Loch Shiel - looking north - and it's sunny!

Once - and not so long ago - Loch Shiel was just an attractive Scottish view on what was often called ‘The Road to the Isles’. Sure, visitors stopped off at the Glenfinnan Monument ar admired the Glenfinnan Viaduct with its pioneering concrete construction techniques.

Then along came those tales of wizardry - you know who I mean - in book form and then the films. One of these movies featured a flying Ford Anglia and the viaduct itself. Things went a bit mad after that…to some extent they still are. Lots of visitors, bigger carparks and well-worn paths to the viaduct now…

But it can be dull to follow the herd. So this view of the loch looks back up the water, towards Glenfinnan at its north end. It’s the peaceful and unspoilt end and also a reminder of the quiet Scotland that lies beyond the camera-clicking throng.

You can get to this point perhaps by taking a boat trip. (At least that’s how I got there some years ago.) The little foreground islets here are called Eileanan Comhlach if you look them up on the Ordnance Survey. And you might see eagles, or even sea eagles.

As for the painting, I think it’s acrylic. Heaps of Prussian blue. Whatever the medium, I’m hoping it captures the late season sunshine that I remember that day afloat.