LOCH TUMMEL, BRAEMAR AND BALMORAL

 

In 2017, while visiting Joshua Tree, a ranger lamented to me the difficulty the park had attracting the casual nature lover as the desert lacks the icons that have become emblematic of national parks such as snow-capped mountains. But the beauty of eco-tourism is that no two places are alike. Nature’s landscapes are as varied as our world is big and the rewards of nature are in its very biodiversity.

This also means that there is no place quiet like the forests of New England in autumn. But if a place comes close, it’s Scotland’s Loch Tummel, a stunning woodland with views…well, fit for a Queen. Visitors can make up their own minds if the Queen memorialized in the breathtaking ‘Queen’s View’ is Queen Isabel who fled to the forest after her husband, Robert the Bruce, was defeated at the Battle of Methven in 1306 or Queen Victoria who visited the park in 1866. In either case, the sight, the loch swirling through the Glencoe Mountains, embodies the mystic beauty of the Scottish countryside. 


                                                                      Queen's View

After a walk through the Tay Forest Park I drove on the fabled Road to the Isles, a stretch of road that takes you along some of Scotland’s most picturesque hills, where sheep and a few highland cows are often your only companions for miles. I did spot a number of the elegant Scottish red deer and the pheasants that escaped the farms, but the general solitude of the land felt more inviting of reflection than foreboding to the spirit.

                                         Highland cows and sheep on the road to Aberdeenshire

By afternoon I had arrived at Braemar Castle, a tall white five-story structure dating back to 1628. Over the next three centuries many additions were made to the Earl of Mar’s original vision. Nevertheless, Braemar Castle endured a period of neglect beginning in the late 18th century which lasted until the early 1800s after it had largely run its course as a military garrison. However, after the property was returned to the Farquharson royal family in 1831, heavy restoration began, which was expediated in preparation for a visit by the young Queen Victoria and lasted until the early 20th century.

                                                                         Braemar Castle

Fittingly, I stopped at the Farquharson’s Bar & Kitchen for a dinner of stew and potatoes before I arrived at the last destination of the day, Balmoral Castle, a residence of the Crown since Prince Albert bought the estate from the Farquharson family in 1852. The interior of the estate is open to the public from April to July. Being October  I was prepared to see the exterior only before ending my day. When I arrived on sight, however, a gate opening to the wooded path leading to the castle was closed off. Soon, though visitors began emerging from beyond the path and opening the gate freely. Still, I waited to better assess the situation before entering. My decision was helped by the arrival of a young couple from New York who announced their Empire State entitlement louder than a bull horn. They sent their local driver away telling him they would call him when they were ready and made their way through the gate once the exiting visitors left. As there were others who were waiting to enter I saw no reason not to follow suit and made my way down the path to Balmoral Castle.




As a modern structure by castle standards (indeed, the title of castle seems hardly justified to the purpose of what has essentially been a summer home for every crowned head since Queen Victoria), the history of Balmoral has a louder pulse than many of the ancient structures I had visited. This was the place, after all, where Queen Elizabeth II had spent her final days just over three years earlier. History, then, continues to be made at Balmoral and the place continues to evolve both structurally and spiritually. In 2024 private rooms were opened to the public for the first time in the estate’s history.

                                                                         Balmoral Castle

For this visit, however, I had to satisfy myself with seeing the exterior and leaving an ambition for a future visit.

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