The Fisherman's Cot, Devon

Rarely do I blog specifically about a hotel in which I have stayed but this is a very notable exception. I first experienced The Fisherman's Cot in Devon some years ago and would not have thought it exceptional. Now, however, it is exceptional in many ways: the setting, the accommodation, the ambience, the value for money and, above all, the service. It is a long time since I have experienced a place with so many staff and not managed to find even one who did not appear to be happy and who was not exceptionally pleasant and good at his or her job. I would actually come this far south just to stay here again (and I have never said that before!).

The hotel is on the River Exe and for those who are interested there is plenty of wildlife on the river at the hotel including heron, egrets (which I have only seen in France), dippers and otters. 

Apparently a dozen people one morning were watching an otter with lots of rapt oohs and ahs. Then a duck with six chicks came along and left with only five: the otter having breakfasted on the unfortunate one. The otter went from hero to zero instantly. C'est la vie.

Safari Day 6: From Lewis to Inverness

This was possibly the one day of our safari that I'd have planned differently. I had originally wanted to show Pauline the Isle of Skye but I discovered that accommodation on Skye for a single night on an August weekend is well nigh impossible however far in advance or however short the notice you give. So I decided to take the ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool and then travel to Inverness via the road to the north and across to Lairg and Bonar Bridge. The Highlands of the first part of the journey are as spectacular as ever but then the landscape becomes more gentle, 'though still wild, and, frankly, far less interesting than much of the rest of Scotland north and south of the central belt.

We had arrived into Ullapool on MV Isle of Lewis which we then watched sailing back to Lewis down Loch Broom

Stac Pollaidh (pron polly) and Cul Mor just north of Ullapool (looking West).

Bonar Bridge has a Carnegie Library for its 1000 inhabitants. 

The current Bonar Bridge

We stayed for the night just across the Moray Firth from Inverness at North Kessock.
We very much enjoyed the friendly service, the food and the accommodation in the recently re-furbished hotel.

Achnasheen

In UK terms Achnasheen is in the back of beyond. In Scottish terms it's just remote. It does have a good road to Inverness about an hour away and a train station built in 1870 (and trains between Kyle and Inverness  still stop there!). It's also very small and I doubt the population exceeds double figures. It was where, at the only hotel a mile from the village, Pauline and I stayed on the first night of our safari after visiting Fort George.

Ledgowan Lodge Hotel is a Victorian hunting lodge well over 100 years old and a perfect place to stay. In addition to very friendly service and very good food here's why:

Arriving in the evening

From my bedroom window at 0545

Before breakfast 

The entrance hall looking towards lounge

Lounge with chess

Lounge with piano

Entrance hall looking towards dining room

A little way from the hotel on the road to Kyle

Arrival in Switzerland

After a very solid night's sleep in Arras we left this morning just before 0900 to drive across Northern France and into Switzerland at Basle.  Our 'target' was Leistal in Switzerland.  We had one of the most enjoyable and relaxing 400 mile (640 k) drives I've ever done.   I'm not quite sure what happened but when we got to Leistal we discovered we were actually in the centre of Sissach.  I parked and just opposite was the Hotel Zur Sonne (The Sun).  We booked in.

It's a very strange thing is travelling.  For the evening and day we were in France my French language skills seemed to be adequate and I had no problems (not that I was exactly taxed, you understand).  There was a time when my German was better than my French by quite a long way.  This evening it was as if I'd never spoken the language before in my life.  The simplest of words seemed to desert me.  Fortunately when it actually mattered they returned but that was not before a delightful lady had acted as interpreter whilst Mo and Diane sorted out what they were going to eat.

If you ever happen to be passing through Sissach in Switzerland then I would heartily recommend the 

Restaurant Wystube zum Sydebändel.  We had a wonderful evening.  The atmosphere was very friendly and the patrons were obviously frequent and very much at home with some playing cards after the meal.  As an aside this reminded me very much of the days spent in Berlin in the '80s and a visit to the Kreutsberg District - something worthy of a post in itself - and some of the establishments on the Ku'Damm (short for Kurfürstendamm) where games of all sorts were played in the evening.

