Loch Ness not snowed under yet
Friends of ours from the south of England moved into the area last month, and are just amazed at the weather! still working in the garden wearing only tee shirts, (and pants of course)They were expecting to be wearing winter fleeces by now. They bought the house several years ago and we have managed it as a holiday home for them since they bought it. They have now moved into the cottage to live.
The house is a fabulous cottage called Easter Boleskine, high on a hill above Loch Ness and overlooking Boleskine House, former home of the infamous Aleister Crowley, and later, the home of Jimmy Page, guitarist for Led Zeppelin, and now owned by who knows! from Holland, I believe.
Anyway, our friends, like many people south of Watford, believed until now, experiencing it for themselves, that we in the Highlands of Scotland are snowed in from October to April every year and that the only form of transport is by sledge or rescue helicopter.
I suppose in some ways that is not a bad idea to perpetuate, as it is during these winter months that our roadside verges have time to recover from all the tourists so unused to our single track roads. Passing places are inserted every 50 yards or so to permit passing, AND OVERTAKING! nothing worse than to follow a car at 25 MPH for 16 miles unable to pass. Many drivers, (bad ones)unfortunately think the verges are good for passing on but this just results in all our beautiful wild primroses and bluebell filled roadsides deteriorating into a muddy mess by the end of summer.
Our own cottages are, surprise surprise, booked throughout the year. Many of our winter visitors, mainly Scots along with a sprinkling of brave English folk, relish spending time in South Loch Ness during the winter because it is easy to find solitude at low levels, while also being able to go into the hills for skiing and to have fun in the snow. Snow is easier to find at altitude - the higher you look the better your chances of finding it, or avoiding it, whatever your case may be! But here on the shores of Loch Ness it is more or less the same as anywhere south of Watford, except that here, the whole world doesn't descend into chaos whenever an inch of snow falls, and I say that from experience. My partner and I arrived here 15 years ago from Kent, carrying everything we owned in our rucksacks, but that's another story. Sorry have to dash, just noticed a blizzard blowing outside - must get a stock of logs in for the fire!
The house is a fabulous cottage called Easter Boleskine, high on a hill above Loch Ness and overlooking Boleskine House, former home of the infamous Aleister Crowley, and later, the home of Jimmy Page, guitarist for Led Zeppelin, and now owned by who knows! from Holland, I believe.
Anyway, our friends, like many people south of Watford, believed until now, experiencing it for themselves, that we in the Highlands of Scotland are snowed in from October to April every year and that the only form of transport is by sledge or rescue helicopter.
I suppose in some ways that is not a bad idea to perpetuate, as it is during these winter months that our roadside verges have time to recover from all the tourists so unused to our single track roads. Passing places are inserted every 50 yards or so to permit passing, AND OVERTAKING! nothing worse than to follow a car at 25 MPH for 16 miles unable to pass. Many drivers, (bad ones)unfortunately think the verges are good for passing on but this just results in all our beautiful wild primroses and bluebell filled roadsides deteriorating into a muddy mess by the end of summer.
Our own cottages are, surprise surprise, booked throughout the year. Many of our winter visitors, mainly Scots along with a sprinkling of brave English folk, relish spending time in South Loch Ness during the winter because it is easy to find solitude at low levels, while also being able to go into the hills for skiing and to have fun in the snow. Snow is easier to find at altitude - the higher you look the better your chances of finding it, or avoiding it, whatever your case may be! But here on the shores of Loch Ness it is more or less the same as anywhere south of Watford, except that here, the whole world doesn't descend into chaos whenever an inch of snow falls, and I say that from experience. My partner and I arrived here 15 years ago from Kent, carrying everything we owned in our rucksacks, but that's another story. Sorry have to dash, just noticed a blizzard blowing outside - must get a stock of logs in for the fire!
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