Mallaig 2025 - Day 4

Only 10 of us today – Gordon left early this morning to drive over to Banchory to attend his daughter’s and grand-daughter’s birthday parties.

Sunday’s plan was a train ride to Fort William. We all declined the chance of taking the Jacobite Steam Train – mostly due to the extortionate prices – and just made the 90 minute journey in 2 standard Scotrail carriages. There was a mild bit of panic at the start as we noticed that virtually all the seats had reserved tickets on them – and none of the passengers had been able to reserve seats. It transpired however that all the reservations started at Fort William so no sweat.

Initial plans for coffee when we arrived at FW were again disrupted due to the designated café being exceptionally busy and short-staffed. Some stayed while others moved on.

The walkers were doing a circuit of Cow Hill so, after coffee, Jo and I decided to go to the start of this walk, which involved a climb up through some fairly grubby housing estates. The others started their walk at a lower entry point and were soon marching along:

Meanwhile, Jo and I  decided to head towards the Ben Nevis Centre but we meandered along a riverside trail and ran out of time, having to turn back before we got to our planned destination. Here’s the stats from both of the walks:

 

As we passed the sign for the former finish of the West Highland Way it brought back memories of our final day on our inaugural walking weekend back in 2010. There was a seemingly endless walk along a fairly busy road in the rain. We were all tired – it was our final day and it had been a long walk. Anyone who wants to relive that day, check here - https://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/2010/09/whw-final-day.html

One very sad scene we passed was the floral display in memory of the three Fort William school pupils who had died in a car crash between Arisaig and Mallaig just a few days earlier.

When we finally got to the High Street,  I headed straight in to the CAMRA award-winning Grog and Gruel (https://grogandgruel.co.uk/) – just like we’d done 15 years ago. There was a 3-way split in the group as to where to rehydrate after our walks. Jeb, Vicki, Steve and Nigel had followed Jeb’s previous suggestion and headed to the Black Isle Bar (https://www.blackislebrewery.com/visit-us/fort-william-bar) while Dave, Ken, Stewart and Andy had plumped for the Ben Nevis Bar (https://www.bennevisbarfortwilliam.com/). Jo and I played the diplomatic card and visited all three, the best of which, beer-wise at least, was the latter.

Then it was time to catch the train back to Mallaig. Here’s Jeb’s mugshot crossing the famous viaduct:

Dinner was again in our hotel. We had a chat about next year’s location over drams after the meal. A couple of alternative locations were briefly mooted but we eventually agreed to stick to the original idea of Orkney. The big question was when? We provisionally decided to go (very) early September and break with the usual weekend away, going midweek for a change – which would mean 1^st – 4^th September, 2026. Ken, assisted by Steve, would again organise.