Glencoe cottage offered at half price for the week of October 18

Cuil Bay, near the cottage.

This is a sunset from Ballachulish bridge. These views are staggeringly beautiful at this time of year. We had a lovely e-mail from Sheelagh when they stayed recently.

Dear John, Just a quick note to let you know we had a wonderful time, you are right about Cuil bay being the most romantic place on earth. Your book of information was truly amazing I have never seen anything so comprehensive. My husband thinks the Scottish Tourist Board should employ you as you are so enthusiastic about the area. "

"Thank you" says he with appropriate blushes. When Gillian and I go to the cottage, we go to Cuil Bay first, just to look South down Loch Linnhe.

We have just one week left available in the cottage before the short breaks season starts in November. Week Commencing October the 18th - this is offered at rates which are half the normal rate, £295. If you'd like it then just e-mail us at lochsidecottage@yahoo.co.uk

Here are links to other web pages which may interest you. First, if you are looking for self catering cottage properties in Scotland you can do no better than look at these ten or so

Short holiday breaks, special last minute deals, self catering Scotland

These describe the Glencoe cottage area
Availability for the lochside cottage near Glencoe always up to date
Take a break in the Autumn at the lochside cottage
There are 20 brilliant walks around the cottage area
The details of the cottage near Glencoe, in Appin
Prices in the cottage including low season rates
How to walk and navigate the Glencoe mountains
The local history of the area
Weather and temperatures in Scotland
All in one page, the best ways of tracing your Scottish ancestors
Over 20 totally different walks in this area
Winter skiing in Glencoe and at Fort William Glen Nevis
Scottish mountain navigation Winter and Summer
Tourist information glencoe and ballachulish
Facilities for visitors to glencoe, appin and lochaber
Easy munro hill walks
Most people can just walk up Ben Nevis
This guide helps you to find your ideal Scottish holiday cottage + 26 properties

If you are touring Scotland by car look at these pages:
Driving and touring around Scotland
The wrong way to tour Scotland, don't do it like this
How to drive the single track roads of the Scottish highlands

That's enough. You must be exhausted.

John

Had a very happy honeymoon here in the cottage

Gillian and I have been in the cottage for this last week. It has been adorable, the weather in the early part of the week was brilliant. Too hot. We've had warm rain to-day.
I took this picture at Loch Arkaig last Tuesday. It is a remote and beautiful place. Apparently, somewhere about, there is buried a trunk full of French gold to support the rebel army of Bonnie Prince Charlie in the Rebellion of 1745. Of course I believe it.

We found this lovely message in our Guest Book from the previous visitors to the cottage.

"Love the views of the loch, the waterfall and the sheepy visitors that drop by every evening. Found the cottage guidebook really helpful and informative, and the os maps came in handy.

Weather was very mixed - don't do a Loch Sheil cruise or drive all the way to Skye in horizontal rain! But we had some fantastic days out and even got sunburnt on Mull.

The Great Western railway had spectacular scenery and we saw a sea eagle driving down the Ardnamurchan peninsular. The highlight of the trip was a cruise around staff and the Treshish islands - sitting next to puffins and seeing so many guillemots, razorbills and cormorants, was very special. To top it off we saw seals and a basking shark on the return to Mull.

Thanks, and for a fab meal definitely go to the Holly Tree Restaurant - the sticky toffee pud was scrumptious."

Availability for the lochside cottage near Glencoe always up to date
Take a break in the Autumn at the lochside cottage
There are 20 brilliant walks around the cottage area
The details of the cottage near Glencoe, in Appin
Prices in the cottage including low season rates
How to walk and navigate the Glencoe mountains
The local history of the area
Weather and temperatures in Scotland
All in one page, the best ways of tracing your Scottish ancestors
Over 20 totally different walks in this area
Winter skiing in Glencoe and at Fort William Glen Nevis
Scottish mountain navigation Winter and Summer
Tourist information glencoe and ballachulish
Facilities for visitors to glencoe, appin and lochaber
Easy munro hill walks
Most people can just walk up Ben Nevis
This guide helps you to find your ideal Scottish holiday cottage + 26 properties

Trace your Scotland family ancestors with our new website page

If your family name is Bruce, well you should be hailed as a descendant of Scotland's great Hero, who won the War of Independance from England at the famous Batttle of Bannockburn. You might find your ancestors statue, near Stirling.

