Ullapool - Mountain Fest !

OK - I've saved the best to last. The BEST thing about Ullapool was that it sat among mountains! Beautiful mountains with wonderful Gaelic names like An Teallach, Ben mor Coigach, Stac Pollaidh, Cul Beag... Friends walked to the summit of some of these, while I ensured an adequate supply of tea and cake at base camp! I shall stop writing and let you gaze upon mountains......

Ullapool - Town

Ullapool town is very picturesque, but I was surprised by the layout which is basically a grid system. Not at all usual in the UK. However it seems that Ullapool was founded by the British Fisheries Society around 1788 as a fishing station, with boats mostly fishing for herring. The village (as it was then) was laid out deliberately on a grid system, with wide avenues, and terraces of houses with large gardens for folk to grow vegetables. The fishing industry has gone through decline and increase over the succeeding years, including "Klondikers" - large factory ships anchored in Loch Broom. Now the local fishing fleet consists of just a dozen boats who fish for prawns, lobsters, scallops and crab.


In latter years of course, like many other sea ports, tourism has increased with former fishing vessels providing trips to nearby islands. There are various festivals too, the weekend we arrived there was a Gaelic music festival, and the following weekend a literary festival. I managed to get to one of the readings given by Glasgow author, Anne Donavan, who read from her new book in dialect "Being Emily". I so enjoyed the reading, I'm now reading the book.

Ullapool - the Summer Isles

Today's photos are of the Summer Isles which are just off the coast between Ullapool and Achiltibuie (NW Scotland). The islands are a haven for wild-life. Each evening we watched the sun setting over the Summer Isles, really beautiful.





There are beautiful beaches along near Achiltibuie, which is a small hamlet. I took the regular bus service out there one morning and the bus driver gave us all a guided tour of the area, pointing out local landmarks and telling us some of the history. He had moved up from England having been a coach tour driver for many years and on his own initiative had started giving the guided tour on the regular bus route! The bus stopped at a cafe at Achiltibuie long enough for tea and cake and a short walk, then back on a loop road and along the single track road (with passing places) to Ullapool. The journey was a bit hair-raising as the single track road follows the edge of the mountains and is very winding. I think we started the few car drivers we met - fortunately there are plenty of "passing places".

A beach near Achiltibuie

Ullapool - Leckmelm Gardens

Ullapool was very green with lots of *big* trees. These are photos from Leckmelm Gardens & Arboretum which is just outside the town. The 12-acre walled garden was originally planted in the 1870s. They fell into neglect from the mid-1940s until 1985 when they were restored. The guide books says that although the gardens are north of Moscow, due to the waters of Loch Broom being warmed by the Gulf Stream, lots of exotic trees and shrubs flourish in the microclimate.

The garden was full of rhodedendruns, azaleas, and camelias as well as stunning trees. I hugged a giant sequoia (Redwood) and my favourite tree was the cedar at the top of this post.


One sad tree - the name of which I forget, had been blown over in a winter gale and had been cut back, though the wood was being re-used for benches, seats and other things. But it was sad to see such a great tree felled. There had been lots of snow damage to trees too, but work was being done to encourage new growth.



There were peedie lambs in the field next to the gardens. This one was enjoying the sunshine. Lambing in Ullapool must be late, like that of Orkney.

Ullapool Holiday

As promised here are some photos of the scenery at Ullapool where I stayed with some friends for a few days. The cottage overlooked Loch Broom, a sea loch and was just outside Ullapool at a place called Rhue.




We had some fantastic sunsets, and there was a pleasant walk down to the lighthouse - which was actually not very big, you can just make out the silhouette in the photo below! Not like the lighthouse next door to me - Hoy High! But it was lovely to go down to the shore and watch the sun setting and listen to the birds.

Highland Spring

OK I confess, I've been away on holiday for the last week! I left you with some pix of Graemsay to keep you occupied ;-)

Got back on Sunday from a lovely week in Ullapool (very-North Western Scotland) among mountains - see photo above. I'll post more pictures later this week but I'm just trying to catch up on emails, work etc.

Returned to Orkney where it's COLD, and has just SNOWED!!



In true "Amazon" fashion - If you like reading about islands - you might also like Island life - the Blue Cabin Blog. This is by Michael Faulkner, a writer, who lives on Islandmore, Stanford Lough, an otherwise uninhabited island in Northern Ireland. His wife, Lynn, is an artist and her semi-abstract style is inspired by the landscape. Mike also sent me a link to a short video of a young seal pup who befriended them a while ago : YouTube video clip. Thanks to D for pointing me in the direction of the blog!