Friday 27 March 2015

New Loch Ness Tourism Website Up




After the recent decision to give Nessie the limelight in a new push to promote the Loch Ness and Inverness area, the website has now gone live here. I applauded the decision at the time, a loch with a monster is far more interesting than one without. There may have been solicitations to tone down the monster aspect, probably due to a mixture of a "there is nothing there" attitude and wanting to emphasise the other worthy aspects of the area, but commercial common sense prevailed in the end.

With a 2012 poll saying that almost 25% of Scots believe the Loch Ness Monster is probably or definitely real, there is clearly a market out there for Nessie. That percentage will vary according to countries and is definitely influenced by a sense of Scottishness (the same poll gave 33% for people who voted SNP in the last election). But one wonders what the percentage is for people who make the effort to get to Loch Ness?

Indeed, I would presume that the poll's question asking if you think the Loch Ness Monster is real would have prompted thoughts of extinct dinosaurs in respondents' minds which, unfortunately would have skewed perceptions and hence replies. If the question had rather asked whether people thought Nessie could be other things such as a giant eel or some other unknown mega-fish, I believe the percentage would have noticeably gone up.

The website's page on Nessie is concise enough and not surprisingly, non-committal as to the creature's existence. In fact, you could say it is treating Nessie lightly as it mentions some famous photos without passing further judgements. Either way, the time to go back to Loch Ness approaches!

The most famous mystery about Loch Ness surrounds the phenomenon of an enormous creature that is believed to live in the water – known universally as the Loch Ness Monster, or ‘Nessie’ as she’s affectionately known.

The first recorded sighting of the monster was in 565 AD, when it was said to have snatched up and eaten a local farmer, before being forced back into the waters by St Columba.

Over the years, rumours spread far and wide about ‘strange events’ at Loch Ness. Some believe that ancient Scottish myths about water creatures, like Kelpies and the Each Uisge (meaning ‘water horse’), contributed to the notion of a creature living in the depths of Loch Ness.

In 1933, construction began on the A82 – the road that runs along the north shore of the Loch. The work involved considerable drilling and blasting and it is believed that the disruption forced the monster from the depths and into the open. Around this time, there were numerous independent sightings and, in 1934, London surgeon R. K. Wilson managed to take a photograph that appeared to show a slender head and neck rising above the surface of the water. Nessie hit the headlines and has remained the topic of fierce debate ever since.

In the 1960s, the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau conducted a ten-year observational survey – recording an average of 20 sightings per year. And, by the end of the decade, mini-submarines were being used for the first time to explore the depths of the Loch using sophisticated sonar equipment. New public interest was generated in the mid 1970s when underwater photographs of what appeared to be a ‘flipper’ were made public.

To this day, there is no conclusive proof to suggest that the monster is a reality. However, many respectable and responsible observers have been utterly convinced they have seen a huge creature in the water.

Prehistoric animal? Elaborate hoax? Seismic activity? A simple trick of the light? It’s even been said that the whole mystery could be explained by the presence of circus elephants in the area in the 1930s.
Whatever the truth, it’s always worth a trip to Loch Ness to see for yourself.



36 comments:

  1. I hope it covers the naturist shore line (not telling where), lots of local lassies sun bathe from May-Aug

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    1. Hmmm, I'll need film and photographic evidence before I believe that. :)

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    2. It will be interesting to see the photographic evidence of these land sightings :)

      Jack.

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    3. In fact there is film evidence out there, did you think TD spent all his days with his 16mm Bolex pointed at the Loch waters? ;-)

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    4. At last - an explanation for Tim's poor eyesight! :)

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  2. It's a good website, i like it - even if it does omit Dores from the 'villages' section. Clearly put together by a north-shore man.

    Too right we should be pushing Nessie. We're terrible at selling ourselves in the Highlands.

    Shame they dropped the circus elephant theory in there - surely right up there with the most ridiculous theories on the LNM phenomenon. In fact, right up there with the Finlays seeing a deer ;-)

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    1. Is it really ok to lure tourists without giving them a balanced account? Seems almost like fraud to me.

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    2. Not surprisingly, there is more tourist money to be made on the north shore. I prefer the south myself, much quieter.

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    3. It can no more be considered fraud than the various American stores and hotels in Nevada selling alien-themed novelties based on Area 51, or the various ghost tours in just about every major castle and country house in the UK (and around the world, actually). We live in a capitalist world; people want to buy a Nessie experience, so why not offer them it? They're not being duped into believing a mystery has been solved, they're having fun engaging with it.

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    4. Fraud? Hardly.

      Elephants aside, it seems a fairly honest appraisal of the legend. No one can say it exists, no one can say it definitely doesn't. There's nothing misleading in there.

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    5. Send me a good article describing Dores and it shall be published (by a south shore man)

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    6. If the elephant adalpted to the high oxygen levels of the loch and through shock convergent evolution,( S.C.E.),became aquatic,an "AquaPhant",then that would explain many sightings.

