Season’s Greetings!
2024 has been a very busy year with a lot of travelling. I’ve been to Germany, Orkney, Isle of May, and Cornwall, helped run a couple of cat shows, and – sadly – sold the house near Fort William. I’m also Secretary for a couple of Cat Clubs, Treasurer for a third, plus I’m running websites for several cat clubs, and Walking on Air. I continue to take many photos – this will take you to all of my 2024 posts at Fifescapes.
‘Nevis View’, Fort William
Starting with Fort William. I brought the property in 1990 – 34 years ago – about half my life! So selling was painful. However, it was always part of my life plan, my tenant gave notice and selling was the only sensible thing to do. I made several trips to get it ready and had a buyer within 2 weeks of it being advertised. I’d forgotten how big the mountains there look – and are – and how horrible getting well and truly midge-bitten is! I’d also forgotten the awful road that is part of the A86 from Aberarder to the A889 for Dalwhinnie. I won’t miss travelling along it – the B-road from my village over the Ochils to the next one is a better road. Unlike that part of the A86, it is wide enough for a white line down the middle the whole way!
While I was there, I took my last photos from the balcony. This is the best of them.
Germany
2024 was my first visit to Germany for several years, and I had a great time. The biggest highlights were visiting the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, and seeing the birds of prey display at Guttenburg Castle. The wind was from the north-east and despite the sun, bitterly cold, but it meant the birds on display could soar the updrafts generated by the castle.
There are more photos at Fifescapes.
We also had a lovely day out on the Odenwald Railway (Hesse). However, post-Brexit, getting through passport control at Frankfurt Airport was so, so slow. I also think the young man at Passport control hadn’t heard of the town Terri lives in!
Orkney
Terri visited from Germany in June, and we returned to Orkney. It’s the first of the many places we’ve been that we both wanted to go back to. The ferry from Scrabster to Stromness normally goes to the west of Hoy, but this time due to the sea state it went in it’s shelter, through the western part of the Pentland Firth. The skies were wonderful.
We managed to visit (not in this order!) St Magnus Cathedral, the Maeshowe Chambered Cairn, the Brough of Birsay, the Ring of Brodgar, the Broch of Gurness, the the Longhope Lifeboat Museum, and Yesnaby.
We also ate pizza at Eviedale. We took the morning ferry back to Scrabster and visited the Castle of Mey and Dunnet Head, which is the north-most point on the UK mainland. You can see many more photos from Orkney at Fifescapes.
Isle of May
The birds at Yesnaby, the Brough of Birsay and Dunnet Head had inspired me, plus I wanted to see Puffins – we had just caught a glimpse of some. So, I booked a trip on the May Princess to the Isle of May. There were hundreds – maybe thousands – of Puffins, and they were so used to people they posed for us! As well as Puffins, other species I saw include Kittiwakes, Razorbills, Fulmars, Guillemots and very notably Artic Terns. These amazing little birds (about the size of a Blackbird) fly from the UK to the Antarctic and back every year!
Unfortunately having to book well in advance meant having no idea what the weather would be. As I waited to board drops of rain started, and got heavier on the hour’s trip to the Isle. However a miracle! As we landed, the rain stopped for an hour or so! Then it set back in in earnest, and after another hour we all boarded for the return trip.
I took some 600 photos and edited them down to for Facebook! There are more than that at Fifescapes.
Burntisland
My friend Eleanor who lives in the USA visited Scotland in July. I met her at Ferrytoll P&R, and we went for a fairly long walk on the beach at Burntisland followed up by visiting a café.
Cornwall
Finally, in early October, I went on a road trip to Cornwall. I used the journeys down & back to see friends who live in England, and – once again – I took a lot of photos! Once again, there are many more in Fifescapes than here.
I used the long journey down and back to visit friends – Barbara in Huddersfield, Diane in Halifax, Steve in Skipton on the way down, and Mark & Anne and then Ian, Angela, Mike and his wife on the way back. I also managed to visit York and it’s Minster, Bristol and St David’s.
