rooms. You really should try this
Loch Ossian
Corrour Station House
Loch Coir' a' Bhric Beag, Corrour
Loch Coir' a' Bhric Beag, Corrour
Hmmm, big juicy caterpillar
Archie!
Next, the bridge in the film Trainspotting, to movie fans, it’s most commonly known as the “it’s shite being Scottish” scene, filmed on location at Corrour
Starter - Saddle of Sutherland hare, MacSween haggis, sautéed potatoes and a red wine jus for sir
....and a pan-seared scallop, Stornoway black-pudding, Corrour single malt whisky sauce & clapshot for madam
...and then the Man vs Stag Challenge
This was originally put to me as a 16oz venison burger against the clock and we thought “Pah, four quarter-pounders and a sesame-seed bun, easy-peasy lemon-squeezy!”
Then it was wheeled in - 2 black pudding, 2 haggis, 5 venison ¼lb burgers, 5 bacon, 2 tomato, 2 onion, Cheddar between each slice, large fries, a pint of lager and a packet of crisps. Not a good idea
I had the eminently sensible Pitlochry pheasant, Blairgowrie asparagus and a few other things
Fail Pudding anyone?
Go on then, I’ll have the semi-freddo of whisky cream, raspberries, heather honey & Highland oatmeal
A wee dram of single malt to finish. “Two double singles please”
Time to retire for a sleep, and connect to the house WiFi – we are in the middle of nowhere after all
Morning – and Archie is raring to go again
Breakfast? I’ll have the Argyll bacon, Stornoway black pudding, MacSween haggis, venison sausage, scrambled eggs, tomato, mushrooms & toast please
It’s early morning, might as well jump on the Caledonian Sleeper (The DeerStalker)....
....which left London Euston yesterday evening
This may take some time. Although the train can do 100mph, it’s restricted to 40mph over Rannoch Moor due to the weight of the loco
Loch Treig
By way of demonstration - 66734 Class 66 loco after being derailed at Loch Treig in 2012....
....which at 130 tonnes is now in a bodybag and deemed logistically impossible to recover
....although they have recently built a new embankment and are possibly going to cut it up for scrap
River Spean between Tulloch and Roy Bridge
Fort William. (The tower of St. Mary's RC Church in the background)
Time to switch to the Hogwart’s Express or Jacobite steam train....
....or 45407, The Lancashire Fusilier, a 1937 Black 5
Inverlochy castle
Neptune’s Staircase at the start of the Caledonian canal....
....the longest staircase lock in the UK
Caledonian canal
Loch Eil and Fort William
The big Ben across Loch Eil
The Jacobite
Between Fort William and Glenfinnan
Glenfinnan viaduct, the famous curved viaduct over the river Finnan from the Harry Potter films.
Built by Sir Robert McAlpine in the late 1890s, it is 21 arches and from unreinforced concrete. Compare this with the stone viaducts on the slightly earlier Settle to Carlisle photos
Snow-plough at Glenfinnan
Team Muz on tour
Loch Eilt
Loch Eilt
The Prince’s Cairn....
....from where Bonnie Prince Charlie fled to France in 1746
River Morar, where Loch Morar flows out to sea....
....the deepest body of fresh water in the British Isles and, allegedly, home to Morag, the Morar monster
The silver sands of Morar
Morar bay
Mallaig, formerly the busiest herring port in Europe....
....but now only Jaffy’s (J. Lawrie & Sons) smokehouse remains....
....which is also a fish & chip shop – how convenient
Mallaig harbour
Mallaig
Mallaig harbour
Oh yeah, never too cold for Mackie’s
Well we’ve been to the Isle of Man a couple of times for the Manx kippers, we’ve been to Robson’s at Craster, the Hebridean Smokehouse on the Isle of North Uist, the Port of Lancaster Smokehouse at Glasson Dock and the Loch Fyne Smokehouse in Argyll.
But, the best ones are really fat & oily, so barbecued....
