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Discover Loch Ness - a day out from Aspenwood Cottage
A round trip of approx 70 miles / duration 3-5 hours
Leave Aspenwood on your discover Loch Ness tour and turn right onto
the B852 towards the village of Foyers.
Pass Boleskine graveyard on your right, the burial ground of the Fraser Clan.
The graveyard marks the site of a pre 1777 Church of Boleskine Parish though
nothing obvious remains today. The small stone building in the grounds is a mort-house
where a guard was stationed to ensure the safety of the coffined bodies in the
days when grave robbing was a real fear. In May the meadow encompassing the graveyard
is covered in wild bluebells. Further up the hill on the left is the large Private
residence of Boleskine House which was built in the late 18th Century as a hunting
lodge by the Honorable Archibald Fraser and has an interesting history.
The village of Foyers was once an important staging post on the old military
road from Inverness to Fort Augustus. The original inn at Foyers was first built
in about 1655 when Cromwell's troops had garrisons at Inverness and Inverlochy.
General Wade, who built the first military roads and bridges linking Fort Augustus
and Inverness around 1732 built himself a shelter called the "General's
Hut" and it has been stated that the building of The Foyers Hotel was on
this site. Foyers was the first village in the Highlands to have electricity
in each house powered by the British Aluminium Company and The Foyers Hotel was
boldly advertised as "the only hotel to have electricity". The building
that was The Foyers Hotel is now The Foyers Country House, a large self catering
holiday home sleeping 16 people.
The British Aluminium Company was set up in 1894 to take advantage of scientific
and engineering breakthroughs which had just made it possible to produce aluminium,
previously a rare and precious metal, in substantial quantities. The British
Aluminium Company was the first to harness hydro-electric power in Scotland.
The company built a smelting plant at Foyers in the Highlands and powered the
plant using hydro-electric power. The Falls of Foyers were used to power turbine
generators and the plant was soon producing large quantities of the new metal.
The plant opened in 1896 and whole families worked at the facility for generations.
During both world wars the plant employed about 500 people and every house in
the village was lit by electricity, while Buckingham Palace and the rest of London
was still using gas. Aluminium production at Foyers ceased in 1967, though the
plant was then used for a while to build narrow boats for English canals. In
1973 the power generation equipment was enlarged and upgraded and the ex-aluminium
plant now serves as a hydro electric power station feeding the national grid.
It is worth stopping here to walk down to see the spectacular waterfall, the Falls of
Foyers. Park in the car park next to the shop
and directly opposite is the gated entrance on the left leading down to the upper
and lower Falls. There are various safe stepped walkways leading steeply down
through the forest and well organised fenced view points allowing for good photo
opportunities to see the 140 ft waterfall plunging into a bubbling steaming mass
below. This is where the River Foyers drops sharply into a gorge leading into
Loch Ness.
Travel out of the village of Foyers away
from Loch Ness for about 2 miles on a twisting single-track road to the T-junction
and turn right onto the B862. You are now on the road heading towards Fort Augustus
and on the site of the original road built by General Wade linking Inverness
to Fort Augustus.
General Wade was appointed by the government of King George l ‘Commander
in Chief of His Majesty’s Forces, Castle, Forts and Barracks in Northern
Britain’ in order to confirm the facts surrounding the Highlanders
way of life and hopefully to establish harmony. His grand strategy was to build
strong well-sited forts arranged so as to intercept the lines of rebel communication
and movement. He was given full authority to build the new forts at Inverness
and Fort Augustus. In Inverness he added a barracks with an outer wall onto Inverness
Castle Hill, where there had been some sort of fort since the 12th century and
named it Fort George. [When this was blown up by the Jacobites in 1746 the name
was transferred to the big barracks at Ardersier which enjoys commanding views
of the Moray Firth]. He was also allowed to build a new boat with sails and oars
big enough to carry up to 80 soldiers for the ‘swift movement of troops
along Loch Ness’. He is perhaps remembered for his most important endeavour,
the mending of the roads between Garrisons and Barracks – possibly the
boat was not so swift !. Wade was a man of many parts. As an engineer he
designed many of the Great Glen roads and bridges which can still be seen standing
today. Wade was sent to Scotland in 1724 and at once began to build his first
Inverness to Fort Augustus road near the South East side of the loch. He was
not satisfied with this lengthy route and laid another more direct road in 1732
nearer the lochside. The original road from Foyers to Fort Augustus is now overlaid
by the modern B862.
