Views From The Kitchen » Day Trips

Alloway’s Auld Haunted Kirk

Gary — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:48:20 +0000

Alloway’s auld haunted kirk was the location of the demonic gathering of witches in Robert Burns’ classic poem “Tam o’ Shanter”. I visited the ruin two years ago and got this spooky shot as dusk fell...

Craignethan Castle

Gary — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 20:26:38 +0000

Craignethan Castle, a Historic Scotland property, is located in the Clyde Valley. The castle was built in the early 1530s and only lasted as a fortification for about 50 years before being demilitarised. Construction was started by an illegitimate son of James Hamilton, the 1st Earl of Arran - Sir James Hamilton of Finnart. Sir James went on to become Master of Works to King James V from 1536 to 1540.

One well known guest at the castle was Mary, Queen of Scots. Forced to abdicate in 1567 while imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle, she escaped the following year and was sheltered/entertained for a while at Craignethan Castle.

I hadn’t heard of the castle before, but it looked like an interesting afternoon out - and not too far from home...

Oban By Night

Gary — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 23:55:59 +0000

I didn’t leave Ballachulish until the sun had set, so my drive down to Oban began in the dusk and ended in the dark. That was a pity since it seems to be an attractive drive. However, the Oban plan was for after-dark shots, so this didn’t matter too much. The first objective was to drive up to McCaig’s Folly.

Rannoch Moor and Glen Coe

Gary — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 23:50:13 +0000

The weather’s been good for the past few days, so I was up pretty early this morning to head off up towards Rannoch Moor and Glen Coe. When you drive from Glasgow up the A82 to Fort William, you cross Rannoch Moor. Once you’ve made the ascent to the moor, you pass between two lochs in fairly short order. Little Lochan na-h’Achlaise is first on the left and then you pass the larger Loch Ba on the right. If you remain on the road, you see little of Loch Ba, while the views over Lochan na-h’Achlaise are much better. After stopping the car, I walked across the moor and down to the waterside...

Edinburgh’s Winter Wonderland

Gary — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 23:55:58 +0000

I've been staying over in Edinburgh for a couple of days to allow me to attend a training course for work. This evening, after returning to my hotel and freshening up, I wandered up to Princes Street to take a look at the Winter Wonderland. I have already seen a number of shots from the event, so I had a rough idea of what to expect. In the end, this is my favourite from the several shots I took.

Dunure at sunset

Gary — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 22:12:02 +0000

In which Gary travels to Dunure to try to photograph the ruins of the castle by the golden light of the setting sun...

Oban At Dusk

Gary — Sun, 07 Dec 2003 23:50:11 +0000

Today we ended up at McCaig's Folly, Oban. This shot from the viewing platform, was taken a couple of hours or so after sundown.