Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: July 2018

An unsociable and miserable git above Wharfedale!

I don't think I can ever remember The Yorkshire Dales being as dry and as parched as they are at the moment. I bet you can count on one hand the number of times it has rained over these last couple of months and there isn't much forecast either. We dont just need the odd shower or the odd day to fill up the reservoirs and put a bit of green back in to the landscape, we need a prolonged spell.

This little stroll was above Appletreewick and can be made in to a nice round which conveniently allows you to stop off at The Craven Arms for refreshments if required. It was the opposite way round to most walks because I started on the moors and then drop down to the valley and then back up again.

It is an area where many old bridleways cross so, if you have a map, you can basically walk as far as you want for as long as you feel fit. One of the tracks takes you down to Hartlington Bridge and from there its only a mile or so riverside walk in to Burnsall and The Red Lion. Another takes to Dibble Bridge and Grimwith Reservoir which would be a much longer walk.

Despite all the tracks, the area is very quiet because everyone heads down the main Wharfe valley and its honeypots. In fact I only met a few people the whole of the time I was out walking but I could hear and occasionally see the masses below. Burnsall looked particularly busy.

Being an unsociable and miserable git, I did turn around shortly before I reached valley level but on a midweek day I would have gone into Appletreewick and popped in The Craven Arms for a pint. I'm not one of those people who moans about how busy a place is but I do tent to steer clear of those places or go on quieter days.

I am a great believer that everyone is entitled to enjoy the outdoors as long as they leave the place as they found it and take their litter home which, sadly, is not always the case.

Sheep pen, Appletreewick Pasture

Wharfedale

Meeting of the ways

Bridleway to Hartlington Bridge

Wharfedale

Lone tree and Simon's Seat

Track to Appletreewick

Descent to Appletreewick

Above Appletreewick

Height Lathe

Filling the gap

Loch Clair reflections.

Today was another morning of blue skies and calmness as I made my way back down to Fort William via Torridon. I took a bit of a gamble on having a walk down to Loch Clair; just to see if it had some decent reflections and how I was rewarded! It was like a mirror with perfect reflections of the massive hills of Liathach and Beinn Eighe and these views of the hills were complemented by the rows of Scots Pines lining the far shore.

The reason it had been a gamble was because the parking area for the Coulin Estate (on which the loch stands) is well before the Loch actually comes in to view so it really was pure guess work along with a lot of finger crossing. Being there early also caught the reflections at their very best as ripples were already starting to form as I headed back to my car.

The private road down to the loch is only about a mile in length and doesn't really warrant any sort of description and, as I think the photos tell the full story of the view, I'll just say that I felt really blessed to have been there and it was a fitting way to end my short break away.

On a side note, I can well recommend Smidge for repelling midges, horse flies and any other insect which thrives on human blood. I gave myself a good spraying of the stuff as soon as I got out of the car and not one of the little blighters would come anywhere near me....result!!!!

It was a pleasant enough drive back down but the thought of having to spend time in a hectic Fort William after the peace and tranquillity of Wester Ross put a bit of a dampener on things. Fort William is a place go to and stay in because you have to and not through choice. There is nothing nice about the place and, on a night time, I find most of the pubs a bit rough and a couple darn right intimidating. Its only saving grave is it's close proximity to Glen Nevis which is one of the finest glens there is. Even the Mighty Ben looks an unappealing lump from Fort William!

Anyway it was only an overnight stop as the next day I travelled back down to Cumbria for a couple of nights at the caravan. It had been a great trip but a lot of miles but they were good miles and well worth it.

The Coulin Estate

Liathach peeping over the fields.

Beinn Eighe

Liathach

Loch Clair

Liathach reflection

Loch Clair reflection

Liathach and Beinn Eighe

Beinn Eighe reflection

Liathach reflection.

To the Badachro Inn for a last pint.

These photos were taken on my last night in Wester Ross. It was a gorgeous evening so I decided to go for a final pint in The Badachro Inn just up the road. The setting is idyllic with the beer garden sitting just on the edge of the loch. For such a small place, the pub does a roaring trade and not, I might add, just from passing tourists. There were a fair few red faced, bulbous nosed local fishermen propping up the bar when I was there and none looked as though they had any intention of leaving anytime soon.

The village looks out onto an inlet projecting south from Loch Gairloch and is well guarded from the elements by the rocky islet of Eilean Horrisdale. The area was long renowned for its cod fishing, and Badachro's growth was as a result of that. When the fishery was in full operation much of the cod landed at Gairloch was dried at Badachro before being shipped to markets in Spain. Today the area's main catch comprises of lobsters, crabs and prawns: and the piles of lobster pots on Badachro's jetty plus the characters in the pub suggest that the village is still an active base for fishing vessels. Most of the boats on view in the inlet though,are leisure craft and very expensive they look too.