Passing the small hamlet of Whitebridge the original arched White Bridge built
by Wade can still be seen today although it is disused.
The Whitebridge Hotel is a long established highland Hotel and was built in 1899
on the site of an old King's House which was destroyed by fire some years before.
A King's House was a hostelry used by the soldiers while in a specific area and
this King's House was used by the soldiers of General Wade while they were stationed
in the Highlands building roads and bridges.
Carry on climbing up the single track road passing heather moorland and grasslands
where herds of deer are frequently spotted roaming freely along with numerous
hardy sheep. There is a splendid view point with parking bays at the very top
at a height of 1162 ft. On a clear day, looking back the way you came, you can
see the four lochs-Lochs Mhor, Ruthven, Duntelchaig and Ashie and then east to
the Monadhliath Mountains. Ahead of you on a clear day you can view the snow
covered Nevis Range with the high peak of Ben Nevis at 4406 ft in the distance.
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles.
Start the descent down the mountains driving alongside picturesque Loch
Tarff on your right. This is the loch featured in the opening frames
of the film 'Local Hero'.
Between Loch Tarff and Fort Augustus there is a parking bay on the left affording
great views over Fort Augustus and the Abbey. The Fort was completed in 1730
and named after William Augustus the younger son of George ll. Today almost nothing
remains of the original military ‘Fort’ although parts of it were
incorporated into the Benedictine Abbey and School which was built in 1876 on
this site when the military buildings were gifted to the Order of St. Benedict
by Lord Lovat. The community of Benedictine monks were unable to sustain themselves
and left in 1998. The recently redeveloped site now provides self catering holiday
accommodation and residential apartments.
Just before entering Fort Augustus it is well worth stopping for the panoramic
view of Loch Ness looking NE towards Inverness.
Pass the imposing white building of The Lovat Arms Hotel up on your left and
the entrance to the old Abbey on your right and turn right onto
the A82. Drive over the Caledonian Canal via the swing bridge and park either
by the side of the canal or drive on and park on the left just after the petrol
station. There are lots of good photo opportunities in the village and it is
well worth a walk along the side of the Caledonian Canal watching
the various boating craft in the lock gates waiting to go on their way.
The Caledonian Canal was designed by engineer Thomas Telford and connects the
east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. It
was built between 1803 and 1822 but was never a great commercial success as the
canal was originally built too shallow and suffered from poor construction in
places. Most traffic still continued to use the more treacherous northern sea
route via the Pentland Firth. It was not deepened until 1847 by which time most
ships were too large and Inverness was soon connected to the Lowlands by railway.
The canal runs some 62 miles from northeast to southwest. Only one third of the
entire length is man-made, the rest being formed by Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and
Loch Lochy. These lochs are part of the Great Glen, a geological fault in the
earth’s crust. There are 29 locks [including eight at Neptune’s
Staircase near Fort Williaim] four aqueducts and 10 bridges along the course
of the canal. The canal is now mainly used by pleasure craft.
There is a regular 1 hour boat trip onto Loch Ness from Fort Augustus on The
Royal Scot equipped with sonar for an interesting glimpse of life under the
water.
When you cross the stone bridge over the River Oich take a look up river to see
the remains of an old viaduct. This was part of the Fort William to Fort Augustus
railway which only stayed open for 12 years as it lost so much money that it
had to be abandoned.
Not long after leaving Fort Augustus you will glimpse the only island in Loch
Ness, a rocky tree clad outcrop called Cherry Island. It is a man made isolated
construction of stone and oak wood known as a crannog. These were built to provide
ancient fortified refuges from wild animals and unwelcome invaders. Apparently
during the 15th Century a castle stood on the island. The island was originally
about 150 ft across in size but much of it has disappeared underwater now due
to the level of the loch being raised when it became part of the Caledonian Canal.
