Motorbikes in the Far North: a photo record of trips made in 1925-1927
This is a photo album filled with images of the Highlands. I'm not sure of the identity of the photographer, nor where he came from. One or two names are mentioned, and perhaps this postcard at the back is a clue, though with a postmark dated 1904 it comes from an earlier time. The identity of the Highland Lassie also remains a mystery.
The tours appear to have been made by motorbike. Alas, they don't seem to have enjoyed much good weather on any of the trips. These are some of his companions.
The Sidcot Suit that EBW is wearing was used by pilots during the First World War. It was a one-piece suit designed specifically to keep the airmen warm, lightweight, and with a fur-lined collar. Just the job for the Highlands on a motorbike!
There seem to have been three trips: the album opens with one titled "Rannoch, etc. May 1926", but later there is an earlier one, "Rothiemurchus and Badenoch, 1925." The longest and, for those of us keen on the far north, most interesting is the tour taken in May 1927, which includes the north coast, and the road through Assynt down to Ullapool and Dundonnell.
The 1925 tour does not venture very far to the north, but they do an interesting 'off-road' circuit that he calls The Coire Odhar Bridle Path. This would be in the vicinity of Loch Ossian, to the east of Fort William and Ben Nevis. Here is 'S.R.F.W.' again, and shots of their trusty steeds too.
The 'Bridle Path' really was a rough track.....
.....and it took them to Corrour Station, which is not only the highest point on the West Highland Railway, but also the highest station in Britain. What is more, it is also the most remote: it is not accessed by any public road.
Their path gave them views of Ben Nevis....
....and whilst in the vicinity, they took in Glen Roy (S.R.F.W. again?)
The trip titled "Rannoch, etc.", made in May 1926, starts in the Glencoe region, with one or two useful photos that are worth recording. Ferries, for example:
At Ballachulish....
.....and at the River Etive - well, OK, not exactly a ferry, but a novel way of getting across. E.B.W featuring here.
Two shots of the famous Kingshouse Inn.
They then proceeded up the West Coast to Loch Duich, with a view to crossing over to Skye.
It is slightly hard to make out the shape of the Castle on this photo, but there is clearly no bridge linking it to the mainland, so it was taken before the improvements had begun. The restoration work was completed in 1932.
It is the third tour that features in the album that gives us the images of the far north. It took place in May 1927 - I say "it" but it is not clear from the photos whether it was one or two tours in that month. One page is titled grandly "The Road to Braemar, 1927 May". It appears that they approached it from what is now the A9, looking quite different in those days!
There are then good views in the vicinity of Braemar - and of their bikes...
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It then seems that they headed north of Inverness, with a new page titled "The Sutherland Deer Forests, 1927 May".
From Lairg, they headed north up to Tongue, taking some photos in Atlnaharra on the way, a place that rarely features in travel accounts.
Altnaharra and Ben Kilbreck offers the only colour image in the entire album.
There was, of course, no causeway then across the Kyle of Tongue, so they would have had to follow the road around the Kyle, from where the photo at the Head was taken.
They then continued along the north coast in a westerly direction, crossing the head of Loch Hope, rounding Loch Eriboll and on to Durness.
The first bridge at the head of Loch Hope was completed in 1904, so the ferry was by 1927 obsolete. The bridge that now takes the traffic was completed in 1957.
From Durness, they headed south.
At Kyleksu they spotted the Duke of Westminster's yacht.
As they continued south, the photographer was clearly impressed by the magnificent peaks of Assynt.
Untitled, but I think this is the descent into Ullapool.
Eventually, after a brief excursion to Lochinver, they reached Ullapool.
Again, no title, but this is Shore Street, Ullapool.
"Loch Maree, etc. (Little Loch Broom to Kinlochewe)" is how the next batch of photos is titled, and it is still dated May 1927. First, they pass through Dundonnell, where the photographer manages a slightly less-than-spectacular shot of one of Scotland's most spectacular mountains, An Teallach.
Then on to Loch Maree.
"Torridon and Applecross, 1927 May" is the next heading.
It appears that these two images have been 'borrowed' from a previous trip made by R. Hill in 1926.
The photos of the far north-west mainland end with the descent at Applecross, whence they cross over onto Skye. Two images to finish with: the Kyleakin Ferry, and a crofter's house at Sconser.
The photographer has to be congratulated on the care he has taken in recording these three tours, and on the accuracy of his titles below each image. The expeditions were accomplished at a time when visitors to these parts were still rare, as is clear from the lack of traffic and people on the roads. It must have been quite an adventure.