Inverness, UK
Climbing out of our comfy bed, we headed to the balcony. It was time to take a closer look. Having booked a simple shore excursion… a “ride” into Inverness, we put together a walking map. Tours to visit Loch Ness were full because we procrastinated but we were happy with our list.
Off to the right, we could see how narrow the passageway is. Once a major home base for the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet, this was also a training and operational base for World War II and the location of Invergordon Mutiny in 1931. As WWII buffs, we planned to visit battle grounds and other significant spots.
Driving through beautiful countryside, we arrived in the heart of town. Dropped off in front of Inverness Cathedral, we experienced a little glitch in the plans. As we got off the bus, our driver confirmed the meeting place and time… the only problem… we were being asked to return hours before what the excursion stated. They had us wait around while the times were confirmed between the ship and bus company. This wasted more time… in the end, we didn’t have enough time to explore what we wanted to. We felt like we needed to stay relatively close so we weren’t left behind. With our new time limits, we opted for just a stroll through the town. We started with the Inverness Cathedral. Built from 1866-1869, this is a Scottish Episcopal Church. It is classified as Gothic Revival style and is not nearly as extravagant and ornate as those we visited in England.
Common in cathedrals we visit, are sides lined with arches and beautiful ceilings. Differing from what we usually see, the lack of pews. This cathedral had regular chairs. Through research, I came across and interesting bit of information. Inverness Cathedral was built with pews… and it wasn’t until last year, that they were removed and replaced with stackable chairs. Former choirboys and church members consider the decision by the church management to be cultural vandelism. A social media battle occurred with the church trustee becoming extremely defensive. Clearly, the “office chairs” as one member called them, have remained so far….
With our early arrival, nothing was really open but we crossed the bridge and headed toward the town anyway. River Ness is six miles long and runs through the town. From Loch Ness to Beauly Firth to the south of Inverness, the depth of this body of water changes 52 feet in depth. Everywhere we travel, we see that we are passing through a series of “firth” waters. Turns out it is the Scottish version of fjord, which makes perfect sense. They are all narrow inlets surrounded by pure beauty.
One of the first shops we saw had the most clever name. Couldn’t pass it by without a photo. “Thistle Do Nicely” is a gift shop of souvenirs but it wasn’t open. We decided to go to a cafe and have coffee and a traditional English breakfast… restaurants were open. :-)
Skipping to the next option in our “staying close to the bus” plan… Inverness Castle. But alas, it was closed for constuction. Perched on a hill overlooking the town and River Ness, this most recent version of the castle was built in 1836. Originally built in 1057, the first castle was destroyed by King Robert 1 of Scotland in 1307. Over the years this was a spot of much turmoil. Arrests, imprisonments and at one point, Lord Alexander, who had been jailed for twelve months, returned with 10,000 men and burned down the entire town… except the castle. Over the years, it was seized several more times. Quite a history with Royalty and internal wars.
With perfect weather, a walk down the river was the best choice. Such a quiet morning, no one was around. We had the river to ourselves. Lined with beautiful buildings, ducks swimming and all the greenery. You can see the cathedral in the background.
On the bank of the river, in the middle of a neighborhood sits a Monument of Rememberance. Initially built to honor the fallen from World War One, as other wars broke out the walls were extended. Sadly, as the death tolls mounted, it became necessary to use the back of the walls. In a park-like setting, the monument has well established, flowery trees on either side.
On the left is a placque that is on the monument. On the right, is a placque embedded in a building in town. It’s truly “never forget” with constant reminders around the town. It makes me wish we could have made it to the battlefields because I feel like we would have gathered more insight. Such a long history…
One fun aspect of walking through a town instead of doing a tour is that you can venture off the beaten path and check our architecture. This was the case today… things will catch my eye and we make an unexpected turn. Here we came across the Inverness Town House. At one time, this was home to the Inverness Town Council but is now used for musical performances and public functions.
Quite a mixture of eras can be found in this building. A bit of Victorian (which is not seen much in this area), as well as, a little Gothic and Second Empire. The thin towers and turrets are in contrast with the ornate cast iron lamp poles. It’s interesting how different periods in history influence the look of a town and leave their mark.
Almost a full block was occupied by the Glen Mhor Hotel and Apartments. In the heart of Inverness and on the bank of the Ness River, what a great spot to vacation or live! The building style stood in unity for the blocks but did not fit in with any other buildings around. The area is a complete mix of hotels and residences.
Continuing on our walk, we stopped to listen to the bells toll from across the River Ness. Initially, I didn’t bother to record because I figured it would be a couple of tolls and would be over before I turned on the record button. It kept going… so I took a short video. Beautiful sound!
Ready to head back toward our bus, we crossed the Infirmary Bridge, an iron suspension and pedestrian bridge. Not quite recovered from my rope bridge experience, I was hesitant to cross but it looked more solid. Once out on the bridge, I realized it had as much bounce as the rope bridge! With each step there was movement. It wasn’t until later in the day that I learned on busy days, police are stationed on either side of the bridge to limit it to 10 people at a time. Also, kids love to get out on the bridge and bounce for the fun of the motion.
Greeted on the other side by lovely spring floweres and signs to anywhere and everywhere…
Initially we were on the Ness Bank Walk which, if we had continued on, would have taken us to an area of islands. We had no idea until too late! Now across the bridge, we were on the Ness Walk. This side, though just across the relatively narrow river, has a completely different character. One side is lined with residences and hotels, bars and restaurants. Now we are on the side with more greenery, benches and food trucks.
My favorite food truck along the river… it was a littler early for us to be able to enjoy a treat, sadly. The owner was just setting up. Just below the “Auld Smokey” words is a door that the owner fed wood into. This creative vehicle was a self-sufficient smoker food truck. Fully self-contained, the vehicle has a serving space, cooking area and storage. At the end of the day, he drives away… the smell was outrageous! Would have loved some smoked meat!
Needing to find a restroom, we headed into the only potential for a bathroom. Turns out, this is a really intriguing building. Very welcoming, there are signs all over… “are you cold? come in and get warm”; “don’t have enough money for a ticket? come anyway”; “have a little extra? pay if forward”. Where most businesses say you must be a patron to use their restroom, this was open to anyone. It was nice to see…
Back at the ship, I went up to the cabin and seagulls were swarming. They were landing on balcony railings and soaring around the harbor area. It was mesmorizing!
Funny stuff… we were graced with a Scottish bagpipe band for our sailaway. The Captain got in a little “war” with them. He sound the “Love Boat” horns while the band played on… It was a good day…
