Scotland 2019 22: Rannoch Moor

Having got cold and damp walking through the Mar Lodge Estate, the following day dawned with clear blue skies, virtually no wind and a predicted maximum temperature well into the 30s.  Given that we still needed to escape Pitlochry because of the Blair Castle Horse Trials, we decided to head west on the banks of Loch Tummel, Dunalastair Water and Loch Rannoch to one of the most remote tea rooms in the country at Rannoch Moor Station.  OK, so the official excuse was that we wanted to go for a walk on the moor and in the woods above Loch Laidon, but who can resist the Rannoch Station Tearoom?  It was so good that we had to visit it twice, in fact: once on arrival (when the cakes were still hot from the oven); and again after our walk for a belated lunch.

The last time we visited Rannoch Moor was by train back in 2004, when it was wall-to-wall low cloud and rain.  Fifteen years later, it couldn't have been more different.

Any hopes of capturing a picture with a train going over the viaduct were dashed when we spotted that the line was closed for maintenance work.

It was incredibly hot and very hazy for the walk, but the area was surprisingly free of midges - especially given the conditions.  Not ideal for landscape photography, unfortunately, but the lack of cloud made it obvious how close Rannoch Moor is to Glencoe, which was clearly visible in the distance.

There was some respite for the heat in the woods, but this was more than made up for by having to climb up a gradient.  No choice but to turn around and head for the tearoom.  Again!

The Delights of Dungeness

Dungeness is a truly strange place with a very odd atmosphere.  It's the end of the line for the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, so attracts families with children as well as "train spotter" types (all men, it has to be said) taking pictures of diminutive locomotives.  It's also the site of a rather bohemian settlement, made up of tin shacks and wooden huts, and typified by Derek Jarman's "Prospect Cottage" with its outside walls covered in poetry.  And, towering above both these (rather quaint) features, both literally and metaphorically, is an enormous nuclear power station and working lighthouse.  Something for everyone, in other words...

There are a couple of places to grab lunch in Dungeness, and we chose the one at the end of the railway which gave delightful and unrestricted views of the power station.  Here are two of the ladies in my life (including the dumb blonde - on the left, in case there's any confusion) enjoying what the Station Cafe has to offer.

I struggled to find anything photogenic associated with the power station, and this was the best I could come up with.  I know: pathetic!

It was clearly a good place for fishing, though, as there were several people on the beach trying their luck.

The lighthouse and surrounding buildings were slightly more inspiring than the power station, but the lighting was such that there was little point in wandering around the rest of the site.

Finally, a single image which rather summed up Dungeness for me.  One of the residents had clearly been beach-combing, and produced a pile of plastic junk which your average magpie would give its eye teeth for.  Impressive...

Like I said, a very strange place indeed.