#caledonian canal

[scotland-all-day-long]

Caledonian Canal

[scotianostra]

A misty start to the day at Moy Swing Bridge September 2020, where I camped for the night.

[travelonourown]

Neptune’s Staircase canal locks

[reachingforthevoid]

The picture is of the Caledonian Canal during the early afternoon of 19 November 2022, looking in the direction of Loch Ness. There were loads of rowers prepping for races or trials yesterday, and my walk was accompanied by the slapping of oars on the water, and voices telling the rowers how best to power through.

[compass-sea-school]

Day 5 - Banavie to Dunstaffnage Marina

Day 5 – Banavie to Dunstaffnage Marina

[stoneageproductions]

Drone Footage - Loch Ness, Fort Augustus & The Caledonian Canal - Scotla...

[hatfejusarkany]

messy but insightful night shots around Caledonian Road / Thornhill Bridge on the canal, just off King’s Cross, London, 2020

[aimeedaisies]

The Princess Royal’s Official Engagements in April 2023

03/04 In Glamorgan, Wales Princess Anne carried out the following engagements;

As Patron of the Royal College of Midwives, visited Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil. 👶

As President of Carers Trust, visited Bridgend Carers Centre, Bridgend. 🩼

As Royal Patron of the National Coastwatch Institution, opened St Donat’s Bay Station, United World Colleges Atlantic College, St Donat’s, followed by a Reception at St Donat’s Castle, Llantwit Manor. 🚤

04/04 In Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, Princess Anne carried out the following engagements;

As Patron of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regimental Association, HRH dedicated the Norton Worcestershire Regiment Group, in Norton. 🌲

As President of Carers Trust, HRH visited Crossroads Care Gloucestershire, at Daglingworth Village Hall, Daglingworth. 🩺

Opened Eastwood Park Limited’s Training Centre, Falfield, Wotton-Under-Edge. 👩‍🎓

Visited Wickwar Town Hall, Wickwar, Wotton-Under-Edge 🏫

09/04 unofficial Princess Anne and her husband, Sir Tim Laurence, attended the Easter Sunday Mattins Service at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor. Also in attendance were King Charles, Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, James, Earl of Wessex, Peter Phillips, Zara, Mike, Mia and Lena Tindall, Princess Beatrice, Edoardo Mapelli-Mozzi, Princess Eugenie, Jack Brooksbank, Lady Sarah Chatto and Daniel Chatto. 🐣

~~🐣 Easter break 🐣~~

17/04 Princess Anne carried out the following engagements in Kelso, Scotland;

Visited Kelso Racecourse for their Bicentenary Race Day and met Grand National ‘23 winner Corach Rambler.

Afterwards HRH attended a Reception for Carers at the Racecourse. 🥂

18/04 Princess Anne carried out the following engagements in the Scottish Highlands;

Opened the Life Sciences Innovation Centre at the University of the Highlands and Islands, Inverness Campus. 🧑‍🎓

Visited the Lochaber Rural Education Trust in Torlundy, Fort William.✏️

Opened the new Corpach Marina, Caledonian Canal, Corpach in Fort William. 🚤

19/04 As Patron of the Spinal Injuries Association, Princess Anne attended a Reception at Hoare Memorial Hall in Westminster, London. 🩼

Later as President of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, accompanied by Sir Tim, HRH attended the President’s Lecture and Dinner. 👨‍🏫

20/04 The Princess Royal, held an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace. 🎖️

As Patron of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, attended the Spring Conference. 💊

21/04 Attended HMS Raleigh’s Phase One Training Passing Out Parade in Cornwall 🫡

22/04 Princess Anne and Sir Tim attended the Women’s Six Nations Scotland v Ireland games in Edinburgh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹🏉

25/04 Princess Anne carried out the following engagements in Northern Ireland;

As Patron of Save the Children UK, visited their charity shop in Ballycastle as they were celebrating celebrating their 10th birthday of opening. 🎂

As Patron of the National Museum of The Royal Navy, opened HMS Caroline museum, after restoration of HMS Caroline and the Pumphouse in Alexandra Dock, Belfast. ⛴️

26/04 Princess Anne as Patron of the Whitley Fund for Nature, accompanied by Sir Tim, attended the Whitley Awards Ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society, Kensington. 🦋🌳

27/04 Princess Anne carried out several engagements in London;