I usually go up to Melvaig, which is on the peninsula to the north of Gairloch, when in these parts but I didn't have the time this year. On the drive up, the views across the bay back towards Torridon are terrific so before returning to my hotel, I had a quick scoot across to take a few shots of the late evening sun on the hills. I was surprised how well they turned out and it was a fitting end to my stay.

Badachro

Fishing Boat, Badachro

Old wreck, Badachro

The Jetty, Badachro

Lose up of the old wreck

Badachro Harbour

The Torridon Hills across Loch Gairloch

Close up of the Torridon Hills across Loch Gairloch

The Isle of Skye from Loch Gairloch

Mellon Udrigle and The Coigach Peninsula

And so on to the second day of my Wester Ross visit. Today was a long drive which followed the new n500 Coast Route up to Ullapool and then northwards again to the Coigach Peninsula. On the way I had a stop off to take some photos of the beach at Mellon Udrigle which is not far from Poolewe. Getting there early was a real bonus as I had the entire place just about to myself. If the truth be known, I picked the wrong time of day to visit as the sun was directly in front of me but I hadn't really fancied calling there on my way back down. Plus I couldn't have guaranteed what the weather would have been like later in the day.

Wester Ross has everything; the high and inhospitable mountains of Torridon, the mighty ridges of An Teallach, the stunning Loch Maree with it's guardian Slioch plus the sheer beauty of The Coigach Peninsula. Even Coigach has two different faces. Its has its own mountainous area and this is then contrasted by its hidden coastal settlements and impressive bays. All have such romantic names like Achnahaird, Altandhu, Polbain and Achiltibuie.

The views everywhere, whether its to the mountains or to the coast are stunning. The jewel in the crown though is the view you get of the Summer Isles as you approach Altandu. You round a corner and there they sit, directly in front of you and set out as near to perfection as you could imagine. I remember the very first time I saw this view; it literally took my breath away. So much so that I just had to pull my car in to a passing place and sit and take it all in.

This year I discovered a cracking viewpoint for looking inland to the hills of Coigach as well. It was again just out of Altandhu and, as an added bonus, there wasn't much effort involved in reaching it. Fortunately there was a large pull off area as near as makes no difference to it as well and then it was only a short walk with about a hundred foot of climbing. The next to the last photo on the blog was taken from it.

Earlier in the day I had been treated to a low flying display by two RAF planes near the peaks of Ben Mor Coigach and Sgurr an Fhidhleir. As luck would have it I was out of the car anyway taking photos so I managed to get one of the planes as it whizzed by. The hills really amplified the sound of the engines which deafened me as they passed overhead and I could still hear them roaring away long after they had disappeared from view.

I soon left the hills behind me and arrived at the coast. The first bay you see is the most impressive of all, namely Achnahaird Bay. Even with the tide in as it was today, there is still a wide expanse of accessible golden sands which are interspersed with small rocky coves; a photographer's dream!

Depending on the shift of the sands in the bay, the remains of the keel and a few ribs of the hull of a shipwreck can be visible from time to time. The wreck was the remains of the Mathilde - built in 1850. The ship was sailing from Norway to Liverpool with a cargo of pit props when on, 24 March 1881, it was caught in a Force 10 gale and driven aground in the bay. Fortunately the crew escaped and no-one was lost. Today there was no wreck to be seen, whether or not it appeared when the tide was fully out I do not know.

Roads in the area were very few and far between so I just did a circuit of the peninsula, stopping once to climb up to the viewpoint to take some photos of the Coigach hills and then again at Bardentarbet Bay near Achiltibuie where I just had a break to admire the view across the sound to the distant hills I had passed on my journey up that morning. In a straight line I should imagine they were no more than fifteen miles away but by road they were between fifty and sixty. You can see as far as the Torridon Hills which, by road, are 90 miles away!

I didn't have the time or the inclination to carry on up the coast to Lochinver as the road is single track and never-ending plus I was starting to feel a bit peckish. Consequently by the time I had arrived in Ullapool I was feeling darn right ravenous so immediately headed for The Seaforth Chippy. The haddock and chips really touched the spot and revitalised me for my journey back down to Loch Maree.

Driving is never a chore in these parts as the roads are never busy. The views are also fantastic from start to finish. Coigach never lets me down and I simply adore the place, today was no exception!