Showing posts with label scotland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scotland. Show all posts

Monday 17 September 2018

Isle of Iona and Fidden Beach

Friday 14 September 2018

Nido’s parked up on a grassy mound overlooking the white sandy beach at Fidden Farm.  The sun has just set through the clouds and below the rocks and cliffs in the distance and the wind has dropped.  This is a lovely spot, a well-used campsite with a mix of vans and tents, all pitched close to the beach and facing the sea.  There’s a new facilities block with toilets and hot showers, but no EHU.

We were up and on the beach at Uisken at 0730 this morning; the rain had abated and we enjoyed a walk on the sand as the tide returned.  Our next stop, the ferry terminal at Fionnphort, was just a few miles away.  It was raining again when we arrived and we had to wait about half an hour for the ferry, but at least we were in a warm, dry waiting room, with a great view over to Iona.  The ferry crossing was only about 15 minutes but was a bit lumpy.  Iona is just three miles long and just over a mile wide.  It’s been a place of Christian worship for more than 1400 years and still has a vibrant religious community.

The rain was here to stay this morning, so we were glad of our waterproof coats with peaked hoods.  We walked around the ruins of the fourteenth century Augustinian nunnery, disused since the Reformation.  We took the road North, passing the large Iona Abbey and stopping off at the eleventh century, St Oran’s Chapel, Iona’s oldest building.  It stands at the centre of Iona’s sacred burial ground - Reilig Odhrain, which is said to contain the graves of sixty kings of Norway, Ireland, France and Scotland, including Duncan and Macbeth.  It’s also the final resting place of John Smith, the Labour Party leader who died suddenly in 1994 - a very peaceful spot.  Carrying on along the north road, past crofts, homes and hostels, we came to lovely white sandy beaches and turquoise waters.  It was still raining hard but it didn’t spoil the beauty and serenity of the place.  Back in the village we stopped to warm up and dry off with a hot drink and shortcake at the Iona Heritage Centre, before visiting the adjacent museum.  Had it been a better weather day, we would have walked over to the Machair, on the west side of Iona, to the evocatively named Bay at the Back of the Ocean, a crescent of pebble and shell-strewn beach and with a spouting cave to the south.  We’d then have continued on to the south of the Island to visit Port a’ Churaich (Bay of the Coracle, aka St Columba’s Bay), the saints traditional landing spot on Iona. But the weather was a bit wild so that’ll have to wait for another visit - and we will return.

The return ferry trip was kinder; the wind had died down and the rain stopped.  Fidden Farm campsite was less than 2 miles away, so (while our wet things dried in the van) it didn’t take long to get set up and head off for a long walk on the beach, through the rock pools and over the many large gatherings of seaweed.  The sun made the odd appearance - enough time to throw our shadow but not long enough to warm us up!  So the rest of today was spent in the van, reading, eating and looking out at the view.  Cathy stepped out to take some sunset photos, while I sat in the van, watching a pod of dolphins far out by the cliffs through my binoculars.  It’ll be another quiet night with no artificial light, so proper dark.   

Sunrise at Uisken Beach

Breakfast view

St Oran's Chapel - Isle of Iona

Iona Abbey

Knight's Grave Slab?

North end of the island


 
Fidden Farm campsite






 


Uisken Beach - Isle of Mull


Thursday 13 September 2018

Nido’s parked on a flat grassy knoll right next to the beautiful sandy and rocky Uisken beach on the Isle of Mull.  This is a wild camping spot - £2 per person per night, paid to the friendly Mrs Campbell at the Uisken Croft just up the hill. It’s been raining most of the evening and set to continue through the night, but it’s still a peaceful, magical spot; we have it all to ourselves.  The tide was out when we arrived but with the waves crashing on the rocks out in the bay.

We stayed by Loch Lomond last night, having driven across the hills and up the motorway, past the craziness of the junctions around Glasgow.  Loch Lomond was a bit of a disappointment; for some reason I expected places to be able to pull over and walk alongside the water, but our route took us up the west side where the busy A82 is the only route, with no footpaths.  Our stop for the night was at Inveruglas Visitor Centre, having purchased a £3 camping permit online the night before. It’s a visitor centre (ie some leaflets on a shelf) and public toilets, with a wooden viewing point looking south across the Loch.  There’s a hydro-electric plant across the road, with the wide water pipes climbing the high hills above.  The view point is a stopping off point for the tourist coach trips; I think the Americans and Japanese were a little bemused by the constant rain showers, but in between we had some lovely sunny spells and blue sky. So yesterday was a bit of a transit day.

