Best Of Speyside

100 Million Gallons Of Whisky Needing A Home

2010-01-12T01:20:00.001-08:00

William Garnt & Sons (Glenfiddich among others) are looking to store 100 million gallons of whisky. Due to the heavy snow in Speyside the bonded warehouses at Glenfiddich are in danger of collapsing. Grants have been in negotiations with the Royal Airforce to discuss storing the Whisky at unused aircraft hangers at Kinloss.

Well if it doesn't work out I would be happy to store a barrel in my garage . . now if 999,999 other people would agree to do the same then problem would be solved. I wonder if I could drum up the support of a few whisky lovers on twitter :)

Aberlour Distillery Winter Opening

2009-11-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

Aberlour Distillery

Visitor Centre

Winter Opening Times

From 17 Oct 2009
	Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat:	10:00-17:00
From 31 Oct 2009
	Sun, Sat:	Closed
	Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri:	10:00-17:00
From 18 Dec 2009
	Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat:	Closed
From 05 Jan 2010
	Sun, Sat:	Closed
	Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri:	10:00-17:00
From 29 Mar 2010
	Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat:	10:00-17:00

Dufftown To Aberlour In 2 Mins

2009-11-21T04:53:00.000-08:00

Thomas Telford's Bridge At Craigellachie

2009-11-21T04:44:00.000-08:00

Craigellachie Bridge is a cast iron arch bridge located in Speyside, Moray, Scotland at Craigellachie which is near to the village of Aberlour. It was designed by the renowned civil engineer Thomas Telford and built from 1812–1814. The bridge has a single span of approximately 46 metres (151 ft) and was revolutionary for its time, in that it used an extremely slender arch which was not possible using traditional masonry construction.

The ironwork was cast at the Plas Kynaston iron foundry at Cefn Mawr, near Ruabon in Denbighshire by William Hazledine, who cast a number of Telford bridges. The ironwork was transported from the foundry through the Ellesmere Canal and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct then by sea to Speymouth, where it was loaded onto wagons and taken to the site. Testing in the 1960s revealed that the cast-iron had an unusually high tensile strength. This was likely specified by Telford because, unlike in traditional masonry arch bridges, some sections of the arch are not in compression under loading.

At each end of the structure there are two 15 metres (49 ft) high masonry mock-medieval towers, featuring arrow slits and miniature crenellated battlements.

The bridge was in regular use until 1963, when it was closed for a major refurbishment. The side railings and spandrel members were replaced with new ironwork fabricated to match the originals. A 14 ton restriction was placed on the bridge at this point. This, along with the fact that the road to the north of the bridge takes a sharp right-angled turn to avoid a rock face, made it unsuitable for modern vehicles. Despite this it carried foot and vehicle traffic across the River Spey until 1972, when its function was replaced by a reinforced concrete bridge built by Sir William Arrol & Co. which opened in 1970 and carries the A941 road today. Telford's bridge remains in good condition, and is still open to pedestrians and cyclists. The bridge has been given Category A listed status by Historic Scotland and has been designated a civil engineering landmark by the Institution of Civil Engineers.

The bridge inspired a popular Strathspey, written by William Marshall in 1814.

It was also the site of a parade upon the amalgamation of The Gordon Highlanders and The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) in 1994. A plaque has been fitted to the bridge parapet to commemorate this. Another plaque records the bridge's restoration in 1964.

My Wife's Recipe For Homemade Haggis

2009-11-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

I had a lovely plate of haggis, neeps and tatties tonight

Here's the recipe if you fancy making it for St Andrew's night at the end of the month

INGREDIENTS
2 lamb kidneys
350g lamb shoulder
125g beef suet
250g beef liver
1 cup of oatmeal
1 cup of stock (tastier if you reserve this from when you boil the meat)
2 pureed onions
salt and pepper

METHOD

1. Boil the meat for about an hour and allow to cool. Then chop the meats into wee pieces but grate the liver.

2. Toast the oatmeal in the oven in a shallow dish and shake occasionally.

3. Mix all the ingredients together.

4. Pop into a well greased glass bowl and cover with several layers of foil and steam in a pan of boiling water for two hours.

5. Serve with neeps (mashed turnips) and tatties (mashed potatoes) and of course a wee glass of malt whisky.

Pictures From Speyside

2009-11-12T08:38:00.000-08:00

Some lovely photos of the Speyside Way

Speyside Way

2009-11-12T08:15:00.000-08:00

I came across this video on YouTube about the Speyside Way and the Whisky Train. Hope you enjoy it

Best Of Speyside

100 Million Gallons Of Whisky Needing A Home

Aberlour Distillery Winter Opening

Aberlour DistilleryVisitor CentreWinter Opening Times

From 17 Oct 2009

From 31 Oct 2009

From 18 Dec 2009