Exploring the NC500: Travelling Scotland's Route 66

Travelling anti-clockwise, David M. Addison seeks his kicks on Scotland's equivalent of Route 66. Otherwise known as NC500, the route takes you through five hundred miles of some of Scotland's most spectacular scenery. No wonder it has been voted as one of the world's five most scenic road journeys.

There are many mays of exploring the NC500. You can drive it, cycle it, motorbike it or even walk it, even if you are not one of The Proclaimers! And there are as many activities, places of interest and sights to be seen along the way as there are miles.

This is a personal account of the author's exploration of the NC500 as well as some detours from it, such as to the Black Isle, Strathpeffer and Dingwall. Whatever your reason or reasons for exploring the NC500 may be, you should read this book before you go, or take it with you as a vade mecum. It will enhance your appreciation of the NC500 as you learn about the history behind the turbulent past of the many castles; hear folk tales, myths and legends connected with the area; become acquainted with the ancient peoples who once lived in this timeless landscape, and read about the lives of more recent heroes such as the good Hugh Miller who met a tragic end and villains such as the notorious Duke of Sutherland, who died in his bed (and may not be quite as bad as he is painted). There are a good number of other characters too of whom you may have never heard: some colourful, some eccentric, some very eccentric.

You may not necessarily wish to follow in the author's footsteps in all that he did, but if you read this book you will certainly see the landscape through more informed eyes as you do whatever you want to do en route NC500.

Sit in your car and enjoy the scenery for its own sake (and remember you get a different perspective from a different direction, so you may want to come back and do it again to get an alternative point of view!), or get out and explore it at closer quarters - the choice is yours, but this book will complement your experience, whatever you decide.

"1125732221"
Exploring the NC500: Travelling Scotland's Route 66

Travelling anti-clockwise, David M. Addison seeks his kicks on Scotland's equivalent of Route 66. Otherwise known as NC500, the route takes you through five hundred miles of some of Scotland's most spectacular scenery. No wonder it has been voted as one of the world's five most scenic road journeys.

There are many mays of exploring the NC500. You can drive it, cycle it, motorbike it or even walk it, even if you are not one of The Proclaimers! And there are as many activities, places of interest and sights to be seen along the way as there are miles.

This is a personal account of the author's exploration of the NC500 as well as some detours from it, such as to the Black Isle, Strathpeffer and Dingwall. Whatever your reason or reasons for exploring the NC500 may be, you should read this book before you go, or take it with you as a vade mecum. It will enhance your appreciation of the NC500 as you learn about the history behind the turbulent past of the many castles; hear folk tales, myths and legends connected with the area; become acquainted with the ancient peoples who once lived in this timeless landscape, and read about the lives of more recent heroes such as the good Hugh Miller who met a tragic end and villains such as the notorious Duke of Sutherland, who died in his bed (and may not be quite as bad as he is painted). There are a good number of other characters too of whom you may have never heard: some colourful, some eccentric, some very eccentric.

You may not necessarily wish to follow in the author's footsteps in all that he did, but if you read this book you will certainly see the landscape through more informed eyes as you do whatever you want to do en route NC500.

Sit in your car and enjoy the scenery for its own sake (and remember you get a different perspective from a different direction, so you may want to come back and do it again to get an alternative point of view!), or get out and explore it at closer quarters - the choice is yours, but this book will complement your experience, whatever you decide.

16.99 In Stock
Exploring the NC500: Travelling Scotland's Route 66

Exploring the NC500: Travelling Scotland's Route 66

by David M Addison
Exploring the NC500: Travelling Scotland's Route 66

Exploring the NC500: Travelling Scotland's Route 66

by David M Addison

Paperback

$16.99 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

Travelling anti-clockwise, David M. Addison seeks his kicks on Scotland's equivalent of Route 66. Otherwise known as NC500, the route takes you through five hundred miles of some of Scotland's most spectacular scenery. No wonder it has been voted as one of the world's five most scenic road journeys.

There are many mays of exploring the NC500. You can drive it, cycle it, motorbike it or even walk it, even if you are not one of The Proclaimers! And there are as many activities, places of interest and sights to be seen along the way as there are miles.

This is a personal account of the author's exploration of the NC500 as well as some detours from it, such as to the Black Isle, Strathpeffer and Dingwall. Whatever your reason or reasons for exploring the NC500 may be, you should read this book before you go, or take it with you as a vade mecum. It will enhance your appreciation of the NC500 as you learn about the history behind the turbulent past of the many castles; hear folk tales, myths and legends connected with the area; become acquainted with the ancient peoples who once lived in this timeless landscape, and read about the lives of more recent heroes such as the good Hugh Miller who met a tragic end and villains such as the notorious Duke of Sutherland, who died in his bed (and may not be quite as bad as he is painted). There are a good number of other characters too of whom you may have never heard: some colourful, some eccentric, some very eccentric.

