Hollow Mountain & Angus

Hi, our last day holidaying at Lock Awe had arrived all too soon, but at least the sun wasshining. We decided to stay local on out last day because of the long journey back to England the following day. We skirted around the eastern end of Loch Awe and followed its shoreline towards Taynuilt. However, before we left the loch we arrived at our first destination, Hollow Mountain Visitor's Centre, which is perched on the side of Loch Awe, below Mt Ben Cruachan.Angus Gardens
Hollow mountain is an electricity generating station that is buried 1 Kilometre under ground. The generators are powered by water and there are guided tours to see the vast caverns that house the huge turbines. My wife and I are both wimps, we don't do heights and we certainly don't do underground, we leave that pleasure to moles and troglodytes.

We amused ourselves for a while by checking out the exhibition and and the gift shop and then went into the cafe for lunch. The views from the window as we waited for our food were nothing short of spectacular. We were at the northern tip of loch Awe and here it was so narrow the trees and fields on the far side were in sharp focus. Not only did we have a great view, but we also had some entertainment in the shape of a show off in a speedboat. The whole of the cafe was watching as he came flying down the loch cresting the waves like James Bond. As he reached the cafe he had to turn his boat because the loch was getting very narrow. Without slowing down, Mr Show Off flipped his boat into a left hand turn and started carving a majestic crescent through the water. However, this didn't go according to plan because the boat took on a mind of its own, it straightened up and ploughed straight into the trees on the far bank where to rapturous applause from us all, he sank.

When I say sank, part of his boat finished up below the water and he scrambled to the shore. I guess somebody must have called the the rescue people, but he was still there when we'd finished our food and left.

After enjoying our lunchtime entertainment on Loch Awe, we carried on to Angus Garden which are situated down a quiet lane about 2 miles from Taynuilt. The Garden were built in 1957 by Betty Macdonald in Memory of her son, Angus who was killed a year earlier in Cyprus.Below you can see a memorial bell which is very touching.
Entry to the garden was by honesty box and it was very quite when we were there. There are no shops selling ice cream, plants or compost. These are woodland gardens, and appreciated by those who like peace and quiet, so they suited us very well. We had a lovely stroll around a small Loch that took in views of Ben Crauchan and we were struck by the contrast. At the visitor's centre there was very busy with chattering people and one only had to look out of the window to be thrilled by suicidal speed boat drivers. Here in Angus Gardens there was serenity and it was where we would sooner be.View of Ben Cruachan from Angus Gardens
I'll leave you with a picture of Loch Awe taken by my wife Terry Anne, early one morning. It was taken from the veranda on our lodge before breakfast and I think it sums our holiday up perfectly.


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