Back in August we took our (almost) annual pilgrimage to Speyside so I thought I'd share some of the highlights with you.
As usual we travelled in Vannie (our motorhome), stopping at the Drumochter Pass on the way for a spot of lunch. At over 450 metres above sea level, you could argue it was a high tea rather than lunch:
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| Vannie at Drumochter Pass |
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| View from the window |
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| Drumochter Pass |
As you can see from the site the correct (Gaelic) spelling is DRUMUACHDAR, which apparently means High Ridge, which it is. After lunch we carried on to Grantown on Spey where we stayed at the caravan site there:
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| View from our pitch at Grantown on Spey Caravan Park |
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| View from Vannie |
Once we got the van all bolted down and connected up we went for a little walk along the nearby Dava Way, a former railway line which has been reclaimed as a long distance walkway.
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| View across the Caravan Park from the Dava Way |
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| The start of the Dava Way |
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| On the Dava Way |
It is a very pleasant walk, having lovely views and passing through many different habitats, it is also very level (being an old railway line) and easy underfoot (not muddy):
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| Cairngorms from Dava Way |
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| Pleasant walk along the Dava Way |
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| Bees and Wildflowers |
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| Across the fields to Castle Grant |
About 2 miles along the track we came to Lady Grant's Tower, which is basically an elaborate gatehouse that serves Castle Grant:
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| Lady Grant's Tower |
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| Gateway to Castle Grant |
The track carries on across a bridge and through a wooded area, however we decided to turn around at this stage and head back towards the caravan park:
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| Moira on the Bridge |
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| Heading back along the Dava Way to Grantown |
Just after this the track opens up to an area which has less tree cover and is full of wildflowers, which is attractive to a lot of pollinators:
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| Open area of track |
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| Butterfly on the track |
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| Painted Lady Butterfly |
Here are some of the wildflowers along this part of the track:
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| Bird's Foot Trefoil |
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| Harebells |
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| Scabious (with a bumblebee) |
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| Mixed bag of wildflowers |
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| Rosebay Willowherb |
As well as the wildflowers, there were quite a few plants which were in fruit:
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| Wild Raspberries |
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| More juicy Raspberries |
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| On a bench beside a Rowan Tree |
This open track heads into a wooded area just before it enters a deep cutting through the hillside:
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| Heading through the cutting |
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| Moss growing on the walls of the cutting |
After passing through the cutting the track opens up again with woodland on one side and a meadow/grassland area on the other side. In this meadow/grassland area I spotted something:
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| Roe Deer in meadow |
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| Female Roe Deer |
It was an adult female Roe Deer and it was staring right at us without moving a muscle (okay it did blink once)
Why did it not run away? They usually disappear into the long grass or woodland when spotted.
The reason soon became evident; just a little bit further along the meadow was a young Roe Deer grazing in the long grass:
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| Young Roe Deer Grazing |
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| Young Roe Deer |
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| Young Deer oblivious to our presence |
The mother would not want to run off and leave the young deer until she was sure it had also seen us.
Then the young deer then turned around and saw us:
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| Young Roe Deer notices us |
Within seconds they were both off, blending into the long grass before disappearing into the nearby woodland. A memorable encounter with wild deer.
We headed along the track and back to the caravan park.
Later that evening I celebrated with a little whisky in the Grant Arms:
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| A hauf and a hauf |
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| Blurry selection of whiskies in The Grant Arms |
The blurriness has nothing to do with the whisky!
The following morning we took a bus ride to Aviemore with the aim of catching a steam train. The steam trains are run by Strathspey Railway, which is located just across the tracks from Aviemore Mainline Station, and we were in luck as a steam train was due to leave 10mins after we got there. We purchased a couple of return tickets and got onboard:
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| Two return tickets to Broomhill |
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| Our carriage awaits (1970s style) |
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| In our seats and ready to go |
We didn't have to wait long until the train steamed out of Aviemore station en route to Broomhill. We passed some old engines in the sidings just outside Aviemore, some needed a bit of weekend work, others (especially the diesels) look a bit more serviceable:
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| Arriving at Boat of Garten Station |
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| Proof if proof was required |
After a five minute stop so some people could get off, and others could dash out to take some photos, we continued on our journey. After leaving Boat of Garten we skirted alongside the River Spey for a few miles:
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| River Spey |
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| Weather a bit cloudy |
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| River Spey with Cairngorms in distance |
I took a little video to give you the sense of motion during this steam train ride:
When you reach Broomhill the train actually goes past the station and travels a few hundred yards before stopping.
