A Step in Time

Shelia Love

The rain was falling as we loaded up the car but it didn't bother us today as we were going on our holidays. The drive to Kincraig from Gorebridge normally takes us about three hours, we just take it easy in the car and normally stop for half an hour for a cuppa and a sandwich and for the dog to pee, poop and scoop. Our drive up today was no different except that it rained on and off for the first hour then the skies cleared. I love being a passenger driving up to the highlands, the scenery is breathtaking and the hills and the mountains seem to be never-ending. From as young as I can remember my family holidays were very similar to my own family holidays of today.

The company my dad worked for was closed for the Edinburgh Trades fortnight every year and that was when we went on holidays every year. The car got packed up, the trailer on the back and off we went to Newtonmore, this village is about twelve miles from the main town of Aviemore. My dad loved to fish so the highlands were his favourite place to go and the fishing was always good too. We had many other places to visit and enjoy, some are not there today and some are. One place we always used to visit was Loch Insh, we had many happy days there and hopefully we will have many more in the future.

Loch Insh is about eight miles from the town of Aviemore, it is a water sports centre. You can hire canoes, sailing boats, kayaks, wind surfers, go on a guided tour of Loch Insh itself on a lovely boat or do other water sports activities, or you can just sit at the side of the Loch enjoy the view and let your kids play in the water. There are also chalets dotted around one side of the Loch that are hired for holidaymakers like ourselves.

The chalet that we book for our holidays is about a mile from Loch Insh. It has its own fantastic surroundings and is more than ample size for a family of five. The chalet is in its own patch of a forest which although very close to civilisation makes you feel like you have your own personal patch of the highlands. We arrived at the chalet and it was a lovely day so we decided to visit Loch Insh, find out prices for boat hire and canoes and go for a wander around. My husband and the kids had never been there before so we were all looking forward to it.

My mind and body had not prepared me for what was about to happen. We drove into the parking area at the back of the boat house, I noticed there was a large playground there that I didn't remember being there before, the children had seen it too so it was one of the first places we went to see. There were various things all made from wood in the playground, a flying fox and a few swings. The kids only played for five minutes before we told them there was more to see.

We went to the boat house from the car park entrance. The first place you came to was the gift shop which was the same as I remembered although on this occasion there was also a show of pictures from a local artist who had done drawings and paintings of the Loch and the boat house from different views in the local area. After the gift shop there was a family room with an arcade machine, pool table and seating area, from there you progressed to the bar and restaurant area and finally out on to the balcony area where you met with the spectacular view that is Loch Insh.

We walked down the steps from the balcony and went towards the water. There was a picnic bench table on the grass set about 15 feet back from the water, the last time I had been at this table I was about twelve years old and was with my mum, dad, and brothers and sister. I was here today in exactly the same place with my husband and my three children and I was bloody glad that that picnic bench table was still there! As I stood there and looked out over the Loch my eyes welled with tears, my stomach was doing a dance that it had never done before and as for my legs they never felt like they were part of my body. I had to sit down. I felt happy and sick at the same time and to this day I have never ever felt like that again. Some people say that you go full circle from child to grown up, I don't know if this is what I felt on this day or whether it was just the fact that I was here now as an adult with my family and no longer looked on this special place with a child's eyes. What ever it was for about ten minutes this made this day a very special day and one I will never forget. We went back to the boathouse that day after the children had splashed about in the water for a while and had a bite to eat.

Later on during our holiday we spent the day at Loch Insh and went out in the canoes for a while, we all had a wonderful time. To bring you up to date this memorable day in my life happened seven years ago, we go up to the highlands every year for our holidays and for the first time in many years Loch Insh has changed a bit, it's had a few cluster stone effects added down at the waters edge and a few alterations but it's still as beautiful and captivating when you look over the water on a glorious summer day. I have always said that I would love to come and see Loch Insh in the winter when it snows and I will one day, but that hopefully will be another story!