Woke up at 7.20 this morning to the sound of Radio Newcastle in our cabin; Trevor was playing it from the BBC Sounds app on my phone. At home, we listen to Radio Newcastle every day and, in particular, to Matt Bailey at Breakfast. Each morning, he gives us a little cryptic clue which includes various sound effects, and you have to work out the word or phrase that the clue refers to. Someone from the show then telephones a listener who texted, phoned or WhatsApp’ed in their answer, and ask if they want to come on the air to tell everyone the correct answer. I am a regular on the show. 🙂
As I sent in my answer on WhatsApp, I signed off with my usual “Debbie in Durham” but appended it by saying “who is currently sailing around Britain on Cunard’s Queen Anne.” It was only a matter of minutes before my phone rang, and Tom from Radio Newcastle asked if I wanted to be on the show! 🙂
In order to get a better reception on my phone, I went out onto the balcony, watching as the Queen Anne glided through the calm waters en route to our port of call today, Invergordon, which is on the Cromarty Firth. Then Matt Bailey’s voice came on, introducing me, and together we worked through the cryptic clue until I came up with the correct answer. Matt then asked several questions about the cruise, and said it was the first time anyone had ever called the show from a ship!
Anyway… we were due to dock in Invergordon around 9.00am, so we got washed and dressed and went up to the Artisans’ Foodhall for our breakfast, where we bumped into Billy and Carole. “I’ve just been on the radio!” I told them.
I enjoyed a breakfast of porridge with dried fruit and nuts, washed down with orange juice and a couple of cups of coffee. Then we wandered outside on deck for a short while, taking in our surroundings and enjoying the fresh sea air. The fine weather was due to continue today.
We didn’t have any excursions booked today, preferring to do our own thing. We had been to Invergordon once before, on the Marco Polo in May 2012, when we had gone on a trip to Loch Ness for the day. It seemed that that was most people tended to do; use Invergordon as a gateway to Loch Ness or Inverness, without looking around the town itself. We decided we would stay local and see what Invergordon had to offer. At least we didn’t have to queue for any tender boats today. 🙂
Once the Queen Anne was docked, we allowed the crowds to disperse a bit before we headed down to the gangway with Billy and Carole around 9.45am. Disembarking the ship, I was able to get a good bow shot of her against a flawless blue sky.
We walked along, following the directions given by various port staff as to how to get into town. On the way, we passed a ticket office selling coach trips to the inevitable Loch Ness and/or Inverness. Billy and Carole contemplated going, but as we were only there last month on the Glen Massan, we declined, and B&C decided just to stay with us. “There’s nothing in Invergordon except a church and the Co-op” said one of the ticket sellers. We were just going to find out for ourselves what the town had to offer.
Looking at Google Maps, we saw that there were a number of attractions nearby, including the Mural Trail (local artwork painted on the gable ends of buildings) and the Naval Museum and Heritage Centre. In addition, there were several inns and pubs. Even a walk along the seafront could prove to be interesting.
We headed for row of shuttle buses just outside the dock gates, and it only took about five minutes to get into the town centre, where we were dropped off outside the social club. The driver told us that this would also be the pick-up point. Then off we went, along the long main street towards the shops.
On the way, we did indeed see some amazing and detailed art work on gable ends and above doorways, and we asked a passerby to take a photo of the four of us standing in front of one.
We crossed over the road to the sunny side of the street, and saw an interesting shop that seemed to sell all sort of stuff; Harris Tweed bags and purses, plush Highland Cow toys, handmade soaps, jewellery – they had an amazing range of souvenirs. I bought a fridge magnet for my aunt, and Carole spent quite some time browsing the different tartans, as her mothers’ maiden name was MacLeod.
Then we went into Boots just along the street as Carole needed a makeup mirror and both Billy and I needed some Voltarol gel for our various aches and pains; mine for a current bout of lower back pain and sciatica.
