Big Tree Country

This rally was really misnamed!. It should have been called “Eat your way round Perthshire”. On the evening of the first day we gathered for “meet and greet” by John and Judy Heath’s van. They welcomed us to the rally as did Tom and Brenda Utteridge, the assistant leaders. 

The next day we went to Blair castle for an interesting  and amusing tour of the historic home of the Dukes of Atholl, then to the café, followed by a stroll through the forest amongst the many TALL TREES. The weather was “dreech” at the start of the day but improved as the day went on.

On Monday we left by coach heading to the Crannog Centre on Loch Tay where we were fascinated by the demonstration of Neolithic life and skills. The very sturdy Crannog was built on stilts over water for defensive reasons.

Later we visited the Fortingall Yew guesstimated at between three and nine thousand years old. It is the oldest living organism in Europe. Especially for our Dutch members Henk and Yvonne Schnaar we found a bell in the nearby church which was cast in Rotterdam in 1756. A quick visit to Killin and The Falls of Dochart and then to an excellent fish before returning to the site.

Tuesday included a visit to the Pitlochry Dam and Hydro project. We all saw a large salmon making it’s way up the fish ladder. At the  theatre café nearby we enjoyed snacks before moving  on to Bell’s distillery where we were tutored in how to drink single malt whisky. Surprisingly there were no takers for a bottle of single malt at £2000.00.!

On Wednesday we visited Glamis Castle. First a café stop and then the  tour with an excellent guide who was very entertaining and informative. He explained all the royal associations with the castle. We had a delicious set lunch followed by informal walks through the grounds where there were some beautiful plants
Thursday was a free day for all and many visited “The House of Bruar” for quality and expensive shopping. Back to the site to prepare for  the evening barbecue. Tables and wind breaks appeared as if by magic and every one enjoyed an excellent social occasion  despite the coolness of the evening.

On Friday we visited Dunkeld where we saw the tallest tree in the area’ The Hermitage and the rapids  in the River Braon. A splendid lunch was taken at the Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry. A social evening in the village hall rounded of the day.

On Saturday we set off early for  Braemar  in very wet weather. As we stepped off the coach the sun came out and we walked through the village to the arena. During the day we watched pipe-bands, highland dancing, tug of war and other Highland games events. Her Majesty The Queen arrived at 3 o clock and we all watched  The Duke of Athol’s Private Army marching past the queen. On arriving back at the car park our coach was stuck in the mud but a JCB digger was at hand to help the driver. The journey home was excellent in the beautiful evening sunshine.

Our official final event was a lunch at the local hotel. Presentations were made to our leaders. On the evening of our final day we gathered in the Blair Hall for more tastings and chat.
Thank you John & Judy, Tom & Brenda for organising such an interesting happy rally.
Here’s to the next one.

The Quees is presenting prizes with the Duke of Edinburgh and David Cameron.