Day 40 - Friday Inverness to Buckie
Quick facts:
Weather forecast : a cloudy day with 4% chance of rain in the afternoon. H18 L 10
Humidity 93% at 8 am
Wind NE 19 kph
Sunset 19:52
Departure: Waverley Guest House, Inverness
Destination: Struan House, Cluny Square, Buckie, AB56 1AH ( a gem!)
Planned route: 67.6 mi 108.16 km
Planned ascent: 1,959 ft
Planned descent: 1,923 ft
Route: photo of Ride With GPS file
For actual metrics see the Strava section of the website www.cycling4charity.org.uk
Good morning /Good day
The breakfast tables at the Waverley Guest House had
one person at each table
…. all facing one way like on a bus. I made that comment and then realized they were all staring at the TV behind me listening to the commentary about Queen Elizabeth’s death yesterday.
It is an international mix of travelers. Mostly young. For instance, the receptionist on the desk last night, Fraser, is an international business student. We are right downtown and have paid a premium for the location. £80 for a 2** hotel spot. It is over 300 years old. The positives are that it is freshly painted and there is great variety on their continental breakfast spread .
We explored a bit around Inverness on our way out of towns. The downtown of course has a castle -behind a wall and being renovated …. and a medieval section still well preserved.
I am not sure how “auld” Younge’s Sweetie Shop is but they claim to be at least old fashioned.
Our “bike shop” stop this morning was up a steep hill then … voila …. A Velo Cafe complete with coffee and treats and the requisite floor pump to fill our tires.
They also offered workshops called Cycle to Health!
Off we went on National Cycle Route #1 which actually goes from John O’Groats to Dover. We will be leaving it and joining it for the next few weeks as we head to our last « Corner” and we follow Ralph’s customized route.
I remembered this field of clear cut timber from our ride heading north but it wasn’t long before we were heading east on the Culloden Moor.
We were both amazed by this high railway bridge. It is incredible to think of the number of bridges and viaducts built during the railway boom of the 19th century. Spey Viaduct
This was labeled the Nairn Viaduct between Davlot and Culloden. Every railway bridge we ever crossed was clearly labeled with a request that if it was hit by anything heavier than the front wheel of a bike, please report it immediately because an oncoming train may be in peril.
On April 16, 1746 Culloden was the location of the last battle of the Jacobite rising of 1745.
James Stuart who claimed the British throne was exiled. His son Charles Stuart led the Jacobites against thousands of government troops led by Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, son of the reigning king - I think George II. The battle lasted one hour and the Jacobites dispersed, ending the uprising. The subsequent treatment of the Jacobites was said to be brutal as efforts were made to blend Scotland into Britain. The network of Military roads in Scotland date to this period.
On to happier topics:
A huge Clydesdale breeding farm near Nairn. The horses are huge as was the farm.
The next “animal” was a moss moose in the forest on the other side of the road from a school. The road and the woods were lovely.
A cyclist’s pleasure:
We had passed the Nairn Dunbar Golf Course and I was cruising along in front when at the top of a hill I saw this sign.
We have seen milk “stands”, egg dispensaries and now a “Wee Cake Shed”. A delight.
Like all the others this was a self-serve “auto pay” situation.
I flagged Ralph down as he came up the hill and we both enjoyed decadent treats.
Kerry Clark is the chef behind these creations.
I happen to love all these Scottish castles dotted all over the countryside. Brodie Castle and its grounds were a delightful example.
The flag is at half mast as the whole country was in mourning over Queen Elizabeth’s death. It had been quite a week for the UK with the installation of the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss by the Queen at Balmoral, Scotland, two days before she passed away.
The weather turned sunny and we were on lovely backroads close to the south shore of the Moray Firth.
As we cycled the National Cycle Network around Britain, we often came across the Sustrans signs “advertising” the routes. This one was between Forres and Kinloss (Moray).
Ralph and I weren’t convinced that these 1,000 markers were the best use of The Royal Bank of Scotland’s donation money, but hopefully they gave local artists an opportunity to be creative.
As we pedaled through Kinross, 1 ¼ miles from the signpost apparently, we took a slight detour to visit the Kinloss Abbey
Unfortunately we didn’t get a guided tour. As with many of the abbeys, this one was built in 1150 but destroyed 400 years later as part of the Reformation and its stones used to build other structures. In this case it was the Inverness Citadel.
The Kinloss Barracks and airfield dating to 1939 also have an interesting and ongoing history and role in the area but were off route and we didn’t divert to see them.
We rode into Elgin as the sun was casting late afternoon shadows on the ruins of Elgin Cathedral .
As Ralph explored the site in more detail I visited the peaceful Biblical Garden across the road.
It was interesting to note that it is a training garden for Moray College horticulture students.
It was really getting quite late for us to be 17 miles from our destination and although in theory we were heading east to the North Sea, the sunset along the coast at Portgordon was lovely.
This was the road near Urquhart outside of Elgin. We realized we would be arriving in Buckie in the dark with all our lights on. There was very little traffic but being seen is pretty important.
The bridge on the Speyside route at Garmouth Fochabers.
Sunset over the North Sea from a bridge over an old railway bed.
The breakwater and beach at Portgordon .
The next town was our destination, Buckie (Banffshire).
Our welcoming host, Giffie was at the door to help secure the bikes and settle us in our rooms. The old Victorian BnB is a treasure. As always in these circumstances, I was sorry we were only staying one nignt. . Giffie and his partner Robert had run a “too successful” restaurant business in a city somewhere else. A wedding every weekend became a bit much so to my delight they moved to Buckie and run this gem.
My buddy for the night at the very lovely Struan House on Cluny Square.
Safe travels wherever you are headed.
Lorraine