Nobby's 2025 Scottish Road Trip

[Newportnobby]

Beware - could be quite yawn making 

w/c 23.6.25 I made another Scottish Road Trip, with the intention of spending a full day on the Isle of Skye. Monday was spent driving from home to Killin (just to the east of Crianlarich) where I spent the night in the Falls of Dochart Inn.
Tuesday, after a hearty breakfast, I then drove from Killin to Mallaig in diabolical weather. I deliberately reached Mallaig early as I hoped they could get me on an earlier ferry than the last one of the day which I was booked on (if you can't get the ferry it's a 3 hour drive from Mallaig round to the bridge across to the island at Kyle of Lochalsh!!). I was told to come back to the ferry terminal an hour later and they'd see what they could do. Therefore, I drove down the road a bit and parked up in a layby and had a coffee.



It looked like a railway line ran alongside the road and sea so I surmised it must be the Mallaig-Fort William line and, on checking t'interweb, saw the 'Jacobite' was due to leave Mallaig at 14.10hrs but diesel hauled, yet I'd seen glimpses of a Black 5 in Mallaig a little earlier. I got the camera/tripod out and waited and, sure enough, Black 5 45407 came along tender first and duly got filmed. I then went back to the ferry terminal and, deep joy, got on an earlier ferry for the 45 minute crossing to Skye, arriving around 16.15hrs whence I proceeded to my B & B booked for 2 nights (Tues & Weds).



Wednesday morning, and with another Scottish breakfast sitting heavy in my belly, off I went to explore the Isle of Skye. I'd bought a map but huge thanks go to forum member @chrism  who'd taken the time and effort to send me an itinerary which occupied my one day on the island. With the odd alteration, I drove 200 miles round the island but have not encountered so many miles of single track roads with passing places in ages, and I'd forgotten just how poorly other drivers understand them. At one point a herd of cattle came the other way and I just had to sit wondering "How am I going to explain these dents to my car insurance?" but, despite one trying to mount another in front of my car, they all streamed past on both sides without even disturbing a wing mirror. I guess they must be used to seeing modern contraptions.

The Old Man of Storr across Loch Fada


The Uig ferry about to depart


The Castle at Dunvegan (believe me, it's there!)


Somewhat knackered, I found somewhere to eat and then returned to my B & B.

Thursday came and I plumped for a lighter breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast (the eggs coming from the B & B owners own chickens), before heading for the bridge off the island and over to Kyle of Lochalsh. The bridge was impressive but the road was, it seemed, a corrugated washboard, maybe to allow decent drainage. The road from Kyle of Lochalsh down to Spean Bridge was hugely scenic but from there to Dumbarton for my next night's stop it was a case of "I've travelled this both last year and this year". Thursday night was spent in a Premier Inn. I always like these as you know exactly what you're going to get for your dosh and, as @Bealman  can verify, their breakfasts are really good.
Friday, and after the aforementioned breakfast, I loaded up and headed for home in filthy weather. At one point on the M6 my satnag told me to get off at Junction 40 (and matrix signs indicated the motorway was closed after that junction), but several of us carried on to see no blockage, no stoppage, in fact.......zilch. I just felt sorry for all those villages/towns who'd had all the diverted lorries etc disturb their peace and pollute the air. I arrived home at about 13.30 hrs after a total of 1002 miles in mostly foul weather but my good Qashqai never missed a beat and I had an overall fuel consumption of 47.3mpg.

Now to the bad bits (if you're still awake).

The Isle of Skye itself
Weather aside, it is obvious the roads have been severely neglected, to the extent  I was guessing which pothole to hit without knowing how deep they were. It must have been a nightmare for the many motorcyclists/cyclists I saw over there.
There are many single track roads with passing places but not many seemed to know how to use them, while some locals just used brute force even if they were in the wrong.
Many of the roads signs were so filthy as to be illegible and I would swear many had been sprayed in some form of 'anti tourist action' which seems to be the in thing nowadays.
The island seemed rammed and many of the tourist spots were just driven past as there was just nowhere to stop. Every car park/layby was chock full.


