The Old Forge

A pub without roads in or out. A pub reputed to be mainland Britain and Scotland’s remotest pub. It location accessible only with a hike over Munro qualifying mountains or a sea journey from Mallaig.

Known as the ‘Old Forge’ in the wee village of Inverie, it started out as a smiddy’s forge before being put to better use as a workers social club where it grew up and became a pub....a very remote pub.

Thanks to fisherman Billy, a genuine local, the Bazflyers and friends made the sea journey from Mallaig for lunch at the Old Forge. Well, that was after stopping along the way to catch a bucket of Mackerel and check the contents of Billy’s strategically placed lobster pots. The freshly hooked Mackerel were used to rebait the pots.

Fisherman Billy not only knew a lot about the sea, he was also a living breathing Wikipedia on all things local. We learned that to the annoyance of locals, the Old Forge is nowadays only open during the tourist season (March-October) and it’s closed on Wednesdays. Apparently the publican is a newly-minted local from somewhere down south with no regard for the entrenched customs and practices that go with the country’s most remote pub. Spend a few hours with Billy www.minchadventures.co.uk and you’ll understand....

Five fish in a row

Billy in his office

The wee village of Inverie

Mallaig 

The Beat Goes On

There is a long standing Scottish countryside pursuit that involves suited gentry with guns, men called ‘gillies’ beating the under-growth, and hopefully some pheasants. So signifying of wealth was this activity that grand rural estates were established for the purpose. The evidence of this history does not require much in the way of imagination. While cycling the Aberfeldy environs it is difficult not to observe the many grand estate homes once established as the recreational rural retreat of wealthy southern folk. Indeed, perhaps not much has changed as these very same properties two or three hundred years on proudly serve the same purpose. Yes, the beat goes on...!

Castle Menzies located near Aberfeldy is the ancestral seat of the Clan Menzies.

Not far from Aberfeldy is the tranquil village of Fortingall with an ancient European yew in the churchyard. Modern estimates by experts have put its age at between 2,000 and 3,000 years. It may be the oldest tree in Britain.

Fortingall has some fine examples of thatched roof cottages.

Fudge on sale at a traditional Highlands Show.

Mountains are Calling

An inscription on the wall of a small Scottish cafe caught the eye of a Bazflyer and initiated further investigation. “The mountains are calling and I must go”. Words attributed to John Muir 1838-1914. But who was this man?

Google came to the rescue and in moments the name had been lifted into life. Born and raised in rugged West Scotland, John Muir, also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential environmentalist, author and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States. 

Well, the mountains around Aberfeldy were indeed calling the Bazflyers and go we did. Mountain biking the high moorlands occupied one Bazflyer while hiking to the summit of a prominent peak beckoned the other. Then of course there was the picturesque Scottish countryside in between.

High on a mountain top with Loch Tay in the distance 

River Tay near the village of Grandtully

Loch Tummel



Picturesque valley at Camserney

The Bothy

Mountain bike hire for the week at Aberfeldy had been arranged well ahead of arrival. Armed with a map directions were sought for a peddling sortie into the nearby hills. However, obtaining directions from a knowledgeable local took a little longer than at first anticipated, mostly due to a Bazflyer issue translating Scottish speak into something comprehendible. In the course of this process a not well defined mountain trail was referenced in respect to a ‘Bothy’. What on earth was a Bothy? Curiosity demanded a Bazflyer mountain bike mission to discover the Bothy. 

As it turned out the Bothy was an equivalent of what in New Zealand we would call a remote mountain hut...a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. 

The Bothy

Loch Farleyer 

Highlands topography

Aberfeldy

Aberfeldy is a small market village situated in the Central Scottish Highlands. For the coming week it is also a base for the Bazflyers. 

Aberfeldy boarders the Tay River, the longest river in Scotland. The river is spanned at this point with an impressive old stone bridge, known as Wade’s Bridge.

Close by Wade’s Bridge stands the Black Watch Monument. A massive cairn topped with a statue of Private Farquhar Shaw dressed in the original uniform of the Black Watch Regiment.

In the wake of the 1715 Jacobite rebellion, companies of trustworthy Highlanders were raised from loyal clans. They became known as the ’Black Watch’ for the watch they kept on the Highlands and from their dark tartan uniform. 

In 1739 King George II authorised the formation of a ‘Black Watch’ regiment, "the men to be natives of that country, and none other to be taken". Their first regimental parade took place on the banks of the River Tay at Aberfeldy. Since then the Black Watch regiment has seen active service in nearly every theatre of war where Briton has been involved. The regimental mascot is a Shetland pony named Cruachan.

Aberfeldy sits in the Scottish Highlands

Wade’s Bridge

Black Watch monument

Aberfeldy village market

Tossing the Caber

The caber toss is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a "caber". This competitive display of strength has no particular significance with this blog post other than it is being written while visiting Scotland and it also marks the first ‘blogging-toss’, so to speak, after many months of writing inactivity. 

Unquestionably, caber tossing involves a great deal of strength and this noun does have a synomonus connection with the dearth in blogging activity. Bazflyer philosophy supports the only strength that really matters is the strength that makes you what you are in the eyes of those you love. Family always comes first....Comparing the quantum of life with a Ferris Wheel, it could be said, a ride has just finished and we have now gotten onboard again for another turn of the wheel. 

Meanwhile our venerable Comanche airplane has been overhauled and equipped for extended trans-oceanic flying. Byways and skyways beckon.

The new motor being installed in BAZ

Finals to land RWY17 home base NZAP (Lake Taupo) on a recent Winter’s evening.

Comanche ZK-BAZ at the BazBase ready for the Bazflyers and new adventures