Lizard Point
Cornwall itself was epic! I arrived at around 2pm, so I had time to visit Lizard Point, the most southerly point on the UK mainland. The next day I met up with Pauline, and we were going to visit her boat which is at Mylor, just north of Falmouth. However it rained heavily until about 3pm, so we passed time in Café Mylor. Eventually the promised clearance showed signs of arriving, so we went back to where I’d left my car and walked through the Penrose Estate down to Loe Bar and back.
Sennen Cove and Lands End
The next day I picked Pauline up and we went to Sennen Cove. We walked along the South-West Coast Path to Land’s End – the west-most point in England. We had the pleasure of seeing Choughs, a very rare bird but this is one of the places they live and breed.
When we got back to Sennen Cove I screwed up my courage and had a very quick dip in the sea! The beach had life guards and flags marking where it was safe to swim – a little further along looked like there was a strong undertow. We ate lunch in the car looking at the sea, as the next band of weather gently rained on the windscreen.
The rain got heavier and heavier and we visited the museum at Porthcurno, which is massive and well worth a visit. Porthcurno is where the first transatlantic communication cables came ashore.
St Ives
On my last day there, I went to Pauline’s and she drove us to St Erth where we used the Park & Ride to go to St Ives. That branch line is the last laid as broad gauge, hence the over-bridges look rather wide for a single line at current standard gauge but clearly not wide enough for a double line. The coming of the railway in 1877 made it accessible and it’s popularity rocketed among the Victorians.
I can see why it’s so popular – it’s gorgeous, it has lots of fascinating shops, and there are fabulous sea views. Again, it was raining off & on. I wasn’t surprised at gulls hanging around for food, I was surprised and also delighted at the very tame Turnstones busy picking up crumbs around our feet!
During one of the heavier, more prolonged showers, we popped into the café at Tate St Ives for a bit of respite. The café is on the top floor and I found there is a viewing platform with a terrific panoramic view of Porthmeor Beach. I took a great many photos there, and it amused me to be making my own art in a famous art gallery!
All things come to an end. We got the train back to St Erth and thence to Pauline’s where we had supper together.
I left fairly promptly the next day, and arrived at Bristol in time for a quick walk around the city centre, though not enough to visit the SS Great Britain. I used a park & ride bus to get there.
Then it was the long journey home. I stopped briefly at St David’s on the way to visiting Mark & Anne in Fishguard. Then it was on to Kirkby to visit Ian and Angela, and Mike and Gillian joined us for a meal out.
Back home!
Finally it was back home. My cat sitter had done her usual excellent job, they were fed and happy. However I’m not done with Cornwall! I’ve rarely if ever called anywhere ‘epic’ before, and I am starting to organise a walking holiday there next year. The plan is to travel by train – the Aberdeen – Penzance through train calls at my nearest station! I’ll then have a day’s rest in Penzance, walk round the coastal path to St Ives, have another day off, and come home. There are a couple of companies that will deal with booking accommodation and taking luggage from place to place, so I will only have to carry a day sack. I will, however, get a very good waterproof before I go!
Glen Tilt
Life has quietened down since I got back. I’ve been walking including a day visiting Glen Tilt again. However I think the description of it as ‘one of Scotland’s most beautiful glens’ is a bit overblown. I prefer Glen Nevis!
The cats…
Dennis the cat has been to his last show, and finally got made up to Imperial Grand Premier. Regardless of the result it would have been his last show. Basil enjoys being shown as a pedigree pet, and gets lots & lots of cuddles at shows. Finn still nips me if I’m slow putting the food down and my legs are bare, and Sadie continues to mother him despite him being almost 3 years old!
Photography
Finally, I splashed out on a pre-loved long zoom lens for the big camera, and took it to my local Lochs (previously gravel pits) which get a good collection of wildfowl in the winter. They also have two resident families of Mute Swans, one of which were trying to mug me for food. Two adults and six full-grown cygnets is quite intimidating!
2025
So that is my 2024. My year ends with several things already planned for next year, and myself and the cats in good health.
With very best wishes for the New Year and 2025