Each night I downloaded all the film clips from my front and rear dashcams to a memory stick. On average there would be 320 x 3 minute clips to download which would take a couple of hours or so. Then the SD card in the dashcam would be formatted so it was ready for the next day. This worked just fine for the first 2 days but from Tuesday night onwards, although the footage is there on the memory stick, my laptop will just not open any of the .MOV films or even .jpgs. Therefore my day on Skye and the return journey is lost to me, hopefully temporarily. This includes my film of the Black 5 which, although taken Tuesday, was downloaded on the Wednesday evening.


(I have been to my computer guru this morning 7.7.25 and he can't do anything but believes it's all there and will need someone with maybe photo/video editing software to salvage it for me)

[Bob G]

Believe it or not, this picture I took is my windows screensaver.
Must have been in the same place to take this picture of the Pier at Uig.
I love Skye, but as you say, it is rammed with tourists.

Only thing is I can't figure why it's upside down!

Edit by Tank:  Fixed it for you. 

[chrism]

Believe it or not, this picture I took is my windows screensaver.
Must have been in the same place to take this picture of the Pier at Uig.

I have a few similar - hardly surprising, there's only the one layby overlooking Uig bay 

I love Skye, but as you say, it is rammed with tourists.

I haven't been for over ten years and it was pretty bad then. Now the film producers have found it, things are, I gather, considerably worse as the Instagram/Tiktok/Twitface generation want selfies where so-and-so performed in such-and-such film.
They've had to triple the size of the nearest car park to the Fairy Pools in Glen Brittle - and they still get people parking all over the place and blocking the road.

Only thing is I can't figure why it's upside down!

Sure it's not an Aussie phone?
 

[Newportnobby]

As any (serious) photographer knows, getting some height over the subject (open for @emjaybee to mention Bob) vastly improves the chances of a good pic.
When I say 'serious' I mean anyone not taking a phone shot of "Here's Mum having an ice cream" and "Here's Mum having a candy floss" and "Here's mum having fish and chips and being attacked by a seagull" and "Here's Mum looking a bit fat"

[emjaybee]

As any (serious) photographer knows, getting some height over the subject (open for @emjaybee to mention Bob) vastly improves the chances of a good pic.
When I say 'serious' I mean anyone not taking a phone shot of "Here's Mum having an ice cream" and "Here's Mum having a candy floss" and "Here's mum having fish and chips and being attacked by a seagull" and "Here's Mum looking a bit fat"

Outta luck. I've used up my 'Bob' time with that A.I. pic.

[Bob G]

Outta luck. I've used up my 'Bob' time with that A.I. pic.

I don't remember seeing that one. Which one was it?

[Train Waiting]

[...] At one point a herd of cattle came the other way [...]

That'll be a 'herd o' coos' then.

Or, where I'm from, a 'herd o' cai'.

I'm glad the girls' Sapphic escapade left your motor-car undamaged.

And I'm glad the Great Breakfast Hunt went well.

See you next year.

With all good wishes.

John

[The Q]

The islanders wanted the bridge, that allowed vastly more tourists which many now regret.

It was an easy trip across from Uig to Kyle Akin on the school bus, 50 years ago.

It won't be a "herd of coos" on the island, that's Scots, which the islanders aren't, they're Gaels, they'd say "treud chrodh".

[port perran]

What I want to know regarding the Scottish dialect is that if a mouse is a moos, as in "there's a moos on the loos in the hoos" what is a moose called?

And should my moos, loos, hoos have an e at the end or indeed should there be a u in there somewhere?

Just asking for a friend.

I'll fetch my coat and duck 

[emjaybee]

Outta luck. I've used up my 'Bob' time with that A.I. pic.

I don't remember seeing that one. Which one was it?

In the p.m.'s.

[Train Waiting]

What I want to know regarding the Scottish dialect is that if a mouse is a moos, as in "there's a moos on the loos in the hoos" what is a moose called?

In my experience, it would be called a moose.

It's interesting how many Scots and Northern English words have a pronunciation believed to be similar to Middle English, prior to the Great Vowel Shift, beginning in the 15th century, which led to Modern English. Some Scots and Northern English pronunciations (or words) are more Germanic than Modern English.

With all good wishes.

John


 

[Trainfish]

I'll fetch my coat and duck 

I didn't know you had a duck. Most people have a cat or a dog. Must be a Devon thing.