Email Spean Lodge Country House enquiries & reservations: bookscotland@madbookings.com
Other places to stay in and around Spean Bridge
Explore the spectacular Highlands of Scotland…… and experience
the unique character of Spean Lodge Country House Bed and Breakfast accommodation.
Historic Highland lodge located in the attractive village of Spean Bridge, 9 miles north of the resort town of Fort William. Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain - 15 minutes drive. Nevis Range Ski Centre and mountain gondola - 10 minutes drive.
This whole area is now known as the Outdoor Capital of the UK. Choose from a huge range of activities including hill walking, climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, golf and wild life watching. The famous Commando Memorial, Caledonian Canal and whisky distilleries are also close by.
Spean Lodge Country House Accommodation
Spean Lodge has three charming and well appointed en suite rooms. All contain quality beds, antique headboards and Sanderson linen. The rooms are on the first floor accessed easily by a wide staircase.
There is a Double bedroom with en suite shower room and garden views. Twin bedroom with two single beds, en suite shower room and garden views. Family room. A very spacious room with a king size bed, a smaller double bed and en suite shower room. Suitable for up to 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 children. A travel cot can also be accommodated. Overlooks the rear garden and River Spean.
All rooms include tea and coffee making facilities, flat screen TV, radio alarm and hair drier.
The Guest lounge is a large room located on the first floor with lovely views over the extensive grounds towards the Nevis range mountains. An ideal place to unwind after a day sight seeing or hill walking and if it’s cold outside you can toast your toes by the log fire. There is a CD player and books, guides and maps so that you can plan your next day trip or activity.
The House landing is a spacious area for you to sit and relax.
Good Morning!
Delicious breakfasts are served between 8.00 and 9.00am in our elegant
Victorian dining room. Enjoy garden views, glimpses of the river and the
glow of a log fire on cooler days. Whatever your taste or appetite, we're
sure to have a breakfast choice for you.
We serve a variety of cooked breakfasts. A Continental selection, including fresh fruit, cold meats, cheese, croissants, morning rolls etc and we have vegetarian options. All breakfasts are freshly prepared using Scottish produce wherever possible.
Please inform us if you have any special dietary needs – gluten, dairy free etc. Hill walking or catching a train? Early breakfasts as well as Packed lunches can be arranged.
Planning your Highland Holiday!
Not sure what to see in the area, or what activities or walks may be suitable
for you and your family? We can help our staying guests with advice and
suggestions that will ensure you have a memorable vacation.
Additional Facilities:
. Drying room available for boots and outdoor gear
. Secure ski and mountain bike storage
. Children are very welcome - travel cot, baby bath and high seat chair
available
. Free wireless internet access
. Sorry, we are unable to accommodate pets other than guide dogs.
Smoking Policy
THERE IS NO SMOKING THROUGHOUT SPEAN LODGE
Enjoy first class Highland hospitality in a spacious and comfortable family home offering a truly warm welcome in period accommodation. Antique furnishings and paintings add interest to your stay.
Discover the fascinating history of Spean Lodge and its former occupants. · Set in large wooded grounds with extensive lawns above the rocky banks of the River Spean. Ample private and secure parking.
Within easy touring distance:
. Loch Ness
. Isle of Skye
. Glencoe
. Ardnamurchan
. Cairngorms National Park
The Gardens
Guests are also welcome to enjoy our two acres of lovely landscaped and
wooded grounds. Relax with a drink or prepare a barbeque or alfresco meal
- there’s plenty of garden seating. The lawns are a clean and huge
play area for children, although please be aware that the river forms
part of our boundary.
Groceries and Petrol
Provisions, newspapers etc may be purchased at the well stocked village
store and post office. There is also a 24 hour cash dispenser. The Lochaber
Farm Shop has a wide selection of Highland produce and is just 10 min's
drive.
Fort William has a Morrisons superstore with petrol station and a smaller
Tesco supermarket. The town also has Esso, Gleaner and BP petrol stations.
The House
The Lodge was originally constructed c.1800 and extended around 1840 and
again in 1878. The house retains many Victorian features including working
window shutters, slate and marble fireplaces, decorative plaster work,
panelled doors, a fine iron balustrade on the main staircase and original
sash windows.
A professional gardener from Kew in London was employed to landscape the grounds in the mid 19th century. Two acres of the original gardens remain, containing specimen trees like the giant redwoods and a large collection of rhododendron and azaleas. The Davy family and their house guests played a range of summer sports on the spacious lawns, including tennis, cricket and bowls.
There’s a mass of spring colour provided by the rhododendron while in autumn the trees glow with russet and golden brown foliage.
Spean Lodge and the Davy Family
This fine and rambling Highland lodge, with its origins in the late Georgian
era, was the home of the Davy family for over a century.
