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| The Falls of Dochart, Killin |
The next few entries are about
our trip to Scotland in May 2017, illustrated with our photos and a selection
of my sketches. More of my sketches can be viewed on my Water & Art blog –
see Scottish Sketches I-VII, uploaded
30th May 2017.
I travelled up during the second
week of May, staying in Edinburgh specially to see Joan Eardley – A Sense of Place at the Scottish Gallery of Modern
Art. Very thought provoking and well worthwhile. Sadly Eardley died relatively
young (younger than me now), but while she was around (1921-1963), I was
impressed with her prolific output of drawings and paintings, not to mention her
stamina. Most of all in all her work at Catterline on the Fife coast where she’d
invariably be out in blizzards and gales painting on the beach as the waves
crashed in. Amid what I took to be unseasonably warm sunshine and exceptionally
dry weather for the area, I took walks on Salisbury Crags and on Arthur’s Seat.
I then moved on to Stirling.
There, I was drawn to draw in Holyrood Cemetery and along the very sinuous,
tidal River Forth. There were particularly good views of the Forth from the
Wallace Monument on the Abbey Craig to the north of the city, taking in
Stirling Castle; the three bridges now spanning the Forth on the south side of
Stirling; and the nearby site of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, where William
Wallace defeated Edward I’s English army in 1297. The Monument honouring him is
Victorian. Later that day, Friday, the River Forth brought a new meaning to the
school run in the form of racing,
almost bore-like flood tide coinciding with local school children heading home
across Stirling Bridge (15th century, now a footbridge).
The weather broke on Saturday 13th:
heading down from the Beheading Stone in the pouring rain, I met up with my
other half, my Cycling Man, in Sainsburys café. He’d travelled overnight from
the south. We then headed north, in the rain to Perthshire.
For the next fortnight –
thankfully not wet or hot all the time, all the time – we were based at holiday
cottage in Fearnan, above the NE shore of Loch Tay. In this same area my
parents first introduced me to Scotland on a family holiday during the early
1980s. We’d holidayed as a couple further down the River Tay at Pitnacree five
years ago. Last year (April), I stayed in Pitlochry for a couple of nights
before heading home from our Speyside-Inverness trip. We were back now to
enable my Cycling Man to ride the Caledonian Etape on Sunday 21st
May. He went out for two solo rides either
side of that. Off the bicycle, there was plenty of interest in the way of
water, woodland and forest walks; and plenty to sketch. We did a couple of
short woodland walks around Aberfeldy; visited the Tay at Perth, Dunkeld and
around Aberfeldy; Glen Lyon; the Falls of Dochart and Head of Loch Tay at
Killin; the Ben Lawers pass area; Pitlochry and around; forest walks above Loch
Tummel and Loch Rannoch. Local cafes frequented for tea and cakes: my Cycling
Man sampled the scones at Rannoch railway Station café during his final training
ride before the Etape. After the succession of Scottish trips we’ve made over
the past fifteen to twenty years, we’ve now very familiar with the Watermill Café at Aberfeldy and the
Festival Theatre, Pitlochry overlooking the River Tummel, especially the second
one as it is near the A9.
Though glad that the weather didn’t
break into constant rain and sog, the more changeable weather was a relief from
the unsettlingly settled weather prevailing throughout Britain in April and
over much of last winter, at least for anyone like me into water. Falling water
levels, not just back home down south but throughout Britain and across the
Channel had made feel somewhat dispirited, and demotivated in terms of going
places. Demoralised, too by a drought of sales from three recent exhibitions
involving ten framed pictures; six more unframed; twenty-five cards; and around
£200 in expenses. Even though, everything still appeared well down on what it
usual for May, the plentiful, wildier water here was a moral boost. My art flow
recharged. Most of all sketching the waterfalls at Killin and Glen Lyon,
together with the reflective River Tay Perth and Dunkeld. These sketches were
done quickly and freely in a mix of water media, marker pens and Neocolor oil
and water mixable pastels. Most of them in A4 sketchbooks. Invariably the
weather forces me to work quickly, be it cold and windy, showery or warm. The
wettest days were during the middle of the weekend: Saturday clearing in the
evening, with low evening light on the Tay and Loch Tay as we headed back from
Pitlochry. My Cycling Man got the Loch Rannoch circuit and long climb on the
Etape route in before the rain came down around 11.00am. The second week was
increasingly warm. I was very of midges, both knowing full well what they can
be like. They are worst in the summer, though we’ve seen them, and been bitten
by them, even in May. Mild winters have meant that they aren’t being killed off
by the cold and are getting active earlier in the year. The last two days of
the fortnight were hot. A combo of mountain-glen topography, lack of wind,
higher humidity and the threat of midges make warm weather feel uncomfortable
at a lower temperature than back home down south. Twenty (oC) is
more than plenty here. On 25th May it was around 25oC and
five years ago it we had a chilly first week followed by an overheated second
week with highs of over 30oC. It’s a case of packing for everything.
The change five years ago occurred over the space of a couple of days.
Thankfully. What makes a big difference is the design of buildings, holiday
cottages no exception. Five years ago, we were in an old rambling place where
the upstairs was comfortable one week, downstairs the next. This time, in
common with many places, we were in an otherwise well designed cottage, with an
open plan main room with large windows and outside deck with the views across
the Tay. The southwest aspect and long light Scottish evenings at this time of
year meant that it got the sun from noon until well after 7pm. On the two hot
days, there was no relief from the heat during those hours. As well then, that
it was just for two days.
From Killin and the Ben Lawers
pass road, we could see the Tarmachan mountain range which included my Cycling
Man’s first Munro. He’s now climbed nearly 200. Had it really now been thirty
years since his first? By the Tay and Tummel, I reflected on everything that
had happened in our lives and in the wider world over the past five years, but
most of all over the past year, the weather changing in more ways than one. I
wondered if we returned in a few years time whether we’d living in a dis-United
Kingdom. At the risk of rocking the boat with deep running, turbulent emotional
currents, amid a seemingly blocked political pattern, the outcome of last year’s
EU referendum had a much deeper, more emotional impact on me than I’d expected.
It went way beyond the political and
economical implications of being in or out of the EU. In the immediate aftermath
I felt I was living in a much more isolated country. Not only did The Continent feel much further away,
Scotland did, too. I hope people will remember that the outcome of the vote was
very different in Scotland than in much of England and Wales, with a very clear
majority in favour of remaining in the EU north of the Border. There are real
implications here for the integrity of the United Kingdom. Though a vote for Scotland
to breakaway (vote for Independence) with a view to remaining in the EU would
be perfectly understandable, it would
hurt me deeply if it was to become a reality. For nearly fifty years now, I’ve
been used to living on one landmass (mainland Britain) which is all part of one
country (UK), with “abroad” being across the sea. Though we’ve always lived in
England, we both have a deep attachment to Scotland through friend and family
connections, along with some our fondest holiday memories now spanning more
than thirty years.
The following entries explore
various aspects of our trip in more detail:
Edinburgh and Joan Eardley
7Squared Goes Forth (Stirling)
Loch Tay, the Upper Tay – Kenmore
to Aberfeldy
The River Tay – Perth and Dunkeld
Killin and the Head of Loch Tay
Glen Lyon, the Caledonian Etape,
Two Forest Walks
Pitlochry, Killiecrankie and
Hydropower in Perthshire
The Ben Lawers Pass road, more on
Hydropower
Water levels (UK / Scotland:
Spring Low-Down 2017
Two Contrasting Winters
Recommended reading and online
material
