Sherlockian Sojourns #75: 'When (I) Got Back to Scotland" [BLAC]

 

DAY 1

It was time for a Scotland Megatrip. Following a failed sojourn the previous day to the Lake District, scuppered by public transport problems, I caught a train from Carlisle to Edinburgh. My main plans for the day were the Fringe (including two Sherlockian shows – click here for reviews), but I also planned to visit (and revisit some visited on a previous occasion) a few Sherlockian sites.

On my way to my first show, I popped into Blackwells Edinburgh, and was pleased to see a familiar portrait on the wall.

Having a break between shows my next point of call was Picardy Place, birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, where a statue of Sherlock Holmes was reinstalled in September 2023, having been stowed away on and off for many years during local tram construction and repairs. The life-sized bronze sculpture was sculpted by Gerald Ogilvie Laing in memory of Doyle’s sleuth, and was originally unveiled in June 1991, slightly closer to the birthplace of 11 Picardy Place.

     

   

Unfortunately the birthplace itself is derelict, and surrounded by hoardings, but I managed to get a few photos of the upstairs portion, before retiring to ’The Conan Doyle’ Public House for a brief pint (of Pepsi) prior to returning to the Fringe, passing ‘The Penny Black’ Pub on my way.

     

 

A few hours later, finding myself close to University of Edinburgh Medical School, where Conan Doyle was a student from 1876, I popped in to take a photo of his commemorative plaque.

Later on, walking to my accommodation for the night, I passed ‘The Salisbury Arms’, which was built around 1820 as a building called Belleville, by the Bell family, prominent surgeons, advocates and writers of the time. From this family came Joseph Bell, the medical lecturer widely regarded as the inspiration for Conan Doyle’s famous detective. It is also possible that Conan Doyle visited on occasion. The pub was previously known as ‘The Gold Medal’, but has evolved through iterations including ‘The Firkin’ and ‘The Crags’, before taking on its current name.

  

After a full day at the Fringe, it was time for an early night, as there were four more days of sojourning to go.

 

 

DAY 2

Catching a 9.30 train the next morning, an hour later I was in Dundee, the fourth-largest city in Scotland. A short bus journey then brought me to Dundee Museum of Transport, which highlights the stories of local transport pioneers and innovators (including an aviation pioneer with a familiar surname), the story of the ‘Tay Bridge Disaster’, and presents a diverse range of vehicles from both local and national collections.

       

Making my way by bus back though central Dundee, I reached ‘4 Windsor Terrace’, 251 Perth Road. In 1910, William Smith, an osteopath who studied medicine with Conan Doyle at Edinburgh University, opened a practice here. Unfortunately he also died there, of pneumonia, in 1912 – just two years after opening his practice, having returned to Scotland having spent much of his career working in America.

  

Smith was cited as an inspiration for Doctor John H Watson by his son Cuthbert, who writing in Iowa paper the Des Moines Sunday Register in 1938, stated:  “The detective’s companion Watson was my father William Smith. The character of Watson was written around my father but it was merely a friendly gesture on Doyle’s part.”  Cuthbert went on to tell readers that as a child his father had taken him to meet Doyle and their shared tutor Joseph Bell in Edinburgh – a rare moment where the characters and their author were together. Cuthbert Smith added in his article that the choice of his father as the inspiration for Watson “was not based on any personal merits connected with the remarkable character of the stories of Joseph [Bell]”.

Back in central Dundee, I found myself looking at a sizeable representation in bronze of the famous cartoon character, Desperate Dan. This statue has strode along the High Street in Dundee since 2001. Standing 2.5m (8 feet) in height, Dan is depicted with his faithful pooch Dawg in tow and stalked by another cartoon favourite, a catapult-wielding Minnie the Minx. Dan's character was created by local Dundee publishers D.C. Thomson and has appeared in ‘The Dandy’ comic since the 1930s, while Minnie features in the Dandy's sister comic ‘The Beano’. The statue is the work of Angus-based artists Tony and Susie Morrow, and was funded from public and private sources.

    

Both Dan and Minnie have appeared as Holmes in print. The former in ‘The Dandy Book 1986’ in a story called ‘The Hound of Cactusville’, where after seeing a Sherlock Holmes movie at the cinema, Dan and his Aunt Aggie spot a glowing hound on a rooftop, leading Dan to dress as Sherlock Holmes to investigate. The latter in ‘The Beano #3922’ (17th February 2018), in a story called ‘The Case of the Missing Skateboard/Crown’. When Dennis the Menace loses his skateboard, Minnie the Minx decides to investigate, also dressed as Holmes, finding the case to be more complex than originally thought.

Returning to the station, I had just time to eat my lunch by the river before making my way inside to wait for my next train.  (A poster in the Waiting Room indicated that Mary Shelley wrote the book of ‘Frankenstein’ in Dundee).