Afterwards, as we continued along in the sunshine, Carole asked “Does anybody fancy a beer?” and we all agreed that sounded like a splendid idea. 🙂
Some more of the amazing artwork that you can see around Invergordon
Looking at Google Maps for a nearby watering hole, we saw several options: one was called Tucker’s Inn and was near the sea front, but was a fair walk from where we were, another was called the Marine Hotel and was pretty close by, so we settled for that one.
Soon we approached a rather uninspring whitewashed building with “MARINE HOTEL” on the front above the door, and a large red “T” showing that they sold Tennant’s Lager. There were a couple of tables with chairs outside on the pavement, but all of these were occupied. We therefore decided to go inside.
It was not the most salubrious place. It had that sort of all-pervading smell of stale beer, damp carpet and disinfectant, and the furniture looked old and worn. As we wondered whether or not to stay, the barman asked “What can I get you?”, so we decided to stay for one, and we each ordered a freezing cold Guinness. We were the only customers.
After our drinks, I decided I needed to use the loo. I walked along a dingy corridor until I saw a door with the word “LADIES” stencilled onto it. The lock on the door was broken and the WC had no lid, or even a seat on it! Plaster was missing from the wall in chunks. If it hadn’t have been for the fact that I was desperate for a wee, I would have left the premises and gone elsewhere. As it was, I just sort of hovered over the seatless pan and did what I had to do. At least they had loo roll!
I was pleased to get outside in the fresh air and sunshine, where the others were waiting.
We decided to walk back along the street in the opposite direction, but on the other side of the road this time. When we arrived back at the shuttle bus stop, Billy and Carole said they were going back to the ship, but we wanted to explore further, so we said we’d see them later on.
We then walked back and along a side street that would ultimately lead to the seafront, but on the way we spotted the Invergordon Museum, which advertised free entry, and whose emphasis was on Invergordon’s Royal Naval history. As I was brought up in a Royal Naval family, this sounded as if it would be very interesting indeed, so we decided to go inside.
Much of the museum was dedicated to HMS Natal and her history. HMS Natal was a armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy, and entered service in 1907. She acted as escort to the Royal Yacht between 1911–1912 for the newly-crowned King George V’s trip to India.
During World War I, the ship was assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet, but did not participate in any battles. Natal was sunk by an internal explosion near Cromarty on 30 December 1915 with the loss of at least 421 crewmen, civilians and children. Most of her wreck was slowly salvaged over the decades until the remnants were demolished in the 1970s so they were no longer a hazard to navigation. The remains of her wreck are protected under the Military Remains Act 1986 as a war grave.
You can read more about HMS Natal (and indeed the Invergordon Museum) on its website.
We spent about an hour in the museum before emerging once again into the sunshine. We could see and smell the sea, so we decided to go and see if there was a beach or interesting sea front.
It was very pleasant walking along. We left the town behind and found ourselves in an area with the sea on one side, and large, prosperous-looking homes on the other side, several of which had been turned into hotels and/or restaurants and bars. They all had wonderful, wide sweeping views, but one might have thought they were marred slightly by a number of oil rigs.
Invergordon, being in the Cromarty Firth, is a major location for oil rigs. The Port of Cromarty Firth plays a key role in the North Sea oil industry by providing facilities for storing and decommissioning oil rigs. The port has a long history of hosting oil rigs, with the first drilling rig arriving in 1978. Below is a photo of some of the oil rigs we saw.
