Make up a story about a prehistoric sea creature inhabiting a lake, add in some romantic castle ruins, preferably lakeside, and you’ve got the makings of a tourist magnet – or trap if you’re predisposed.

We’re both to a certain extent suckers to marketing, which is primarily the reason we drove over four hours to see the lake made famous by myth and history, mythery perhaps, up in Northern Scotland. Loch Ness, as the National Geographic channel would probably say, is steeped in mystery given its centuries-old story about a huge, still unknown entity living there, that’s gained as much talk and is along the same breadth as the Yeti or Bigfoot. Recent science seems to have pretty much debunked any presence of nothing more than giant eels, and unless DNA lies – how anything as large and enduring as Nessie can mask its DNA is another question altogether – all the hype about a lake monster is just that. Props to whoever thought this up, in any case, as judging from the mobs upon mobs of tourists, the plan is nothing short of a monster success.