inscribed "Inn at Ballachulish Loch Leven" a page from an album inscribed in the frontispage "F W Staines 3 Uplands St Leonards on Sea"
Amelia Jackson, Nee Staines (1842 – 1925) and thence by descent
The core of the Loch Leven Hotel can be dated back to the mid 1600s and it grew to serve as a coaching inn and a terminus for the ferry. It has developed organically since and the immediate impression as you arrive today is homely and welcoming. The hotel very successfully caters for a number of different markets, and these are reflected in the way the public rooms are arranged. The front of the hotel, overlooking Loch Leven and the mountains above South Ballachulish, is occupied by the Loch View Restaurant at one end, and the Family Room at the other. In front of the Family Room is a wooden decked area with seating.
Francis William Staines was the last of a family of merchants from the City of London. Not only was he a successful businessman but he possessed a large independent fortune, such that he could devote his time to the cultivation of his talents in music and art. He was a brilliant amateur violinist, and also loved to spend much of his time painting. His daughter Amelia and her mother accompanied Mr Staines as he travelled throughout the country finding subjects for his painting. One area of the country that they visited frequently was Scotland and the Lake District, and Amelia grew particularly fond of the dramatic landscape of the Fells. Skelwith Bridge with the view of the hills around it 43 was one of her father’s favourite scenes. He painted landscapes and maritime paintings , exhibited 11 works at the RA including views on the Italian Coast, address in London, Hastings and St Leonards on Sea Susssex.