....these triple-gold oak-smoked Mallaig kippers really do hit the spot
Oh, and for those of you who thought I’d go all that way and not even attempt the Man vs Stag challenge – well it would be rude not to Bon appetit
Footnote – For the shots of the Settle to Carlisle line from a distance, taken over several weekends in July when it was sunny, remember that? (except one taken in February 2010, see if you can spot which one that might be
) – you’ve no idea how much trekking on foot I had to do, not to mention the general creativity which I reckon was well worth it Try the circular walk from Little Salkeld to Glassonby Beck and then back via “Long Meg and Her Daughters” – definitely worth the effort
And, go to the Corrour Station House Restaurant with rooms. Just once. And then try to stay away
From the outset I have to say that this has nothing much to do with Bongos, except that we did part of this earlier in the year in our Bongo, and we’ve done some prior reconnaissance in the Bongo. And we drove to the station. In a Bongo
But the bit we did earlier in the year really did whet our collective appetites, so we were all keen to do the same again and more. Much more
I’ll stress at this point that I’m no trainspotting anorak (and by that I mean trainspotting, not Trainspotting, more on that later). But the West Highland Line from Glasgow to Mallaig, over Rannoch Moor and through Glenfinnan is voted the top rail journey in the world, ahead of the Trans-Siberian and the Cuzco to Machu Picchu line in Peru. On our last trip (details HERE if you missed that) we only did part of the line, from Upper Tyndrum to Fort William, so with renewed vigour we were keen to see the whole thing. And how cool would it be if the section from Fort William to Mallaig was on a steam train – The Jacobite or the Harry Potter Hogwart’s Express over the curved Glenfinnan viaduct - the only scheduled steam hauled train to run on the mainline in Great Britain.
And while we’re at it, why not start at Settle in North Yorkshire, and do the iconic Settle to Carlisle route as well – this trip we’ve done many times before and is highly recommended.
The Plan – printed before Google Maps changed the road colours and towed the Isle of Jura out into the Atlantic
So, leave the Bongo at Settle and jump on a train!! “Two adults and a child to Mallaig return? Sure, have 40 tickets and a spazzy plastic wallet you won’t be able to fit them all in”….
First, go to St Leonard’s church at nearby Chapel-le-Dale where there are two memorials to the hundreds of people killed....
....in the building of the Ribblehead viaduct and Blea Moor tunnel....
....either through disease, fighting or accidents.
The original of this is in the National Railway Museum, York
Then have a look at the weir & fish ladder in the Ribble at Settle....
....and the Settle Hydro 50kW reverse-Archimedean screw
Next – nip to Ye Olde Naked Man in Settle....
....for some Yorkshire curd tarts – but beware spoonerisms
Then get to Settle station....
....start of the fabulous Settle to Carlisle line built in the 1870s....
....by the Midland Railway Company
Park Bongy up here for a few days
All set, and without any support vehicle
....and onto the first train of the expedition
Ribblehead viaduct….
....24 arches in total....
….the deterioration of which almost caused the death of the line in the 1980s
There’s the remains of the construction workers’ camps here, grassed over but still visible
Then the run up to Blea Moor....
....here’s the Duchess of Sutherland giving it the bifters up the hill, it’s a 16 mile uphill slog from Settle into....
Blea Moor tunnel, at 2.4km long, the longest tunnel on the line….
….with some utterly useless information for the drivers
From the Ministry of Information, a chain is 22 yards so there’s 80 chains to a mile. So 250 and 65 80ths minus 249 and 25 80ths is 1½. And 1 mile 880 yards is 1½ miles. So why don’t they just say that or did they expect the drivers of the day to know these things? Let there be moonlight....
They used 7 separate construction shafts sunk from the moor above, the spoil still clearly visible 140 years later.
This allowed 16 gangs of workers to be used (one from each open end and two from the foot of each of the shafts). 3 are still used as air shafts – more spoil mounds in the distance.
