The weather forecast was for thundery showers and heavy rain later. The cloud was well down on the hills so parking in Kenmore we walked to Remony and up to Balmacnaughton where we were delighted to see swallows and swifts in large numbers. A short distance further on is the little bridge over the Allt Mhucaidh, built in 1996 by 78 Regiment Engineers, where we diverted to make the short ascent to the Acharn stone circle. We never tire of these simple walks though as the hills cleared there were the usual pangs of regret at not being on our way to a summit. It would certainly have been a lot less humid higher up.
Retracing our steps, we took the track towards Acharn (of waterfall fame) and spent 20 minutes watching two brown hares chasing each other and generally frolicking around. Descending to Acharn would have meant additional road walking back to Kenmore, so returning to Balmacnaughton we followed the RRW to join the steep twisting road down to Kenmore. The heavy rain didn’t arrive until later which meant I couldn’t test my 7 year old Rab Kinetic’s waterproofness. Fellow blogger alanrayneroutdoors.blogspot.com had reported some folks finding the jacket leaked like a sieve while others, including me, found it was fine for summer days on the hills in wet weather.
Back in Kenmore we were struck by how quiet it was - except for the noise of heavy construction vehicles everywhere.The £300 million plus redevelopment of Taymouth Castle by its new US owners, a ‘playground for millionaires’, is in full swing but otherwise Kenmore is ‘closed’, a ghost village. The beach and holiday properties have been bought by the developers. The lovely Paper Boat cafe sadly closed a few years ago. Houses in the village have been sold to the developers. Kenmore Hotel is closed for refurbishment as part of the redevelopment. The locals for the most part support the development, but why they think those coming to this luxury resort with clubhouse etc will spend money in the village is beyond me. Time will tell, but those staying at the luxury Fife Arms, Braemar, really don’t have breakfast or coffee at The Bothy! The Courtyard is, thankfully, still open for coffee etc and has a good deli, gift shop etc.
 |
| At the lovely Paper Boat in 2019 |
11 comments:
A good outing.
We in Arnside are swamped most of the year by tourists and more and more motorhomes. My friend complains but I say it's better than living somewhere where all the shops are boarded up and there are no facilities. We have a surgery, library, chemist, two convenience stores, a bakery, a good housewares/hardware store and a train station and other retail outlets and services. All these thrive to some extent on tourist income. The biggest problem is vehicle parking. So far we have avoided any major housing development and second homes. This is a well integrated village come town and a delightful place to live. Let's hope that nobody tries to bring in some major "destination" attraction - we have got everything we need. So it's a bit of a contrast with your description of Kenmore.
We are well placed on the edge of the Lake District and not directly under its influence.Every week in the Westmorland Gazette I see articles about new planned development "to bring more tourism to The Lake District" when it is already saturated with tourism, exorbitant parking charges, no affordable housing, and now pollution of the lakes and rivers.
It’s a shame about Kenmore in my opinion. I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t walled in soon. We enjoyed our stay there but it will never happen again now. As for the Kinetic, I wished I had borrowed it, it hasn’t stopped raining in Manchester for 3 days. I can’t wait to try out my new downpour.
I can’t help thinking that Kenmore is like the village in Local Hero, where an oil executive comes to Scotland to buy the fictional Ferness and surroundings on behalf of a US oil company. I’m sure you’ve seen it. I agree with everything you say Conrad regarding the benefits of tourism but I suspect the new thriving Kenmore will simply *be* the new development. Discovery Land Company’s other resorts are very exclusive in places like Dubai, the Hamptons and in the West Indies.
Great shame Alan. DCL have said it won’t be a gated community but that’s only because the Scottish government said something to the effect that it wouldn’t be possible under the access legislation. Who in their right mind would trust the Scottish government! On jackets, I note my Kinetic’s HH is 10000mm but the Downpour Light in the same or uprated Proflex is 20000mm. That sounds very like a reaction to complaints about the Kinetic’s waterproofness don’t you think? And the Light is about £100 cheaper!
Maybe that is why they changed the name and spec. Of the Kinetic. They have made the downpour cheaper by not using fully waterproof zips. They have added storm flaps instead.
Maybe the new lawns at Kenmore will make ideal camping spots. I hope they put a Scottish Water fountain in place for us. Ha.
The Downpour Plus 2.0 has Aquaguard zips and an adjustable hood. Take your pick really. Still cheaper than the Kinetic at £165. We only have Tiso in Perth so it’s often hard to actually see and try the jacket on. I’m not really looking but….
The Eco does have YKK water resistant zips with a storm flap and top and bottom press studs to keep it closed. The hood is adjustable but not helmet compatible. This is the hood I wanted as I find helmet compatible hoods too big, like ME jackets.
Cotswold will get the jackets in for you, not sure if they want a payment or not so maybe Tiso does the same thing.
I will let you know how I find the Eco next time it rains. I don’t think that will be too long!
Tiso does the same but it seems to take a while. The eco sounds good but I had a bad experience with Pertex power shield (not the same as eco fabric) so have never bought anything again with Pertex waterproofing. Get out testing!!
I don’t know why that comment was anonymous.
Good to see you blogging again Gibson. Some interesting items...
Thanks Martin. I quite enjoyed ‘being back’ and will continue on our next trip, signal permitting.
Post a Comment