Kyle of Localsh

Kyle of Localsh is a small village in the north west of Scotland at the entrance to Loch Alsh. It is the mainland connecting point of the Skye Bridge and has a harbour and marina for visitors and local fisherman. In company with a good friend we travelled by train from Inverness which takes a little over 2 1/2 hours each way. The route is very scenic although we were not blessed with great weather and as it was a bit inclement when we arrived we contented ourselves with lunch at the Kyle Hotel before taking a walk to the view point that overlooks Skye Bridge and the loch before taking a very wet walk back to our waiting train.                                            

Royal Yacht Britannia

HMY Britannia was launched in 1953 and entered service the following year and went on to travel more than 1m nautical miles. Forty years after entering service it was announced that, due to rising costs, Britannia would not receive the major refit required to remain in service, which would in any event only have secured a further five years. After a final foreign voyage to Hong Kong in July 1997 Britannia was de-commissioned in December of that year.

Following her withdrawal from service Britannia has been put on display at the Ocean Terminal, Leith, and is now a museum ship and a time capsule of how she was when Queen Elizabeth II and numerous other dignitaries enjoyed all that she had to offer.

We visited last month, assisted by a self-guided audio tour and here is what we saw.