Round Britain

The trip started on Monday, 13 September with lunch at Nantclwyd kindly hosted by Philip and Isabella Naylor-Leyland. The weather looked gloomy, and the flying was quite challenging but most of our intrepid pilots made it into the strip at Nantclwyd. After drinks outside in the garden we were treated to a delicious lunch. A quick peep at the beautiful Italian garden and all too quickly we were alerted to the fact that the bus had arrived. It was time for members to depart for the Castle Hotel in Ruthin. That evening members had a very enjoyable dinner at the hotel and a rather rude awakening in the early hours due to a fire alarm – which mercifully turned out to be a false alert.



The next morning weather delayed the departure from Nantclwyd on the second leg of the trip to Perth. Happily, everyone reached their destination with one or two aircraft flying direct to Lude airstrip in Blair Atholl. Despite the delays we arrived just in time for a fascinating tour of Blair Castle the home of 19 generations of the Atholl family over the last seven centuries. Their story covers Mary, Queen of Scots, the Civil War, the Act of Union, the Jacobite cause and the disaster of Culloden, and Queen Victoria’s love of the Scottish Highlands and her presentation of colours to the Atholl Highlanders. The family’s history is told against a backdrop of fine 18 century interiors and Scottish baronial architecture and displays of furniture, arms, china, lace and portraits accumulated over the years. The castle has had a diverse history, witnessing both turbulent and peaceful times, enlarged and adapted over 750 years to suit the needs of the family and style of the day.

Dinner that evening had been arranged by the Gordon family in the local golf club who had made great efforts to prepare a delicious Scottish feast and produce suitable amounts of alcohol to go with it!

On Wednesday the trip continued to Colonsay where we were greeted by our hosts Alex and Jane Howard. A lovely BBQ in the gorgeous gardens of Colonsay House followed by a much-needed wind swept walk to the beach and beyond, which left just enough time to get ready for dinner at the hotel and yet more delicious food. Colonsay has featured in several Squadron tours as Alex’s father was an active member in his day. Alex and Jane had most of the group to stay at the house as the previous week’s guests in nearly all the cottages had been unable to leave due to a ferry problem. Life on an island is never dull – the beds were made, the whiskey flowed, burgers were flipped and there were smiles all round!

After a hearty breakfast on Thursday, it was down to the airstrip and a short flight to Mull. The sun shone brightly but sadly three aircraft headed south due to an incoming weather front. Andrew Holman West was waiting at Glenforsa and after lunch of local scallops and mussels we hopped into the minibus and drove to Duart Castle. Here we were met by Sir Lachlan “Locky” Maclean who gave us a fascinating tour of Duart and a wonderful insight into family life at the castle. He has worked hard to preserve the Clan’s history and historical sites and was instrumental in creating the Clan Maclean Heritage Trust. Duart is sited on a high crag at the end of a peninsula which juts into the Sound of Mull and commands a strategic position. The first recorded mention of the Macleans of Duart is in a papal dispensation of 1367 allowing Chief Lacklan Maclean to marry the daughter of the Lord of the Isles, Mary Macdonald. Lacklan built the keep that stands today though the great curtain walls were probably of the previous century. The Macleans were always fighting, and the castle changed hands a number of times and fell into ruin in the 18th century before being purchased in 1910 by Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 26th Chief, who began the enormous task of restoring the building.