ArrocharJune 2012

Contents

Page 2/3 A contingency plan

Page 4/5 A trip to Inverary

Page 6/7 A trip to Inverary (cont)

Page 8/9 A night’s tale

Page 10 A night’s tale (cont)

Page 11/22 Picture Special - The Cobbler

Saturday: A scene from Michael’s car on the road to Ben Cruachan. It rained all day. The Team needed an

alternative plan.

Front cover photograph: Michael meets The Cobbler.

And we had one, thanks to Barbara. A trip to Cruachan Power station, built deep within the mountain of Ben Cruachan.

A contingency plan

Construction of the power station started in 1959. By the mid-1960s its four huge turbines were hard at work.

Unfortunately photographs cannot be taken inside the installation. You will just have to imagine how interesting it was.

Interesting and informative this was a great wet weather alternative to a grand soaking in the Scottish mountains.

Due to potential landslides we had a fifty mile detour to get to the hollow mountain - it was not in vain.

The Cobbler could wait for a better day.

Inside the turbine hall.

The four huge turbines reside in a hall 91metres wide (36metres high) and have water from the reservoir come through the them at 4000 cubic feet a second. That’s a lot of water.

The reservoir holds 10million cubic metres of water and sits in a corrie 365metres above sea level.

Access to this turbine hall is via a tunnel 1 kilometre long, 7 metres wide and 4 metres high. We were taken through this tunnel by bus on a guided tour.

The combined weight of all four generators is 650 tonnes. From standstill each machine is capable of reaching full output in two minutes.

The station was the first of its type to be built in Europe. It was unique at being the first hydro-electric power station to pump water back up to the reservoir at off-peek times to re-fill its water source.

As we witnessed this weekend, there really was no need for the engineers to do this.

A trip to Inverary

Inverary harbour

What’s a Grog Barrel?

Inverary Castle. Very grand.

A night’s tale

As a day of landslides, bus trips inside mountains, fairy-tale castles and excellent meals comes to pass we return to the guest house, weary site seers keen to recharge our batteries for the following day’s mountain adventure.

Act 1 scene 1

“Beside the Guest House, Ben Arthur’s Bothy serves traditional Scottish pub food and drink, and you can enjoy a game of pool in the bar.” Web quote.

My fault, I should have read this sentence more carefully. One can also “enjoy” music and discos in the Lochside Guest House until 1am on Sunday mornings. This is ideal after a busy day exploring in the area. Linda and I had a first-floor double room overlooking the Loch, it is quite stunning (the view, that is) but the problem is that Ben Arthur’s Bothy has a first and second floor balcony where party-people can congregate, in relative quietness of course, to talk loudly and further enjoy their night.

Thump-thump-thump. Natter-natter-natter. Thump-thump-

thump. Natter-natter-natter. Thump, natter, thumper, natter, thump, thump, thump. Chortle, chortle, chortle…went the rhythm of the night.

Deep sleepers, or people worn out through a day’s activities, that book this wonderful room with stunning views over the loch may have a stunning sleep, others I fear many will not be so lucky. However, the disco did stop when it said it would 01:00am Sunday morning… Natter-natter-natter. Chortle, chortle, chortle. I fitfully dozed, Linda could not.

Act 1 scene 2

Keep in mind that the Guest House is under renovation at the moment (heavy reconstruction would be more apt) and we were

Suddenly there was another

type of noise.

in the part of the building “furthest away” from Ben Arthur’s Bothy - presumably in the “quieter rooms.” The rest of the building was vey much an open building site.

Suddenly there was another type of noise. Coming from the room above ours to be precise. Unbeknown to us two recently escaped baby elephants from Edinburgh Zoo had booked into our guest house. Furthermore, how thoughtful was it of them to have brought along their dance-mat, too. Move over drum-and-bass, there’s a new beat on the scene.

This was unsettling and a little alarming especially as there were no signs that additional guests(?) were staying on the premises that evening. The owners of this guesthouse do not live on-site, either. Our group (of four) was the only one in this building, or so we thought.

Baby elephants on a dance-mat? Really? Or could it be intruders? It was time for action. Feel around for my old service revolver or feel around for the duvet to pull higher over my ears? I opted for the latter. Bloodbaths weren’t my scene. Thud-thud-thud. I fitfully dozed (sort of), Linda could not.

Night gives way to morning. Morning gives way to the breakfast room. The breakfast room gives way to…

Sunday, late morning. Looking over the Luss hills.

Act 2 scene 1

“We offer a traditional full Scottish breakfast, locally sourced. If you prefer a lighter breakfast we serve a selection of cereals, fresh fruit, bread rolls, yogurts and toast.” Web quote.

..but only if the cook shows up. Otherwise “we serve” is not an option. You have to make it yourself.

Our objective for the day was to have breakfast fairly early for a Sunday morning (8am) in order to be out and enjoying the hills whilst the weather was fine. We had a timetable, a plan. Breakfast at eight, which had been agreed with the staff the previous morning, was our first objective of the day. It was an objective that we abysmally failed to achieve. The staff never arrived for breakfast, at least not the staff member that served us the day before. And not at 8am. In fact not until around 8:30 and even then this person was clearly unaware that there was any problem “brewing”. In the meantime the owners were as elusive as the Higgs-Boson particle, maybe even less so if that is indeed possible.

Ten minutes prior to this we had been told at the breakfast table, by the two baby elephants (thankfully they were not intruders), that breakfast was a “help yourself from the kitchen” meal until help arrives. Great. We headed for the kitchen.

So, it was very unlikely things could get worse. Oh, but hang on…just hang on a minute…

Act 2 scene 2

Then the situation became quite bizarre to say the least. Now the breakfast room began to fill up with the rest of the revellers from the party at Ben Arthur’s Bothy! Was this for their breakfast? What was going on? It was like Fawlty Towers, only not so funny. We desperately needed a light-hearted Basil to lift the scene.

Eventually many of these “guests” left to find breakfast elsewhere. Were they expected for breakfast, too? The owners never did approach us personally during breakfast.

Eventually we got a “sort of” breakfast and headed for the mountains. Michael’s observation, whilst dolefully searching his sandwich, aptly summed up the entire experience, “Quantity over quality” he muttered, then shrugged and tucked into his bacon sandwich.

Soon The Mountains weaved their magic and do what mountains do best - took my heart and spirit to a better place. Cobblers to the guest house. We were off to The Cobbler.

Had there been a linen basket, I would have folded myself into it and awaited the

arrival of the laundry van.

The Team are ready for the off.

Rock Star LJ Parker tells us all we want to know about the rocks.

Rock Star LJ Parker tells us all we want to know about the rocks. The team make progress below the north summit of The Cobbler.

Initially The Cobbler did not want to come out and play.

But play it did, shortly after dinnertime.

Some added colour.

Some scrambling on The Cobbler’s north face. We’re at the col and heading for the south summit “window”.

We’re at the col and heading for the south summit “window”. The south summit “window”. Step through it? Not likely.

Dramatic scenes on Cobbler’s south summit

Life at 881metres. Ben Arthur (The Cobbler).

Hands on rock as Linda takes the final few steps onto the north summit. The south summit window can be seen above and right of Linda.

Our last look at Ben Arthur.

Coming Soon:

Pitlochry: The Long Weekend, packed full of natural goodness.

So, you’ve got to ask yourself a question...

...can you really afford to miss it?