If your family name is Forbes then for some reason your name is searched far more frequently than any other in Google, I mean 15 times more than the next popular Scottish name.

We've put up a new page in our website to help people find their ancestors.

We have surveyed the biggest family tree websites in some depth and reported on the best ones, all summarised in one page.

All in one page, the best ways of tracing your Scottish ancestors

Here are some other historical pages and the best pages for Tourists.

The Viking battle in Glencoe
The true story of the Glencoe massacre
mystery of king robert the bruce and ardchattan priory
the knights templar in argyll
the battle of bannockburn
Over 20 totally different walks in this area
Winter skiing in Glencoe and at Fort William Glen Nevis
Scottish mountain navigation Winter and Summer
Tourist information glencoe and ballachulish
Facilities for visitors to glencoe, appin and lochaber
Easy munro hill walks
Most people can just walk up Ben Nevis
This guide helps you to find your ideal Scottish holiday cottage + 26 properties

Serious shortage of rainfall on the West coast of Scotland

Rain in Scotland is unbelievable. It is so often horizontal for the tourists yet there is not enough of it for new housing; you need flood prevention measures near Fort William, yet there is so little rain these days that the sand eels are dying out.
You might not think that to be important, but if you were a Puffin or a Gannet it would drive you into exile. No feed, you see. As a result the Puffin colonies are dying out.
This year Lochaber, including our area of Glencoe has had its driest May ever.
The Small Isles of Muck, Canna, Eigg, Rhum, Tiree and Coll are in fairly desperate straits. These Islands get 40% less rainfall than the mainland anyway.
There is to be an Annual Opening Day on Eigg on Sunday and the locals are filling up toilets by hand and not flushing them where possible - let alone not watering their gardens.
You can't get new buildings built in the Western Highlands, despite huge demand, because Scottish Water find it to be too expensive to supply drainage and sewerage systems.
The fact is that no one is going to put in the necessary money to the area because they cannot get a return on it. The population is too small, the economy is unbalanced with a huge population in the Summer and no one around in the Winter.
So when you see the weather map clouds lying thick over Scotland, have a think about the Small Isles - and our little micro climate in Kentallen. We might be fine and sunny there, with no one noticing. On the other hand we might be drowning in rain.

John
I thought you might like to see some of the more helpful pages on our website, relating to Information about Glencoe and about Walking in the area.
Over 20 totally different walks in this area
Winter skiing in Glencoe and at Fort William Glen Nevis
Scottish mountain navigation Winter and Summer
Tourist information glencoe and ballachulish
Facilities for visitors to glencoe, appin and lochaber
Easy munro hill walks
Most people can just walk up Ben Nevis
This guide helps you to find your ideal Scottish holiday cottage + 26 properties

School holiday dates on the website

We thought it would be a nice idea to add School holiday dates, and Bank holiday dates, England and Scotland, to our website.

Here is the link to the new page. Here also is a link to a revised page about the MacDonald clan.

John
English and Scottish school holiday dates
How did the MacDonalds win Glencoe?

There is one truly notable man in Glencoe - Hamish McInnes

Hamish McInnes with French mountaineer Yvon Chouinard

He is a world-renowned climber, innovator and inventor of mountaineering equipment, leading search and rescuer, author and adviser. Now Gencoe's Hamish MacInnes, 77, is honoured for his dedication to mountaineering with a new award.

Mr MacInnes, is the first to receive the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture.

He is known for scaling the world's most dangerous peaks and his invention the MacInnes stretcher is used internationally.

