The Witness revealed

The Witness.

Without giving too much away I want to post some photographs of Spey Bay to give my readers an idea of what this beautiful place looks like.  When I visited the area some years ago I saw an artist painting a watercolour of the iron bridge and suddenly ideas began to formulate. From that moment I knew that my character Josie was going to be an artist.

Like me, Josie was completely taken with the tranquillity of Spey Bay and she too decided to paint a watercolour of the magnificent iron bridge.  It was here that her story began.

The river in this photograph is very high, when I was there during the summer the water level was much lower.

I would like you to have an idea of the layout of the bay with some of the places mentioned in the book.  This map details places like Fochabers, the house and estate where Mr Mac lives is there.  The river runs from the mountains into the bay and this is the route my characters took through the woods when trying to escape from Mr Mac.  

Closer to the bay you can make out the villages of Garmouth and Kingston.  Josie's Auntie Molly lived in Garmouth and it was from here that Josie accessed the bay.  

The distance from Fochabers to the Tugnet Ice house is about five miles

Spey Bay is an outstanding area of natural beauty where many seabirds and animals can be seen.  There is also a very nice hotel and golf course further round, but these did not feature in my book.

A view of the ice houses with the mountains in the distance

Kingston is just across the mouth of the river.  

The beautiful river in the summertime.

Follow the pathway leading from the bottom right of this photograph, go past the buildings and head for the sandy bit towards the top of the picture.  This is where the Tugnet Ice house and visitor centre is situated, it is also where Josie plunged into the water when being chased before being swept away into the Moray Firth.

The Tugnet Icehouse where Josie tried to hide from Mr Mac

I hope this helps to bring The Witness to life without giving too much away.