Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.

Autumn Arrives Early

Photos taken locally of the start to the changing of the season on Harden Moor above Keighley in West Yorkshire. The parking and entrance to the moor is across the road from St Ives Estate and is easily accessible and has a myriad of footpaths. You can make walks on the moors as long or as short as you want.

At this time of year the moor is awash with heather and I have done a separate blog of this. On Harden Moor, sandstone was quarried for at least three hundred years to build local buildings and dry stone walls. The Yeadonian sandstone was a rough rock and rough rock flag type, used to construct buildings in Saltaire and other local towns and villages. The last operational quarry on the moor, Midgeham Cliff End Quarry, supplied a type of sandstone called blockstone for local housing and closed around 2012.

None of these photos were taken anywhere near the quarries, if fact the were taken at a natural fault in the area called Deep Cliff Hole, across the road from St Ives Woods.

Changing Seasons

Deep Cliff Hole

To Elgol

The road takes you through Torrin, where you are greeted with a famous postcard view of Blaven, one of the best known mountains of the Cuillins and set apart from the rest of the ridge. You continue to drive around Loch Slapin where the local fishing boats anchor for shelter, beneath the shadow of Blaven and you eventually rise over a little hill to catch your first glimpse of the sea and the islands that lie off Skye.

Every mile you drive on your journey from Broadford to Elgol will fool you into thinking that the scenery simply cannot be bettered. However, you will be proved wrong when you arrive in Elgol and reach the shore and the little fishing harbour. There is simply nothing to compare to the sight of the Cuillin Hills beyond the Elgol shore - a breathtaking view whether it is sunny or stormy, and today it was certainly stormy.

There are various opinions as to the meaning of the name, 'Elgol' (or Ealaghol in the native Gaelic, some suggesting 'The Noble Dale' and others 'The Weeping Swan' (folklore details the story of a Viking captain who perished when his longboat named 'The Swan' came to attack the people of Elgol).

Boat trips can be taken to get you in to the Black Cuillin Hills but we visited out of season so could only view them from afar. I've been on them in previous years and they are well and truly spectacular plus there is an added bonus of watching the seals on a near-by island.

We spent a few hours soaking in the view and atmosphere before heading back to our holiday let in Balmacara.

Loch Cill Chriosd

Loch Slapin

Blabheinn

Loch Slapin

Elgol

Fyne Court, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Fyne Court is a hidden gem in the heart of the Quantock Hills. The estate was the home of the Crosse family who lived here until the house was destroyed by fire in 1894. Andrew Crosse, Fyne Court's most famous resident, known as 'The Thunder and Lightning Man' by the locals. He is Fyne Court’s most celebrated occupant. Living here in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and was a visionary scientist and poet with a deep love of his native Quantock Hills.

He was a highly intelligent man whose fascination with electricity ignited when he attended a lecture on the force. He began experimenting by giving electric shocks to unsuspecting friends. When Crosse graduated from Oxford University, he returned to Fyne Court to run the estate. Here, his near obsession with electricity intensified.

Crosse became intrigued by its presence in the atmosphere and decided to explore this interest further. He strung up a third of a mile of copper wire in the grounds and connected it to equipment in the music room.

Voltage would build up when there was fog, heavy rain or thunder and lightning. Conducting equipment would begin sparking and flashing, and loud bangs would shake the music room.

In an experiment to generate crystals Crosse found that mites began appearing from a piece of volcanic stone he had put in acid and passed an electric current through. Crosse gave a lecture on his findings in London, and it has been claimed that Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley attended. This has led to the belief that Crosse's lecture inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. However their presence at the lecture has never been proven.

Fyne Court was transformed in the 1750s when Arcadian landscapes were popular. A boathouse, follies, ponds, cascades and a serpentine lake were built, and the house was remodelled.
However, later descendants couldn't afford to maintain the gardens. As you walk through the woodlands you'll discover the remains of their former grandeur. The house was also lost, destroyed by a fire in 1894. The blaze was believed to have started when a housemaid left a candle she'd been using to heat curling tongs unattended.

Only the music room and library survive today, a remnant of this elegant Georgian mansion. They have incorporated a tea-room into one of the surviving sections along with a second hand bookshop. I didn't go in the bookshop but took full advantage of the tearoom.

Also, in one of the old ponds near the walled garden, if luck is on your side, you can spot the rare newts which have made Fyne Court their home.

Pond, Fyne Court

Memorial Bench

Tearoom Garden

Walled Garden Pond

Sal Looking For Newts

Fyne Court Garden

Surviving Buildings, Fyne Court

Wild Garlic

Surviving Buildings, Fyne Court

Newt Pond

Surviving Buildings, Fyne Court

Garden Pond

Newts

Balmacara and Skye

WE had a mixed week of weather but on the whole we managed to stay dry. The only wet day was our second day when Sal stayed in the cottage and I had a coffee in the local cafe and drove to Plockton.

It was wet and I got drenched but I still loved every minute., It is one of the prettiest villages in the area and a walk along Loch Carron shore cannot be bettered. The photos in this blog are all higgledy-piggledy so the Plockton ones are near the end.

Other places we visited were -

1/The Sleat Peninsula where we were very lucky with the weather. It was the day that Sal got her first sighting of The Black Cuillin Hills and the place where we saw three eagles. The peninsula is a bit of a hidden gem, people only usually go there on their way to the ferry port for the Mallaig Ferry.

2/The eastern coastline of Skye consisting of Sligachan where we stopped and took photos of The Cuillin Hills. Portree where we stopped for a coffee and bought some sandwiches. The town was rammed with people so we were glad to move on. We then stopped at a viewpoint which overlooked The Sound of Raasay and gave stunning view across to Wester Ross and back down Skye. Then on to The Storr which we just drove past as it was so busy and finally we headed to The Quiraing where we did manage to park but again it was just full of visitors. We got out and had a quick walk to the viewpoint, took a few photos and then speedily headed back down the Isle to the peace and tranquility of our cottage. I did that same trip possibly fifteen years ago and hardly saw a soul. Neither The Storr or Quiraing had proper car parks and for the whole of the journey I thought I was in heaven. The whole of the Trotternish Ridge escarpment was formed by a great series of landslips; the Quiraing is the only part of the slip still moving – the road at its base, near Flodigarry, requires repairs each year. Sadly I think that will be the last time I visit that side of the Isle due to its popularity.

3/Glenelg and Arnisdale. What a lovely day that was. We drove over the Bealach na Ratagan to Glenelg and then along to coast to the end of the road at Coran. The weather was typically Scotish. Sunny one minute and showers the next. A day of rainbows. Coran also overlooks the hills of Knoydart so we got some pretty spectacular views.

4/We also made a second trip out to Plockton one evening,

5/Sal walked over The Skye Bridge one evening and I picked her up in Kyleakin

6/ One damp afternoon I drove along Glen Aroch, over The Bealach Udal and down to Kylerhea which was quite spectacular.

Oh and on the last day I drove to Elgol.....