Spotted on my travels (22)

Two sculptures in Loanhead, The Coghorn Sculpure by Andrew Burton which was created as a memorial to the men who died in accidents at the Bilston Glen Colliery and other mining accidents in the community of Loanhead. A small cat originally featured on the tip of the horn, but this was removed by vandals, and is yet to be replaced.  Then the Pit Pony sculpture by Alan Heriot which was commissioned in 1987 as a tribute to the men, women and children (and presumably ponies!) that worked in the mining industry.  

Chamfron Ojo de Tigre - 9yo

Lovely to see Tigre and Lindsay today as they were finishing up a pole clinic on my turf!

Chamfron Firefly - Inchcoonans

 

Lions in the Meadows

There are twenty five life sized lion sculptures in the Meadows in Edinburgh as part of 2022 is Born Free's Year of the Lion, the centrepiece is Elsa the lioness on top of the Land Rover.  I was quite looking forward to seeing these but made the fatal mistake of going mid morning when the sun was shining.  Lets just say that the sort of parents that probably would let their children sit on a live lion are alive and well.  Add in the abandoned bikes and pushchairs, the rested coffee cups on the sculptures and the many many people with absolutely NO spatial awareness and it wasn't the most restful experience.  We may return at a time when it is not being used as a jungle gym.

Two castles and a few miles

Homeward bound, there was a dusting of snow on the higher peaks this morning, I've seen it mentioned as the first of the season.  We had a quick stop on Skye, just over the bridge to Caisteal Maol, noted that there isn't really a path to it when the tide is high...!  Our second stop was Eilean Donan and luckily the third was Kinross services because I was a wee bit naive about the road closure and long delays at J1 of the M90.  "It can't be that bad or they'd have diversions in place..." ha ha ha.  Photos do not do justice to the scenery on the north west coast, you don't get any real impression of how dramatic and rugged the hills are, how the water runs off them, how every turn has a thundering waterfall and there are rainbows every five minutes.  That said, I could not live there, still traumatised by the years in Dumfriesshire, it's too wet and even looking at the ground made me quite twitchy!

Water everywhere

The rain was torrential first thing so we took the opportunity to have a look around the Badachro distillery and grab a bottle of the coastal gin.  By then it had brightened up and we headed out, first stop the Victoria falls then on to Mellon Udrigle beach.  Our next stop was Laide community woodland and down to the cascade there, minding the hailstones.  Lastly we stopped at the Flowerdale waterfall, now the sign had unhelpfully snapped off with the distance on it, I had it in my mind it was a kilometre, it wasn't!!  Now we possibly didn't take the direct route and there was a small "oh shit" moment as it was getting closer to sunset and we were on a teeny steep track heading of into the hills but it did finally take a turn across the river and head down again.  It is a big waterfall, it is also mostly obscured by trees, we may have been a bit "over it" by then!!  Double time march to the car and on to Stag and Dough pizza (cooked over oak whisky barrel staves from a local cooperage) which we practically inhaled.  Suitable bench quote today, a variation on, “If you only walk on sunny days you’ll never reach your destination.” - Paulo Coelho.  A good motto for life (and very practical on the west coast!!)

Weaving round Wester Ross

Touristing on the west coast, Rua Reidh Lighthouse, Redpoint Beach, over the Bealach na ba for lunch at the Applecross Inn and the Torridon open air church at Am Ploc.