You can see all this plain as day on the Google Maps satellite image. On the bottom one they just put a square fence around the shaft to stop sheep falling in, on the next two you can see the air shaft casting a shadow over the moor. Go back two pictures and you can see the fenced enclosure on the bottom mound and the top of the air shaft next to the middle one.
Blea Moor tunnel, north portal
Tart
Dent Head viaduct over the quarry that produced it
Artengill viaduct, seen from Stonehouse farm....
....over Arten Gill Beck
Dentdale (taken on one of several earlier scouting trips to get the other pics
)Dent station, nowhere near Dent but the highest mainline station in England at 1,150 feet
Dandrymire viaduct – originally to be an embankment until ¾ million cubic feet of earth had disappeared into the mire during construction
48151 just coming off Dandrymire viaduct, a preserved 1942 heavy-freight loco
Abbotside Common
Aisgill viaduct over Ais Gill Beck, the highest point on the line at 1,168 feet
The start of the Eden, the confluence of Hell Gill Beck in the foreground and Ais Gill Beck from the left
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
St. Mary’s Church, Mallerstang....
....and another memorial to those killed building this section of the line
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
Pendragon castle, which, according to legend....
....was built by Uther Pendragon, King Arthur’s father
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
Mallerstang Common, taken from directly above Birkett Common tunnel
Birkdale Common
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
Lammerside castle from the 12th century
Lammerside castle
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
Upper Eden valley
between Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen
Smardale viaduct....
....highest on the line at 131 feet above Scandal Beck
Crosby Garrett viaduct over Crosby Garrett Beck....
....and Gallansay Lane
Upper Eden valley
Ormside viaduct....
....over the river Eden
Eden valley
Coupland Beck viaduct on the adjacent (and earlier) Eden Valley Railway which once ran from Penrith to Kirkby Stephen via Appleby-in-Westmorland. Now only a couple of miles is operational from Appleby to the Ministry of Defence training camp at Warcop
Eden valley
Weir in the Eden at Appleby-in-Westmorland, with the footbridge in the distance and the castle above
Appleby castle, Appleby-in-Westmorland
Not open to the public but they do occasional guided tours. No photography inside or outside though
Great Hall, Appleby castle
Clifford Bedroom, Appleby castle
River Eden, Appleby-in-Westmorland
River Eden, Appleby-in-Westmorland
River Eden, Appleby-in-Westmorland
Eden valley
Culgaith tunnel
Eden valley
“Long Meg and Her Daughters”, a bronze-age stone circle
Eden valley
Eden Lacy viaduct....
....over the river Eden
Lacy's Caves, a series of five chambers cut into the red sandstone cliff above the Eden, named after Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Lacy of who commissioned their carving in the 18th century
Eden valley
Eden valley
Eden valley
River Eden between Lazonby and Kirkoswald
Armathwaite castle overlooking the river Eden, built in the 15th century to defend against the Scots
between Armathwaite and Carlisle
Eden valley
Carlisle station, also known as Carlisle Citadel station because....
....Carlisle citadel is right outside. This southern entrance to the city housed, until recently, the civil courts in the East Tower (R) and the criminal courts in the West Tower (L).
The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity or Carlisle Cathedral....
....home of one of the finest examples of Flowing Decorated Gothic tracery in Britain
....and the choir isn’t too shabby neither
Carlisle castle, built over 900 years ago....
....during the reign of William II, son of William the Conqueror
As it’s a bank-holiday weekend, there’s a medieval castle life demonstration with some period cooking going on as well
Onto our next train....
Over the river Eden....
....one last time....
This part of the trip isn’t as scenic....
....so settle down with a book
….then over the river Sark at some speed....
....the western border between England & Scotland, made famous in Robert Burns' poem, Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation:
Fareweel to a' our Scottish fame,
Fareweel our ancient glory;
Fareweel ev'n to the Scottish name,
Sae fam'd in martial story.
Now Sark rins over Solway sands,
An' Tweed rins to the ocean,
To mark where England's province stands-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
What force or guile could not subdue,
Thro' many warlike ages,
Is wrought now by a coward few,
For hireling traitor's wages.