George Baynton Davy (1838-1907) was from Nottinghamshire, England and moved to Scotland after his marriage to Martha MacKay, the daughter of a local lawyer from Fort William. George had inherited money from his father, who had worked in South America organising the extraction of guano (bird droppings). Once the guano was collected it was then exported to Europe for use in the lucrative fertilizer industry.
The couple's six children were raised and received their early education in Spean Lodge. Lila, the eldest daughter, kept a daily diary which provides a fascinating insight into the life of the late 19th century household. In 1887 the Lodge supported fourteen serving staff, including a butler, cook, governess, coachman, gamekeeper, gardeners and numerous housemaids.
The family had an active social and religious life and the Lodge played host to many guests. Hunting - especially deer stalking - and fishing were popular pursuits in the hills and rivers of Lochaber. There was never a shortage of game and salmon in the house larders. Winter saw the family enjoying ice skating and curling matches on the many frozen ponds and burns.
It was a leisured and privileged life. George, however, had deep moral convictions and was generous with both his time and money. A great local benefactor, he funded the building of St. Andrew’s Church and Choir School in Fort William.
Guests are welcome to read published extracts from Lila’s diary. They also include an account of her distinguished military service in France and Belgium during the First World War.
What to see & do in the Spean Bridge area
Eating out in the village – 3 restaurants (2 with AA Rosettes),
2 hotels with public bars/restaurants. Spean Bridge Woollen Mill with
weaving demonstrations, tea room and whisky shop.
Highland Soap Company gift shop. Quality handmade soaps, bath and bodycare products. Well stocked village store, post office and 24 hour automatic cash dispenser. Railway station (on the scenic West Highland Line).
Trains to Fort William (13 min's) and Glasgow (3 hrs 30 min's). Caledonian Sleeper service to and from London Euston stops at Spean Bridge.
· Bus links for Inverness, Fort William, Isle of Skye and Oban.
· Scenic 9 hole golf course (Par 68, 4542 yards).
· Lochaber Shinty Club – watch this ancient, very physical
Highland hockey game.
· Fishing, kayaking and white water canoeing on the River Spean.
· Superb mountain, forest and riverside walks and bike trails.
The Great Glen Way
Scenic and mostly low level long distance walk (73 miles). It runs from
Fort William to Inverness. Join the walk at Gairlochy 3 miles from Spean
Bridge. We offer transport to and from the walk.
East Highland Way
New long distance walk of 78 miles traversing the West Highlands from
Fort William to Aviemore. Your first overnight stay is in Spean Bridge.
Again, it's a low level walk passing through outstanding scenery.
Local historical attractions
The village takes its name from the fine stone bridge over the River Spean.
Designed and built in 1819 by Thomas Telford, the great Scottish engineer.
High Bridge
Built by General Wade in 1736 across the Spean gorge, now an impressive
ruin. It was here that the first shots were fired in the 1745 Jacobite
Uprising. Lovely circular 3 mile walk from the village through woodland
and by the riverside.
The famous Commando Memorial and mountain viewpoint. This commemorates the elite soldiers who trained in this rugged area during the Second World War. 1 mile from the village.
Achnacarry Castle
The ancestral home of the chiefs of Clan Cameron and the wartime location
of the Commandos Basic Training Centre. Visit the Clan Cameron Museum
in the castle grounds. 6 miles from the village.
The Caledonian Canal
Telford’s massive engineering project dating from the early 19th
century. It provided a vital transport link between the west and east
coasts. 3 miles to Gairlochy locks from the village.
DIRECTIONS
Spean Lodge is located in the centre of the village of Spean Bridge, which
lies on the main A82 Fort William to Inverness road.
Arriving by road:
Travelling north from Fort William, enter the village and the Lodge is
sign posted on the left, opposite the Spean Bridge Hotel. Turn into this
tree lined cul-de-sac and Spean Lodge is the large country house on the
right.
Travelling south from Inverness on the A82 or west on the A86 from Dalwhinnie
and the A9.
Enter the village and drive over the river bridge. The turning into Spean Lodge is sign posted on the right, opposite the Spean Bridge Hotel.
Arriving by rail:
Spean Bridge railway station is just 5 mins walk from Spean Lodge. Mondays
to Saturdays there are four/five daily arrivals/departures to and from
Glasgow, including the Caledonian Sleeper service from London Euston.
Sundays there are two/three arrivals/departures, including the southbound
Caledonian Sleeper.
Arriving by air:
Inverness Airport is 90 min's road journey along scenic Loch Ness. Glasgow
International and Edinburgh Airports are each a drive of around 3 hours.
You can enjoy the magnificent Highland scenery on the journey to Spean
Lodge.
Google Map also provide a map service which you may find useful, click
here for Spean Bridge.
Email Spean Lodge Country House enquiries & reservations: bookscotland@madbookings.com