Born in Dumfries and Galloway in 1930 and known as the 'Fox of Glencoe' in reference to his cunning as a mountaineer, he is recognised widely as the father of modern mountain rescue in Scotland. He designed the first all-metal ice axe, founded the Search and Rescue Dog Association and set up the Scottish Avalanche Information service.

All rock climbers know the name of Hamish Mc Innes. He has done just about everything - Himalayas, Alps, Scottish mountains, leading the Glencoe rescue teams on the hairiest rescues. He has saved literally saved hundreds of lives and developed unique equipment. His mountain books are very readable indeed. You've probably seen him on television.

We had a group of climbers in the cottage for a short weekend break in December. When I told them that Hamish could be spotted in Crafts and Things most mornings, just talking quietly and modestly with the locals here is the short glimpse they offered of him.

("Cubby" is David Cutherbertson, the local guide and rock climber. He was the body double for the fall in the famous Mountaineering film of a couple of years ago, "Into the Void" )

"Have bumped into Cubby a couple of times but never the god that is McInnes! Quite the character I understand, amazing to think he invented the modern ice axes we use today. Have heard some great stories about him, the best one being him tunnelling out of a huge cornice in the Cairnorms. Apparently, just as he broke through the ice a group of young scouts walked past. They stopped in amazement as this frosty figure appeared from out of the snow. He stood up, wiped the snow from his beard, pointed at one of the young fellows saying ‘’You Boy – what year is this!’’

That's Hamish, one of the nicest most modest men you can find.

John

ps We have just put up a new page in our website about the MacDonalds.

How did the MacDonalds become the Lords of the Isles?

Here are some other links:

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland

Autumn Breaks October November December Glencoe

Winter breaks January February March in Glencoe

Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe

The Vikings in Scotland, the Terror, the Battles, Vikings in Glencoe

Scotland How to find your ideal holiday property

Last minute, self catering holiday breaks scotland

Excellent Scottish holiday properties offering short breaks and special prices

Sun every day with no rain!! 8ins of snow

Dear John and Gillian

Had a great time. The weather after the first couple of days was fantastic. Sun every day with no rain!! Took your advice though and never left without a brollie. The landscape was amazing. The highlight was getting lost on one of the mountains. The snow covered the foot path and we trod through 8 inches of snow. A little scary at times, but we made it back safe. Cottage was lovely. Very clean. Well situated. Slept very well, not sure if it was the fresh air, the exercise or the comfortable bed !! Hope to do it all again may be later in the year or next year.

Thanks Ruth and Andy

The short e-mails from guests can give you the greatest pleaseure sometimes

John
Award winning photo by GW Clark posted on Flickr Thank you fer permission. Rannoch Moor, obviously.

The Campbells are back in Glencoe to-day. USA ones

Lochside cottage, in Appin, just around the corner from glorious Glencoe. Just one week availabile now, week commencing June 28th.

Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage

Our lovely visitors from the USA are still with us Pokey and Kent.

The murky Campbell family history continues again and will shortly take us down to Loch Melfort chasing Covenanters flip flopping sides and financing early New Jersey.

I was hoping Kent (husband) was connected to the kinder gentler Campbells but evidence is now turning the other way and a possible connection to the very crafty Black Duncan of the Cowl is emerging. To be fair, Black Duncan was a big fan of trees and possibly an early enviromental champion. He had some other less desirable qualities however.

Must mention, we had a lovely hike from Duror this week. After years of digging around looking for Appin Murder clues under rocks and bushes, they have put up little signposts with blue tops and yellow crosses to mark the Clansman Trail - places significant to the Appin Murder and other events related to the history of the clans after Culloden. Great for Robert Louis Stevenson fans. We went up the forestry track in Duror to the signposted Birthplace of James of the Glen. Beautiful walk and great place to sit and have a packed lunch.

If you remember to bring one and you aren't running down the trail just ahead of another wall of water....
Pokey and Kent (of the Cowl...)

