Mar 27th, 2025

Author: donich_admin

The End of an Era – leaving Donich Lodge

Well R and I have lived here for eleven and a half, mostly very happy years, but the time has now come for us to say goodbye to Lochgoilhead and the banks of the Donich.

We have been thinking about this for a while now, with several drivers behind it. Firstly, I’ve taken on a new role (at 58 no less) and it involves going to Edinburgh a fair bit – as you can imagine this is not greatly convenient from here. Glasgow doable – Edinburgh not really. Secondly – my foot has broadly recovered for normal purposes – I can walk long distances, climb ladders etc. with no problems, but there is no denying that what the consultant told me has turned out to be true. The fact is that with my joints fused I have little side to side movement in my foot which makes walking on very rough surfaces awkward and a bit uncomfortable, particularly when they involve steep descents. Effectively this rules out mountain climbing and also makes some of the paths around here rather unpleasant to walk on. I don’t think there are many walks around here that R and I haven’t done multiple times anyway. Thirdly, I feel I have sort of “done” Argyll – not that I don’t love it and think it is a marvellous place to live – but just because it has become a bit samey. I suppose once you have walked up to the Donich Falls literally hundreds of times and seen Inverary castle six times, you kind of feel like trying something new. Well I do anyway.

So we are going to Cupar in Fife, and moving into a huge three story Victorian listed house – a big change from here. Donich Lodge has had its pictures taken (hence the massive amounts of work we have done on the garden), and is getting its survey next week. We are not waiting until we have sold before we move, because the new house needs a bit of work, and Donich Lodge (specifically the garden) needs someone to look after it – so we will be a bit nomadic between the two properties for the next few months. J is buying the house with us, and is occupying the basement flat (the former servants quarters which is rather ironic considering J’s extreme reluctance to do housework).

Having dealt with the gardens here (mostly – although you could keep going with these gardens forever). I am now clearing out the attic which is another huge job – particularly as getting a skip here is difficult and expensive. Still, hopefully we will be able to give a lot of it away – I am hoping to have a kind of garage sale for a lot of it – proceeds to the community gardens I am so fond of.