I’ve been a life-long movie buff. It’s safe to say my love of film is a genetic thing. According to family mythology, my twin brother Mark and I attended the film Tom Jones in utero. As teenagers, we both worked our way through high school and college employed at a memorable New York City movie memorabilia shop; Jerry Ohlinger’s Movie Move Store. We grew up watching old movies on television,at the library and even 16mm bootlegs of classic films.
This past summer, my cousin Elaine and her husband Rob decided to take me on a road trip through Scotland, which would intersect with two of our mutually favorite films: I Know Where I’m Going and Local Hero. We only had a week to accomplish the journey, but Elaine plotted and researched the locations featured in these two films. The first two days of our trip took us up through Perth, and then to the hamlet of Pennan and town of Banff where scenes from Local Hero (directed and written by Bill Forsyth) were filmed. We also visited Camusdarach beach and several other Local Hero locations.
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The other movie destination of the trip took us to the coastal port town of Oban and then the Isle of Mull, where Michael Powell’s wonderful film I Know Where I’m Going was shot. We stayed two nights in a guest house in Oban, so that we could take the ferry out to Mull for our grand tour. The car ride about the Island was fairly extensive, given that we only had a single day to see whatever we could find.
Thankfully, the weather was fantastic and we visited the town of Tobermory and several other locations from the film. One of the locations we wanted to see was the famous phone booth, which appeared in two scenes of the film. We never actually located the phone booth, but we had a memorable ride along the coast and through the middle of the island to the sounds of The Travelling Wilburys and The Stray Cats while searching for it.
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Our journey also took us through other historical sites, such as Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, the battlefield at Culloden and the city of Stirling, where William Wallace has a place in Scottish history. On my list of things I wanted to complete was to have the traditional Scottish dish haggis. As things would turn out, I had haggis presented in three separate ways: Indian deep fried in a crisp roll; a layered casserole with potatoes and turnips; and finally as a small side dish. In each case, it was delicious and not at all what some people had warned me about.
Here is an article about haggis and how it is being presented to tourists who have read or heard unfortunate things about Scotland’s national dish. https://www.saveur.com/eat-more-haggis/?src=SOC&dom=fb&fbclid=IwAR3SkkBTrO11gZZxrqXyf4Kk4Z-FUk4YYHGUeusS5WykZvSOD3Vo56Cqgbs
This trip was a once in a lifetime experience. Elaine and Rob did an incredible job of finding the film locations and finding a route that took us on a circuitous journey with a different guest house or inn to end each day’s travels. We stayed in 5 different B&Bs or inns on our trip and had an afternoon or evening pint in every town we visited. Our innkeeper hosts were as memorable as the places they lived in.
Susan Littlefaire, owner/operator of Woodlea in Perth, said she owned a B&B so that she could travel whenever she wanted.
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I learned that Peter Simpson, the chef/owner of The Pennan Inn was well aware of its connection to Local Hero when he bought it. The tiny inn had changed ownership several times in recent years.
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Susan and Michael Fink, the owners of Ghoirtein in Drumnadrochit, revealed themselves not only to be very good hosts, but also the former owners of The Western Isles Hotel, where scenes from “I Know Where I’m Going” had been filmed.
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Number 10 in Stirling, was an immaculate B&B owned by Donald and Carol Cameron. Donald was a treasure trove of Scottish history and was especially pleased that I chose to have some haggis with my final “Full Scottish” Breakfast.
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With every adventure, there is an excitement about visiting a new place and casting away one’s day-to-day cares in life. For a brief time you can forget the things you are unhappy about and experience a place outside of your own world.
I think it’s probably the same reason we go to the movies. When I returned to my little apartment, it was exactly as I had left it. After a missed train and a delayed arrival, I was very happy to open the windows and allow the cool evening breeze to welcome me home.