You may not necessarily wish to follow in the author's footsteps in all that he did, but if you read this book you will certainly see the landscape through more informed eyes as you do whatever you want to do en route NC500.

Sit in your car and enjoy the scenery for its own sake (and remember you get a different perspective from a different direction, so you may want to come back and do it again to get an alternative point of view!), or get out and explore it at closer quarters - the choice is yours, but this book will complement your experience, whatever you decide.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780993493249
Publisher: Extremis Publishing Ltd.
Publication date: 03/20/2017
Pages: 370
Sales rank: 677,943
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

A native of Banff, Scotland, David M. Addison is a graduate of Aberdeen University. As well as essays in various publications, he has written nine books, mainly about his travels. As well as a short spell teaching English as a foreign language in Poland when the Solidarity movement was at its height, he spent a year (1978-79) as an exchange teacher in Montana. He regards his decision to apply for the exchange as one of the best things he ever did, for not only did it give him the chance to travel extensively in the US and Canada but during the course of the year he made a number of enduring friendships. His award-winning "An Innocent Abroad" is the first in a planned trilogy about this extraordinary year while the second, "Still Innocent Abroad", was published in 2016. Since taking early retirement (he is not as old as he looks), he has more time but less money to indulge his unquenchable thirst for travel (and his wife would say for Cabernet Sauvignon and malt whisky). He is doing his best to spend the children's inheritance by travelling as far and wide and as often as he can. In 2015 "An Innocent Abroad" received an award in the Bookbzz Prize Writer Competition for Biography and Memoir. David's most recent travels took him to the Highlands of Scotland, exploring Visit Scotland's recently unveiled NC500, dubbed "Scotland's Route 66", and rated one of the top five most scenic road journeys in the world. For more details about David and his work, please visit his website at www.davidmaddison.org.

Table of Contents

1. Inverness: Monsters, Myths and Writers (Page 1)
2. Culloden: The Death of a Dream (Page 11)
3. Clava Cairns: A Mystery in Stones (Page 25)
4. Fort George: The Subjugator of a Nation (Page 33)
5. Avoch: The Great Explorer (Page 43)
6. Fortrose: The Countess, The Wolf, and The Seer (Page 49)
7. Rosemarkie: The Stone and The Picts (Page 59)
8. Cromarty: The Good Samaritan, The Eccentric, and The Good Laird (Page 67)
9. Cromarty: The Geologist and The Genius (Page 77)
10. The Clootie Well: Taking the Waters (Part 1) (Page 87)
11. Strathpeffer: Taking the Waters (Part 2) (Page 91)
12. Strathpeffer: Stones and Stations (Page 101)
13. Dingwall: The Station and The Soldier (Page 109)
14. The Tarbat Peninsula: On the Trail of the Picts Again (Page 115)
15. Tain: Travelling Through Time (Page 125)
16. Dornoch: Much Ado About Burning (Page 133)
17. Dunrobin Castle: The Duke and The Giraffe (Page 143)
18. Dunrobin and Carn Liath: The Castle and The Broch (Page 153)
19. Helmsdale: Murder, Treason and Plot (Page 161)
20. Helmsdale: Spending Some Time in the Timespan (Page 167)
21. Badbea and Dunbeath: Life on the Edge (Page 173)
22. Laidhay and Latheron: The Longhouse and The Jawbone (Page 181)
23. Camster Cairns to Cairn o' Get: Stepping into the Past (Page 187)
24. Wick: The Inventor, The Photographers, and The Edible Object (Page 193)
25. Girnigoe Castle: Murder, Torture and Feud (Page 199)
26. To John o' Groats: Feuds and Family Problems (Page 207)
27. The Castle of Mey: A Thoroughly Modern Castle (Page 215)
28. Thurso: From Dunnet Head to Dounreay (Page 223)
29. Dounreay: Acronyms and Accidents (Page 231)
30. Bettyhill: Boats and Buoys (Page 239)
31. Strathnaver to Tongue: The Deserted Villages (Page 247)
32. Loch Eriboll to Smoo Cave: When Worlds Collide (Page 255)
33. Durness to Keoldale: Graves, Guns and a Little Geography (Page 265)
34. From Unapool to Ullapool: A Trip Around Assynt (Page 273)
35. Ullapool to Inverewe: Klondykers, Convoys, Germs and Gardens (Page 283)
36. Poolewe to Kinlochewe: The Legend of the Loch and Other Tales (Page 295)
37. Torridon and the Applecross Peninsula: The Monk and The Body Snatcher (Page 305)
38. Loch Carron: Tartan and Gardens (Page 317)
39. Acnasheen and Beauly: Completing the Circuit (Page 327)
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews