Photo: Hunterston House - the ancestral home of the Hunter clan.
Day 9: Chester to Tarbet via Hunterston
An early start with breakfast on the road to get to
Scotland. Rather than heading directly north we decided to detour via Ayeshire
in the southwest of Scotland to check out Hunterston, the ancestral home of the
Hunter’s. Hunterston consists of a sea port, a nuclear power station and
‘Hunterston House’ – or should I say ‘Our House’. Pretty impressive. Makes me
want to trace a bit more family history to find out if it could be ‘Our House’.
A few things suggest it probably is. Firstly, there was a yacht marina just up
the road. Maybe sailing really is in my blood? Secondly, in nearby Largs, they
served ‘chips with cheese’ – very Hunterish.
We then continued on to the Viking town of Largs and visited
‘Vikingar’, an information centre dedicated to the Battle of Largs, fought here
in 1263 between the Scots and the Norwegian Vikings. The Scots won and the
Vikings never troubled them again. We found out here about the Hunterson
Broach, an 8th century Celtic broach that had Norse inscriptions on it, suggesting intermarriage between Vikings and Celts. It was found in the
grounds of Hunterston House in the 19th century. It is now housed in Scottish
National Museum in Edinburgh. That’s something to watch out for once we get there.
We ended the day at Tarbet, on the shore of Loch Lomond, in
an old hotel with its maze of rooms.
1 comment:
Well done Hunters'. If that's your house, can we have our own room when we visit? You really are making the absolute most of your trip. It's lovely to read of your adventures. Dad.
Now a word from Mum: "I am so proud of you Colin, when we travelled to different places in the world I always thought that you thought it was a bit "ho-hum". Now you are proving to be areal Hunter. All these new places are awesome - are'nt they !" Luv Mum.
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