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You've got to want to make this trip because it is a long way from anywhere, but once resigned to the 7 or 8 hours driving needed to get there even from Manchester, the rewards for your effort are more magnificent than anyone can dare to dream. This is Britain at its finest, you will not find a more beautiful area anywhere, and the warmth of the people is second to none.
The Caledonian Canal follows a natural fault line, or land slip that runs from Inverness on the East coast, down to Fort William on the West coast known as The Great Glen. When the land slipped, several very deep Lochs were formed, and in 1822 after 19 years work, the brilliant Scottish engineer Thomas Telford finished a canal that joined all of those Lochs together making it possible for the first time to sail across the country without having to go around the dangerous headland.
We started in Inverness by the Lock keepers cottage at the mouth of the canal. In Inverness itself I visited Hector Russell, the kiltmaker, in his fine store, which sells and hires kilts, I found a kilt in the tartan of my mother, Nicolson. At £200 just for the kilt, they were kind enough to lend me a full outfit for the day.
The canal runs from Inverness to Dochgarroch where it meets its first Loch, and what a Loch, the unbelievably beautiful Loch Ness. At Urquhart Castle the full size, power and glory of the Loch can be witnessed. The castle dates back to the early 13th Century, but it is known that Brude the King of the Picts had a residence beside the River Ness as long ago as 597! The castle has had a very bloody past, constantly at the centre of battles between Clans and between the English and the Scots.
Steven Hansure is a Liverpool born clog maker who has made his home in Invermoriston on the banks of Loch Ness. Using the talents he learned in the North West he is now a popular tourist stop off. The Loch Ness visitor centre is obviously busy, packed with those who want to know more about Nessie the monster, but be warned, there isn't much to see in the museum, and even less to see of Nessie!
The Abbey at Fort Augustus at the end of Loch Ness is terrific, not only is it still an Abbey, but you can stay there for very little money, and it has a superb museum and display of its past. The Abbey took over from the original Fort, from which the town gets its name, and has been the scene of many a battle. Fort Augustus is quite simply stunning, the canal rises up out of Loch Ness in a series of locks straight through the centre of the town, on either side of the canal are pretty little cottages and the whole lot is overshadowed by enormous snow-capped mountains. We stayed at the Lovat Arms Hotel which stands on the site of the original Fort, one of the Fort's walls still stands behind the hotel. Lord Lovat was taken to London and became the last person in this country to be publicly executed. The owner of the Lovat Arms Hotel is Hector Mclean, he will not only explain the history of the hotel, but takes great pride in knowing about the whole area.
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