Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: 2019

A Winter Wonderland

Sometimes beauty is sat on your doorstep and you fail to see it until you get a morning like this. This was an area I usually just drive through, either on my way home or to some other destination. Usually its the coffee shops at Brougham Hall, Lowther Castle or Larch Cottage Nurseries at Melkinthorpe that are attracting me but today it looked so breathtaking with all the hoar frost on the trees, walls and fences that it just forced me to stop.

All the photos were taken within a few miles of Penrith and in the triangle encompassing Eamont Bridge, Brougham Hall and Brougham Castle and all were roadside shots. Also the hoar frost was very localised because just a mile down the road at Clifton and beyond, everything was back to its winter drabness.

People often say that you see the world differently and more intimately when you have an interest in photography and that is true. Before my camera days, I would have probably just carried on my journey home and missed nature's stunning display.

Eamont Bridge

Brougham Castle

River Eamont

Frosted Branch, Brougham

Frosted Fence, Brougham

Frosted Seed Pods

Brougham Hall Farm

Country Lane, Brougham

Brougham Hall Farm

Frosted Berries

Frosted Coppice, Brougham

Glen Nevis and Rannoch Moor

My last day and I woke up to a very cold and frosty morning so, rather than just setting off back home, I decided to make the most of the conditions by paying Glen Nevis a visit. I drove along the glen as far as the lower falls, taking photos of anything which took my fancy until the sun rose above the hillside and began to thaw out the valley.

I was as pleased as Punch with the weather conditions as they just got better and better the farther south I travelled. I first stopped off at Glen Etive to get a shot of the River Coupall waterfall with The Buachaille Etive Mor behind. It was a good job that the weather was so cold and the ground frozen because the place would have been a quagmire if not and all caused by people like me. That will be the last time I stop off there. It's a pity they can't block the area off so that the ground can recover.

Rannoch Moor really was a winter wonderland. Parts of the moor were still frosted over and the clouds were just starting to beak to reveal the snow capped hills of The Black Mount. Moments like that are very few and far between and I just didn't want to leave but leave I must as time was getting on.

Looking back over my three day break, the weather was mainly very kind to me. I did have a wet drive back from Mallaig on my first day but it didn't really spoil my day overall. Ardnamurchan had been a great day but my journey back home had been the icing on the cake.

Glen Nevis

River Nevis

Lower Falls

River Nevis

Buachaille Etive Mor

River Coupall waterfalls

Black Rock Cottage

Rannoch Moor

Cloud Clearing The Black Mount

Lone Tree, Rannoch Moor

Rannoch Moor

Lochan na Strainge

Loch Bà

Ardgour and Ardnamurchan

The only feasible way to get over to Ardnamurchan is via the Corran Ferry (about ten miles down the road from Fort William). Once across Loch Linnhe, I still had a forty five mile drive; a thirty four mile section of which was on single track roads with passing places. The coffee I had in the local cafe at Strontion was well received and set me up nicely for the horrors ahead as Strontian marks the end of normal roads and the start of the single track roads.

The worst part was from a village called Salen on Loch Sunart to The Natural History Centre at Glenmore which I should imagine was about ten miles in length and pure driving hell with one blind bend after another. To make things worse, the Natural History Centre Cafe, which I usually call in to break up the drive, was closed for the season so there was no coffee for me for the rest of the day. Fortunately for me I'd had that morning caffeine fix at the cafe in Strontian. The going from Glenmore onward was a lot easier; the road was still single track but at least I could see a fair way ahead of me plus I knew that I wasn't too far from the turn off for Sanna Bay.

Sanna Bay, as usual, didn't let me down in any way shape or form, you only have to look at the photos to see how beautiful it was. I may not have had the weather that I had last year but the stormier conditions brought a lot more drama to the scene. Unfortunately the rougher seas kept the dolphins at bay which was a disappointment and the time I spent hanging around waiting for them to appear, made it too late for me to go to the Lighthouse at Ardnamurchan Point.

I'd still had a belting day and, as I had visited the lighthouse a couple of times in recent years, I wasn't all that upset. If I had been prepared to drive all the way back to Fort William in darkness then I suppose I could have paid a quick visit there but the roads are bad enough in daylight hours.

I got back to the village of Glenuig just as the last of the sun was lighting up the hills across the bay and the sunset I got at Glenfinnan really was the icing on the cake. It had been a fairly long day but worth it and I was glad to get back into Fort William for a couple of beers and a bite to eat.