Fort William

Karen had a sewing day in the van as her movement is impaired by the treatment, so I walked the 5 miles into Fort William. The walk took me along the loch side past Caol, a loch side settlement, and into Fort William alongside the famous rail link to Mallaig. It was a generally cloudy day but dry for the most part. The top of Ben Nevis could not be seen in the low cloud.
Fort William was much as I remembered it - Pitlochry without the charm - woollen mill shops, outdoors clothing shops, empty shops and coffee shops on a short pedestrianised high street. The main road cuts the town off from the loch side.
I walked to the southern end of the Caledonian Canal to see Neptunes Staircase - a 7 lock staircase on the canal about half a mile from the top end of Loch Linnhe . The canal meets the sea at Corpach.
I noticed much activity at the train station as I left the town, passengers loading onto the afternoon train to Mallaig, I found a good vantage point on the footpath above two bridges that cross the River Nevis to view a steam loco cross in front of the ruins of Inverlochy Castle.
The Jacobite, the steam locomotive used in the filming of the Harry Potter movies was at the same time returning from Mallaig-it trundled past me pulling carriages backwards as I crossed the railway at Corpach.Read more