Its a far crooning is pulling me away . .

In Newtonmore we are in the Great Glen and the hotel where we are staying was used in a few of the episodes of the Monarch of the Glen as were some of the buildings in the village. Woke up to a frosty morning but still sunny. We atre not experiencing any discomfort from the volcanic ash that you are hearing about - all is OK even though the whole of the UK air system has been shut down! Some of the group went to a Highland farm for a sheep dog exhibition then the first stop was to Culloden Moor the scene of the Battle of Culloden on 16th April (this day!!!) 1746. It is a declared war grave and the day Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Highlanders were defeated in a one hour battle and slaughtered by the English though Charlie escaped and headed into exile. It also marked the end of the clan system in Scotland. We drove through Inverness and down the side of Loch Ness (no Nessie!) to Urquhart Castle then turned right and took the Road to the Isles along Glen Shiel past the towering 5 Sisters of Kintail listening to a CD - particularly Westering Home which stirred the memories. Its no longer a ferry to Skye but a brdige and we had lunch at the Castle Moil cafe followed by a short drive on the island where we passed an old thatched cottage with the thatch being held in place by stones hanging over the side. On the west it became very cold and quite cloudy. We headed back via Loch Carron scenic lookout to Ledgowan Lodge which is a outback highland B&B where we had afternoon tea - a photo of a beautiful thistle (in memory of Aunt Lorna!) FInally back at Newtonmore at 6pm via Inverness - its still cold but sunny again.
On our way out this am we were being passed by lots of police qand other emergency service vehicles going in the opposite direction - have just discovered there had been a Coach accident further south of us - if you hear anything - we are just fine. Off to Balmoral tomorrow for lunch with the Corgis.