Taking the Humps  

From Tuesday 24^th September the A841 between Catacol and Pirnmill will  be closed for six weeks for “improvements”.

As many of you reading this will know, the A841, which along with The String from Brodick to Blackwaterfoot makes up Arran’s road network, includes a bumpy stretch between Catacol and Pirnmill known locally as the Humps or the Switchback. Its Gaelic name is Rubha Airigh Bheirg. The area is  picturesque and geologically significant with heather-tufted volcanic sea stacks and a tiny old weathered graveyard huddling under high cliffs. The humps cause many an excited squeal from children in passing cars.

The A841 clings to the island’s edges because they are the only flattish land on a mountainous island. In fact the road is using ancient raised beaches much of the time. Arran’s steep hillsides mean that rainfall flows off the land rapidly and across the road to the sea. This makes maintaining the tarmac a challenge. Fortunately, for most people, the beauty of the scenery more than compensates for the odd pothole, and who would want to speed in such surroundings anyway?

The imminent roadworks at the Humps have provoked a great deal of controversy. The aim is to level the road so that buses with low floor mobility access ramps can use it. Apparently this is required by EU legislation (aspects of small island life can be vulnerable in the path of juggernaut one-size-fits-all legislation). Any road closure on Arran has a considerable impact on local people and visitors alike. There are no alternative routes unless you have a boat. In this case, Pirnmill Village Stores, the only shop in the north end of the island, will undoubtedly be affected by daily road closures. These come in a year when March’s freak blizzard meant a late start to the season, then shortly afterwards the shop was badly damaged by fire, before reopening in July.

Given the unique character of this section of road, many people have wondered if buses with lifts might offer a solution which would allow access for people with wheelchairs without changing the landscape. This is not to be but after listening to local concerns, North Ayrshire Council has moderated the original plans. Instead of flattening the crests the dips between are to be infilled. We hope that this compromise does not compromise the natural landscape. Many islanders fear the pressures to “mainlandise”  the island with pavements and tarmac laybys. Arran’s unspoilt natural character once damaged can never be regained.

Another concession that has just been announced is that the road will be open daily during the period of roadworks, from 3.30 pm until 9 am the following day, so Pirnmill Shop, the Lighthouse Restaurant and The Old Byre Showroom will still be accessible later in the day. The drive from Lochranza to Pirnmill is very scenic and there’s usually something to see in the Kilbrannan Sound from basking sharks to naval manoeuvres. If you’re hoping to travel to Machrie Standing Stones or the Kings Caves it will be best to make an early start or go across the String via Brodick.

Cir Mhor: The Great Crest

I saw stars for the first time since early May this week; the time of the never-truly-dark nights has passed for another year. After July’s heat, mornings are fresher and hillwalking has become appealing again.

Why do so many people climb Goat Fell and so few venture on any of Arran’s other mountains? Okay, it’s the highest peak, but not by many metres. Maybe it’s because it’s got a pronounceable name. Whatever the reason, one of the joys of Arran walking in this world of shrinking lonely places, is that, apart from the group you’re with, you can usually have an Arran hill all to yourself.

The other day  the route that Will and I took was up Glen Sannox, over Cir Mhor (799m) and Caisteal Abhail (The Castles 859m), onto Sail an Im, then down Gleann Easan Biorach to Lochranza- a route about 15km long with 1000m climbing. From the start of the walk Cir Mhor, the Great Crest, confronts you majestically from the head of the glen looking like a child’s drawing of a mountain: a perfect pyramid.

This walk starts at the bus stop at GR 016454. Whenever I am driving back from Brodick to Lochranza the view at this point into Glen Sannox is a –well, shock. The fearsome ridges on each side of the glen look like they might swallow pretty Corrie golf course whole. A well constructed and discreet path takes you almost to the top of Cir Mhor. The path exists thanks to the hard labour and expertise of Scott Murdoch of Lochranza and his team of pathmakers, commissioned by the National Trust of Scotland. It is no mean feat to make a helpful path up such steep and rocky hillsides. Some hands-on scrambling is needed to ascend a gully close to the top of the Saddle and again to reach Cir Mhor’s summit.

My favourite moment when climbing Cir Mhor comes close to the top as you turn a corner round a boulder and find yourself in a corridor of rocky granite towers with dizzy drops to the valley floor. Surrounded by great grey bulky shapes you feel as if you are moving through a herd of sleeping elephants. Q. What’s the point of climbing mountains? A. For special moments like these.

Whilst eating our sandwiches we watched fierce showers blowing in from the west and as we continued up to The Castles one blew onto us. Stopping for a quick rest we found ourselves having that common British mountain experience whereby, in thick cloud, all boulders look the same and so do all paths down. The trouble is that paths close together on mountain tops can end up in valleys that are many miles apart. It was time to dig the compass out of my rucksack. Whenever you need a compass it is sure to be cold and wet, with the wind snatching your map and rain dripping off your eyebrows. The direction of travel arrow can often seem to point you to a direction you weren’t expecting but you know you have to trust it rather than your instinct. It will be right.

As the cloud raced away and we saw Lochranza a long way down and a long way off we knew we were on the right path for Sail an Im. From here we headed down boulder strewn slopes into boggy Gleann Easan with its many waterfalls. The photo shows Will having found a particularly wet bit. Golden spires of bog asphodel, fluffy tufts of bog cotton and clumps of purple heather made it all a delightful bog.

