The Loch Way Round

Sept 2008

Six Vultures, John & Arls, Ed & Sue, Paul and myself completed a tour of the Highlands of Scotland during the first two weeks of September covering around 2100 miles.

On our way north we stopped overnight at Dudley in the West Midlands, then Kendal in Cumbria before arriving at our base camp near Dalmally, Argyllshire.

Although only briefly, we took a look around the Lake District of Ullswater and were awe struck by the scenery, which impressed from every direction. The inevitable rain began as we skirted Glasgow and stayed with us to our hotel. Whilst by Loch Lomond, we took refuge in a welcoming little tearoom before the last few miles of the day.

Ardbreknish House, our self-catering hotel, was remote but thanks to John's Tom Tom Rider 2 we arrived without any unnecessary diversions. The couple running the place were English and very hospitable. Wonderful characters were regular users of their bar and we had great fun chatting with them during our week here. We overlooked the shores of Loch Awe, which is beautiful; the only downside was their driveway that had a steep incline, adverse camber and speed bumps partnering an abundance of wet leaves!

From here we visited Oban, Fort William, Glen Coe, Tyndrum, Stalker Castle and Loch Katrine; all beautiful in their own way with brilliant roads and a distinct lack of traffic.

We next moved on to Drumnadrochet on the banks of Loch Ness where we did see a monster or two but not in the loch I’m afraid! From here we went across to Skye, which for most was the highlight of the trip. The ride to and from it was fantastic, easily equal to anything we experienced in America last year, and we got some great photographs.

We also went up to Inverness, didn’t see any virgins, but did get to Culloden the ancient battlefield that saw the last major battle on British soil. It was treated like a shrine with ancient stones still bearing the names of the fallen from way back in 1746.

As we headed back south our next stopover was Pitlochry where we met Martin and his wife Andrea. Acquaintances of Scouse, they run a wonderful hotel where we enjoyed luxurious 5 * surroundings for two days. Here we had a day off the bikes and spent our time mooching around the shops and bars where we over indulged in plenty of good food. In fact good food was an ever-present fixture of this trip adding valuable inches to most waistlines.

From here we continued south to Peebles, not the prettiest of border towns, but we were made welcome and found a great place to eat where a jolly Irishman from Tipperary was a good craic. Then onto a wee bar to listen to a bit of folk music and some youngsters playing Americana, they were great.

Off to Chester for our final nights stopover and unbeknown to us we had saved the best to last. It had won B & B of the year and was beautiful, like a show home. They had a big mad Gordon Setter running around and she was lovely. The views stretched across all the way to Liverpool. (180 Degree uninterupted view which included Liverpool Cathedral ....34 miles away)The local Pub “The Pheasant” was equally excellent and made for great final night away.

We decided to visit John Harris on our way home and he was delighted to see us all. We had tea with John, passing on our best wishes to Sandra, still recovering in hospital from an operation, before choosing to avoid any motorway back to Berkshire.

It was a lovely sunny day; in fact we hardly saw any rain during the entire trip. Eventually we split up around Oxford getting home around 5.30pm.

Summary: Another excellent trip, great company, great riding, great scenery and plenty of laughter.

What more could you ask for?

Big Rog!