Happy New Year! Bliadhna Mhath Ùr!
Today (11th January) is New Year’s Eve in the
Old Scottish calendar. Bliadhna Mhath Ùr (Happy New Year in Gaelic).
Already, the days are noticeably a little
lighter and the patches of the campsite touched by sunshine are a little
larger. The darkest days of the year have past, but is winter still to come?
Lochranza takes its name from the bay around
which its white cottages and villas straggle. The bay, an inlet of the sea, has
been a useful anchorage for boats throughout centuries. The name Lochranza derives from the Gaelic
and Norse meaning ‘loch of the rowan tree river’. The rowan tree or mountain
ash can cope with high altitudes and harsh climates, and ancient folk wisdom
regards it as giving protection to a place from enchantments.
I realise that being protected from
enchantment is not necessarily one of your essential holiday requirements. However,
if you are looking for the beauty of Scottish mountains, lochs and sea and lots
of wildlife you will enjoy Lochranza. Our online booking opens on February 1st.
We strongly advise early booking especially for the last week in May, and the
whole of July and August. If you have visited us before, you’ll find plenty of
old faces to welcome you back and some new ones as well.
If you like to plan your holiday to coincide with Arran’s
festivals 2019 here are dates for the mountain festival and the folk music
festival:-
Arran Mountain Festival 17th-20th
May www.arranmountainfestival.co.uk
Arran Folk Music Festival 7th-9th
June www.arranevents.com
I’ll keep you posted about the other festivals as I hear
about them. Do watch this space.
Wishing you good health and enchanting travelling in
2019.
Kathy and Nigel, and Lochranza Campsite Staff
‘If winter comes, can Spring be far behind?’ (Shelley)