As Patron of Livability, attended a ‘Changes for the Future’ Forum. 🏘️

As Admiral of the Sea Cadet Corps, HRH opened the brand new National Support Centre and attended a Sea Cadet Forum. 🌊

The Princess Royal, As Patron of the Learning and Work Institute, attended an ‘Art for the People’ Forum. 🖼️

As President of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conferences, held a Dinner at St. James’s Palace for the Commonwealth Study Conferences Canada’s President’s Council and the Study Conference 2023. 🍽️

28/04 unofficial As the brand new President of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Trust Sir Tim visited one of the stations and met various volunteers of the railway, had a look around the Signalbox and Carriage & Wagon at Winchcombe in Gloucestershire. 🚂

Total official engagements for Anne in April: 29

2023 total so far: 171

Total official engagements accompanied by Tim in April: 3

2023 total so far: 41

[thetruthwilloutsworld]

Three sisters of Glencoe

Eilean Donan Castle

Caledonian canal and Ben Nevis

Bishop's Bay Loch Leven

Instagram landoflightphotography

[jimrichardsonng]

Scotland Fix of the Day: I’m excited to say that in a couple of weeks I’ll be back in Scotland gazing at Eilean Donan castle after sailing down the Caledonian canal and out into the Inner Hebrides. I'll be aboard the Lord of the Glens with National Geographic Expeditions, a trip I've done before. Two hundred years ago industrious Scots were digging this historic canal, building it large enough to carry a 32 gun frigate, at the time of the Napoleonic wars. It’s considerably more peaceful now, wildflowers were growing along the canal trail on this morning as we hiked along the canal trail, catching up with the boat at the next loch. The canal starts in Inverness and ends near Ft. William. In between it connects Loch Ness (montser there), Loch Oich (might have a monster) and Loch Lochy, past castles, villages and pubs, through stunning scenery and the kind of history any Outlander fan might relish. The Lord of the Glens always draws a crowd as we ascend the locks in Fort Augustus. Back in the day when the locks were operated by capstans it took half a day to get through but now it’s usually about 90 minutes. After a stop on the Isle of Eigg (or maybe Rum) in the Small Isles we'll be on to Iona, always a pretty sight with boats coming and going. Granite boulders forming the Street of the Dead (Sraid nam Marbh) leading off to Iona Abbey have lain here on Iona for more than 1,000 years. Along this processional way the bodies of Scottish Kings (MacBeth included) and royalty were carried to their graves in Reilig Odhráin from Martyr’s Bay, where Viking raiders killed 68 monks in 806 AD. In the evening we dock in the harbor at Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, looking out at what has to be one of the prettiest waterfronts of any Scottish island village. It’s famed for the signature red, yellow, and blue buildings that the children’s television show “Balamory” made famous. It's a terrific trip, full of history, great landscapes and culture. And who knows, we might get a dram of whisky along the way. #scotland #highlands #outlander #epic_landscape #highlands #bestofscotland #hiddenscotland #thehighlandcollective #scotland_highlights #ig_scotland #visitscotland — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/aGvrQRc

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Thursday 5 January 2023

These large trees have the distinctive habit of Fagus sylvatica 'Pendula' (weeping beech) with wide-spreading main boughs draped with long, pendulous side-branches. It was a treat to be on a level with the tree canopy viewing it from the embankment towpath of the Caledonian Canal, Inverness, Scotland.

Jill Raggett

[scotianostra]

Fort Augustus 11:20 pm

[mightywellfan]

Neptune's Staircase

Neptune's Staircase is a staircase lock comprising eight locks on the Caledonian Canal. Built by Thomas Telford between 1803 and 1822, it is the longest staircase lock in Britain. The system was originally hand-powered but has been converted to hydraulic operation.

[beardedmrbean]

Iltalehti has another exclusive about the failed appointment of a senior official by a Finns Party minister. Last week the paper reported that party leader Riikka Purra's choice for a media advisory role had been abandoned after a background check by Finland's Security Intelligence Police, Supo.

On Tuesday IL is reporting that Communications Minister Lulu Ranne (Finns) had her first choice for State Secretary rejected after he underwent a security check. Kari Ilkkala has been a councillor in Hämeenlinna alongside Ranne, and served as her special adviser in parliament.

There are eleven State Secretaries appointed by this government, with the National Coalition getting to choose five, the Finns Party four and the Swedish people's Party and the Christian Democrats getting one each.

