South West Scotland - 1

30 May – 6 Jun 2019

Mull of Kintyre

It was not a promising start to the trip; we had left Stratford in the sunshine, but by the time we reached the Lake District, the rain had set in. It continued to rain at our overnight stop in Moffat (same site as 2017 – CCC site) and was still raining when we left the next day. Thankfully the skies cleared by the time we reached Edinburgh. We had come North to join the rest of the family to celebrate Jocelyn's first birthday; she enjoyed all the company, the attention - and the wrapping paper!

We spent two nights at the Mortonhall Caravan Park just inside Edinburgh’s city by-pass. The site is big, well organised and has good facilities. From Edinburgh we skirted Glasgow on the M8, and followed the southern end of Loch Lomond.  It was a very gloomy morning, but the roads were brightened by the abundance of deep pink rhododendrons.  Glen Croe was stunning even with the clouds covering the hilltops and at Rest and Be Thankful, six miles beyond Arrochar, we did just that, stopping at the Argyll Forest Car park. 

View down Glen Croe

From there you look down on the Military Road, constructed in the 18^th century, as part England’s attempts to quash Scottish rebellions.  And looking up, you can see Ben Arthur, aka The Cobbler, (when not shrouded in cloud!).   The A83 then took us along Loch Fyne, passing through Inverary, on our way to a three-night stay at Lochgilphead Caravan Park.

We easily filled the time in Lochgilphead with a visit to the Kilmartin local history museum, following this up with walks to a cairn of stones, the Nether Largie standing stones, Temple Wood stone circle and the ruined Carnassarie Castle. There was also a visit to Arduaine Garden, National Trust for Scotland, where the main feature of the lower garden is the giant rhododendrons, sadly past their best.  The upper garden is mainly woodland. 

Standing stones at Kilmartin

The bikes were unloaded the from the back of the van and we had a lovely ride along the Crinan Canal to Crinan lock basin (7 miles), passing the south side of the Moine Mhor (peat bog).  There were plenty of other folk on the towpath, cycling or walking their dogs, and many boats negotiating the locks.  As I was taking a photograph of a pretty cabin on the other side of the canal, a male cyclist, a Canadian, passed me and apologised that he was not able to invite us in to his residence, but he was off to Lochgilphead to do his shopping.  It seemed rather like an extract from Wind in the Willows, which we took Ben to see the other week!  The resident turned out to be an artist, Fraser MacIver, who has had his home studio on the canal since 1997.  

Fraser MacIver's studio

 

Crinan Basin

On our way to the next site at Muasdale we stopped briefly in Tarbert and walked rather quickly in the rain around the castle ruins.  The "site" at Muasdale was tiny, right beside the beach.  Also right next to the A83!  We were only there one night, but had a couple of enjoyable walks along the beach and could see seals on the rocks a little way off the beach. Sadly the hoped-for sunset over the islands of Islay and Jura did not quite materialise – maybe next time!

On Muasdale beach

Evening on the Sound of Jura