Braveheart & Loch Ness. Review on Scottish Highlands

Hey Guys & Gals- I have just returned from a fabulous trip to the Scottish Highlands. I have now seen the “Braveheart” country, the Macbeth county of Inverness and of course the world famous Loch Ness which supposedly is the home to the Loch Ness monster alias Nessie.

The Scottish Highlands have so much to offer.... Spectacular mountains, tumbling rivers, lochs (lakes) and crystal-clear seas scattered with beautiful islands. The car journey from Kilmarnock to the pretty village of Drumnadrochit, on the shores of Loch ness has been the most wonderful experience and unforgettable event. The long winding road, with lush green forests and steep hills on the one side and the wide crystal clear Loch Lomend on the other present a heavenly view.

Legend has it that the Highlanders, have always roamed the glens and mountains as free as the wind shaping the land and their lives. Though the Lowlanders, viewed these people, in the past, as savages and attempted to break them as a race they have still retained their fierce clan status (clan meaning children in Gaelic) and their pride to become a people who will welcome everybody from around the world and give of themselves in every way. On the shores of Loch Ness stands is a strip land is known as Strone Point or The Nose. It is here that stand the ruins of the medieval Castle Urquhart. It is not known just when a castle was built here but it attained its peak during the Scottish wars of Independence.

Then in 1715 during one of the worst storms on record part of the main tower collapsed, leaving the castle how it stands today. An exhibition centre is now being built that will give a full history of the castle and its grounds. Castle Urquhart was the home to William Wallace popularly known as Braveheart, which now has been made immortal by the Hollywood movie” The Braveheart”. In the Original Loch Ness Visitor Centre stands a huge painting of Mel Gibson dressed as Braveheart. The centrepiece of the village is an arrangement of flowers, which depicts Castle Urquhart how it used to look. Next morning we had a cruise across the Loch Ness. The boat was fully equipped with radio, colour sonar and G.P.S. Our boat driver was auxiliary coastguard and Drumnadrochit businessman George Edwards who has been a tour boat operator for 12 years. The Great Glen opens up to reveal the dark, mysterious expanse of Loch Ness. It is over 750 feet deep - that is deeper than the North Sea - and 23 miles long, the loch contains enough water to fill every lake, reservoir and river in England! George is an ardent “Nessie Hunter” and has discovered a huge underwater cavern, which now is known as “Nessie’s Lair”. Being a firm Nessie believer, George says there must be more than one creature in the Loch and this cavern could lead to a network of caves. He feels the time has come to investigate the underwater caves and has been contacted by a North Sea oil company offering equipment and experts to seek out 'Nessie's Lair'. Needless to say that we did not have any sighting of the Nessie but did but few souvenirs to bring back.

In the next reviews I will write about Inverness (Macbeth) and Stirling, which has the William Wallace (Braveheart) Monument.