Inverness & The Black Isle

Inverness is a good city to use as a base. It is a lovely city and sits on the banks of the River Ness.

I had heard about the Black Isle and decided to visit it. The Black Isle is not an island but a peninsula surrounded on three sides by water. No-one knows where the name actually comes from, but it is thought that the term 'The Black Isle' is connected with the dense natural forest that once covered this area. The Black Isle is surrounded by three firths, the Beauly, Moray & Cromarty.

My trip to the Black Isle was well worth the drive. The area has many working farms and several delightful villages. I spent some time in Cromarty the largest town there. The Cromarty Firth is the harbour I mentioned in a previous blog about being a deep sea harbour that has been used by the Royal Navy during both 1^st & 2^nd World Wars. It was also the base of the first flying boat squadron. These days there is a fishing industry there and they do repairs for the oil industry.

Cromarty (being a small town) has several excellent attractions:

·        A National Trust property that was the home of Hugh Miller. Hugh Miller was a stone-mason and a self-taught geologist, and wrote about the history of the earth. His fossil collection of over 6,000 specimens became the founding core of what is today's Scottish national collection. Many fossils are on display in the cottage and he wrote many books on the subject. One thing I did learn was that the reason for the small doors and windows in these cottages was to keep out the cold and the inside of the cottages warmer.

·        The Cromarty Court House is a registered museum and is enjoyable way to learn about Cromarty's past.

·        The Cromarty East Church is sometimes known as the Old Church. The design is an ordinary Scottish T-plan church and it dates back to the 1560’s. As you enter the ceiling is extremely low and you walk towards the pulpit the ceiling is much higher.

My next stop was a small village called Rosemarkie a few miles away. I found a wonderful bistro there and had the best roast beef meal I think I have ever had and all for £8.95! The temperature was rather cool about 10 degrees and this was a Bank Holiday weekend and many people were holidaying in the area. However what astounded me was the number of children in light summery clothing playing in the sand and paddling in the sea! I was rugged up in a very warm jacket.

When you visit Inverness it is a ‘must’ to visit Loch Ness:

þ Yes a must see drive

þ Yes- Been there

þ Yes – Beautiful & scenic

ý Saw Nessie – NO !

Since I have been driving through Scotland I have seen a yellow shrub growing wild everywhere. I thought it looked like what we know in Australia as ‘Broom’ – it is a similar cultivar. Here it is a weed and highly flammable.

Now off to Perthshire.

A Castle on Loch Ness

Hugh Millers Cottage - a National Trust Property