The English stell we could disdain,
Secure in valour's station;
But English gold has been our bane-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
O would, ere I had seen the day
That Treason thus could sell us,
My auld grey head had lien in clay,
Wi' Bruce and loyal Wallace!
But pith and power, till my last hour,
I'll mak this declaration;
We're bought and sold for English gold-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
....or fill the carriage with ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
River Clyde, Glasgow
Glasgow Central. We’ve 2½ hours to get to Glasgow Queen Street station which is a whopping 0.3 miles away. There’s a complimentary bus for all you couch potatoes but I reckon we’ve got time to walk it and have a look at Glasgow
I’m sure when I watched Star Wars, the stormtroopers weren’t wearing kilts
The St. George’s Tron Church in Nelson Mandela Place. Bizarrely, Mrs Muz was here last year with our local Baptist minister (no, not Barry the Baptist
)........to see the surprisingly modern interior
Glaswegian buskers
Glasgow City Chambers
St Mungo's, St Kentigern's, the High Kirk of Glasgow or just plain Glasgow Cathedral....
....the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland to have survived the Reformation virtually complete
Glasgow Cathedral
Choir ceiling and organ, Glasgow Cathedral
Glasgow Cathedral
The lower church over the tomb of St Kentigern or St Mungo
Glasgow Queen Street
Mrs Muz own-brand coffee at Queen St station
Train 3 – Heading north out of Glasgow
Erskine bridge over the Clyde
Team Muz on tour – with a bewildered onlooker in the background
River Clyde
Her Majesty’s Naval Base at Faslane, home of Britain’s Trident nuclear submarine fleet....
....also home of worldwide tree-huggers
The mouth of Loch Goil from Loch Long. Loch Goil is where the subs go to play
Finnart oil terminal, Loch Long
The new Ardgartan Hotel at the top of Loch Long
Arrochar at the top of Loch Long
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond
Stunning scenery near Crianlarich
River Fillan, Crianlarich
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
between Crianlarich and Tyndrum
Tyndrum
between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
Allt Coire Chailein between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
The horseshoe curve....
....between Upper Tyndrum....
(Allt Kinglass, horseshoe curve)
....and Bridge of Orchy….
….built because the engineers of the railway....
....couldn't afford to build a viaduct across the remote valley
Horseshoe curve, Upper Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy
between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
Near Bridge of Orchy
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch
between Rannoch and Corrour
between Rannoch and Corrour, snowdrift fences leading up to....
....Cruach Rock snowshed, the only snowshed in Britain – a corrugated iron roof laid over a 200 yard cutting to keep the snow out
Overnight stop in Nowheresville, officially the most remote mainline station in Britain
First things first – a pint of Cairngorm Black Gold for the weary traveller
....while Muzette has something more sensible....
....and gives resident German wirehaired pointer Archie....
....some long overdue tummy-tickles
Ballotine of chicken breast, MacSween haggis & Argyllshire bacon, absolutely stunning
Risotto of pearl barley, Highland goats cheese, red pepper & pine kernel coulis and greens
A chilled Architetto. I think the dog chose this one
Time to watch the few scheduled trains....
struggle up to Corrour summit, the highest point on mainline rail in Britain....
....before disappearing over the edge into Rannoch Moor
Corrour Station House Restaurant....
....with rooms. You really should try this
Loch Ossian
Corrour Station House
Loch Coir' a' Bhric Beag, Corrour
Loch Coir' a' Bhric Beag, Corrour
Hmmm, big juicy caterpillar
Archie!
Next, the bridge in the film Trainspotting, to movie fans, it’s most commonly known as the “it’s shite being Scottish” scene, filmed on location at Corrour
Starter - Saddle of Sutherland hare, MacSween haggis, sautéed potatoes and a red wine jus for sir
....and a pan-seared scallop, Stornoway black-pudding, Corrour single malt whisky sauce & clapshot for madam
...and then the Man vs Stag Challenge
This was originally put to me as a 16oz venison burger against the clock and we thought “Pah, four quarter-pounders and a sesame-seed bun, easy-peasy lemon-squeezy!”
