Following in the Footsteps of Queen Victoria
As a proud and passionate Scotsman I was delighted to lead this year’s NCM Partners Trip to an area I know particularly well as I served there as a young PC in the 1960’s. 33 of us left the Atholl Palace Hotel at 0930 hours on a beautiful sunny morning. At my request the driver of our coach took the old A9 route north to Blair Atholl and we arrived at Blair Castle just before 10am, having driven up the long tree lined drive to the Castle. We were greeted at the main door by our tour guide who gave us a very well presented introduction into the history of the Murray Clan of whom the Duke of Atholl is the Clan Chief, followed by instruction on how to carry out our self guided tour of the Castle. A video detailing each room could be viewed prior to walking throughout the Castle. Photography was not allowed apart from in the main Ballroom. 2 hours had been allocated to tour the Castle and the Gardens, many expressed that this was not long enough and they intend to return to spend much more time there as it was such a historic and interesting place.
We enjoyed a light lunch and in particular the beautiful fresh cream scones, in the Castle restaurant, before heading north to the House of Bruar, an exclusive retail outlet. En route, as it was a particularly warm and sunny day I announced an alternative to the “retail therapy” a walk to the nearby Falls of Bruar. I was very surprised when the vast majority decided to join me. My Scottish accent had obviously been misunderstood and they thought I had said “200 yards” when in fact I had said “a few hundred yards”. We all managed to get to the Lower Falls where some decided they had walked far enough but the majority continued with me to the Upper Falls. On the way we witnessed a group Tomb Bombing in the waters which many expressed amazement at. The return journey, downhill, was much easier and liquid refreshments were well received at the cafe where we joined the some of the group who had given up on the retail therapy and were sitting in the sun enjoying wine.
We then made our way along the winding country road to the Queens View looking west along Loch Tummel. A storm was brewing and Schiehallion was almost invisible despite being over 1000 metres high. Many photographs were taken of the View Queen Victoria and Prince Albert saw many years ago on one of their visits to Blair Castle. A group photograph was quickly taken and we boarded our coach and headed back to Pitlochry. As we stopped in the town for a few essentials where the storm caught us up, the Heavens opened and some of the group were rather wet when they returned to the coach. By the time we reached the drive up to the hotel it was running like a river due to the intense thunder storm.
Our driver managed to park as near to the entrance canopy as he could to prevent anyone being soaked.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day showcasing the area I was virtually born and brought up in. I’d like to thank Shirley, Mary and Marion from Region 1 for their assistance in making this a memorable tour.
David McGregor, No 1 Region
