Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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  • Random Posts – Millstone House and Four in a Bed

    Random Posts – Millstone House and Four in a Bed

    Since I don’t really ever watch TV, I never much mention it, but we live in strange times and I’m catching up on a backlog of several years of Four in a Bed. It’s the programme where B&B owners visit each other’s properties, then review them and leave what they feel is a fair price for their stay.

    I never quite understand the strategy of some B&B owners who go on here. By far the best approach is to be genuinely nice (or pretend if they’re not nice people), overpay where at all possible and leave the public rooting for you, even if you don’t win. Actually, there really isn’t any alternate strategy that leaves the owners with a decent reputation.

    Millstone House took an almost suicidal strategy this week, underpaying everyone to a ridiculous level, seemingly unaware that they were being filmed. I felt quite sorry for that really pleasant Blackpool B&B owner, when they left him just £35 for their night’s stay and breakfast. So Millstone House won, which must have delighted them, but then none of the other hosts acknowledged them and two refused their payments.

    A bizarre strategy, they’ll be swamped with negativity now. And indeed, it’s already led to this on TripAdvisor after just a few hours:

    “Message from Tripadvisor: Due to a recent event that has attracted media attention and has caused an influx of review submissions that do not describe a first-hand experience, we have temporarily suspended publishing new reviews for this listing. If you’ve had a firsthand experience at this property, please check back soon – we’re looking forward to receiving your review!”

    But, of course Four in a Bed will be repeated for years to come. And people will leave the B&B a negative review for ever more, to the point that the business will perhaps never recover its reputation. I’m genuinely confused why any B&B owner thinks that coming on this programme and being so brutal with payments is a sparkingly good idea. The B&B had excellent reviews before the stay, so it’s not as though they were clearly weren’t doing something right.

    Anyway, that’s of no relevance to anyone, although I suspect that a stay in Trevor Sheard’s Hotel Vienna in Blackpool would be an amazing experience and I hope that his B&B fills up after his appearance on the show.

  • Isle of Skye – Fairy Pools (Photos)

    Isle of Skye – Fairy Pools (Photos)

    More on the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye in another post, but these are the photos from a few years ago of the bravery of Liam and Scott. The four sensible members of the group took a more pleasurable walk along them, without the risk of falling into the water. At one point, Liam struggled and some random member of the public said “he’s going to fall in”, but somehow Liam managed to stay dry. We were secretly impressed.

  • Isle of Skye – Quiraing

    Isle of Skye – Quiraing

    And even more photos…. Only Liam and Scott climbed this as it looked a bit high to me. From the base of this rather large rockery, we all enjoyed the quite spectacular views though (of the scenery, not Liam and Scott).

  • Isle of Skye – Seals

    Isle of Skye – Seals

    Another post just of photos, these are the seals off the coast of the Isle of Skye, near to Duntulm. Very cute.

  • Isle of Skye – Talisker Distillery Tour

    Isle of Skye – Talisker Distillery Tour

    It’s a few years since we went on the distillery tour, and I’m careful not to call it a brewery tour as I did keep referring to it as that, at Talisker on the Isle of Skye. I’m not really a whisky drinker, it’s a bit harsh for my very delicate palate, but I’m always willing to try alcoholic beverages.

    Some barrels which were on the tour. On a side note, stout which has been aged in whisky (or whiskey if Irish rather than Scottish) barrels is some of the best going in my view.

    After a tour of the facilities, which was genuinely interesting, it was time for a testing of the whisky. They gave us some old whisky, but apparently it can taste better with ageing.

    Richard told Liam that it was a local distillery, although Liam questioned why there was Diageo branding on the walls….. I remember that some of the samples weren’t too bad, although some of us (primarily Liam and me) had no idea what the etiquette was about all this, and what the water was that went with it.

    This is the whisky that we thought Richard should buy for his collection, it was priced at just £2,400.

    This was the cheaper option that Richard went for.

    But only after he decided that a distillery was a suitable working environment.

    Pleased with his purchases, he chatted about them to a local.

    All in all, it was a rather lovely tour, interesting enough even for those of us who aren’t whisky drinkers.

  • Isle of Skye – Repurposed Cycling Helmets

    Isle of Skye – Repurposed Cycling Helmets

    I’m not really much into cycling (mostly as I find it tiring), so this seems a marvellous idea for cycling helmets….

  • Isle of Skye – Portree (Portree Hotel)

    Isle of Skye – Portree (Portree Hotel)

    This post is more just photos to remind me of a rather lovely week a few years back. This is primarily because I’ve forgotten what the six of us thought about this meal, although I don’t remember anything bad about it.

    My soup and fish & chips.

    I have no idea what Liam ordered for his starter, but it was followed by steak and probably some sticky toffee pudding arrangement knowing him.

    I didn’t bother taking photos of what anyone else had, other than this one….

  • Isle of Skye – Portree (Walk and Garden Centre)

    Isle of Skye – Portree (Walk and Garden Centre)

    Just photos on this post, this is Portree Harbour and we ended up at a garden centre, as that’s what most people do on a stag week…. To be fair though, it was at the end of the walk and I think that this was the cat that scratched Scott. We liked that cat.

  • Isle of Skye – Portree (Map)

    Isle of Skye – Portree (Map)

    The official map of Portree was more amusing that it might have appeared at first sight…

  • Isle of Skye – Fairy Glen

    Isle of Skye – Fairy Glen

    These photos are from Liam’s stag week a few years ago, the time allowed by the coronavirus means that this is the first time I’ve uploaded most of these. Fairy Glen is named for no other reason than it has a mystical feel to it and it’s a peaceful site, topped off by Castle Ewan. This is just a rock formation and has never been a castle, but it does look like that from afar and we’re visible in the photos after climbing to the top of it.

    There are some spirals on the ground with coins and stones in the centre of them, although it seems that the local tourist authorities aren’t keen on this recent innovation. The whole surroundings are though quite magical, there’s a touch of the Hobbit about the landscapes.