Inverewe Gardens, Scotland

The road from Torridon to Kinlochewe may be narrow but the vista of mountains on either side is striking. Ambling beside a stream, we part way and rejoin many a times till the stream spills into Loch Clair and then flows out the opposite end as a river all the way to Kinlochewe where we go our own separate ways. 

Kinlochewe sits in a valley at the head of the very large Loch Maree and serves as a junction between Torridon and Ullapool where I will be heading further up north. Just slightly to the north of the village is a war memorial for remembering soldiers from World War 1 & 2 particularly two sergeants from the Seaforth Highlanders Regiment who received the Distinguished Conduct Medal, the second highest military decoration at the time behind the Victoria Cross. The medal was awarded for their bravery and gallantry in the field.

Swinging left I headed towards Loch Maree and followed alongside it for its full 13mi (22km) length. At 2.5mi (4km) wide, Loch Maree is the fourth largest freshwater lake in Scotland. The lake consists of five large wooded islands and a staggering 60 smaller ones. The largest is Eilean Sùbhainn located near the top end complete with its own lake in the center. What's peculiar though is that northeast of Sùbhainn is a very small densely wooded island, known as Isle Maree, and in the center of it was a cluster of a dozen or so tombstones. I wondered at its story, who were the people buried here? Well perhaps the most intriguing story is of the Viking prince and his princess who took their own lives following a misunderstanding. 

Legend says that the prince left his new bride on the island for a long expedition at sea. It was agreed that should he return and all is well he'd raise a white flag from his barge or if otherwise, a black flag would be shown. The princess would leave her home on a barge as well to greet him on the loch and do the same thing. The idea was to reduce the last moments of suspense on whether all is well or not. As time passed despair overtook the princess, that slowly turned to jealousy and mistrust of her husband's love for her. So she devised a plan to test him. Upon his return whilst still on his barge, she raised the black flag on her own barge and pretended to be dead. Seeing the black flag, he went into a rage that put fear into his men. When he reached the barge and saw his eternally sleeping bride, he was so stricken with grief that he plunged his dirk into his chest and died. The princess realising her folly and wracked with remorse pulled the dirk from his chest and plunged it into her own. The bodies of the lovestruck pair were buried on the island with their graves bearing two medieval crosses on top that are still there today. A very Romeo and Juliet type of tragedy but it is a common lore that is regularly told in the nearby village of Gairloch.

Passing through Gairloch, I travelled onwards to Poolewe aiming for the lovely Inverewe Gardens. It was created in 1862 from extremely barren land by Osgood Mackenzie. The estate was bought for him by his mother and a lodge was built on the property. Unfortunately it burnt down in 1914 and a replacement lodge was built in 1939. By 1952 Osgood's daughter handed the property into the care of the National Trust of Scotland who have been managing the 50 acre estate since. The gardens have a collection of over 2,500 exotic plants but none are as spectacular as the rhododendrons that are in flower all year long.

The village of Poolewe is located between mountains and the sea. It has the shortest river in Scotland, all of 1mi (1.6km) long which runs through the village connecting Loch Maree to Loch Ewe. On the shore of Loch Ewe is the Poolewe Hotel. Built in 1570 it was originally a coach inn and it seemed like a great place to rest and enjoy a meal of pan fried Scottish salmon with broccoli & garlic sauce, sauteed potatoes and cauliflower.