Kilmuir Cemetery, Isle of Skye

Okay so I totally forgot about this post from the gang's holiday to the Isle of Skye back in March! Whoops. Never mind, it's being posted now!

So after a solid three days of climbing Munros, walking through valleys and finding skulls on the sides of mountains (oh yes!) - I spent the last day on my own on what became a tour of the Island's cemeteries.

The first two I saw on this day were a roadside cemetery and then St. Columba's Isle which you can read about here.

The last one was Kilmuir cemetery which I almost decided against as it was right on the coast at the very top of the Island. I read a bit about it online though and thought when am I next gonna be here? and so I went.

It was such a beautiful drive up there and on the way I stopped in the little seaside town of Portree for some lunch. A kinda weird coincidence also happened. In the car I was listening to Bob Dylan's album Time Out Of Mind and the last song is called Highlands. The weird thing is that he sings about doing everything I was doing. Being in Scotland obviously, about how he's travelling around and stops in a cafe and also mentions how it must be a holiday because there's no one around. It was bank holiday Monday when I was out too! 

Haha anyway, the cemetery...

It's the resting place of Flora MacDonald who is famous for having helped Bonnie Prince Charlie leave the island and escape capture after the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

oxoxo

Ancient Burial Ground of St. Columba's Isle

 

 

 

 

 

So on the last day of our holiday in the Isle of Skye, we each went off and did whatever we wanted to get done before we went home. Nikki, Joe and Ben went off to climb another mountain and Jenny just had a chill out day at the house. I had been doing a bit of research of the island and decided to go off and do a bit of a tour of the cemeteries.

 

I found out about this curious, little known place called St. Columba's Isle which claimed to be an ancient burial ground where several clan chiefs had been buried. Very excited and determined to find it, I mapped out my route and set off. As I was driving along, I suddenly spotted this odd little cemetery just randomly placed by the side of the road. It wasn't exactly at the side of the road, it had a field at each side of it but it caught my eye nonetheless and I immediately pulled to the side to get a closer look, I was on a cemetery tour anyway! The pictures above show this nameless place. It was really lovely how it was placed there. The majority of the headstones were quite modern and if all those people were stood where their graves are, they'd have had a wonderful view of the rolling countryside.

 

After a few photos I continued on my journey to find the elusive St. Columba's Isle....

 

 

I found it. The strangest coincident happened when I got there too. I was crossing this rickety wooden bridge over the river to the little island where the graves are and had to stand to the side to let an old lady pass. She thanked me and passed by and then turned back. "Can I ask why you've come here?" I suppose I must have been a curious sight, a young stranger visiting such a specific burial ground. I told her about my interest in graveyards and cemeteries and how peaceful and evocative of the past they are. She smiled and proceeded to tell me how she herself is a Nicolson who is a descendent of all the dead buried here! Of all the hours of all the days I could have chosen to go, I manage to be there at the same time as the clan's family member!

 

 

It's not hard to believe it dates back to the twelfth century because of how randomly scattered the headstones and obelisks are. Some headstones were hardly even recognisable as being headstones they were so weathered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

oxoxo

 

 

 

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The Black Cuillin, Isle of Skye

 

Over the Easter bank holiday weekend, a group of us went for a mini holiday up to the Isle of Skye in Scotland. We went with the intention of walking up some mountains (or Munros, Corbetts and Grahams as I've learned they're called!) and that's exactly what we did. This post is about our day spent ascending the Black Cuillin. The whole mountain range is called the Cuillin but there are two separate sections. The Red Cuillin which is lower and paler as they're made of granite. The Black Cuillin which is also known as the True Cuillin is made up of twelve munros which are a deep black colour which as you can see creates a very dangerous, foreboding appearance so it comes as no surprise that the legend goes they're haunted by the ghost of an outlaw named MacRaing...

 

The sight of them was just something else. It was a relatively bright day when we arrived but looking up at the peaks it looked like a different world. The tops had a thick mist hanging over them and a sprinkling of snow which looked very pretty when you're on ground level but we were soon to find out was not so fun once you're up there!

 

 

 

 

The journey up was quite light hearted to begin with but the severity of the incline soon started to show on me. That's my weakness, I cannot deal with going up hill! I put it down to my little legs and little lungs, both of which were put to the test.

As we ascended into the mist the weather changed and we found ourselves being snowed on at one point!  

 

 

 

A whiskey break was required half way up!

 

The summit that we reached was very strange. It was this plateau which contained a large body of clear water, surrounded by the peaks of the mountain range. It was otherworldly, as if we'd reached some version of Heaven. It was also very humbling to be surrounded by these huge, looming mountains. To look at them you'd think these ancient giants must surely move and make some kind of noise. It's amazing that they've just stood silent and still for so many, many years. The things they must have seen!

 

 

 

 

 

What an experience to have been all the way up into the clouds. It was very difficult but I'm incredibly pleased to have done it and would suggest to anyone that you see this mountain range if ever you're on the island.

 

 

 

 

 

oxoxo

 

 

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Crowden Clough

 

Last week Ben and I both had a day off together, which now that I'm a store supervisor, (not sure if I've mentioned that yet) can be few and far between.

So anyway, Monday turned out to be such a beautiful day! Blue skies and even a warm sun. Too nice not to be out in the Peak District!

We drove out to Hathersage to Coleman's Deli to stock up on sandwiches and mini cannolis and then continued further out. We parked in Crowden and began walking. The views of the tors were amazing!

 



 

 

Soon enough we found ourselves stood before the gorgeous open valley of Crowden Clough. We walked and walked, nearly to the end. On the higher points there was still snow on the ground.

 



 

 

I say 'nearly to the end' because after a while my feet were killing me so I laid down on this flat rock and had a rest while Ben carried on to the top. It was lovely to lie in the sun with just the sound of flowing water and knowing that there's no one around for miles - and just look at that view!

 



 

 

 

 

oxoxo

 

 

 

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Rainy Days On The Great Lakes

So we went camping a few weekends back for Stacey's birthday, we being who I refer to as the Sheffield gang. We went all the way up to the Lake District which for those of you who don't know, is not far from the boarder to Scotland. Let me tell ya it was one hell of a drive! You don't realise what a bad position your car seat is in until you've driven for three and a half hours straight! 

All was well though when we arrived. We managed to get our tent up pretty quickly with everyone's help. We all then headed into the nearest town where we had a nice pub meal and saw some live bluegrass. It's such a lovely place, we were in Coniston I think it was. It was very much like being in Iceland or Greenland or somewhere similar, what with all the green open space and towering mountains in the distance. 

This is us in the morning having quite a varied breakfast. Ben made me and him scrambled egg on toast and Alex and Neil had french toast with berries. No half measures here!

Luckily we were there just in time to catch a country fair nearby. I've never seen so many dogs in one place! So many lurchers and foxhounds and tweed! It was by this lovely lake too which was absolutely gorgeous.

Later that day we went kayaking! We each were in a two person kayak on this massive lake. I was pretty scared at first but it was awesome when we got going.

And after all that we then had the massive drive back!

You can see Alex's post on this over here!

oxoxo

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