We have just come back from a lovely Scottish trip. My 160, in its infancy, has now travelled the complete length of the UK.

With many thanks to Rob and Sally (planning and patience respectively) and also thanks for the advice we received from L7 members from the North – John and Nigel. We had a great time.

Our tour started at the Invergary Hotel . This is a comfortable friendly hotel, and also won our tour award for best breakfasts. We decided to pack light, and this did involve some negotiations. After much deliberation we left my wife’s gym weights, although the hairdryer was deemed essential. North West Scotland has rather well spaced out fuel stations, and so we took extra fuel cans just in case. My 160 has a range of over 300 miles, and so this turned out to be unnecessary, but gas guzzlers could run into problems.

Our first trip was over the famous Applecross pass to the Applecross Inn. We were blessed with a clear day with excellent views, although keeping up with Rob and Sally made it rather a blur. We then progressed swiftly along single track roads to Ullapool – a scenic coastal route through very remote land. The Caterhams are perfect for this terrain; swift to accelerate, and excellent through the bends.

In Ullapool we stayed in Ardvreck House. This was a recommendation from some sea kayaking chums, and we had a warm welcome. We had superb views over Loch Broom. We were armed with chemical defences against the Scottish midge – ‘Avon So Soft’ was recommended by my ex military friend.

From Ullapool we had excursions to the Summer Isles Hotel (for a very posh meal), a boat trip, and Alice and I took a hike to Scoraig. This little village is only assessable by boat or 8km costal footpath. We left the Seven in the middle of nowhere and got our walking boots on.

After a few days we continued north via Lockinver (and the Lockinver Larder) and onto the Eddracilles Hotel. This turned out to be one of our favourite stays. Excellent views, food and whiskey. We took a day to blat along the north coast and went to Cape Wrath for a ferry trip and a bumpy minibus ride to the pointy North West tip of Scotland. Soon after my half hood was fully tested in a thunder storm (and worked), although I wondered if a roll bar would be an effective faraday cage.

Handa Island was also worth a visit. If you go before mid July you can see Puffins. Keen drivers can also try the Fanagmore Ring – our invention, but don’t bother.

We then ploughed on along the superb A838 past Loch Shin to Aviemore (although to be honest most Scottish roads are excellent in a Seven). We stayed in the youth hostel – don’t do this. Then, after a short hike, we set off to complete our trip to Invergary. Oh yes, and we stopped at the Dalwhinnie distillery.

The 160 completed the trip faultlessly. I managed to keep pace with Rob’s academy car, and even with spirited driving the fuel economy was remarkably good. Scotland is a great place to take a Seven.