Lochs & Glens

As elsewhere in Britain, we were somewhat taken by surprise at the intensity and length of the cold snap at the turn of the year. Fortunately Scotland is well used to harsh winter weather and, on the whole, our tours were not too badly affected. One exception however was the Christmas party at Inversnaid, who had an extra day added to their holidays as the snow ploughs didn't reach the hotel until too late on their day of departure. We do hope this was seen more of a bonus than an inconvenience!

The Lake of Menteith, familiar to many of our guests from tours of the Trossachs, froze to a depth of at least seven inches for the first time since 1979. This is the minimum of ice necessary for a Bonspeil, or Grand Curling Match to be announced.

Bonspeils have a fine Scottish tradition and, over the past two centuries, 33 such events have been held, often involving curlers numbering in their thousands. Sadly all of these were before the days of Health and Safety Officialdom which promptly banned the event saying that a proper risk assessment was impractical and warned that no-one was to venture onto the ice.

To the great credit of the Scots, these orders were ignored and instead, they relied on the tried and tested standard of ice thickness that has kept people safe for the past 200 years.

I travelled to Menteith during the second weekend in January to find many hundreds of people on the lake. More than a dozen curling matches were taking place. There were hastily erected hot dog stands, skaters of all levels of ability, kilted pipers and children being dragged on sleds across the mile of ice to the island of Inchmahome where several impromptu barbecues were being held. It was a most heart-warming sight and, for the many youngsters there, an unforgettable experience that may not be repeated for many a year, if ever. All in all, a rare triumph for good old-fashioned common sense.

Michael Wells - Chairman

Royal Yachts have been an important part of our British heritage since the restoration of Charles II in 1660. In all, 84 royal yachts have been built, although not all monarchs were content with just one. In 1831 for example, during the reign of William IV, five were simultaneously in service. In earlier times the role of the Royal Yacht was primarily that of a warship, but during the past 150 years or so they have been used primarily for ceremonial purposes.

The Royal Yacht that most of us remember is Britannia, which replaced an earlier vessel Victoria and Albert III. Plans for Britannia began during the reign of King George VI, but sadly he died in 1952, four months before the keel of the yacht was due to be laid and his daughter, Princess Elizabeth, succeeded him to the throne. The new Queen, together with her husband, Prince Philip, played a major part in the design of the yacht, personally approving plans and selecting furniture, fabrics and paintings.

She was launched at Clydebank in April, 1953 and since that time she has helped to make Queen Elizabeth the most travelled monarch the world has ever known. Not only has The Queen and her family travelled the world on Britannia, but the world - its statesmen and leaders - has visited them on board. From Sydney to Samoa, The Queen's guests have been entertained just as they would be at a royal palace on British soil.

For a state visit some five tonnes of luggage, including everything from The Queen's jewels to the famous bottles of Malvern water for Her Majesty's tea, would be brought on board. With The Queen came up to 45 members of the Royal Household, who together with Britannia's Officers and Yachtsmen, ensured that each visit ran like clockwork and that no detail was overlooked.

Britannia served the Royal Family well for 44 years carrying out 968 official voyages all over the globe, but in January 1997, she set sail from Portsmouth to Hong Kong on her final voyage. She was decommissioned on 11 December 1997 at Portsmouth Naval Base at a ceremony attended by Her Majesty, together with most of the senior members of the Royal Family, and the normally impassive monarch famously shed a tear publicly after disembarking for the last time.

Nowadays Britannia sits proudly in her newly built berth in Leith and tours of this iconic ship are included in many of the 2010 itineraries from the Loch Achray Hotel. This unique insight into royal life on the high seas will, we can promise you, be an unforgettable experience.

Two products, hot off the press, will be available for purchase shortly. Firstly we have the latest hotel booklet in the Lochs and Glens Hotels series which describes the interesting and sometimes chequered history of the Highland Hotel together with notes on the surrounding area. This has been a joint venture between Chris Lumb and myself which has involved some fascinating research at the National Archives in Edinburgh which, among other things, finally established just why it was originally called the Station Hotel when it was nowhere near the station! Available by post from Head Office at a cost of just £3.95 inc p&p.