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| Passing through Broomhill Station |
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| Then stopping in the middle of nowwhere |
This is because the train reverses at this point and heads back to Aviemore. As there is no turntable to turn the engine round the engine uncouples, changes track, reverses back then recouples on to what is now the front of the train:
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| Engine reversing back |
Here it is on video:
After changing over the engine pulls the train back into Broomhill Station:
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| Don't know who the woman or the dog are? |
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| Broomhill Station |
The main claim to fame for Broomhill Station is that it played the part of Glenbogle Station in the Monarch of the Glen TV programme, if you are old enough to remember that far back.
While we were stopped I popped out on to the platform to take some photos:
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| View from Glenbogle Station |
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| Old Truck in the Car Park |
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| Looking towards the Cairngorms |
I jumped back in the carriage and then we were on our way for our return trip to Aviemore:
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| Heading back from Broomhill |
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| Steaming past the Spey |
Another little video of the journey:
A short while later we arrived at Boat of Garten Station and once again the train sat here for 5 minutes or so for people to take photos, get on, get off etc.
I took some photos of some old railway tankers and an old signal box:
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| Old Tankers at Boat of Garten |
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| Old Signal Box at Boat of Garten |
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| Passing by old signal box |
Then we were on our way back to Aviemore.
On arrival at Aviemore Station we all got off the train and some of us headed to the front (or is it rear) of the train to see the steam engine which had been pulling us during this trip.
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| Steam Engine No.5025 |
I understand that it is an old London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) engine, but I don't think it has a name. It was in the process of being uncoupled from the train, so that it could be reversed back and then returned to the front of the train for the next journey to Broomhill.
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| Driver waits for engine to be uncoupled |
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| Engine on outside track ready to go to front of train |
I did a video of it steaming past us to the front of the train.
Impressive piece of machinery!
We caught the bus back to Grantown on Spey and had a relaxing afternoon at the caravan park. Later in the evening we enjoyed a lovely Thai meal in Po Pia at the Square in Grantown; well worth a visit but you best book first.
Next day we went for a bit of a hike through Anagach Woods, towards Cromdale, then back along the Spey Way.
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| Lovely Wildflower Verge on Road to Anagach |
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| Granny Pine in Anagach Woods |
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| Speckled Wood Butterfly |
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| Speckled Wood Butterfly at Anagach Woods |
It was a lovely day, but a bit cool despite the sun being out, so we were well wrapped up:
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| Eddie at Anagach Woods |
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| Moira at Anagach Woods |
The woods were very quiet at this time of year, much less birdsong than in the springtime, but still a pleasant walk. We followed the path heading to Cromdale until we reached the path heading down towards the Spey, where we followed the river upstream:
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| Burn that feeds into The Spey |
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| The River Spey |
As we headed along the banks of the Spey we enjoyed the fact that there was a bit more wildlife on the river than in the woods:
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| Mallard on a rock |
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| Goosanders (redheads) on the river |
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| Heading along the Spey |
At this point we were joined by a Grey Heron flying up the river and landing further upstream:
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| Grey Heron on River Spey |
Sorry if pictures are a bit wobbly.
As well as seeing a bit more wildlife we also saw plenty of wildflowers along the banks of the River Spey:
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| Wildflowers along the banks of the Spey |
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| More lovely wildflowers |
We had a little break at a fisherman's bench before carrying along the Spey:
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| Moira on the bench |
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| Eddie posing by the Spey |
We carried on along the banks of the Spey until we reached the Old Spey Bridge:
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| Heading along the Spey |
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| The Old Spey Bridge |
This bridge carried the Old Military Road (A939) over the Spey for many years until it was superseded by a new bridge which now carries the A95; the A939 joins the A95 not far from the old bridge The old bridge was built in 1754 and the new one in 1931, so it operated for almost two hundred years.
At this point we headed back through Anagach Woods along the Old Military Road until we reach Grantown and the Caravan Park.
This was our last day at Grantown and as always we had enjoyed our visit to Speyside.
Until next year!
Take Care
Teddyedward
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