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Downright Gabbler, High Street, Beauly (2026)

16/10/2026

It's that time of year again - Enchanted Forest time! We've been visiting this annual lighting extravaganza in Perthshire for some years now, although I can't claim I've visited every year since it started an astonishing 25 years ago!

The 25th anniversary was the opportunity for a show themed around time. So lots of clock and cogs on display. It was absolutely marvellous. And it's possible to get there and back on the train from Inverness - I know as I've done just that more than once.

And of course, it wouldn't be the Enchanted Forest without toasted marshmallows!

The Enchanted Forest

15/10/2026

We love having return visitors and this one came bearing gifts, which is a double bonus! It's a hood for a falcon which keeps the bird calm until you want them to take flight. Andrew is the very clever man who does the falconry displays at Dunrobin Castle - a stunning display of skill in magnificent gardens designed by Sir Charles Barry.

Falconry was a huge thing in earlier centuries, particularly for royalty, with the falconers going out in the mornings, hunting for food and they would then be used to entertain the Court. The birds were eventually replaced with fi****ms...

So central was it to life in those earlier times it gave us many of our words and phrases including "hoodwinked", "haggard" and "fed up".

The castle's still open until 31st October if you fancy a visit. There's so much to see. And you can always go by train, as they have their own railway halt.

Dunrobin Castle Venture North

14/10/2026

It's a bit of a curiousity why one of the most popular people selected by guests at our Super Scots events is Victoria Drummond. Nobody's ever heard of her, yet she's been picked on almost every occasion we bring out the Super Scots cards.

Our Super Scots cards are a fun way of learning more about Scotland and its history. All the cards, including the Jokers, have names of people from history we consider to be deserving of the accolade Super Scot. They're a fabulous collection of Scots who're famous and obscure, inventive and creative, male and female, but all made their mark on Scotland and, in many cases, the wider world.

Victoria Drummond is one such person. She was born on this day in 1894 and paved the way for women in the field of marine engineering, as the first female marine engineer.

Considered to be one of the most talented marine engineers of her time, she was the first woman to become a member of the Institute of Marine Engineers yet consistently failed her exams to become a Chief Engineer.

The Board of Trade finally admitted she was being failed because she was a woman and she only got the qualification by applying to sit the exam through Panama where she could complete by exam by correspondence course and simply called herself V Drummond, so they didn't realise she was a woman.

We've been running Super Scots Sunday lunches through the summer, but we thought we'd try some evening events over the winter. So we'll have Super Scots Suppers starting on Wednesday 28th October and running throughout November on Friday nights. Well, aside from a random little A Write Good Night on 20th November which is a special request!

And then on 3rd December we start our special Christmas Selection Box event, but that's a whole other story...

Visit Inverness Loch Ness

13/10/2026

One of the joys of living in the Highlands is the chance to enjoy fantastic views while sitting in meetings...

This week it's been the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre for a meeting of the Board of Visit Inverness Loch Ness.

And what a lovely time of year it is to travel down the Great Glen and along the road to Dundreggan. If you've never been this has to be one of the best times of the year - the colours are spectacular and we're just at the start of it.

The centre itself is a great place to stop for a cup of coffee and a cake, or even a nice bowl of soup. Enjoy a walk, admire the fantastic tree sculpture made from scrap metal and even buy yourself a native tree from Dundreggan's very own plant nursery. Even the car park is pretty!

Visit Inverness Loch Ness Dundreggan Rewilding Centre

12/10/2026

It's one of the most striking buildings in Inverness, yet few people have been inside Inverness Town House. And visitors constantly ask how to get inside, to be told it's closed to the public. But that's about to change.

Fabulous stained glass windows, beautiful chandeliers, amazing paintings and artefacts which tell the story of the capital of the Highlands and the building which has been at the centre of some of most interesting historical events.

Visit Inverness Loch Ness has launched a programme of tours of Inverness Town House which start tomorrow (Tuesday 13th October). It looks particularly beautiful dressed up for Christmas and the tours are running until mid December, so why not take the opportunity to see inside this iconic building? Check out the tours on the Visit Inverness Loch Ness website.

