Gail our hostess was very friendly and we felt very at home. I was running out of memory cards and she lend me her laptop so that I could transfer my photos from the cards to the external hard drive I took along.
We had to leave the guesthouse very early and could not sit down for breakfast. Gail packed us a breakfast to go. I will definitely go back to Dionard Guest house on my next visit.
Cromarty Bridge
The Cromarty Bridge is a road bridge over the Cromarty Firth. It first opened to traffic on 12 April 1979.
The bridge was built by Fairclough Civil Engineering Ltd, with other specialist contractors brought in to carry out surfacing, waterproofing and parapet construction work. It took two years to build by a 50-strong crew who worked in all seasons to get the job done.
The bridge is around a mile in length and the bridge deck sits on 67 piers with the foundation piles poured inside special coffer dams. Its design ensures that tidal flows in the Firth remain unchanged, protecting feeding grounds for migratory seabirds.
Thank you very much for taking the time to join me on my travels through Scotland. I hope you enjoyed it just as much as I did.
Day 5: 15 August 2019: Exploring Inverness – Part 3
I tried to find some information on Ladies Walk and the War Memorial, but there is not much.
Dad and I walked until we reached the War Memorial. We then crossed the bridge over the Ness River to continue our walk. It was a cool evening and we were starting to get hungry and decided to search for a restaurant or pup for dinner.
I took some photos along the way. If I had the time I would have stayed longer and walked further down the river, but it was getting late and we still had to walk back to the guesthouse after dinner.
Views along Ladies Walk, Inverness
Birdlife along Ladies Walk, Inverness ( Is it a pigeon or a seagull? I am not sure.)
Birdlife along Ladies Walk, Inverness
Birdlife along Ladies Walk, Inverness
Views along Ladies Walk, Inverness
Views along Ladies Walk, Inverness
Views along Ladies Walk, Inverness
Views along Ladies Walk, Inverness
Views along Ladies Walk, Inverness
Views along Ladies Walk, Inverness
Ladies Walk, Inverness
Sculpture in Cavell Gardens. Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
18 foot high Celtic cross of red Corsehill sandstone carved with Celtic ornament and a sword; cross stands on tall stepped base on which are carved the armorial bearings of the Burgh of Inverness. Wing walls paneled with tablets bearing names of the dead enclose the cross on 3 sides and terminate in square-plan tapering piers.
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
War Memorial, Ladies Walk, Inverness
Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail, Ladies Walk, Inverness
Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail, Ladies Walk, Inverness
Thank you very much for taking the time to join me on my travels through Scotland. I hope you enjoyed it just as much as I did.
I got the following information from the church website.
“The Anti-Burger charge was first formed in Inverness in 1787, and, for a number of years, continued bravely under exceptional difficulties. For a short time the Congregation, as a body ceased to exist, but in 1817 the people again came together, meeting first in the open air, and then in one meeting house after another.
On March 23rd, 1821 the real history of the revived Congregation began, when in a thatched cottage in Fairfield Lane, Dr Scott was set apart as the first minister of the charge. In November of the same year, in Baron Taylor’s Lane, “the New Chapel of the United Associate Congregation in this place was opened” The members worshipped in this building till 1864 when they were able to build a new church in Union Street designed by Dr Alexander Ross.
During the ministries of Dr Scott, Dr Robson, and Mr Stewart, much good work was carried on; but gradually it was felt that larger accommodation was needed, not only for worship, but most of all for carrying on effective work among the young people of the Congregation and an excellent site in Ness Bank was obtained for £1700.
The present church was designed by William Mackintosh, an Inverness architect. It was built over a period of fifteen months in late 1900-1901 at a cost of £8,500 and was dedicated at a service on 22nd December 1901. It is now listed as a building of special architectural interest. It was planned with the church hall and other necessary accommodation under the church and so made the best use of the sloping site. The walls are of red sandstone built in early Gothic revival style and it is roofed with natural slate. At the northern end there is a gallery with access from the entrance vestibule and the seating inclusive of the gallery accommodates about 600 people.
The present minister, the Rev Fiona Smith LLB.BD, was ordained and inducted in January 2010 In the period 1787 to 2016 the Congregation has been served by 12 dedicated ministers”
Ness Bank, Church of Scotland, Inverness
Ness Bank, Church of Scotland, Inverness
Ness Bank, Church of Scotland, Inverness
Ness Bank, Church of Scotland, Inverness
Ness Bank, Church of Scotland, Inverness
Ness Bank, Church of Scotland, Inverness
Ness Bank, Church of Scotland, Inverness
Faith, Hope and Charity Statues
The history of the Three Virtues’ statues in Inverness began with the Young Men’s Christian Association. Beginning in London in 1844, the YMCA opened branches in towns and cities across the United Kingdom in the years that followed. A branch opened in Inverness in 1859, the ninth such branch in Scotland.