The presence of the oil rigs wouldn’t have put me off living there, however. The seafront was still very attractive in a rugged way, with its pebbly beach, distant green hills and long pier. Over it all was that evocative seaweedy, incomparable scent that always has the power to lift my spirits. I was born by the sea, with the scent of the briny in my nostrils. 🙂
As we strolled along, we saw signs that pointed to the Whyte & McKay whisky distillery, so we followed the road along, thinking that a visit to a distillery sounded just the ticket. We spotted a lorry which looked as if it was delivering supplies to the distillery, so we followed its general direction. However, when we arrived at the large gated complex, a sign on the gates advised that they did not offer distillery tours to the general public. 🙁
After this disappointment, we decided to go and have another cold beer. We had previously passed a hostelry called “Tucker’s Inn” with a sea view, so we made our way back along there. All the outside tables and chairs were taken (unsurprisingly) so we went inside, and each ordered a pint of Tennants before perching on a stool each at a high table, where we could look out of the large windows towards the sea. 🙂
After our refreshing pints, and using the restrooms, we saw that it was almost 2.30pm, so we decided to take a slow stroll back to the shuttle bus stop and return to Queen Anne. What a pleasant and interesting place Invergordon is! People are just not doing it justice, overlooking it and just heading for Loch Ness instead. It’s definitely worth a visit.
Back on Queen Anne, we pottered around for a bit in our stateroom, and sat out on our balcony for a while, until it was time to start getting ready for dinner once again. Then we made our way to the Britannia restaurant and table #393, perusing the menu while we waited for Billy and Carole to arrive.
Dinner was delicious as usual. Each night there was a tempting selection of dishes, but if you didn’t fancy any of the featured courses you could always have roast chicken, steak and chips or poached salmon (plus whatever the vegetarian option was) which were always available. At some point during the meal, we noticed that Queen Anne was on the move again, next stop Stornoway, tomorrow afternoon.
Afterwards, Trevor and I hotfooted it down to the Royal Court theatre for tonight’s show. I always like to sit in the front row (or as near to the front that I can get) in order to have an unimpeded view, whereas Billy and Carole prefer to sit further back. Usually, you have to get into the theatre very early to secure the best seats at the front, but as tonight’s performance featured a comedian, many of the front-row seats were empty. 🙂
Tonight’s entertainer was Jon Courtenay, who had won Britain’s Got Talent in 2020. He was multi-talented; a singer and musician and very funny comedian. He seemed to appeal to an international audience, and we really enjoyed his show.
Afterwards, Trevor and I went upstairs to the Commodore Club. We had thought about the quiz in the Golden Lion at nine o’clock, but tonight’s theme was Musical Theatre, and we are both complete duffers when it comes to musicals, so we didn’t bother. In any case, I wanted to try to get a sunset at sea photo, which had so far eluded me.
Up in the soothing, dimly-lit Commodore, we found Billy and Carole and went to join them. Brian Pamphilon, the resident pianist, was tinkling the ivories as we enjoyed our drinks and watched out of the big, wraparound windows as the sun sank lower in the sky. Quite a lot of cloud had appeared by now, so it didn’t look as if I would get my sunset photo tonight, either. However, the sky looked very interesting with its backlit clouds and colours ranging from dark grey to purple to orange against a vague background of blue, so I was still able to get a fantastically-atmospheric photo out of the window.
We remained in the Commodore Club for another drink, before Billy and Carole said their goodnights and disappeared down to cabin 4064. Then we went down to the Golden Lion for a nightcap, while listening to the music of the resident duo in there.
Then it was back to 4066, where we took some time poring over the Breakfast in Your Stateroom menu. This is because Cunard had gifted us with a complimentary Champagne and Lobster breakfast in our cabin! As well as all the breakfast regulars such as cereal, fruit, yoghurt, pastries, toast etc. you could select Lobster Benedict as an option, accompanied by a half-bottle of Laurent Perrier. That sounded good! 🙂
It should have cost $85.00 per couple, but we were getting it for free! Most unlike Cunard, who have become increasingly penny-pinching over the years. We certainly weren’t complaining!
We completed the form with a breakfast time of 7.30 – 8.00am, then hung the completed order (as well as the gift voucher) on the door handle outside before retiring for the night.
Then, after opening our balcony door a crack, we settled down in our massive comfortable bed with its rustly sheets and plump pillows, and slept very well as usual.