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West Coast Trip.
WEST COAST & APPLECROSS 2000
The Bantam (B175) was taken to the West Coast of Scotland during the 'Dubious' Summer of 2000, when it rained solid for days ......
This is my Bantam which was rebuilt from 2 tea-chests one winter, and the one I used on the trip.
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Day 1.
The first day out starting from Benderloch, near Oban, was towards Fort William and then going through Glen Coe, across Rannoch Moor calling in at the Kings House Hotel, returning to Benderloch early evening.
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Day 2.
The second day was taken up going to the Isle of Seil, where there used to be a whole community making their living in the slate quarries.
Like a lot of traditional industries, the slate quarrying industry has disappeared.
To get to the Isle of Seil you have to 'cross the Atlantic', by way of the Atlantic Bridge.
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Day 3.
 Day three was spent going to the most Westerly point of the British mainland, Ardmanurchan Lighthouse on the Ardmanurchan Peninsula, which included crossing onto the Peninsula using the Corran Ferry.
The Corran Narrows can be VERY turbulant ! The flow of water can look like boiling water at certain times of the tide. Once you leave the ferry the road just gets narrower and narrower, until it is a 'narrow' single track road, with LOTS of passing places.
The views along this part of the road are BRILLIANT !
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Day 4.
Day four was up to the Isle of Skye, where accommodation is EXPENSIVE .... A few nights of B & B in Plockton, about 6 miles from Skye, was a better option.
This is a view of the Plockton 'Rush-hour'.
Brilliant !
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Day 5.
It was from Plockton on day five, that a run up to Achnasheen was planned !
So, away we went in the pouring rain. The Bantam and I !
Going up through Torridon, the Applecross road came up on the left hand side,
and one look at the WARNING sign was enough.
It HAD to be conquered on the Bantam.
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Day 5 cont'd.
And so it was !!!
The weather at the top was thick sea fog, coming in on strong Westerly winds. SO! A quick cup of coffee and a fast descent of Applecross to the Torridon road,then North to Kinlochewe. I later found out that the sea fog was all along the coast road from the Atlantic coast town of Applecross, so no there would have been no spectacular views !!
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End of day 5.
Two more views follow taken from the top of the Applecross Climb. I don't know whether I was more hot & bothered than the Bantam ? I think it was me ! The Bantam just wanted to carry on, but as I said earlier, the sea-fog was coming in on the Westerly Atlantic winds so a run back down to the Torridon Road seemed the wise thing to do.
When back in Plockton I had a good meal accompanied by a wee dram ( or was it 'two' ) ? I can't quite remember. |  |
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Also the Top.
 | Just another photo from the top.
The following day was a long haul up to Gairloch to look up some friends from the late 1960's, and eventually back to Benderloch.
The Bantam never faltered at any stage of the journey and is STILL going strong.
See the other stories when they are uploaded.
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