It was needle in the haystack time with all those glove toys on the one table… we were looking for Nessie.
Or more specifically the Son and Heir’s personal Nessie.
He had brought it in with him and helpfully put down on the table!
With all the other Nessies.
Of course those who question the existence of Nessie obviously have never been to Scotland.
And certainly not his home in Loch Ness, near Inverness in the Highlands.
Where the sea monster is in every shop window.
Loch at us now
The Loch Ness Centre will have gone through many a refurb since we visited the Highlands way back then.
Yes, even after our repatriation to Scotland a couple of years ago.
The latest iteration of the base has been at a £1.5m cost and comes with a brand new tour.
Columba’s cross
The Loch Ness Centre tracks Nessie’s 1,500-year history which we can trace back to Saint Columba of Iona, no less.
Or more accurately Irish author’s Adomnán’s Life of St Columba who regales us with how St Columba combatted the monster.
And told Nessie to leave his follower Luigne moccu Min who was swimming in the River Ness alone.
‘Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once,” Col exhorted, with his sign of the cross doing the trick.
The saint had clearly scared the bejaysus out of Nessie because there were no further sightings of Nessie until the 1870s.
Nessiemania
While there was a spate of finds in the Thirties with Hugh Gray’s 1933 photo credited with the start of Nessiemania.
Which has seen 11 films either about Nessie or with references to her or with her as the central character.
With Scooby-Doo even getting in on the act.
And even that confounded the Mystery Machine Mob with Velma accepting that ‘maybe some mysteries are best left unsolved.’
Today’s Loch Ness Centre is in the location of the the old Drumnadrochit Hotel where Mrs Aldie MacKay reported seeing a ‘whale-like fish’ or ‘water beast’ in the waters of Loch Ness.
Plain cruising
Of course what we all want to do is get out on the water and the Loch Ness Centre have a man who knows it like the back of his hand.
Captain Alistair Matheson will take you out on his vessel, Deepscan, named after the 1987 Operation Deepscan expedition of the loch.
You and your other 11 guests will take a journey through the past 40 years of scientific research.
And while you’re scanning the waters for Nessie, you’ll always have the breathtaking beauty of Urquhart Castle in your sights.
Standard tickets for the one-hour immersive tour at Loch Ness Centre is £13.95 for adults and £10.95 for children.
For the one-hour cruise it is £216 for the dozen of you, £19 per adult and £16.95 for children.
And seeing you’re asking, no I’ve got no more a Scooby than Velma, but we’ll be back, looking for Nessie.
Loch Ness is a half-hour’s drive from Inverness which can be reached by air from major airports.
Stay at the Loch Ness Lodge Hotel for £127.30 for a standard twin for two for the night.