  It says a lot for a place when a shop in the centre of town can leave it's display out all night.

I could not resist showing you the view from my bedroom window as I post this just before midnight UK time and just after Swiss time.

Night night.  I'll speak again tomorrow - all being well.

Exeter to Ambleside

It's been quite a day:  350 miles or thereabouts of mostly hellish driving in pouring rain and, when we were on the motorway, crawling traffic.  We arrived in Ambleside about 1830 and eventually located the Lakes Lodge hotel CJ booked this morning on line which has turned out to be excellent even if reception and breakfast room's predominantly purple is not quite to my taste.  Bedroom beautiful.  Wi-fi free!  We had decided that our 'usual' hotel, The Queens, was now off our list because of the service and terrible meal we had last time.

After dinner at a very pleasant restaurant CJ retired to the hotel and I went for a walk.  We spent many holidays in and around Ambleside and I never cease to be surprised at the changes which have taken place.  Of course I shouldn't be surprised because around half a century has lapsed since those days.  Now there are lots of art galleries (there used to be Heaton Cooper and he was all I can recall) and more outdoor clothing shops than you can shake a stick at and I couldn't begin to count the restaurants and coffee shops.  Surprisingly there are a lot of secondhand (or whatever the current PC term for such emporia is) book shops at a time when such places are closing down left right and centre because of charity (goodwill/op shops) and Amazon and eBay not to mention Kindle and other ebooks.

Perhaps the main thing though is travel.  It used too be a major journey to get to the Lake District from the conurbations.  Now its reachable from the North of Scotland or the South of England in a day and Liverpool in a couple of hours.  One can 'do' Ambleside as a day trip from Liverpool. How things change.

Some Westfield enthusiasts are staying.  The Nighthawk is the centre of the three staid cars parked against the hedge.

The Lakes Lodge

Ayr

I stayed in Ayr overnight on Thursday.  Ayr is a small town of 46,000 with a long history (it was created a Royal Burgh in 1205 – 705 years ago) on the coast South and West of Glasgow. It’s an hour’s flight and an hour on the train with intervening car/bus rides from my house in Eagleton.

More specifically I was staying in The Ayrshire and Galloway Hotel.

 

It turned out to be a much larger hotel inside than the small frontage suggests.  Adjacent to the hotel is it’s restaurant (there is also a bistro in the hotel itself) called The Meridian.

If you want the perfect chip that’s the place to go.  I don’t eat many chips but when I’m eating out I often treat myself.  The food looked excellent and the menu is quite extensive.  Despite the wide variety of things on offer I decided to have fish and chips: a very good choice as it happens.  The batter was as light as a Japanese tempura batter and the fish was cooked to perfection.  Add to that the excellent and friendly service and if I lived in Ayr I know where I would be spending a few evenings!

Why was I in Ayr?  I was due to see the oncologist yesterday morning at the Ayr Hospital.  After the blood results which I mentioned a few days ago the Consultant was absolutely delighted.  For the first time in 12 years I have been moved from 3 monthly monitoring to 6 monthly.  In future they will have an annual phone consultation unless I feel that I need to see them for any reason.  How good is that?

I may never go to Ayr again!  For that reason, if for no other, I feel that I should say something about the place.  Yesterday evening I walked down the main street and was very distressed to see that there are dozens of shops vacant and for sale. 

 

There seemed to be a lack of 'quality shops and a greater than usual number of betting offices and cheap dress shops.  There is a general air of commercial despair in the evening when the shoppers are not there.  This morning I have to say that it seemed a lot more alive.  It would seem, however, that there are just far too many premises for the catchment area.

In amongst that the local Council has obviously tried to introduce an air of hope by some attempts to brighten the area up.  Unfortunately they are fighting  a losing battle.