I think we may not have stopped over at Loch Lomond if I hadn’t bought the camping permit in advance.  I’m finding it hard to get out of the habit (and my logistics training) of thinking ahead, having a plan (and a fall-back).  Cathy’s always good-humouredly chiding me for it, but I worry we’ll be stuck with nowhere to stay.  The downside is that I become focussed on the destination rather than the journey.  I’m currently reading a book on my kindle about a lady who walked the St James’ route on the Camino  de Santiago Compestela (an area we covered on our travels through Northern Spain earlier this year).  I’m in no way religious, but I do get how the journey is spiritual; maybe I’ll walk a similar camino one day.  One thing she’s learned as she walks the route day by day,  is that you cannot look too far ahead - you must focus on being in the present and make the most of today.  Maybe that’s what I need to do more (blimey, that was a bit zen!).

This morning we were up with the alarm at 0700 and on the road by 0730.  Stopping off on the way to admire the powerful beauty of the Falls of Falloch, we carried on north along the A82, stopping at a quiet car park for a bacon butty and a cup of tea.  The road took us through some small villages, past lochs (and through the rain!) until we arrived in what felt like the busy metropolis that is Oban.  The Tesco superstore was doing a good trade and quite a few van owners were doing similar and topping up.  We arrived at the ferry terminal and I popped into the office to collect our tickets, booked and paid for online.  It would have been a lot cheaper without the back rack (without which we would have been under 6m), but still not a bad cost for a 45 minute return trip.  The ferry wasn’t too busy, a few cars, one other campervan and a coach load of Italians and Americans.  It stayed dry enough for us to spend some time on the upper deck, enjoying the view and the fresh sea air.  There was another short, sharp shower as we returned to the van, but the sun was shining as we drove off at Craignure and turned left to join the main road to the south.  The A roads on the Isle of Mull are mainly single lane, with passing places roughly every 200m.  It’s surprisingly stress-free driving on these small roads - much less than a narrow two-way road - and most people were considerate when pulling over to let each other pass.  Only one car refused to give way, forcing me to reverse back up the hill, until he and his miserable looking wife could pass - no friendly wave to that one!

We passed a lovely sea loch on our right, with the mountains climbing the other side.  It looked perfect terrain for otters and there were road signs to beware of otters crossing!  The valleys and fast flowing streams also looked ideal terrain for bears if they existed here - we could imagine one bounding around in the water trying to catch a salmon.  During the brief sunny intervals the mountain rocks shone against the myriad matt colours of the hills. About 27 miles down the road, we turned off on to another single lane road, before turning off into an even narrower road - albeit still with plenty of passing places - to arrive at Uisken beach.  I parked at the bottom and walked up to Uisken Croft to ask permission from Mrs Campbell to camp and paid our £4.  This is an absolute bargain for such a stunning location; we couldn’t quite believe how lovely it was.  First thing was a barefoot walk on the beach and paddle in the (a little colder than Anglesey!) sea.  However, the rain soon started to sheet across the bay and we retreated to the van for a brew and warm up.  Dinner tonight was paella, cooked and eaten indoors, but what a view from the galley door!  We’re hoping for a lull in the rain later so we can step out and enjoy the peace and solitude.  The tide is almost in now and lapping the stones and sand just a few feet away from Nido’s tyres.  It should be a quite and peaceful night.

Loch Lomond



Sailing from Oban



Wild camping on Uisken Beach







Tuesday 11 September 2018

Wigtown - Scotland's Book Town


Tuesday 11 September 2018

Nido’s parked up at a CMC CL at Newark Farm, just off the A76 near Sanquhar.  Despite the proximity to the road it’s a tranquil spot, with lovely views over the hills, which were clear when we arrived but have now disappeared due to torrential Scottish ‘sunshine’!  I picked this as a stopover on the way to Argyll, so tomorrow will be a bit of a transit day to get us into the Loch Lomond area.  