   

My journey required three trains, the first from Dundee to Perth, then Perth to Inverness, and finally Inverness to Nairn, and took just under three-and-a-half hours. It was the station at Nairn that interested me, as it stood in for Inverness Station in ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’ (1970), with the bridge between platforms featuring prominently with the silent monks parading over it.

  

Nairn is also where Ogilvie Laing’s Edinburgh ‘Sherlock Holmes’ statue was renovated (at Black Isle Bronze). Catching the next train back to Inverness, I made my way to the Youth Hostel for a rest.

 

 

DAY 3

The next day it was time for more ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’ locations and Loch Ness itself. Catching a coach from Inverness Bus Station, it was a thirty-five minute trip to Urquhart Castle, once one of Scotland’s largest castles, sitting on the banks of the Loch. The castle has witnessed some of the most dramatic chapters in Scotland’s history. This is where St Columba is said to have worked miracles in the 6th century, where acts of chivalry and defiance provided inspiration during the Wars of Independence and where the MacDonald Lords of the Isles struggled with the Crown for power. It was in the ruins of the castle that a submarine disguised as the Loch Ness Monster was being built.

          

Having taken photos from all angles and utilised the free audio tour, I watched a film about the castle’s history, and bought lots of items in the gift shop. Returning to the car park, I caught a coach back into the nearby village of Drumnadrochit, from where I could catch a bus to my next port of call. This arrived earlier than expected and on the other side of the road than I was expecting. Speaking to the driver, it transpired that he had to go to another nearby village before returning to the stop where I was waiting, but he let me board anyway for no extra fare.

Around fifteen minutes later, and I was alighting in the village of Balnain. The nearby Loch Meiklie stood in for Loch Ness in some scenes in the film, including one where Holmes (Robert Stephens) and Gabrielle (Genevieve Page) have a picnic served by Watson (Colin Blakely) by the Loch. A five minute walk brought me to the stone bridge which crosses the River Enrick at the eastern end of the Loch, in front of which the picnic took place. Unfortunately due to the water level rising since then, I was unable to sit in exactly the same place to eat my lunch, but could identify the rock sticking out of the water that indicated where it had been.

       

            

Returning to the main road, I made my way along to St. Ninian’s Scottish Episcopal Church, which featured a walk along the side of Loch Meiklie, with relevant bible verses. My hope was to get a good view of the nearby Kilmartin Hall, which appears in the film as ‘The Caledonian Hotel’. However, the path ran out just a little too early.

  

Retracing my steps back along the main road, I reached the drive leading down to Kilmartin Hall. Despite it being a private residence, there were no signs indicating that it was private property, so I dashed down the drive, took a few photos and then dashed back to the road.

  

  

Back at the bus stop, I had over an hour to wait for my bus, and there was no seating in the bus shelter so I had to sit on the grassy bank next to it, trying to avoid the thistles which were growing wild there. Back in Drumnadrochit, I caught a coach back to Urquhart Castle, where after a short wait, I caught a connecting coach to Fort William where I was spending the night.

  

 

DAY 4

My final day in Scotland was spent on a side-mission, catching a train from Fort William to Glenfinnan. From here it was a twenty-five minute walk along a set-out trail over Loch Shiel to reach the Glenfinnan Viaduct. The viaduct was built from 1897 to 1901 from mass concrete, and has 21 semi-circular spans of 50 feet (15 m). It is the longest concrete railway bridge in Scotland at 416 yards (380 m), and crosses the River Finnan at a height of 100 feet (30 m). However, despite being an architectural marvel, the viaduct is best known for appearing in the ‘Harry Potter’ films, with the ‘Hogwarts Express’ being filmed going across it in the first three films. 

  

  

Having taken photos from all sides, I took the opportunity to walk to the nearby Glenfinnan Monument, erected in 1814 and dedicated to the Scottish Highlanders who fought in the Jacobite Army during the Jacobite rising of 1745.

   

Returning to the paths overlooking the Viaduct, I joined an increasing crowd, as four times a day, ‘The Jacobite Steam Train’ goes over the Viaduct. After around half-an-hour’s wait the train came into view and puffed across the viaduct. I managed to get a video of the train without any of the assembled hordes ruining my shot. Everyone then moved off, but staying put, five minutes later I saw a modern train go across in the other direction.

Retracing my steps to Glenfinnan Station, I visited their museum providing interesting facts and stories about the spectacular Glenfinnan Viaduct and life on the West Highland Line, whilst outdoor exhibits told the story of a rural Scottish railway station over the last century.

 

 

Having got some lunch, I waited for the bus back to Fort William, which arrived around ten minutes late. I was initially concerned whether there would be enough room on the small bus, but managed to squeeze on. However, due to heavy traffic the bus began running later and later and I was concerned that I might miss my connection at the bus station. Reaching the bus station at 1.55pm, I was just in time to join the queue for the 2pm bus to Glasgow. After a three-and-a-half hour journey, I was making my way across Glasgow to catch a train down to Preston as I had a final non-Scottish sojourn planned.