Day 13 - Inverness to Stonefield Castle

18 April 2023

Just when we think we have seen the beauty of Scotland, it turns around and surprises us. Today we drove from Inverness down to Stonefield Castle, near Tarbert in Argyll, via Fort William and Oban. The views around every corner were amazing – lots of rolling hillside, lochs, pretty villages.

We travelled along the west side of Loch Ness, which was covered in fog this morning. Stunning! The whole trip took us down a fault line which contained many lochs. The scenery was so amazing, even more so because the weather was picture perfect. We have been so lucky, with only having one wet day so far. We had a brief stop in Fort William which was a lovely little highland town – Roger managed to pick up a tartan tie and waistcoat that he had been wanting to all trip. We have definitely been more sightseeing than shopping this holiday. We then drove on past yet more lochs, until we arrived at Oban. Oban is an ancient harbour town with ferries going to the outlying islands. This stop involved a visit to the Oban Distillery, as well as stops at the many bookshops in the town. Roger’s Stewart family from Badenscallie are apparently descended from the Stewarts of Appin. We drove through Appin just before Oban, and visited the kirk ruin and kirkyard. We both decided that Roger’s mum, Betty, would have loved it around here and would have been fascinated with the area. Her McMillan/MacMillan family were from Argyll.

 

Top left, Loch Ness looking very mysterious, top right is from Appin, bottom left is the kirk and kirk yard at Appin, bottom right is the Oban harbour with a car ferry coming in.

Just to top off a fantastic day, we are staying in a castle!!! Stonefield Castle was built in 1837, so it’s not really a castle, but it certainly feels amazing. It was the centre of the Campbell clan and has a very interesting history. We are on the edge of Loch Gilp and I am writing this entry sitting in a bay window on the second floor, overlooking the Loch and an island accessible from the castle by a causeway. The birds are chirping, and a huge four poster bed is in the room behind me. It definitely is a bit more fancy than I am used to – but I’ll take it.

 

Stonefield Castle - so pretty.

Tomorrow we are going to do a loop drive down to Campbeltown (where Roger’s McKendrick family are from) via Killean and Saddall (where Roger’s McMillan family are from). The concierge has promised us that it is the most scenic drive in Scotland – we will let you know. NOTE: It does seem that every sight we have seen is “the best in the whole of the UK – if not the world”. The Scots do seem to have a way with exaggeration – or imagination.