Wednesday, 4 April 2018

The Silver Path to Castle Tioram

We had a brilliant day today. The sun came out and we were treated to blue skies and a spring-like vibe. We walked from our cottage, which is at Mingarry, just outside Acharacle, up and over the peninsula to Loch Moidart. The views were amazing and we passed several lochans on the way. After we arrived at the shore of the loch we turned along the Silver Road (I love that name!) and walked along to the castle. The path was really pretty, edged with rocks and trees, and it twisted and turned as it climbed up and down beside the loch. The colours of the loch ranged from dark blue to a green turquoise colour. Eventually we turned a corner and were rewarded with a stunning view of Castle Tioram on its tiny tied island, connected to the mainland by a sandy tombola. Behind it the South Channel of the loch led out to the sea. We climbed up the steep grassy slope beside the castle and had lunch in the sunshine beneath its ancient walls. How delighted I was that James had brought a flask of coffee in his rucksack.
When we got back to the cottage we relaxed after our 12 km walk, and finished watching the DVD box set of “Masada” that I brought with me. Why a 1981 television series I hear you ask? Well, when I watched it all those years ago, I was ten minutes from the end when someone came to visit and I missed the ending! I was so frustrated, and in those days my parents didn’t have a video recorder to capture it for later viewing (although I’m sure that they bought one just a couple of years later, because I remember that they used to keep a notebook with a carefully written catalogue of what they had recorded on each video cassette!)  I have never had the chance to see it again until I noticed it on the Amazon website at a bargain price a few months ago. So this evening (after watching the full six hours over the last three evenings) I finally got to see the end. I was genuinely impressed by the high quality and sensitivity of the production, and Peter O’Toole was excellent as the good guy Roman general who only ever wanted peace. 

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