Clarkes in England and Scotland 2024: Day 31 - Isle of Skye

Day 31 - Isle of Skye - 8 October 2024

We woke to a stunning day. The air was calm and the loch was like a mirror. What a place this is. There is no traffic noise and all we hear are birds.

Amazing

Don enjoying the day

We have a lovely house that we have thoroughly enjoyed but must now leave. Even though there was a fireplace, we did not need to light it. We did enjoy the lounge and of course the view of the lake. WE have had a wonderful stay in this amazingly beautiful house.

The view through the window!

Don and me enjoying the lounge

Narelle and Julie enjoying the lounge

We had enjoyed a couple of local brews just to support the industry. They taste very good and there is a huge variety.

The local brews

We started towards Oban, a beautiful coastal town with a huge harbour. We dropped in to see Sleat (pronounced Slate) which was the area where the McInnes (Narelle's ancestors) lived. It is a peninsular at the southern end of the Isle of Skye.

We then headed south. Shortly after crossing the bridge onto the mainland, we came across Eilean Donan, an extraordinary castle that has been built on an island. It is accessible by a bridge. It still has an operational portcullis that is lowered and raised every year when the clan meet.

The first castle was constructed in the early 13th century and there have been at least four additions. At the end of the 14th century, the castle was reduced to about 20% of the original size, probably because fewer men were required to defend it.

In 1719, 46 Spanish soldiers took over the castle. They had stored gunpowder, and were just awaiting the delivery of weapons, including canon from Spain. The English Government had heard about the plan of the Spanish to support the Jacobites and they sent three heavily armed frigates. The bombardment of the castle by the British lasted three days. However, there wasnot a lot of damage because due in some places the walls are up to 14 feet thick. Finally, Captain the Spanish were overwhelmed and that is when the government troops discovered the magazine of 343 barrels of gunpowder. So they used it to blow up what had remained of the castle.

For about 200 years, the ruins of Eilean Donan lay neglected and open to the elements. Then Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap bought the island in 1911. He and his Clerk of Works, Farquar Macrae, dedicated the next 20 years of their lives to the reconstruction of Eilean Donan. The castle was rebuilt according to the surviving ground plan of earlier phases and was completed in the July of 1932. What a history.

Photographs are not permitted inside so we have none to include here.

Eilean Donan

The entrance

Narelle enjoying the castle

The bridge to Eilean Donan

We spent more than an hour walking through the castle and imagining how life must have been for those who lived here. I suppose that would have depended on who your parents were!

We continued to head south towards Oban. A little bit off the track is the viaduct used in the films of Harry Potter. After some debate, we decided that we should spend an extra forty minutes and go. we are so glad that we did. We arrived about 10 minutes before the daily steam train travelled over the viaduct. What a spectacular show.