I feel like we achieved a lot today despite only having done a few things.
Dad and I had a nice breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs then we all headed off in the car to our first stop, Neptune’s Staircase. The staircase is a flight of seven canal locks, also known as the “Road to the Isles”. It was a rather blustery walk along the bank of the canal but not without excitement. We watched a lock operating crew move a large sailboat up through the lock system, and we got chatting to them about their job and how its evolved over the years. They were super friendly, gave us loads of information and they let me operate one of the locks! It was very cool.
We had a quick cup of tea, out of the wind, to warm up before heading off to our next stop, Glenfinnan. We visited the Glenfinnan visitors centre, Glenfinnan Monument (erected in 1815, in tribute to the Jacobite clansmen who fought and died in the cause of Prince Charles Edward Stuart) and the Glenfinnan Railway Viaduct. I hadn’t realised these three tourist spots would be so close together, but it worked out well because it meant we had time to take a walk around the area before grabbing a spot at the café to watch the Jacobite steam train (or Hogwarts Express) make its way across the viaduct heading back to Fort William at 3pm.
Next, we headed to the Commando Memorial where we were greeted by a piper (uggh – I don’t like bagpipes and neither does dad). The Commando Memorial is dedicated to the men of the original British Commando Forces raised during World War II. It overlooks the training areas of the Commando Training Depot established in 1942 at Achnacarry Castle. We took a good look around the memorial and admired the stunning views of Ben Nevis and Aonach Mòr. It was fascinating and very moving. I’m glad we spent some time here, wondering around and reading the individual memorial stones. We saw memorials to the soldiers of Commando 1, who died on D-Day alongside memorials to soldiers who died in the more recent conflicts of Iraq and Afghanistan. It was very interesting, and I managed to avoid the piper by staying upwind.
In the evening, we went to dinner at the Holly Tree Hotel and Restaurant. The food was lovely, and we were treated to a lovely sunset over Loch Linnhe.