To wrap up a very busy August, I spent the bank holiday weekend up in the Cairngorms, taking in the annual ‘Thunder in The Glens’ event. It was being held near to where I stayed with Steve, Tanya and Alison back in February, and this time we all stayed just north of Aviemore at the Macdonald Lochanhully Resort in Carrbridge.
I took the train up to Glasgow on the Thursday afternoon, and of course that wasn’t a smooth journey. As I was on the the train from Stockport to Manchester, I discovered that my next train – the one to Glasgow – had been cancelled, so I had to get on a train to Preston where I could then get the next one to Glasgow, arriving in just after 8pm – only two and a half hours later than planned!
First thing Friday morning, me and Steve set off ahead of the others (who had to work), taking a scenic route past Loch Lomond and up to Fort William where we planned to grab a quick lunch, but both ended up having a roast dinner in hotel restaurant!
Neptune’s Staircase in Fort William.
After lunch we visited Neptune’s Staircase, which is a staircase lock made up of 8 locks on the Caledonian Canal, and looks pretty impressive. You can also see Ben Nevis from here, but I could only see half of it as the top was covered in clouds!
We got to our lodge at about six o’clock, and waited for Tanya and Alison to arrive, and then just chilled out for the rest of the evening.
The next morning, we went for a walk in Speybridge, near to where all those taking part in Thunder In The Glens would be arriving later. We went down to the River Spey where Liza did a bit of paddling whilst retrieving tennis balls Steve was throwing for her, and then we took a stroll through the Anagach Woods. It was a really sunny day, and the woodland looked beautiful, and I even got to see a red deer, although a blurry photo of it was my only proof to the others!
Tanya, Steve and Alison.
‘Thunder In The Glens’ in Grantown-on-Spey.
Then we walked back into Grantown-on-Spey to grab a bit of lunch in a cafe, before heading out onto the main street to watch the hundreds and hundreds of bikers make their way into the centre of town, all in convoy, showing off their shiny Harley Davidsons to the crowds lining the street. It was a really great atmosphere, and there were some really cool-looking bikes there, and most of the riders didn’t seem too scary!
On the Sunday, we went over to the Cairngorm mountain which was a lot less snowier than my last visit there in February! Me, Tanya and Alison went for a bit a walk on a path around the mountain, and the views were incredible, with really vibrant colours across the landscape. Afterward, we popped into the cafe for coffee and cake, then Tanya and Alison headed home because they had work the next day, whilst me and Steve went back into Aviemore to soak up some of the atmosphere of the Thunder In The Glens event.
Me on the Cairngorm mountain.
We arrived at the McDonald Aviemore Resort which is where the majority of the bikers were camped, and explored the little village there which comprised of food stands, and stalls selling all kinds of things of interest to a Harley Davidson owner! Steve knew a couple who were on the event who were running a coffee tent on the site – we’d met them briefly the day before, but today he was able to have a longer chat with them. And then, we also got to see some really cool chainsaw carving, with the items created being put onto a stall right away to then be sold!
The Frank Bruce Sculpture Trail.
After that, we went to the Inshriach Forest in Feshiebridge to take a look at the Frank Bruce Sculpture Trail. It’s a really interesting collection of wood and stone sculptures by the artist Frank Bruce, and they were designed to naturally decay in their environment, and return to the earth from where they came.
All the figures have a slightly otherworldly feel to them, and although when walking around the trail it was sad to see some of them lying on the ground being swallowed by the vegetation, I think in some ways that makes the idea of life and death come through them even more.
We opted for a takeaway back at the lodge that night – a Chinese for Steve and a chippy tea for me! We had to travel a bit of a distance to go and get them, but it was worth it!
It was back to Glasgow the next morning, where I caught a train home… of course, that train got terminated early at Preston, so again I had to work out a new way of completing my journey! It’ll be nice one day to eventually have a train journey that goes to plan!