It rained and the wind blew for most of the night, reducing at about 0430.  I managed to get out first thing for some photos, before we drove back up the peninsula to Wigtown.  This is a small market town with twelve bookshops, some small and eclectic, others very large and with a variety of books.  Cathy was in her element and, I have to say, was very restrained, only visiting three of the bookshops - clearly we’ll need to return!  Next week from 21 - 30 September is the Wigtown Annual Book Festival, so perhaps we’ll come for that next year.  I plugged in the co-ordinates for the CL, which allowed us to drive through part of the Galloway Forest Park, making up 300 square miles and known as the ‘Highlands of the Lowlands’. It was the UK’s first Dark Sky Park, due to the very low population and therefore minimal artificial light.  We stopped at the Wild Goat Park car park for lunch; no goats were seen here although we did spot some just before we pulled in.  Moving on, the next pull-over was the The Red Deer Range, a purpose-built hide from which to view the red deer.  We went armed with cameras and binoculars, thinking we’d need to be patient and view them from a distance. However, the head stag had other ideas!  He was laying down right in front of the hide, with his harem and the younger stags about 50m behind him.  Clearly he’s used to people as a family came in and the young child fed him carrots.  Onwards, we were held up due to road resurfacing, but they eventually waved us through; I wish I’d found an alternative route as on arrival at the CL I found black tar splashed up most of the driver’s side of the van.  Luckily a good spray of WD40 on a cloth got rid of it, but it took an hour to get the job done.  By then the rain was coming over the hills, so we shut the van door and I prepared a pork curry for tonight’s dinner.  As we’re on electric hook-up, we’ll charge all the things and make the most of the opportunity of water top up to have a hot shower tomorrow morning.

Grey Mare's Tail waterfall




Any carrots?

Watching over his harem in the distance


Solway Coastal Road to Isle of Whithorn


Monday 10 September 2018

Nido’s parked up at the end of the harbour road at the Isle of Whithorn.  It’s a small village with cottages nestling around a natural harbour, where the Irish shell fishing boats land their catch.  It’s not really an isle, but more of a peninsula. It’s another lovely wild camping spot with a great view out to sea and into the harbour, although the other thing that’s wild tonight is the weather - the wind and rain is battering poor old Nido’s port side, rocking us around!  It might be some time before these posts are live as the MiFi isn’t picking up any service.  I’m not sure if it’s the unit or the data SIM, but we still have our phones for route planning and research.

We both slept well in the peace and quiet of New Abbey - a great first stop in Scotland.  After breakfast, I topped up our fresh water and replenished the 10L container at the churchyard tap, before walking down to the village shop for some milk.  A group of touring cyclists of various nationalities had stopped to take a look around the Abbey and perhaps make use of the cafe which was now open.

We left and headed south on the coastal road, soon stopping off at Drumburn Viewpoint, looking out towards where the Nith meets the Solway.  Visibility wasn’t great so we couldn’t see Skiddaw, but could just about make out the fells of Buttermere in the Lake District. There was a campervan parked up at the viewpoint, hidden from the road by a high hedge - a nice little wild camping spot.  We carried on following the coastal road, soon turning off left down to the seaside village of Carsethorn.  It has a a lovely row of cottages strung along the waterfront, with a separate garden across the road right next to the sea.  There’s a lovely looking pub called the Steamboat Inn, with parking opposite (another wild camping spot?).  Once a historic port, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries there were frequent sailings from here to the American and Australian colonies.  Just up the road is the cottage where John Paul Jones was born in July 1747.  He became a naval hero of the American Revolution and is regarded as the ‘Father of the American Navy’.

Reversing our route, the next stop was the RSPB Reserve at Mersehead, an extensive wetland and salt marsh area supporting a range of birds.  I’m not very good at bird recognition, but the whooper swans and barnacle geese were easy to spot and a large flock of lapwings were hunkered down in the grass.  We visited the two well-maintained hides and followed the trail towards the sea and along the windswept beach with the waves pounding far out in the estuary, before returning to the car park.  We dodged a few spots of rain and, as we drove on to the village of Rockliffe, it started to rain harder, so on arrival we had a brew in the van.  We did get wet walking down into the village but soon dried off in the strong wind.  Rockliffe, a tiny hamlet with a rocky bay, Victorian cottages, villas and lush gardens has an exotic feel. The 20 acre Rough Island out in the bay is a bird sanctuary and apparently can be reached on foot at low tide.  We drove on to the next village of Kippford - with its 18th century harbour used to accommodate large ships - before the 34 mile drive to our current stop on the Isle of Whithorn. On the drive here we passed Dundrennan, which is the site of the annual Wicker Man Festival (remember the film where a young Edward Woodward is sacrificially burned alive inside the wicker man effigy). The film was actually made a few miles from this location, at Burrow Head, the most southerly point of the Machars.  We also passed the village of Garlieston, where in nearby Rigg Bay the Mulberry Harbours used in the Normandy Landings were first built and tested.  Having seen the real Mulberry Harbours in Arromanche, it was interesting to see they were tested so far from enemy spies’ eyes. 