Carry on the A82 through the village of Invermoriston and notice the stone bridge
set upstream from the main road. This was constructed by Thomas Telford in 1813
and still stands firm today.
A little further along, about 1.5 miles, is the John Cobb memorial cairn. This
was constructed by the local people in 1953 to commemorate his memory. On 29th
September 1952 John Cobb attained a new world water speed record of 206mph over
a measured mile on Loch Ness in his power boat ‘Crusader’. Unfortunately
the boat hit a rough patch of water causing it to disintegrate quite spectacularly.
A rescue boat retrieved his body and although he was barely alive he died very
soon afterwards on the shore of the loch at the place where the memorial now
stands.
Continue
on your journey passing on your right the magnificent ruins of Urquhart
Castle built on a rocky peninsula and commanding a spectacular view
over Loch Ness. It still remains
an impressive stronghold despite its ruinous state. Once one of Scotland’s
largest castles, Urquhart’s standing remains include a tower house that
commands splendid views of Loch Ness and the Great Glen. It is steeped in history
and conflict and the story is unfolded dramatically in the new visitors centre
which was built in 2002 sympathetically into the hillside. Turn into the car
park area to visit the castle and for great photo opportunities. You do have
to pay to stay.
From the castle it is a short journey into the sprawling village of Drumnadrochit.
Here it is well worth visiting the ‘Loch
Ness Exhibition Centre’ which takes visitors through 500 million years
of Loch Ness history using a highly effective mix of lasers, digital projection
and special effects. It charts the history of the monster by exploring Scotland's
geological past, its folklore and the various serious research projects carried
out on the loch.
From Drumnadrochit carry on the A82 towards Inverness passing on the left The
Clansman Hotel. Looking across from this point you can clearly see the village
of Dores on the opposite shore. Soon you will pass a small village aptly named
Loch End.
Loch Ness now finishes and the River Ness and the Caledonian Canal come into
their own. The road runs alongside the canal into the city of Inverness, the
Capital of the Highlands and Europe’s fastest growing city. On entering
the centre of Inverness you cross a bridge over the River Ness. Keep to the right
hand lane and carry straight on after the bridge up towards the city centre 
passing
The Town House on your right. Here the road bears right and up towards Inverness Castle.
The red stone Inverness Castle you see today was built in the 1830s to house
courts and administrative buildings. Its arrival was part of a boom in the 1800s
that saw Inverness truly establish itself as the Capital of the Highlands. Although
the Caledonian Canal may never have been such a huge commercial success it did
add to the importance of the town and to its already thriving harbour. By the
1870’s railways were in place and today Inverness enjoys good rail links
to every point of the compass – north to the Caithness towns of Thurso
and Wick, west on the famous scenic route to Kyle of Lochalsh and the Isle of
Skye, east to Nairn and Aberdeen, south via Aviemore to Glasgow, Edinburgh and
London.
You of course may wish to stop and spend time in Inverness. As in
all cities parking is always a problem but there are pay & display
parking spaces alongside the river and a car park next to the cathedral. There
are plenty of individual shops in the precincted area as well as the normal named
brands in the Eastgate Shopping Centre.
Journey on out of Inverness looking for the B862 signposted to Dores and carry
on this road out of the city towards Loch Ness.
The first sighting of Loch Ness surrounded by mountains is amazing.
At the village of Dores the road forks - take the lower Loch side B852 road.
You may wish to park at The Dores Inn for refreshments and have a leisurely relaxing walk along the crescent shaped Dores beach. This offers outstanding views down the loch with the dome shaped peak of Mealfuarvonie, the highest mountain around the loch standing at 2280ft rising up in the distance.
From Dores take the lower road, the B852 it is about 8 miles and there are a number of parking bays on the loch side allowing you to stop and get photos of Urquhart Castle and the bay on the opposite shore.
Home to Aspenwood.
