Club North Scotland Tour - 2022

[Mid Staffs AR]

Hopefully 2021 has allowed many of us to get back out in our cars and enjoy exploring both familiar and less well known blatting routes. Following on from the Tours survey we conducted earlier this year, we have been working with one our partners FasttrackTours, to build a range of Tours to a number of well known driving destinations. Ian Longden, the Director of FasttrackTours has extensive experience of providing tours forother UK Car Clubs and comes highly recommended from others within our Club. Being the owner of a (ahem) TVR, Ian built his business on the back of extensive practical experience across a large and varied car club.

 

Whilst we will all remain guided by any existing, or forthcoming government guidelines with regards the dreaded Covid virus, we felt it important to show willing and start building on the opening up of restrictions we all enjoyed this year. 

As you can imagine, many comments in the survey mentioned North Scotland and the NC500. We are therefore delighted to offer an exclusive Tour of the North of Scotland in September of next year. Whilst the NC500 has attracted much press coverage, some of the roads it covers are not necessarily up there in the class of 'best driving roads', so we have instead decided to focus on the best roads the region has to offer. The scenery will of course be spectacular.

The roads in the far north are not conducive to very large group Tours and all successful trips to the area require touring groups to adopt a unique etiquette - with this in mind we are offering a maximum of 15 rooms / car spaces, so you will need to book early to secure your place.

Further details will appear in December's Lowflying which should be landing on doorsteps very soon - but if you cannot wait for the magazine to appear, you can follow the link below to our dedicated landing page on FasttrackTours website.

Book Here

Happy booking

All the best

The Tours Team

[DerekH]

Booked and deposit paid.

Thanks for the info Roger

Derek

[Mid Staffs AR]

Fantastic Derek , thanks for being the first !

All the best

Rog

[Scotland North AR]

Hi, we won't be going on the tour but as we live in the Aberdeen area we'll probably meet up with the group at some point. Better to leave the accommodation for people coming from further South.

If anyone would like some tips as to where to go and on what roads, I'm sure myself or one of the other members living up here would be happy to help out.

We have seen groups of 20ish of various makes and models of vehicle driving about up here and that's simply unmanageable, splitting into groups of say 3-5 setting off at once makes it much simpler.

Suffice to say, we feel very lucky to live up here and have local access to some of the best roads in the country.

Looking forward to everyone coming up.

[David aka Blue7]

I don't know what route you intend to take but you may want to consider taking the B976 / A939 Old Military road because it will be your last opportunity to cross the River Gairn using the old Gairnshiel Bridge, Grade A-listed structure – built in the mid-1700s.  Due to continuing HGV damage, the bridge is being replaced and completion of the replacement bridge is scheduled for Spring 2023.  I first crossed it in 1972 driving an old Austin A35 which grounded at that time because the bridge had an even more severe hump!  Now Caterham friendly, you can see it here fast forward to 3.1 minutes into the video.

and if you want to see the bridge being crossed  on foot and enjoy the sound of the pipes, you can see the Lonach Highlanders crossing here:

Aberdeenshire Council notification

https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/apps/news/release.aspx?newsid=8521

David

 

 

[Paul D]

Just clicked on the FastTrackTours link in the original post to see where the tour went as I know lots of NW Scotland, and read the following on the first page:

"A highlight (in more ways than one!) will be the famous Applecross Pass. This road has the steepest ascent of any in the UK - the 20% gradients and hairpin bends at the top mean the views are breathtaking."

Seriously, the basis of FastTrackTours job is to know their routes, surely? I can find half a dozen steeper ascents within a few miles of my house in Dorset, let alone Hardknott or Rosedale Chimney Bank or no doubt others I don't know that can boast 30%.

As an aside, the current (not untypical) state of the tarmac on the classic hairpins side of the Bealach Na Ba means I wouldn't call it a drivers road, just a nice view road (when you can look away from the potholes you're avoiding)!

[SLR No.77]

#5,  David, I did a Scotland tour with FTT last summer and the route south from Inverness was to Aberlour then Glenshee, I'm pretty sure we would have crossed the Gairnshiel Bridge.  The fact that I can't recall the exact route (although I will have the FTT route saved somewhere) is because there are just so many good roads around there that it all becomes a blur!  I'm blessed to live just into North Wales and a short blat to Snowdonia, but the extent of the roads you have north of the border is blatting paradise!

Stu.

[David aka Blue7]

#6 Paul, FTT are just probably trying to "sell" the tour but it depends on how you interpret "driver's road", it certainly isn't a fast road but more scenic and potholes can be a problem but it's a bucket list road and just has to be driven ... if only to keep SWIMBO quiet 

[David aka Blue7]

#7 Stu, you would have driven through Inverness, Grantown, Aberlour, Craigellachie, Dufftown, Tomintoul, over the Lecht and then the road to Gairnshiel where you would have crossed the bridge and continued to Balmoral, Braemar, Glenshee and after that maybe Pitlochry to join the A9.  My favourite place down your way is Beddgelert, especially that quirky shop Beddgelert  Woodcraft by the bridge.  I still buy things from that shop on line.  

David

[SLR No.77]

#9, David we were overnight in Inverness then headed down to Peebles for our last night so I guess much of the route you mention. All in we had a superb mix of roads and scenery on the whole trip, only marred by some horrendous rain whilst passing Edinburgh, enough to close the motorway SW of the city.  I've posted this photo before but here again as evidence it rains in Scotland in July!

 

Stu.

 

[David aka Blue7]

The weather pattern has changed over the years, we now seem to get micro climates less than a mile apart and when it rains it can be torrential downpours.  We haven't had rain for a week now, clear blue skies ... probably saving all the rain for the September FTT