Whithorn village, just a little north of where we’re parked, is known as the cradle of Christianity in Scotland. It was the base for Scotland’s first saint - St Ninian - and pilgrims still follow the trail to worship at the roofless ruins of the cathedral and then carrying on to St Ninian’s Cave, a few miles south west of Whithorn.  The pilgrimage continues to this day, with 500-600 pilgrims gathering there on the last Sunday in August every year.

Our first full day in Scotland has been really interesting. There’s so much to see and do and we’ve been impressed with the well-kept villages, with no litter and the peace and solitude - it very much reminds us of Normandy.  It’s perhaps a part of Scotland most people by-pass on the way to the large cities and the Highlands and Islands.  But I’d recommend spending some time exploring the area and we’ll certainly return.  Tomorrow we’re visiting Wigtown - Scotland’s book village (the equivalent of Hay on Wye) - where Cathy is after some second hand natural history books.  Then we’ll explore some of the Galloway Forest (well known as a ‘dark sky’ area but perhaps somewhere to spend more time when the skies are clearer), before stopping off at a CL on our journey northwards into Argyll.  Until then, it’s time to listen to the wind and rain batter the van and the seabirds crying as they try to fly through it!

Rough Island - off Rickliffe

Isle of Whithorn harbour


St Ninian's Chapel

Lots of memorials etched on stones
















First trip to Scotland


Sunday 9 September 2018

This is our first trip to Scotland together. Cathy visited her brother when he was based at Faslane in the 1970s and I spent time in Glasgow when HMS BRILLIANT was building and Faslane when HMS WESTMINSTER was in refit - so spent quite a lot of time in Scotland in my first and last ships.  We’re looking forward to exploring and getting to know Western Scotland over the next couple of weeks.  We have a rough plan of heading to Dumfries and Galloway first of all, to explore the Solway Firth coastline and the dark night skies of the Galloway Forest, before heading north to the lochs and peninsulas of Argyll, hopefully with a few days on the Isle of Mull.  But much will depend on the weather and what we find on the way - we don’t want to pass nice places in a rush to drive north. 

We didn’t rush around this morning; I was out most of yesterday around Holyhead Mountain with the Mon Search and Rescue team on exercise and was quite knackered by the end of it, so slept well last night!  We left Anglesey at 1100 and steadily drove up the motorway, with none of the usual Sunday holdups now the school holidays are finished and everyone is back to work. My intention was to break our journey at a C&CC Temporary Holiday Site in Kendal but on arrival it didn’t look inviting, close to a busy road and a bit soulless.  So after a quick stop to check out other places to stay on the Search for Sites App (highly recommended - a really good app backed up by a comprehensive an easy-to-use website), I plugged in the co-ordinates for a wild camping spot south of Dumfries.  Scotland is much more relaxed about wild camping, with lots of visitor car parks available for free overnight parking. 

An hour and a half later we pulled into the car park by Sweetheart Abbey in the lovely village of New Abbey.  This is a small village which nuzzles up to the northern shoulder of Criffel, with lovely little stone cottages on either side of the road.  After a hot meal in the van, we walked around the outside of Sweetheart Abbey, a Cistercian abbey founded by Lady Devorgilla. When she died she was buried with her husband’s heart (he pre-deceased her by several years you’ll be pleased to know!) and the monks rechristened the abbey dulce cor, meaning ‘sweetheart’. On our quick walk around the village before the rain started again, we also came across the New Abbey Corn Mill, a restored and working water mill.  We’re the only motorhome parked here and it’s now very quiet and dark.  After a long drive, food, walk and a cup to tea, we’re ready for a good sleep and setting off to explore the coastline tomorrow.