Blue skies and sunshine greeted us for the final leg of our transit through the Caledonian Canal and a continuation of the Jacobite story that has held our attention since Culloden.
Fort Augustus was named for the Duke of Cumberland, commander of the victorious Hanoverian army at that momentous turning-point in British history. The remains of the fort that was built to pacify this central part of the Great Glen is still visible, incorporated into the foundations of a gym within a new resort complex that has since opened on the site of the former abbey school. Fort Augustus today relies heavily on tourism, especially the summer pastime of watching boats and yachts navigate the flight of locks around which the modern settlement is clustered. Lord of the Glens is the largest vessel able to navigate the canal and is the object of admiration in the village: they photograph us photographing them!
Our morning sail from Fort Augustus passed through beautiful scenery as we transit Lochs Oich and Lochy, the former being the summit of the canal. There are no reservoirs feeding the Caledonian Canal – Scottish rainfall is more than sufficient, and the canal has been engineered to deal with excess water rather than any shortage! Between these two natural lakes is a spectacular connecting channel known as Laggan Avenue. The banks of the lake have been planted with Caledonian pines to stabilize the embankment and a subsequent growth of native been now crowds the passage. We all went on deck as we sailed through, with hands outreached to touch the vegetation on either side.
After Loch Lochy is the Moy swing bridge, the last surviving manually operated road-bridge over the canal which serves a farm of the same name.
Our afternoon excursion took us to Glenfinnan to round off the Jacobite story, for this is where Charles Edward Stuart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, raised the Jacobite standard for the first time on the British mainland in 1745. Today the main draw for visitors is to check out the iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct, which has been immortalised as the route for the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter movies. Sunshine had now been replaced by heavy showers but we didn’t let it dampen our spirits as we hiked and biked our way across a variety of local trails.
Our day was rounded off with a presentation on the Caledonian Canal from captain Tony Read before dinner and then after dinner Alistair Gibson, the estate manager at Glenfinnan, gave a presentation on his work as a deer stalker.
