Member Stories

We first came here about forty-two years ago. We’d seen an advert in the paper about the development of the site — it was quite new then — and they were running offers for people to come up and have a look round. We thought it sounded like a good thing.

I remember our very first visit: one cold, dark, wintry Friday night in November. The last four hours of the drive were in the dark — we couldn’t see where we were going, navigating by map — and eventually we saw the lights of the hotel. In we went, booked in, a bit tired, and went to sleep. The following morning Ann went to the window first, and she said to me, “Get out of bed and come and look at this view.” She wasn’t exaggerating. All you could see was Schiehallion and the loch, the sun out and the water glistening. We’d never seen anything quite like it.

We were a young couple then without much money, but it was so good. They showed us around one of the lodges and we asked a lot of questions, because membership was a new concept at the time. We loved it — and it was so luxurious to us. We lived in a two-up two-down terraced house behind a factory back then, and didn’t get out to posh places much, so this felt amazing. We signed up over that same weekend. You could see that being a member here was something a little bit special, and the staff and the other members were decent, friendly people.

We bought a Highland lodge, and later a studio one Christmas. We met some of our best friends here, and stayed close for many, many years — we had children around the same time, visited each other’s homes down in Bath and up here, and holidayed together. That’s one of the great things about membership: you start with fixed weeks, but you can talk to the club and arrange extra weeks too. So many times, after working hard for months, we’d ask, “Where shall we go?” — and we’d choose here. A phone call to the office and they’d always find you something.

Our weeks were winter weeks, but we’d come in summer too and see the place in a completely different season. Our kids grew up coming here and loved it. Our lodge was actually nicer than the home we had at the time — it was aspirational, it gave us ideas. I even got my love of crystal glass from here; I used to drink out of mugs at home. It’s little touches like that, and the view — it’s all about the view, and it’s a damn sight better than the back of a factory.

That’s really our story. We love it, and I’m determined this club will go on for a long, long time. It gets better all the time — more facilities, better and better lodges being refurbished — and it’s lovely to see the young ones now, the sons and daughters of people we knew years ago, bringing their own children. It just goes on and on, and that’s what we love about it.

My parents became members of the Loch Rannoch Highland Club in 1978 — I wasn’t even born yet. I’ve got two brothers and a sister, and we all used to come up as kids, with so many fond memories. When I was really small I used to call it “the place with the brown bathroom”, because it had a brown bathroom suite at the time, and I always remember that. There were quite a few pubs and restaurants in the village then, and we’d go climbing the hills and playing outside — there was lots to do.

My dad joined the club committee in the early 2000s and had a lot to do with trying to make things change, working more closely with the hotel, so it’s really nice to see how it’s developed now. In 2007 I took over the timeshare, because my parents had reached an age where it just wasn’t for them anymore. Family came up, and friends used the week sometimes too, so I kept it on.

Over the years there have been so many friendly local people. The Stables bar used to be there, and you’d go in for a drink and end up talking to most of the locals — everybody made you feel at home. And one year, in 2011, I met this man in the pub, and the rest, as they say, is history. We’ve been together ever since.

The club has been a great asset to the village. I’ve been here since 2003 — I only came for a month, and I’m still here! We used the lodges extensively when we got married in June this year, so all our friends and family could come and stay. We’ve got friends who come throughout the year — you almost know the time of year by who’s visiting, because it’s always the same week.

It’s like a second home. As a child we moved around a lot for my dad’s work, but we always came here. Even talking about it now I get goosebumps, because my mum chose to come up here, and she’s no longer with us — so there’s always something about being close to mum. The fact that we got married here, she’d be absolutely delighted that I now live here and I’m a member of the community.

My mum used to describe bringing me up here when I was small, standing by the loch just down from the lodges with the wind in my face. She wasn’t sure what I’d do, and I put my arms out and jumped around in circles and just loved it. That’s exactly what we got on our wedding day — a really windy, blustery day — and I came down the stairs of a lodge with my dad. I can’t honestly thank the club enough for the hospitality shown to our friends and family. One word for it? Friendly and welcoming — that’s two words, really, but it’s just a great place.

I’ve been coming to Loch Rannoch since the late 1970s, when the lodges were still being built. My parents loved the Cairngorms and really enjoyed walking, so they chose to join the club and came for two weeks a year — one in April during the school holidays, and a second in late November when they’d come by themselves to write their Christmas cards. My sister was still at school and I was at university, and we started coming then.

We used to go on quite long walks. In my mind it was always sunny — it probably wasn’t, but that’s how I remember it. We’d walk the ridges around the lodges, starting and finishing at the door, or head out to Rannoch station and onto the moors, wild and desolate, which my father liked particularly. Those were our last family holidays all together as one unit.

As my sister and I got older we stopped coming for a while, but later I came back to join my parents and get a break from work. I found it incredibly relaxing — out on the balcony, my father would greet me with a glass of wine and a big bag of crisps. As they got older they couldn’t manage the bigger mountains, so we’d walk down by the Kerry River instead. Shortly before he had a stroke my father had been here walking, and they said the active week probably helped save his life. I remember him on the Kerry River walk getting his stick stuck on a branch and just laughing and laughing — he had a great sense of humour. He recovered and grew strong enough to do the walk again, and I’ll never forget his pride when he reached the bridge over the river, saying he never thought he’d see it again.

Sadly both my parents are gone now. The year my mother died, my sister and I came back to use our week, and we brought a friend who climbs hills with us so we could tackle the more challenging ones. We enjoyed it so much that we returned the next year with a couple more friends. My lodge only has one bedroom, so I started renting another, and gradually more and more people from my mountaineering club wanted to come — until we’d end up with up to twenty of us.

There’s so much to do. The water sports centre was closed for many years but it’s open again now, and we’re hoping to try paddle boarding. The hotels close by are great for a drink and a relax in the bar too. I had my 60th birthday here — it was the place I wanted to be, because it reminds me so much of my teens. We hired several lodges, nineteen of us, just before lockdown. As my birthday’s at the end of January we had a Burns supper, someone playing the bagpipes (and trying to teach the rest of us), recited Tam o’ Shanter, and had the traditional haggis and neeps and tatties. It was a lovely event and a very special way to do it.

Over the years it’s simply become a place I love. I love the first sight of the loch as you come in through Kinloch Rannoch, stretching right away up towards Glencoe. I’ve now been here in most seasons — Schiehallion in the morning is always beautiful with the light behind it, and as the sun sets you get the most beautiful colours over Glencoe. It’s a very special, peaceful place, where you can just retreat from life and enjoy yourself.