Saturday, May 20, 2023 - Invergordon, Scotland

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Saturday, May 20, 2023 – Invergordon, Scotland 

Invergordon is the closest deep harbor to Inverness. So, any ship calling on Inverness docks at Invergordon. It is a natural deep-water harbor and well developed.

On our way up the Cromarty Firth

 

We have lined up a private tour today but anticipate there will be more than just us. Once we meet with our guide at the appropriate location, we find that there are 4 others joining us. A couple that we shared a tour with in Belfast and 2 sisters. There are a number of things on the agenda today, so we are quickly away. 

Our first stop will be the battlefield at Culloden. There is a modern visitor’s center which includes a museum, gift shop, cafeteria, and bathrooms. First our guide escorts us to a cottage that was witness to the battle. The walls are rock with a peak end area made out of sod or peat, and the roof is thatched with heather.

The red flag in the background denotes the British line.

Blue flags show where the Scots were.

The thatch of heather plants and the wall made out of bricks of sod.
 

 

The field today is flat and grassy. In 1746 it was moorland and would have been very uneven and difficult to move across. The Park wants to bring it back to the way it was at the time of the battle. The battle lasted just one hour. 1,500 Jacobites were killed. Only 100 British soldiers were killed. Bonnie Prince Charlie led the Jacobites (but probably not on the battlefield) and the Duke of Cumberland commanded the British.

 

 

We took advantage of the restrooms and also enjoyed a cup of coffee before it was time to move on to the next stop. 

Balnuaran of Clava is a site where there are three cairns built in the Bronze Age. (37^th century to 11^th century BC). There are also a number of standing stones at this site. It is believed that all three were built at the same time and that their positions and relationship to the others is intentional. The site sits in some woods that were just leafing out and cast a green light on the area. Very cool.

 

 

From there, we moved on to Cawdor Castle. It has been in one family since the 1600s. And is still lived in by that family. The tour is supported by an audioguide and is a one-way route through various rooms. It is amazingly homey. But also has wonderful antiques and decorations. I found it a bit interesting that there were potted plants in many of the rooms and those plants looked really happy. I checked, they were real, not fakes.

Note the date: 1672

Interesting display of rifles.

A very happy plant.

Ceiling embellishment

Steep stairs. But at least they had a handrail.

 

 

The gardens here are also amazing. There are two walled gardens, one of which contains a maze. The other one is more traditional plantings. It is a bit early in this climate for the beds to be in bloom yet, but you could see the gardeners had been busy getting things ready. A gateway in the wall led to a wilder natural area with a stream at the bottom of the hill and beautiful azaleas and other plants.

A very fun bird feeder

A view of the castle from the gardens

This fishy was burping water into a bucket

Would love to see this in bloom.

In the wild section

The stream at the base of the hill

Wow

Another view

A cute little fellow enjoying a snack

I can't imagine how old these trees are.
 

 

From Cawdor Castle we headed for Inverness. We had been advised that Inverness Castle was under renovation and would not be available for touring. What we learned is that there used to be a castle on this site, but in the mid-1800s, the current building was built (designed to look like a castle, but anything but) and has been local government buildings, the courts, a jail and meeting rooms for the county council. All of that was moved in 2020 and the building is now being renovated and will reopen to the public in 2025. 

We parked near Inverness Cathedral and were given free time to find some lunch or just wander. Immediately across the street from the Cathedral were a cluster of food trucks. We checked them all out and settled on some loaded fries (perfectly cooked French fries with pulled pork on top and a spicy cheesy sauce of some kind) and a local soft drink. The fries were great and hit the spot for us and the soft drink was interesting and very nice.

Inverness Cathedral

Detail over the door of the cathedral

Scottish soda pop.

I liked it

Lunch - surprisingly good.

This beggar came along and scored the last of our fries.

A cricket match

There was a wedding at the Cathedral, so we were not allowed to go in. Listening to the bagpipes being played for the wedding was fun. 

Once everyone was back at the meeting spot, we headed up Loch Ness to see if we could spot Nessie. The rain had started by this time, but it was still a lovely drive along the Loch. We circled around and went to the community of Beauly. We had a brief comfort stop in Beauly and I checked out the ruins of the Priory. The Priory was probably founded in the early 13^th century.

Loch Ness

Nessie was hiding today.

Beauly Priory

 

 

All the items on the agenda have been ticked off and we had a lovely day with our guide and her husband who was along as our driver today. We got back to the ship just before “back on board” time.