Kirkcudbright

An attractive little town in the far south of Scotland. I don't know why I can only find one photo as the weather has usually been good when we've visited! The town's website is well worth a look here and (as usual!) I recommend the Undiscovered Scotland page here.

Kirkcudbright, 2002

Most people probably go there for the art galleries or sailing but we have visited primarily for the best swimming pool we have ever encountered; the warmest, cleanest and friendliest and the best facilities for the disabled. We often say, after trying out a new (and usually disappointing) pool on our travels, "If only we were in Kirkcudbright"! It really is an impossible act to follow. Click here for the pool's site.

Another place well worth a visit is the Galloway Wildlife Conservation Park, only one mile from Kirkcudbright. It does a lot to help in the conservation of threatened species and is a wonderful day out too. These two photos are from August, 2003 when we 'met' some of the friendly resident snakes.

Newton Stewart

A small town on the River Cree in South West Scotland - "Gateway to the Galloway Hills"; we've visited a few times. Here is a good website about the town and area; here is the Undiscovered Scotland page with more information, and below are three of my photos taken on the outskirts of the town in 2002 and 2003!

Blair Drummond Safari Park

A visit to Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling in 1972 (it opened in 1970): just a few snaps and my (very cheap) ticket! I'm sure it's changed a lot since those days, both the price and the animals. The website is here.

The Road to Ullapool

In 1972 we drove the 60 miles from Inverness to Ullapool on the north-west coast. Very few of my photos remain and none at all of Ullapool itself! However, to fill in all the gaps there's always the Undiscovered Scotland website which is the best in my opinion! (Click here)

The road from Inverness to Ullapool, 1972

From a postcard I bought at the time of lovely Loch Garve which we passed

Garve Crafts

Some waterfalls along the way

The peak of An Teallach (from a postcard I bought at the time)

Inverness and Loch Ness

I went to Inverness with my aunts several times in the late '60s/early '70s. These are some of my photos

Castle Urquhart, Loch Ness

Loch Ness 1968

Leinster Lodge B&B where we stayed, Inverness, 1968
(It's still in business - I just found it on the Internet!)

Inverness Castle, 1968

Street scene, 1968

Aunt Gwen with Mrs McInnes (the owner of the B&B where we stayed), 1969

The Loch Ness Investigation Centre. 1969
(I remember looking for Nessie but never saw him/her!)

The Inverness Tattoo, 1969
(A very poor photo - I don't know why I didn't take more. Perhaps it rained!)

Another place where we stayed a couple of times.

Mrs Sime, 1972

Aunt Lett in the B&B, 1972

Aunt Gwen, 1972

Aunt Lett in Inverness again in 1973

Here is a page with information about Inverness. It's a great city to visit and I would love to go back again and take better photos!

Loch Leven

Some of my old photos from 1972 - rather faded now unfortunately - of Loch Leven, at the north-west end of Glencoe, where we stopped on our way to Inverness.

The Pap of Glencoe (742m/2434ft high) as seen across the loch

I remember these pipers entertaining us - we were the only other people there!

The old Cortina facing the loch

Here is the Wikipedia page which shows the position of Loch Leven on the map, and gives more links to the area, which is extremely spectacular.

Luss

We always stopped at the delightful village of Luss on the banks of Loch Lomond, every time we went north. It was such a peaceful place, with glorious views across the loch, the lovely sandy beach, and rows of pretty cottages. There was one small gift shop which was always fun to browse in.

Some photos I took in 1968

The gift shop, 1968

The beach near the pier

View from the bridge

The wee shop in 1972

Aunt Gwen and a friend, Miss Cameron, also from Greenock, 1972
I was driving us to Inverness and Ullapool - this was our first stop as usual

Aunt Gwen's Cortina and the view up the main street, 1972

Here I am in 1978.

Geoffrey and I visited Luss in 1996 but the gift shop had changed out of all recognition - for the worse - and was over-commercialised and tacky in the extreme. There was a gigantic car park nearby and Luss was swarming with crowds of people. It was a great disappointment to see it like that.

There's a page about Luss here

Aberfeldy

We often went to Aberfeldy in beautiful Perthshire as several relatives lived there. It quickly became one of my favourite parts of Scotland and I even made plans to move there in 1974 - something which subsequently didn't happen!

Uncle Tommy in 1974. He retired to Aberfeldy from Greenock that year but very sadly wasn't to live much longer

Aunt Joan's dog, Kim, in the field behind her bungalow in Alma Road

Two of my old photos joined together: Aberfeldy, and Dun Taylor farm on the left, where my cousins lived, 1979. The delicate peak of Schiehallion can just be seen left of centre on the horizon.

My Cortina on the Glen Quaich road - a spectacular drive

A walk from Weem village to Loch Glassie, 1979 (no mean feat, for me anyway!) Above is part of the map I took with me that day, showing the relative postions of Weem, Loch Glassie and Farragon

Farragon across the (just visible!) Loch Glassie (Another two photos stuck together!)

The Falls of (nearby) Acharn, 1979

Here I am above in Aberfeldy in 1990 and with Aunt Gwen below, outside her residential home

There are many good websites about Aberfeldy. Here is the Undiscovered Scotland link which is one of the best, I think.