Grantown on Spey and Carrbridge

 I'm getting terrible at producing these blog postings in a timely manner; this one goes back to the beginning of Summer when we took a trip in the van up to one of my favourite places............ Speyside.

To Grantown-on-Spey to be precise, with a little trip to Carrbridge whilst we were in the area.

Once we arrived at GoS we got the motorhome all set up, then headed down to the town centre for a stroll, where we noticed there were a couple of new additions to the town square (very artistic ones):

Heart of Glass in Grantown on Spey

Another Heart of Glass in The Square

Very pretty and a good start to our holiday.

 The next day started with a walk along part of The Dava Way ( a former railway line that served the whisky distilleries north of Grantown)

View from The Dava Way

Granny Pine on The Dava Way

It had been really hot the weeks leading up to this visit and this was reflected in the lack of standing water at the sides of the pathway, it is usually quite a damp area. A few wildflowers still managed to survive:

Wildflowers in a damp patch

Water Avens on The Dava Way

Some butterflies were taking advantage of the nectar these wildflowers provide:

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Orange-tip Butterfly (underwing)

Orange-tip Butterfly

A lovely little butterfly, one of my favourites.

After our walk we had a spot of lunch and a relaxing afternoon at the caravan park, where some wildlife came to visit us:

Relaxing at the Caravan park

We have a visitor

Oystercatcher near to our van

Oystercatcher Close-up

A pleasant encounter on a relaxing afternoon.

We started the next day with a bit more relaxation................

View from our pitch

Moira Chillin'

.................before we headed down into the town, followed by a walk around Anagach Woods:

Approach to Anagach Woods

A warm day in Anagach Woods

It had been so hot and dry in recent days that a walk through the woods was great when in a shaded area, but pretty warm when in open areas. There was also a noticeable lack of wildlife about; no Red Squirrels, very few birds and even a lack of insects. Parts of the woodland that normally had damp areas were dry as a bone and those which always had standing water were almost dried up completely.

We did find one 'puddle' which would normally be a thriving pond at this time of year and even here there was very little wildlife, just some flies a lone dragonfly:

We carried on through the woodland but it was so hot we decided to head back towards the town:

Heading through Anagach Woods

Just before we left the woods I heard a distinctive bird calling:

Mistle Thrush in Anagach Woods

It was a Mistle Thrush and I tried my best to get a video of it through the branches before it flew off:

Well at least we spotted some wildlife, we headed back to the town, seeking out some well deserved ice cream before returning to the motorhome. Later on that day we went back into the town for a lovely meal at the little Thai Restaurant (Po Pia) in The Square. Always good food there and highly recommended, but remember to book as it's not very big and very popular.

On our last day at GoS we decided to take a bus ride to Carrbridge, which is less than half an hour away. We have visited Carrbridge many times, and in the past we even stayed there on a few occasions, living in our favourite little bed & breakfast place. It was nice to visit it again.

Firstly the bus trip along some beautiful (but bumpy and twisty) country roads:

View from the bus to Carrbridge

Moira enjoying the ride (holding on tightly)

Cairngorm Mountains in the distance

Cows in the field

Before long we arrived at Carrbridge and made our way to a cafe for some well-deserved morning coffee. After this we headed straight to one of Carrbridge's most iconic features, the old Pack Horse Bridge over the River Dulnain:

Old Pack-horse Bridge

Old Bridge over River Dulnain

Moira at Old Bridge in Carrbridge

We were on the 'new' bridge across the river which carries the cars and buses, something the old bridge could never do, it was designed for horse and cart traffic. It was reputed that it was built to take coffins (and mourners) from the church to the cemetery on the other side of the river.

Looking down at the River Dulnain we spotted a Pied Wagtail on a rock looking for invertebrates to eat, or feed to nearby chicks:

River Dulnain

Pied Wagtail on rock in river

We moved down onto the lower viewing platform, which gave us a better view of the old bridge and the river:

Old Pack-horse Bridge from viewing platform

Eddie on Viewing Platform

This also allowed us better views on our little friend the Pied Wagtail:

Pied Wagtail with beak-full of Invertebrates

As you can see from the video the Pied Wagtail had a successful fishing trip.

From the viewing point we headed down the adjacent Station Road, so called because it's the road down to the Railway Station! This afforded us a 'side view' of the old bridge, and you can see why it was not suitable for cars:

Side-view of old Pack-horse Bridge

Wildflowers growing on Old Bridge

The bridge was built in 1717 and originally it would have had some sort of side railings, but I understand that these were swept away when the river was in spate during the storm of 1829 (known as the Muckle Spate).

We carried on down Station Road, pausing to admire the old buildings, which have all been tarted up and look lovely. Just past the Mole Catcher's House was this lovely barn-type conversion:

What looks like an old barn is now someone's house

Then there was the pretty West End Cottage:

West End Cottage

And at a cottage called Einich Ciar the wooden carvings stole the show:

Where is that Capercaillie?

