July 27th
Not a sound heard last night, no traffic, or gulls screeching, farm noises non-excitant (even though this campsite has a working farm next to it) or the sound of the morning bird chorus. It was bliss, and we slept like the dead, only waking well after 7.30am, unheard of for us!
The Olympics are dominating our plans at the moment, if we hadn't had to leave by 10 am, I (maybe not Ian so much) would have liked to have stayed So, making use of the facilities, we headed off toward Fort George.
Now, our original idea was to go and look for Nessie at Loch Ness. The engine problems have escalated slightly. That squeaking noise has increased in intensity, and Ian is desperate to find out the source. The air conditioning pump has been ruled out, so the choice is between the alternator or water pump. From the owner of last night's camp site came a recommendation to seek out Henderson garage at Nairn. They open at 8 am Monday, so that phone call will be made tomorrow.
Looking at the map noticed a Historic Scotland property at Ardersier, called Fort George. Only 10 mile from the camp site, it was the perfect place to visit. And so very glad we did.
Fort George is an 18th-century fortress built in the aftermath of the Jacobite Rising of 1745. It was designed by Lieutenant-General William Skinner and built by the Adam family of architects. It was built in the wake of the Battle of Culloden (1746) as a secure base for King George II’s army. 22 years it took to finish the fort, and by then the Jacobite rising was long finished, but it has served the British Army for the almost 250 years since. This is a remarkable fort, the shape alone is different, and reminds me very much of a space rocket.
A huge dry moat had to be crossed to get to the ticket office, gosh we have been lucky being members of English Heritage because Scotland recognises this as one of their partner organisations. Showing our cards got us in for free.
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| Greeted by one of the Highlanders. |
A pamphlet and audio guide was given, this was another of those self-guided tours with numbered boards. This time, most of the audio was outside, so plenty of walking to do. The ramparts could be walked too, more than 1km in length, which encloses an area the size of five football pitches! Lots of information and lots to see, I can't understand why we never found this fort on any website for this area, it was by sheer chance I found it.
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| Inside the Battery |
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| Army Barracks |
As we need to stay in this area, it was decided to go back to the harbour car park at Nairn. Gosh it was nearly full when we turned up at 4 pm. The beach is a short walk from here and with the warm sunny conditions, families were making the most of being off work. We managed to squeeze in between a car and a motor home, TV aerial put up and Olympics channel tuned to. Dinner was from Lidl, an Indonesian dish, very quick to prepare and very yummy it was too!
I do so hope Henderson's will listen to the engine tomorrow, if they won't then we may have to return to FS early. ๐
1 comment:
An old method of diagnosing where the noise comes from involves a long screwdriver pressed against the suspect housing, with the handle held close to one's ear! But with the very tight access on a transverse engine this may not be feasible. It's also possible that an idler pulley bearing is the culprit. Unfortunately, the only sure way is to slacken and remove the drive belt, then spin each component individually while feeling for play & roughness in the bearings.
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