Most of our guests will have seen the DVD that features our various hotels in bygone times. It has been prepared from our archives of images that have been collected over the past 30 years and is shown on the bedroom TVs, usually on the default channel. Many Lochs and Glens regulars have asked if they could buy a copy. Well now they can, and at an extremely competitive price of £3.95 including p&p. Alternatively both items will be stocked in the hotels before too long.

We have to thank one of our regular readers for finding this fascinating photograph in her local bric-a-brac shop.

It seems to show the Loch Awe Hotel immediately after the building was completed in 1881. There is a mess of builders' rubble surrounding the building, the hotel appears to be unoccupied and a line of railway trucks sit in the sidings below. Could these have been used to bring the building materials to the site? The railway line to Oban had been completed just one year earlier in 1880 and this would have been the logical means of transporting the quarried stones used in the construction.

This must be the earliest known image of the Loch Awe Hotel and we are delighted to add it to our company archives.

The idea of a canal being constructed across central Scotland to provide a route for sea-going vessels between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde was first considered during the reign of Charles II, but nothing was done until the middle of the 18th century.

The Forth and Clyde Canal or the Great Canal, as it was called in its early days was eventually started in 1768. Construction took 22 years, including a 7 year break during which no work was carried out due to lack of funds. For its time, it was an engineering marvel that included a total of 39 locks.

In 1818 an additional spur to Edinburgh was built, branching off at Falkirk. It was designed primarily to transport much needed coal into the heart of Scotland's capital city. The canals enjoyed considerable success for over a century, but eventually the more efficient railway networks took away the canals' business and they fell into neglect. The Falkirk locks were filled in during 1933 and by 1963 the entire system was closed down. Motorways were built over the remains and it seemed most unlikely that these marvels of engineering would ever be used again.

However, a white knight came to their rescue in the form of the Millennium Fund which, together with other partners, provided an astonishing £84m which has restored these canals to their former glory. Centrepiece of the system is undoubtedly the truly spectacular Falkirk wheel, which replaced the earlier flight of 11 locks.

Boat trips are available, and the journey starts by sailing into the bottom gondola of the wheel, which then makes a graceful sweep upwards to join the Union Canal 35 metres above. The ascent takes approximately 15 minutes, allowing plenty of time to enjoy the stunning views of the spectacular surrounding scenery. Once lifted, the vessel sails along the Union Canal passing across an aqueduct, then through the 180 metre Roughcastle Tunnel. After a short cruise the boat returns for an effortless descent back to the Visitor Centre.

We are pleased to announce that this memorable trip is to be included in a number of Inversnaid Hotel itineraries during the coming year.

A welcome return to several Loch Long itineraries this year is a tour of Mount Stuart, the amazing Gothic palace created by the 3rd Marquis of Bute situated on the island named after him. In addition, there are extensive gardens to explore, including the 5 acre "Wee Garden", the famous Rock Gardens and a remodelled Victorian Kitchen Garden.

Although born in Inverness, Maggie Robertson spent her early years in the village of Caol, a small community close to Fort William, best known for being at the foot of Neptune's Staircase, the impressive flight of locks at the southern end of the Caledonian Canal.

On leaving school she worked briefly in a local fish factory before moving on to a rather more interesting life in a well known Fort William pub. A bonus of her 14 years there was meeting several film personalities, all of whom were working on movies being shot on location in nearby Glen Nevis; notably Mel Gibson who was working on Braveheart, Robin Williams in Being Human and Tim Roth during the making of Rob Roy, (any of whom walking into your pub would definitely brighten your day!)

In January, 2008 Maggie was one of the original group of employees to join the Highland Hotel when it first reopened as a Lochs and Glens Hotel. Initially employed in the dining room, her leadership talents were quickly recognised and she was soon promoted to Supervisor and shortly after, Assistant Manageress.

She loves meeting new people, but initially found it hard when it was time to go on the coach to say good-bye to the departing groups. To quote Maggie "I would get really upset as it was like saying goodbye to your family. I'm getting a bit better now although I still tend to get too attached".