Travel
[We publish on this page articles and notes which may help our readers in making their plans for travel at home and abroad. They are written by correspondents who have visited the places described. We shall be glad to answer questions arising out of the Travel articles published in our columns. Inquiries should be addressed to the Travel Manager, The SPECTATOR, 99 Gower
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The Western Highlands THE Great Western Road out of Glasgow is a blessing motorists could not enjoy a few years ago, when one had to follow the tramlines along Clydebank to Dumbarton. Literally, it brings the Western Highlands to the front door of the Glaswegian. At Dumbarton we have the choice of Loch Lomond or the Gare Loch and the road along the latter through Helensburgh and Shandon is perhaps worth the choice, for beyond Garelochhead we can look down Loch Long and, simultaneously, over the serried rows of steamers and yachts moored in the Gare Loch itself. Passing Arrochar, we sweep round the head of Loch Long and through Glen Croe climb 1,000 ft. above sea level. Here we Rest and Be Thank- ful (as the hill is named) for the opportunity of seeing mountain scenery at its best. Glen Kinglas then leads us down to Loch Fyne, where to the left we can go to Dunoon or Innellan and make a tour by boat of Rothesay and the famous Kyles of Bute. The right-hand road follows round the loch to Inver- aray, when, after obscuring itself for eight miles, it emerges once more on the bank of the loch and carries on a further sixteen miles to Lochgilphead. A 100-mile tour from this point, well worth the adventure, is available by the winding edge of the sea to the Mull of Kintyre and back, though the road provides something of a test for most cars. But if you go you must sample the sporting golf on Machrihanish links. Back at Lochgilphead, we venture north to Oban along a delightful road skirting estuaries comparable to the Norwegian fjords. The western isles seen across Oban Bay, however, are not for the motorist, but our curiosity must soon fall to the temptation from the steamers waiting to allay it-which means a day or two's respite at least. Then you must come and peep at Loch Etive from the bridge at Connel Ferry. Cross it if you will to reach Ballachulish, but better still come through that splendid gorge, the Pass of Brander, look straight down Loch Awe from the hotel at its head and continue to Balla- chulish by way of Tyndrum. It is a stony road from Tyndrum with a narrow surface, though the thirty odd miles are worth it, particularly after you pass the disused Kingshouse inn and approach the wildness of" gloomy" Glen Coe. If you turn at Carnach village, you meet a road to take you round Loch Leven, which is a means of avoiding a possibly long queue of cars at Ballachulish ferry. Civilisation greets you again at Fort William, a centre for exploring Ben Nevis. See Britain's highest mountain from Banavie, as you go round to Loch Eil and follow the railway to its terminus at Mallaig. Across the Sound of Sleat you may reach the Isle of Skye by boat. To take the car there, however, it would be necessary to journey ahead to Invergarry below Fort Augustus, turning along Loch Garry, across Glen Loyne, then by the side of Loch Duich towards the Kyle of Lochalsh ferry. The road to Portree is in fair condition, but beyond that it is a question of motoring taste. A useful map to carry on on such a tour is Sheet 6 of the Ordnance Survey Map, while Sheets 5 and 7 cover the remaining parts of the northern Scottish mainland,
C. H. G. N.
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