Nearing the end - Fort William

To be truthful, whilst I didn't want to leave Morvich and Glenelg themselves, by this time I was just about ready to go home. But I can be a bit bloody-minded and this was one of those occasions. When the trip was planned it was a complete fortnight which would have been the longest I had been away in any van (caravan or motorhome) and I was determined to see if I could do it, for no reason other than to prove to myself that I could.

The drive across to Fort William was an easy 60 miles and I arrived in town at 11.30, far too early to go the last few miles down to my final campsite.

Fort William was the place where, many decades ago, I first fell in love with the Highlands and I have always had a soft spot for it. Sadly, like my beloved Lake District, time has not been kind to this town. Just like the Lake District it is now a victim of its own success and completely over-run.

But I parked up, had something to eat and went for a wander to reaquaint myself with the town centre. I found what I feared and expected - more cafes and coffee shops than you can count, and some very tired retail outlets. Oh, and the first time in 2 weeks I heard bagpipes. I adore the haunted, keening sound of the pipes but sadly these were not being played well and I ran away 🤪.





I can rarely resist wandering into a nicely arranged charity shop but this one completely astounded me. I guess it is catering to the hoards of visitors because the prices were unlike anything I have ever seen. Very "ordinary" second-hand cotton shirts were £50 each. The Imperial typewriter was priced at £200 (similar ones have sold on eBay for £50) and the little KLM Dutch Houses on the right hand shelf? I have quite a collection of them and never pay more than £6 or £7 per house. These were twenty-five quid each!

I know the shop is there to raise money for a very worthwhile charity but these prices felt like taking advantage of visitors, I guess that is the way things often are these days. Needless to say I left with my credit card still securely at the bottom of my bag.




Thankfully the campsite 10 miles further south at Bunree was neither as tired-looking or possessing of out-of-tune bagpipes. But it does have a row of pitches right on the lochside.







Unfortunately the peace & tranquility of Morvich had 'spoilt' me and I confess no desire to return to this site. There was nothing wrong with it, absolutely nothing at all; it is a very normal, standard Caravan Club site but comprised seried ranks of (mainly) large white boxes with no relief from trees or hedges. And it was the location of my encounter with the male bully who reckoned I could not navigate . . . But ignoring all that, I did have a lovely spot to sit and watch the water and relax.



For my last two nights the site was absolutely fine and despite being the busiest of all I had stayed on it was very quiet at night, and at 07.00 which is the time I am usually up. Wandering around that early I had the place completely to myself and it was gorgeously peaceful.








Fort William did have one final disappointment for me - on my last afternoon, after a fabulous day at Neptune's Locks (I'll post that next) I popped a couple of miles down the road at Corpach to re-visit "Treasures of the Earth". I had clear memories of us going there 30 years ago and as it was the end of my trip I was all ready and willing to get to the gift shop and hopefully acquire some more crystal specimens for our small collection at home.

The museum was exactly as I remembered. I mean EXACTLY. The same displays, in the same cases, with (mostly) exactly the same information boards, now very faded. But not the same dust - the layers of that around the exhibits and in the sparsely stocked gift shop were new. It was very sad. This is a smalllish, family owned business which has clearly suffered massively from Covid closures and lack of investment. What a shame because it could be absolutely outstanding.