Visit Inverness Loch Ness

11/10/2026

*Second attempt to post this with all the photographs*

It's that time of year when we would start planning our costumes for Hallowe'en. It's always been a big deal in Scotland, long before trick and treating, and used to involved a lot of effort in making costumes when I was a lass.
Halloween or Samhain as it used to be called had its roots in the traditions of our Celtic ancestors, long before Christianity came along and "amended" some of the festivals.
The tradition of going round the doors was already dying out in the cities when we moved to Beauly, so we were delighted to discover the village still kept to the old traditions. And that meant home made costumes. All of this is really just an excuse to post, yet again, the photograph of our now very grown up children dressed as, from the left, a raincloud, a standard lamp and a headless man... And note the lanterns are made from turnip, not pumpkin. Unlike our grandchildren who have gone for the easier option.
Talking of which, we used to hold a Halloween party and it became our tradition to have a lantern competition, with a different theme each year. People are amazingly inventive...this was the Year of Any Vegetable or Fruit Other than a Pumpkin or Turnip.
There's plenty of Halloween fun planned around here.
First up is our Bewitched in Beauly event where you can enjoy some warming winter food alongside spooky tales from our local area.
Try a pumpkin patch at Loch Ness Pumpkins at Corrimony Farm over near Drumnadrochit and the Cawdor Patch, just next to the Primary School.
Or why not try a seasonal session at This Is Nook, the wonderful new craft cafe in Inverness? They also have a special fun event on the evening of Friday 30th October when you can make all sorts of Halloween related things.
* Dundreggan Rewilding Centre has Samhain and Halloween Folklore Guided Walks which explore the witches, dragons and fairies who would have resided in and around the landscape here.
If you fancy joining us at Bewitched in Beauly, book on line or give us a call on 01463 782800. We promise there will be no dressing up required!

This is Nook Dundreggan Rewilding Centre Corrimony Farm Visit Inverness Loch Ness

11/10/2026

It's that time of year when we would start planning our costumes for Hallowe'en. It's always been a big deal in Scotland, long before trick and treating, and used to involved a lot of effort in making costumes when I was a lass.

Halloween or Samhain as it used to be called had its roots in the traditions of our Celtic ancestors, long before Christianity came along and "amended" some of the festivals.

The tradition of going round the doors was already dying out in the cities when we moved to Beauly, so we were delighted to discover the village still kept to the old traditions. And that meant home made costumes. All of this is really just an excuse to post, yet again, the photograph of our now very grown up children dressed as, from the left, a raincloud, a standard lamp and a headless man... And note the lanterns are made from turnip, not pumpkin. Unlike our grandchildren who have gone for the easier option.

Talking of which, we used to hold a Halloween party and it became our tradition to have a lantern competition, with a different theme each year. People are amazingly inventive...this was the Year of Any Vegetable or Fruit Other than a Pumpkin or Turnip.

There's plenty of Halloween fun planned around here.

First up is our Bewitched in Beauly event where you can enjoy some warming winter food alongside spooky tales from our local area.

Try a pumpkin patch at Loch Ness Pumpkins at Corrimony Farm over near Drumnadrochit and the Cawdor Patch, just next to the Primary School.

Or why not try a seasonal session at This Is Nook, the wonderful new craft cafe in Inverness? They also have a special fun event on the evening of Friday 30th October when you can make all sorts of Halloween related things.

* Dundreggan Rewilding Centre has Samhain and Halloween Folklore Guided Walks which explore the witches, dragons and fairies who would have resided in and around the landscape here.

If you fancy joining us at Bewitched in Beauly, book on line or give us a call on 01463 782800. We promise there will be no dressing up required!

This is Nook The Cawdor Patch Corrimony Farm Dundreggan Rewilding Centre Visit Inverness Loch Ness

10/10/2026

252 years ago this week a man was born in Kirkcudbrightshire who would make an impact on the world in many ways.

