Sunday 12 September 2010

Up to Scotland (Luss & Loch Lomond)


I planned a week of tourism and hill walking in the Southern Highlands of Scotland earlier in the year during May, but could not get accommodation at such short notice. I found a great place to stay (my next post to be published) and negotiated some holiday from work to enable me to visit this area.
As I was driving north on the A82 road, I noticed several views of Loch Lomond through the trees, so I thought I would try and find a place to park and re-connect with a village that I had not seen since I was a child.... from the back seat of my parents car.


Loch Lomond seems to be one of the more well known Scottish Lochs made famous by a song and is one of the largest with a distance of 24 miles by 5 miles at its widest point. For the record, it has 38 islands including a hotel on one and some of the others are inhabited by a few people. It will come as no surprise from what you have observed so far that there are quite a few boats around.


Boat tours on the Loch are quite popular to see the various islands including the back drop of the mountain Ben Lomond. The people on the pier (below) seem to be quite patient waiting for the boat as they can enjoy the peace and tranquility of the view (above)......


......... although I'm not quite sure if this traveller was looking forward to the experience as the owner was purchasing some tickets for the boat and seemed more interested in something on the Loch shore.






Luss village had a street of cottages built in the 18th and 19th century for the slate and cotton workers of that time. Nowadays they still have local people living in them and they are the subject of artists and a magnet for tourists !!
Historically, the village originally had a name of Clachan Dubh which meant "dark village" due to the lack of daylight because of the surrounding hills particularly in winter. I was certainly struggling with the light for the camera today due to the amount of threatening clouds at times.





Lastly, It's sad that the hunters of Scottish wildlife who no doubt braved the cold, wet and windy moors see the remains of their work ending up outside a tourist shop by the pier ... as coat hangers !!


11 comments:

  1. Thanks for a grand tour. the light is not always our friend but these are fine. The antlers are more likely to be shed than shot so worry not.

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  2. Wow! 18th and 19th century cottages!!! That's interesting.

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  3. Very nice and relaxing place!
    Those houses in the village are beautiful!

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  4. Even those no-nonsense, sturdy stone cottages are made pretty by the planting and the view.

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  5. Thanks for visiting my blog. What beautiful pictures of Loch Lomond and Luss. They seem like very serene places and I would love to visit. Somehow the threatening clouds make them seem more appealing.

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  6. Such a beautiful trip you are doing...
    Thank you very much, for your words in my blog.
    This moment in my life is sad..., but that's life.
    hug
    Felisa

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  7. Hello,
    So many beautiful pictures of this lovely landscape.

    Have a nice day.

    Greetings from Norway.

    Berit.

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  8. The views from Scotland were both nice and very well composed - you obviously know what you are doing. I'm very fond of Scotland, and especially the highlands. I hope that they one day will reopen the ferry between Newcastle and Norway so that one can bring the car over again.

    PS Thank you for the comment - doorways are sure to make their reappearance.

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  9. Beautiful Loch Lomond, but I especially love the photo of Luss village. I don't know why I hadn't become a follower of this blog until now. I mean, Britain is where I long to be! :-) We've never been to Scotland, and only have been as far north as Richmond. I would love to do a tour of Scotland.

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  10. Beautiful pics - beautiful place.

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