The role has broad responsibilities, and involves serving as a stand-in when ministers are unavailable. The other ten have already been appointed, but IL reports that Ilkkala has been dropped after the security check.

The paper does not state what Ilkkala's security check uncovered, but does detail a total of 73,000 euros in debts to payday lenders, different companies and the tax administration that are on the debt collection register.

Holocaust denial

As the government prepares to look into banning Holocaust denial, Helsingin Sanomat columnist Saska Saarikoski recalls the record of Jussi Halla-aho in opposing the "special position" of the Holocaust in history.

Saarikoski (then Snellman) had in 2004 written a column detailing the disconnect between Finnish interpretations of history, in which the Holocaust is commonly seen as a horrific event, and European interpretations, in which the Holocaust was seen as a unique moral lowpoint, a symbol of moral depravity that had almost come ro replace religious fables.

Halla-aho had responded to that on his own blog, arguing that the Holocaust's position was not as important as "anything actually happening at the moment".

He also repeated an anti-semitic trope in stating that Armenia has struggled to get recognition of atrocities perpetrated against Armenians by the Ottoman empire as genocide because "the Armenians don't own Hollywood or the American media".

Saarikoski argues that Halla-aho has indirectly forced the government to look at criminalising Holocaust denial, as several racist scandals (including some stemming from comments made on his blog) rocked the government this summer. That forced this week's statement on racism to parliament, which includes the possibility of criminalising Holocaust denial.

Long-distance oarsman

Ilta-Sanomat checks in on Jari Saario, who is rowing from Canada to Finland and has just reached Scotland's archipelago.

His plan is to continue through the Caledonian Canal (and therefore Loch Ness), before heading across the North Sea and into the Baltic.

There is one catch though. After 73 days at sea, he might be vulnerable to sniffles and bugs — so he is planning to avoid any well-wishes who try to collar him for a chat along the tourist-thronged Scottish waterway.

He may even buy some face masks to ensure he stays healthy for the final leg of his lengthy journey.

Organisers condemn violent banners seen at anti-racist demo

A threatening banner was on display during Sunday's anti-racism demonstration in Helsinki, and subsequently gained attention on social media.

The banner's slogan was "if anything is cut, it should be Petteri's and Riikka's heads", referring to Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) and Finance Minister Riikka Purra (Finns).

Judging by the pictures on social media, the banner was displayed by an anarchist group. Organisers of the demonstration have since criticised the banner.

"Violent banners do not represent our values," said the organisers in a press release. "We did our best during the event to ensure their removal. As organisers we can't do more than that."

[mendelpalace]

Siren Spine Sysex, Proc Fiskal's second album sees a reorientation of the source elements of his music. While Insula hung around samples of the ramblings of his friends and sounds of his hometown, SSS is laden with an inner voice of sampled Gaelic, Irish and English Folk Music, contorted and imbued into the futurist body of modern pop; the ghostly anima image of the female folk voice, the lamenting wheeze of the accordion rub against the rush of icey 808s and angles of Grime. Proc Fiskal aka Joe Power’s family history is in Folk Music, his paternal grandfather Archie Fisher was active in the Scottish Folk revival of the 60s, his grandfather Al Fraser a Bagpipe player & his great aunt, the singer in iconic children's Folk group 'The Singing Kettle'. It's this cultural baggage, the ’Caledonian antisyzygy’ of the constructed, earnest folk tradition he was raised under, beside the modernist dance music he makes that brings a personal element to the album. The music of Siren Spine Sysex examines dance music as folk music, rerouting them comparatively. His productions were also inspired by the music of The Cocteau Twins, The Roches and Kate Bush, the prominent chopped and screwed Gaelic vocals, like Elizabeth Fraser cut into a UK Garage Lilt - their wordless emoting echoing into joyous twisted pop songs like '8 megapixel phone' and 'Leith Tornn Canal'." Even though it's fast and detailed, Siren Spine Sysex feels relaxed and pastoral at times. The sino-grime present on Insula are here alongside more folk oriented elements, but the edits and drums are more sensual, swelling and reactive to the music. The album's texture is also influenced by the FM synthesis of computer games and wacky soundtracks. Siren Spine Sysex feels warm, inviting and sunny, exciting thoroughly modern album as well as a manic dissection of personal and cultural baggage. 

[compass-sea-school]

Day 3 & 4 Kytra to Batavia (via a night stop in Laggan)

Day 3 & 4 Kytra to Batavia (via a night stop in Laggan)