The association originally occupied a room at 3 High Street and also ran an evening school in a building in Davis Square. However, as the organisation grew and its activities became more popular, larger premises were required. A site was selected for a new building on the corner of High Street and Castle Street. A local architect, John Rhind (1836-1889) was chosen to design it and he produced a blueprint for an ornate building in the classical style with Roman composite columns. It was noted how well it complemented the Bank of Scotland which stood on the opposite side of the street. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Ardmillan on 22 April 1868.
The YMCA commissioned local sculptor Andrew Davidson (1841-1925), of Messrs D & A Davidson, to sculpt three figures from Greek Mythology – Faith, Hope and Charity – to stand on top of the building. Each figure carries her own attribute: respectively a Bible, an anchor and a cornucopia.
The building was also adorned with busts of the heads of various religious leaders in spaces between the ground and first floor windows. One of these was John Wesley and this was removed to the Methodist Church in Union Street, and later to the new Methodist Church in Huntly Street.
The Association Buildings, as it was known, was later bought by William MacKay and became MacKay’s Tartan & Tweed Warehouse and, latterly, Grant’s Tartan & Tweed Warehouse. It was demolished in 1955 and the statues were removed to the Burgh Surveyor’s yard where they remained until 1961 when they were bought by Norris Wood, a stonemason and antique collector from Orkney. For many years they stood in the grounds of his home, Graemeshall House, near Holm, Orkney.
There they remained until the Council stepped in to purchase them in 2007.
The statues were restored and installed by Nicolas Boyes Stone Conservation Ltd of Edinburgh.
They were returned to the city following his death and Highland Council has had them installed on a plinth outside Ness Bank Church.
Faith, Hope and Charity Statue, Inverness, Scotland
Faith, Hope and Charity Statue, Inverness, Scotland
Faith, Hope and Charity Statue, Inverness, Scotland
Thank you very much for taking the time to join me on my travels through Scotland. I hope you enjoyed it just as much as I did.
Day 5: 15 August 2019: Exploring Inverness – Part 1
The Castle Tavern, Inverness, Scotland
The Castle Tavern, Inverness, Scotland
Flora MacDonald Statue
Flora MacDonald was born on the island of South Uist, in the Outer Hebrides, in 1722. After her father’s death, she was brought up under the care of the chief of her clan, the Macdonalds of Clanranald.
In 1746, 24-year-old Flora was living on the neighboring island of Benbecula. And it was here that she met Bonnie Prince Charlie – and stepped into the pages of history.
Charles Edward Stuart, better known in history as Bonnie Prince Charlie, was the leader of the Jacobite Rising in 1745. His goal was to reclaim the family title to the English, Scottish, French and Irish thrones. After barely escaping the Battle of Culloden, he was being tracked down by “The Butcher,” Prince William of Great Britain, when Flora MacDonald offered to help. She disguised him as her maid while transporting him in a boat to Skye.
This bronze statue of the Scottish heroine was created in 1896. It stands near the entrance of the Inverness Castle.
Inverness Castle is right in the heart of Inverness city overlooking the River Ness. Anyone visiting Inverness will see it dominating the River Ness which it has guarded for centuries.
Inverness Castle is largely a nineteenth century construction although fragments of the medieval fortification survive most notably the well and part of the bastion wall. The castle remains in use as a functioning court and therefore there is no public (tourist) access to the interior. Cromwell’s Fort has also been virtually obliterated although a clock tower survives as does a short stretch of the earth rampart.
Only two parts of the medieval castle survive. In between the County Hall and Sheriff’s Court is the castle well, restored in 1909. A short section of retaining wall is the only other part of the medieval structure intact today.
In front of the castle is a statue of Flora MacDonald and her dog. MacDonald is famous for her role in helping Bonnie Prince Charlie to escape capture by government forces, even though she herself was not a Jacobite supporter. The sculpture was created by an Inverness native, Andrew Davidson, and was erected in 1899.
Since the castle is still in use as a Sheriff’s Court and for government proposes only one tower is open to visitors. The tower, known as Inverness Castle Viewpoint, gives wonderful 360-degree views over Inverness and the River Ness. Even if you don’t ascend the tower you can still get outstanding views across the river to Inverness Cathedral on the far bank.
Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
View of Inverness Cathedral from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Go Nuts Art Trail, Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Go Nuts Art Trail, Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail, Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Views from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Views from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Views from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Views from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Views from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Views from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Views from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Views from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Views from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
View of Inverness Cathedral from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Views from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
View of Inverness Cathedral from Inverness Castle, Inverness, Scotland
Thank you very much for taking the time to join me on my travels through Scotland. I hope you enjoyed it just as much as I did.
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