Then it was wheeled in - 2 black pudding, 2 haggis, 5 venison ¼lb burgers, 5 bacon, 2 tomato, 2 onion, Cheddar between each slice, large fries, a pint of lager and a packet of crisps. Not a good idea
I had the eminently sensible Pitlochry pheasant, Blairgowrie asparagus and a few other things
Fail
Pudding anyone? 
Go on then, I’ll have the semi-freddo of whisky cream, raspberries, heather honey & Highland oatmeal
A wee dram of single malt to finish. “Two double singles please”
Time to retire for a sleep, and connect to the house WiFi – we are in the middle of nowhere after all
Morning – and Archie is raring to go again
Breakfast? I’ll have the Argyll bacon, Stornoway black pudding, MacSween haggis, venison sausage, scrambled eggs, tomato, mushrooms & toast please
It’s early morning, might as well jump on the Caledonian Sleeper (The DeerStalker)....
....which left London Euston yesterday evening
This may take some time. Although the train can do 100mph, it’s restricted to 40mph over Rannoch Moor due to the weight of the loco
Loch Treig
By way of demonstration - 66734 Class 66 loco after being derailed at Loch Treig in 2012....
....which at 130 tonnes is now in a bodybag and deemed logistically impossible to recover
....although they have recently built a new embankment and are possibly going to cut it up for scrap
River Spean between Tulloch and Roy Bridge
Fort William. (The tower of St. Mary's RC Church in the background)
Time to switch to the Hogwart’s Express or Jacobite steam train....
....or 45407, The Lancashire Fusilier, a 1937 Black 5
Inverlochy castle
Neptune’s Staircase at the start of the Caledonian canal....
....the longest staircase lock in the UK
Caledonian canal
Loch Eil and Fort William
The big Ben across Loch Eil
The Jacobite
Between Fort William and Glenfinnan
Glenfinnan viaduct, the famous curved viaduct over the river Finnan from the Harry Potter films.
Built by Sir Robert McAlpine in the late 1890s, it is 21 arches and from unreinforced concrete. Compare this with the stone viaducts on the slightly earlier Settle to Carlisle photos
Snow-plough at Glenfinnan
Team Muz on tour
Loch Eilt
Loch Eilt
The Prince’s Cairn....
....from where Bonnie Prince Charlie fled to France in 1746
River Morar, where Loch Morar flows out to sea....
....the deepest body of fresh water in the British Isles and, allegedly, home to Morag, the Morar monster
The silver sands of Morar
Morar bay
Mallaig, formerly the busiest herring port in Europe....
....but now only Jaffy’s (J. Lawrie & Sons) smokehouse remains....
....which is also a fish & chip shop – how convenient
Mallaig harbour
Mallaig
Mallaig harbour
Oh yeah, never too cold for Mackie’s
Well we’ve been to the Isle of Man a couple of times for the Manx kippers, we’ve been to Robson’s at Craster, the Hebridean Smokehouse on the Isle of North Uist, the Port of Lancaster Smokehouse at Glasson Dock and the Loch Fyne Smokehouse in Argyll.
But, the best ones are really fat & oily, so barbecued....
....these triple-gold oak-smoked Mallaig kippers really do hit the spot
Oh, and for those of you who thought I’d go all that way and not even attempt the Man vs Stag challenge – well it would be rude not to
Bon appetit Footnote – For the shots of the Settle to Carlisle line from a distance, taken over several weekends in July when it was sunny, remember that? (except one taken in February 2010, see if you can spot which one that might be
) – you’ve no idea how much trekking on foot I had to do, not to mention the general creativity which I reckon was well worth it Try the circular walk from Little Salkeld to Glassonby Beck and then back via “Long Meg and Her Daughters” – definitely worth the effort And, go to the Corrour Station House Restaurant with rooms. Just once. And then try to stay away