For Henry Duncan was not just the founder of the first mutual savings bank which would eventually become the Trustee Savings Bank, he was a geologist who discovered a fossil of one of the first animal tracks of a four legged vertebrate which would be named after him.

But that was not enough - he championed the preservation of the Ruthwell Cross, one of the oldest Anglo Saxon crosses in the country, dating back to late 7th/early 8th century.

Add to that his role as the founder and editor of the Dumfries and Galloway Courier newspaper and his work as a fiction writer and it's hard to imagine how he had any spare time. But none of these were his "proper" job. For his main role was as a minister in the Church of Scotland for the Parish of Ruthwell. He would eventually be one of the breakaway group who formed the Free Church of Scotland in the Great Disruption.

You can visit the original savings bank at Ruthwell where it all began and see a host of wonderful artefacts including the original cash box and a model of the Ruthwell Cross made by Henry Duncan himself. You can also visit the nearby church and see the real thing in all its glory -a magnificent piece of carving.

Henry Duncan truly was a polymath with quite an astonishing CV!

The guide Mhairi so helpful and enthusiastic. Loved this little place.

09/10/2026

We've heard what a long, hot, dry summer it's been, and it's certainly felt like that at times. But, in this part of the world at least, we must have had a good lot of rain too, for the river Beauly has been about as high as we've ever seen it in our 30 odd years living here.

The Beauly runs into the sea just past the village. But before it gets there the water will have passed through 6 hydro power stations at Mullardoch, Fasnakyle, Deanie, Culligran, Aigas and Kilmorack. That’s around 170 MW of generating capacity, apparently. I’m not quite sure what that means but as long as it keeps the lights on I’m happy...

We have the legendary Tom Johnston to thank for the hydro power which brought electricity to many of the more remote parts of the Highlands - places that would never have been connected to the grid had it not been for this great man of vision.

He was Secretary of State for Scotland during the war, tasked with planning the post war reconstruction. He brought electricity to the glens and jobs to the Highlands, both directly in construction but also through the attraction of businesses that needed power like pulp mills and aluminium smelters.

Tom Johnston is one of our Super Scots, so may well feature in our Super Scots Sunday Lunch this weekend. He also gets a mention at our Highland Banquet and the North Coast 500 in 5 Objects dinner.

Next week's events are North Coast 500 on Tuesday 13th, Living the Dram on Wednesday 14th and a Highland Banquet on Thursday 15th October.

We're closed for events during Blazin' in Beauly, but we'll be back in earnest with a Highland Banquet on Thursday 29th and our special Bewitched in Beauly event for Halloween on Saturday 31st October.

Visit Inverness Loch Ness
NC500 - North Coast 500

08/10/2026

It's National Curry Week - an important culinary celebration for many Scottish people.

For Scotland has played something of a pivotal role in creating our ongoing love for curry as the most popular dish in the UK is said to be Chicken Tikka Massala, created in the Shish Mahal in Glasgow in the 1970s. But it's not the only curry with Glaswegian roots - Chicken Tikka Chasni was developed by the legendary Balbir for his restaurant in the west end. But great curry isn't just to be found in Glasgow and here are some of our favourites:

* closest to home is what used to be the Beauly Tandoori, then the Shimla and now being reborn again with its original name. They're hard at work each day transforming the restaurant inside and out, although it's still open for business each evening with the same great chef and the same menu.

* The original Beauly Tandoori was owned by Sam who has another favourite of ours in Inverness. Sam's in Church street is an Inverness institution where you can always enjoy a great meal in lovely surroundings.

* We found a brilliant Indian restaurant in Pitlochry which we visit regularly for the theatre. Cidsin serves Indian food in a small plate Balti style. Fabulous.

* Last, but certainly not least, no trip to Edinburgh is complete without a visit to the newly reopened Khushi's. The oldest Indian restaurant in Scotland, its food, service and ambience are fantastic.

Sams Inverness Cidsin Urban Indian Bistro & Gin Bar Khushis Edinburgh

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