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  3. Is that grumpy Feltham fella still in Dores ?

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  4. I think one cannot think of visiting Scotland without associating it with The Loch Ness Monster. They are part and parcel to each other. Would love to go to Loch Ness, but alas, the closest I've gotten to the place is a tourist trip to London back in the late 70s. First stop, the bathing lassies, then hit the Inns and pubs for fine food and drink. After that, might not even care about Nessie, she can wait! It's on my bucket list of things to do before I croak.

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    1. Won't you also wait outside Roland's house, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Lord of the Loch? :)

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    2. Yes, absolutely, it would be a pleasure. I would also like to meet Dick Raynor, Adrian Shine, Jake, Trevor, Steve Feltham and even Geordie. Except nameless trolls like you. ;-)

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    3. If Nessie won't show, I'll have to settle for Roland. :-)

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  5. I think it's an absolute scream! A real hoot, fellas!

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  6. Geordie Sceptic28 March 2015 at 08:47

    Why change what's worked for the area for decades? Keep em coming! I recall the total and utter excitement of some American tourists I spoke to in one of the visitor centres. They swallowed the monster story like a group of primary school children. I didn't have the heart to put them straight!

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    1. Are you kidding Geordie! Some of us adults still have a childlike fascination with Nessie. Some Americans also believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, but that's another story. Just don't say we didn't put a man on the moon, or I'll really be offended!

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    2. Geordie Sceptic28 March 2015 at 14:17

      What was most notable was that their overwhelming desire for the monster to be true completely blinded them to all other possibilities. Fancy that!

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    3. Considering you told us that you did not engage them in debate, it is not clear how you come to this conclusion.

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    4. Geordie Sceptic28 March 2015 at 14:53

      They were saying "I sure believe in it!" and one lady was pointing at the surgeon's photo, saying something like "How can anyone doubt it when they see that?". And this was after everything had come out about the toy submarine. It was clear that these people had paid for their Nessie trip and nothing would shatter the illusion. I could see they were having a great time, no harm done.

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    5. The typical “casual” Loch Ness tourist is not versed in the folklore, history, personalities, happenings etc, etc, like a true critical thinking Nessie enthusiast would be. To them a trip to Loch Ness is like a trip to Disneyland. To them the movie “the Water Horse: Legend of the Deep” must seem like a docudrama.

      It's no wonder that showing them the Surgeons pic elicited such reactions. Show them the Shiels “Muppet photo” and you get the same reaction only with “Oh look a clearer picture”. If they see anything that remotely looks like a monster i.e. floating log, misidentified fauna, waves, etc they go home and tell their friends that they've seen The Loch Ness Monster.

      It would probably be easier to convert a “True believer” than a naive tourist. But, like you say “no harm, no foul” They had a good time and enjoyed their trip.

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  7. bodge from suffolk28 March 2015 at 08:53

    Yes looks ok , only had a quick look but no mention of dores,foyers, boleskine(crowley) etc or even clava cairns a really impressive place but perhaps thats a good thing it'll keep the tourists away !! oops & i thought it was a tourist web site !! great photography though...

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  8. bodge from suffolk28 March 2015 at 08:57

    Ha just found Boleskine & crowley he was tucked away in the History section...

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  9. They don't really push Boleskine House as a tourist attraction for understandable reasons. It's a private residence and the owners have enough hassle from the lunatic fringe every year as it is.

    It does seem odd that an Inverness / Loch Ness tourist site gives more space to Glen Affric (miles away) than the south shore though. No Dores Inn!? No Steve Feltham!? Shirley shome mishtake?

    Or maybe i missed it.

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    1. Bodge from Suffolk28 March 2015 at 13:19

      Yes i agree about the Boleskine House bit I'm sure they must get annoyed with 'visitors' but i always enjoy a wander around the burial ground & the view over the loch ...

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    2. No Foyers Inn either. That's understandable though, it's more populated and the center of commerce.

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    3. I like the south shore just as it is and I get the feeling that most of the locals there prefer it that way as well, with one or two obvious commercial exceptions. When we visit Loch Morar the locals are definitely in favour of the quieter life and keeping things the way they are. I'm not talking about Morar village but the actual Loch side residences a few miles down a very narrow lane. It would be a shame if it got any busier than it is now, as it would if the south shore of Loch Ness did.

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  10. All in good time folks, the site will be publishing everything about Loch Ness in time!

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    1. Thanks, Andy. Not too many tourists on the south side please!


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    2. Geordie Sceptic.3 April 2015 at 05:58

      Yeah Holty, please keep the south shore tranquil - it's where Nessie comes out of the water to do her weekly shopping and steal a lamb or two.

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    3. Hmm, I didn't realise Nessie land excursions were that frequent, what priviliged information are you privvy to?

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