Buachaille Etive Mòr, seen from Glen Coe

We sadly left Kirsty at her house in Cuil Bay, near Duror, and headed north to begin the journey home. Turning into Loch Leven passing under Ballachulish Bay we drove inland and then up into Glen Coe. This is a very evocative route for Helena, who was always driven to boarding school from the family home in Duror in the 1970s. I’d never driven all the way through Glen Coe until we came here eight days ago, and then low lying mists and thick clouds above had covered the landscape.

Today was once again sunny and bright. I stopped the car in a lay-by as we neared the summit of the pass and Helena told me that the peak here was called Buachaille Etive Mòr. We got out and crossed the road to grab a couple of snaps. The small burn in the foreground appears to be beginning of the Rivewr Etive that forms Loch Etive some miles further south, and which then flows out to the sea at Connel, close to Oban. In between here and there is the valley, seen in the distance, where the finale to the film ‘Skyfall’ was filmed, which seems timely given the imminent release of its sequel.

We were both sad to leave Scotland and family once again, but we hope to return at the Christmas holiday.

The journey south was uneventful but the weather began to break as we neared the border with England. We had booked an AirBnB in Ingleton, and we left the motorway early to be able to enjoy the small country roads of Cumbria. As I crossed a tall bridge I had the urge to stop and look over the parapet to see what the river looked like. The ‘Extra’ is what I saw. A man was swimming in the deep pool below the large rock from which he had dived in. It was a a lovely scene and another day I’d have suggested exploring up the river ban in the woods to see the small waterfall I could hear in the distance. This it the River Lune near to Sedbergh and it flows steeply down and west to join the sea at Lancaster only about thirty miles away.