Beware of the Wolf

Excellent sculptures, which featured throughout the village, produced by a local wood carver.

We soon reached our destination of Ellan Wood, which we looked forward to exploring:

Entrance to Ellan Wood in Carrbridge

Path through Ellan Wood

It is a very relaxing wood to stroll and we have (in the past) seen some interesting wildlife such as Red Squirrels, Crested Tits and Scottish Wood Ants. First point of interest was a fallen tree, well it had been felled, most likely for safety reasons:

Tree Stumped

Which Path to Choose?

When faced with such a choice always take the right path!

This led us to an area of the wood containing some very old trees covered in lichen, through which we spotted a bird sitting on a branch preening itself:

Tree branches covered in Beard Lichen

Bird through the branches

But what type of bird was it? I manoeuvred trying to get a better view without scaring it off:

Still not a clear view

I was pretty sure it was a Spotted Flycatcher, but it was hard to get a decent photo through the trees, I switched to video which I thought gave a better image of the bird:

It was all puffed-up due to its preening, but I was sure it was a Spotted Flycatcher, anybody think any different?

As we continued deeper into the woods we came across a few examples of a speciality of these parts; Wood Ant nests.

Deep in the woods where the ants live

Wood Ant Nest

These nests can be anything from a small spread-out pile of pine straw to a mound of pine straw standing a couple of feet high. Either way if you look closely you will see the Wood Ants busily running around collecting food, repairing the nest and all the other things busy ants do:

Can you spot the Wood Ants

Don't get too close or the ants will spray you with Acetic Acid, it's a defensive mechanism that leaves you smelling like a chip shop (very vinegary). This video shows what they are up to, taken from a save distance:

Lots of activity eh?

We moved further along the track until we heard and saw this wren on a branch acting very agitated. Wrens do this from time to time to chase away predators and rivals, but this one seemed to be in the open for a long time, which is unusual.

Wren on a branch

Agitated Wren

A few steps further along the path we discovered what the Wren was agitated about; in the roots of a fallen down tree the birds had created a 'dust bath' and another wren was busy using it:

Fallen down tree

Wren in roots of tree

Wren having a dust bath

The noisy Wren on the tree branch was obviously warning the other Wren that we were about, but it was oblivious to our presence and carried on with its 'dust bath':

After this we took another track heading back towards the village, passing some more Wood Ants on the way. These ones had grown to an enormous size so we gave them a wide berth:

Heading back towards the village

Giant Wood Ant

More Giant Wood Ants

These were more wooden ants than wood ants. 

Back in the village we saw even more wooden carvings:

Wood Carvings in Carrbridge Village

Wood Carver Tom (Petto) and an Eagle

Wood Carving in Car Park area

Swooping Osprey

Many of the carvings in the village were done by Tom (nickname Petto) a local chainsaw wood carver. In fact the Scottish Open Chainsaw Carving Competition is held each year at the end of August in Carrbridge, attracting carvers from all over the world.

We had half an hour to wait for the bus back to Grantown so we headed to the pub in the Cairn Hotel for a wee beer. All in all a very enjoyable trip to Carrbridge.

Back at the van we had a bite to eat and a little rest before heading back out to tackle the uphill walk to nearby Dreggie Viewpoint:

Back at the van

The road towards Dreggie

Moira raring to go climb some hills

The climb starts with a walk up a slope to join the Dava Way, then just after that negotiating some home-made steps that seem to go on forever:

The start of the steps heading up to the viewpoint

It literally was an uphill struggle, but the views were well worth it:

View towards Grantown on Spey

The Cairngorms and Grantown on Spey

 We headed along the brow of the hill for some other views:

View towards the Cairngorms

It was time to head back down, but the steps going down didn't look too inviting so we looked for an alternative (less steep) route back down.

Steep path heading down to steps

Alternative (less steep) route back down

This alternative path down was much gentler and would take us back to the Dava Way, giving us an easier (if longer) route back. It also gave us some more good views:

GoS and the Cairngorms

Enjoying the views from the gentle path down

The North end of Grantown on Spey

Moira enjoying the views (and the bench)

We eventually reached the Dava Way and started to make our way back along the track towards the caravan park. On the way back we heard a rustling in the bushes and I could see a bird hopping about behind some branches, then suddenly a Long-tailed Tit appeared on a branch right in front of us and started preening:

Long-tailed Tit Preening

A puffed-up Long-tailed Tit

It seemed totally oblivious of our presence

It even hung about long enough for me to get this video:

So that was a pleasant end to our walk up to Dreggie Viewpoint, and to our trip to Grantown on Spey. The next morning we packed up the van and headed home.

Hope you enjoyed this little story of our trip up North to Speyside, next time we plan to head even further North

Take Care

Teddy Edward