Journey to Ranikhet
Ranikhet is a hill station and cantonment town in Almora district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.
It is the home of the Kumaon Regiment (KRC) & Naga Regiment and is maintained by the Indian Army.
This is an “off topic” personal page about a journey which I made in 2017 to visit the birthplace of my father AR (Bertie) Weyer.
My grandfather served with the Army in India for many years and Bertie Weyer was born in 1900 at the military hospital in Ranikhet Cantonment which is a hill station lying at an altitude of over 6 000 feet in the foothills of the Himalayas. This was my second visit to India and the photos which follow cover the journey north from Naini Tal to Ranikhet.
I would heartily recommend to anyone visiting India that, if possible, they should take time to visit one of the old hill stations in the Himalayan foothills. The scenery is quite outstanding. By far the easiest to reach is Simla (pop c 170 000) which is a relatively easy journey of about 250 miles (c 400km) north of Delhi by mainline train to Kalka at which town a change is made to the famous world heritage narrow gauge railway which was completed in 1903. Simla was the old summer capital of British India from 1864 to 1947 and the government moved there each summer from the old capital of Calcutta and, after 1911, Delhi to escape the heat of the plains in the days before air conditioning. There are wonderful forest drives and some fine views of the snow capped peaks of the Himalayas.
Ranikhet (pop c 20 000) is further to the east and just west of Nepal but is much smaller than Simla and has no direct rail connection with Delhi or anywhere else. So, although it is a gem of a place, it requires more of a reason to visit – such as a family connection. Being smaller than Simla, it is even more peaceful and less hectic but the views of the snow capped Himalayas well surpass those of the old summer capital. The road journey from Delhi to Nainital (south of Ranikhet) is over 200 miles or c 350 km and takes about seven hours. The name Ranikhet means “Queen’s Field”. After Indian independence in 1947, the Indian Army took over the military cantonment which had been established by the British in the late 1800s. The military hospital also survives and the Surgeon-Colonel in charge made my wife, Anna, and me very welcome and helped us to locate the building where my father was born. Being a serving officer, she declined my request for a photograph which is a pity as she looked very impressive in her army sari-style uniform. I must also record that Ranikhet Cantonment is kept in a very smart and tidy condition and is a credit to the Indian Army.
.
Please click on the map and pictures to zoom in for a closer view.
I hope to add more photos in due course.
Sadly, throughout our visit to Ranikhet the famous view of the Himalayas was obscured by mist.
However here is a photo from our hotel website which shows what we missed!
Finally a couple of family photos showing my father, Bertie Weyer, as a young boy in India.
