and travelled on the Hogwarts Express

Well a little bit of it....

September is a busy birthday month, at the start there's mine,  I wrote about our stay in Glasgow to celebrate that last time a tale of two houses;  MrS's day comes along a few weeks later and we had a little trip to toast that too.

In contrast to my urban break we travelled north and west and for part of the time at least by a much slower means of transport.

First we boarded the West Highland service to Mallaig and enjoyed a  picnic lunch.

Happy Birthday MrS

Smoked trout, oatcakes and champagne

and for once DogS WAS ALLOWED

We had a quick turn around at Mallaig and then boarded The Jacobite Express (aka The Hogwarts Express) for the return journey to our overnight stop in Glenfinnan. We dropped off our bags at our hotel,  Glenfinnan House, and set off to view the two famous local monuments.

The Jacobite (or Hogwart's) Express at Glenfinnan station

We didn't climb the 1745 memorial because we would have had to go up separately, dogs aren't allowed inside the walls;  instead we had a little play on the beach and then headed up to the viewpoint behind the visitor centre. From there you also get a great view of the other famous structure.

Glenfinnan monument

not the Hogwart's Express

DogStarke at LochShiel

The Glenfinnan House Hotel

The Glenfinnan Station museum has developed a path which passes underneath the viaduct and then back to the station, after our time in the train it was lovely to stretch our legs in the glorious early autumn sunshine, DogStarke had a great time with all the new sniffs.


There were candles and a lovely fire to welcome us on our  return,  and up in our room as well as our bags there was a card and present for MrS. We ate dinner in the bar because DogS was allowed in and she wasn't alone.  I think I counted about five other dogs with their owners. If you're not a dog owner/lover don't let it put you off though, they were all well controlled and the main dining room is a dog free zone, the same menu is available in both. After dinner we sat in one of the lounges and read some of the great old books there, a Winnie the Pooh contemporary for MrS* and historic household management tips for me.

Next morning we ate breakfast in the grand dining room with gorgeous views of Loch Shiel. The weather had changed but the loch still locked beautiful through the mist.

breakfast is served...to me!

We had just enough time for a visit to the station museum before catching our train, the regular diesel service this time,  back down to Tyndrum where we'd left the car.

sadly the Callander Oban line doesn't exist anymore

So now it's October, anniversary month.......




*Katawampas by Edward Abbot Parry 1895