Gillian and I are still campaigning for an upgrade for the A82 road. This is the new blog post
John

The latest A82 victim is a fort William cycling hero.
The A82 upgrade campaign, please contact your Msp

We have revamped some of the Cottage website pages and added new ones. Please have a look if any interest you.
mystery of king robert the bruce and ardchattan priory
the knights templar in argyll
the battle of bannockburn
tourist information glencoe and ballachulish
how to lower your holiday costs
events and entertainment in glencoe and appin
facilities for visitors to glencoe, appin and lochaber
the best way to find your holiday cottage on the internet
news and stories of glencoe, appin and lochaber
how to avoid getting speeding fines
the viking battle in glencoe
the true story of the glencoe massacre

The pic is of Morar sands. Why? No reason. I just liked it from the file. Why not? Its my blog. Sorry, dear, our blog.

We have a lovely couple from the USA staying in the cottage. He is a Campbell and goes back to the days of Angus Og, and his lovely wife calls herself Pokey Sue always sends us e-mails of what they are up to. This is part of her latest e-mail. They are staying for a month.

They already know the area well, used to live in Benderloch.

Hi, John, we are just attempting the low level walks due to the snow level (and if truth be told, our rather substandard level of fitness at the moment!). If it gets bad, it's certainly easy enough to simply turn back and return to the coziness of the cottage.

The central location is great. We have been in Glencoe for small, medium and longer hikes (once up the Devils Staircase) weather permitting. This morning we were back in Glencoe Valley with friends who have a six year old, and simply drove the valley to see the view - after last night's storm it was spectacular - and then went over to the Visitor's Centre and took a low level hike out the back door and up the forestry road with especially clear views of the Pap of Glencoe. By lunchtime we were grabbing a couple of pizzas (great for fitness!) at the Co-op in Ballachulish and back at the cottage to eat and watch the latest storm flying across Kentallen Bay.

Late in the day I decided to explore the disused railway track which we had been observing while driving the road to and from the cottage. A considerable amount of work is going into making this a bike and walking path. At least we hope its for walkers too! I set out in the sunshine and only about a quarter of a mile down the road was met by a wild squall of a hail, sleet and windstorm that blew me into the Holly Tree Hotel dripping wet and wondering why my Maine gloves didn't seem to be working.

Reception was very welcoming and I proceeded into the non-resident bar where another friendly person fixed me a very large pot of tea. I drank this overlooking the amazing view of Loch Linnhe from their huge windows. The storm blew over and I walked back along the track to the cottage with glorious views and sunshine. As it turned out, I barely made it back. Within minutes after turning the key, another wall of freezing water appeared and obliterated everything.

Pokey Sue.

I'll post more later... meanwhile we are interested in getting the A82 road upgraded....

The A82 upgrade campaign website
The A82 tragedies, and accidents. This is our new blog site about it.

Lots more pages in the website

Glencoe is absolutely wonderful at the moment. The sun is shining on the snow, the sheets of rain then pass over, the sun is out again, the wind is gusting to force 9 at sea level, then there is a calm, and once more a wall of water appears in the distance but before that the sun is shining on the snow.

What a place!

Just had this e-mail from our guest last week.

Just to let you know John, we had a great time. We needed to come home today for family reasons, but our 4 days were spent doing some great walking. We managed one Munroe on Saturday, but it was difficult because of very icy conditions, so we kept to lower walks for the following 3 days. Quite spectacular walks in Glencoe, and a fair amount of snow above around 600m. Weather very kind.
We aim to return to the area to tackle the mountains without the ice some time in the future - they certainly deserve a return visit.

We've been busy adding new pages and revising old ones to our cottage website. If we post the links here, then this helps Google to "see" the new pages.
mystery of king robert the bruce and ardchattan priory
the knights templar in argyll
the battle of bannockburn
tourist information glencoe and ballachulish
how to lower your holiday costs
events and entertainment in glencoe and appin
facilities for visitors to glencoe, appin and lochaber
the best way to find your holiday cottage on the internet
news and stories of glencoe, appin and lochaber
how to avoid getting speeding fines
the viking battle in glencoe
the true story of the glencoe massacre