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Being at the end of a hard day’s hillwalking is one of my best feelings in the world. It’s the inner and outer glow factor. If you decide to do this walk, don’t forget that if you get back down to Lochranza by 5pm, the additional warming pleasures of the Arran Distillery await you.

 Caisteal Abhail also features in my June 2012 blog: Castles in the Air

Four Years Later

August 2^nd

It is four years today since Nigel and I arrived at Lochranza Campsite about to embark on a summer of camping and sea kayaking following Nigel’s redundancy. Ten days later we travelled on, having bought the business – well almost. (The land is owned by The Estate by the way.) Before Lochranza, we had an action plan for our next moves in life, but when you find a random opportunity popping up in front of you, by a certain age you decide it’s best to grab it with both hands and deal with the inevitable snags later.

Our summer of sea kayaking and camping round Scotland was wet and windy to say the least, but strangely it made running a campsite seem even more appealing. We got so used to living a very basic lifestyle in difficult conditions that going back to normality looked like walking into prison.

Ironically, running a campsite is actually pretty confining for significant stretches of the year, and when visitors comment on our idyllic lifestyle we think it’s not quite the right word. Remember that it does involve embracing toilet bowls on a daily basis, and toilets and paradise do not normally get mentioned in the same sentences. From the beginning, Nigel’s regret was “we don’t get a weekend”- in fact, no down time at all once the campsite’s open for the season (and then maintenance goes on in winter). Undoubtedly however, life has simplicity- you look after people; you look after land, and your day is dictated by the needs of both. And we have a very beautiful office. If running a campsite is something you’d like to try, the most important skill you can offer is being able to fix things – at any minute of any day something will need fixing. Fortunately fixing is Nigel’s heaven.

Looking back, we were in a state of shock most of our first year- it was less of a steep learning curve and more of a vertical precipice.  We had no financial safety nets and we worked very hard, doing a lot of heavy manual labour that we were not used to at all. Also, coming to live in a place like Lochranza is about so much more than taking on a business- it’s about joining in with community and island life too. Four years on, summer 2013 has beamed brightly on this part of Scotland after Easter blizzards. We are pleased with the changes we have made here, especially our investments last winter in new toilets and showers, as well as two camping pods. With Scott the greenkeeper in charge of the golf course (where previously we did all the golf course labours ourselves) we do not topple into bed in an exhausted state every night.

Things are never dull on a touring campsite – far too many interesting people, doing interesting things and pursuing interesting journeys pass through for it to be otherwise. And paradise does really come into it because the island on a daily basis never fails to move me in terms of its unspoilt beauty. With wild red deer grazing, red squirrels trotting by, and eagles gliding silently high up, I feel a bit like Disney’s Snow-White wandering merrily through the woods with wild creatures gambolling about her.

We are here because a) we went travelling b) we got talking c) we took the plunge. We both believe life is full of opportunities floating around like bubbles. You have to catch them when you coincide with them or else they drift away.

Nature put on a glorious show here on Monday night; the photos show the rainbow that arched over Torr Nead an Eoin and the fiery sunset over the loch.

Liquid Gold

This morning Nigel and I paddled our sea kayaks across to Claonaig on Kintyre and back before breakfast at the Sandwich Station. It was like being out in the beginning of Time- misty grey and a flat calm sea teeming with jellyfish and leaping porpoises.

About a month ago there was a sequence of very low tides caused by a super moon. As parts of the seabed were revealed that I’d never seen before it looked like someone had pulled the plug out. There’s always something unusual going on in the natural world of Arran. Last week we had another before-breakfast paddle from Sannox to Lochranza with Pete Hart of the East Yorkshire Canoe Club. In the clear sea it was possible to see sea bed activity without being a scuba diver: it was a whole universe of sea urchins and anemones, starfish and crabs down there.

Right now we’re having a scorching summer after an Arctic Easter. I’ve never been as hot on Arran as in this month! Outside the window whilst I write this campers are worshipping the sun. (The deer are lying low in the bog areas of the golf course.) Our north-west facing campsite is a hot bowl of sunshine and never-ending daylight when there is good weather in summer. Other folk are heading for the water whether it’s the rocky beach by the pier, the pools of Glen Catacol or Coire Fhion Lochain.

Every year the winners and losers in nature change. It was a late spring that turned out to be wonderful for wildflowers. Meanwhile I haven’t seen a buzzard on the golf course since before the blizzard and it always seemed that it was their domain until then. The wet weather of early May brought springs spurting out in places on the golf course where none used to be. In past times- which didn’t take a water supply for granted- these springs would have been regarded as a blessing, so we mulled over decorating them instead of complaining about them. Now, the thirsty ground must be greedily gulping them down.  

Whatever the weather, Arran’s atmosphere is vibrant in summer with special events, and if you missed the Bronze Age Festival at Brodick Castle last weekend you missed a treat. A team of archaeologists from Northlight Heritage and Glasgow University conducted experiments based on their excavations to try to find out how things were done 4,000 years ago. The weekend culminated in the burning of a timber circle in a field high above the castle. As the flames took hold, we all drew closer to the safety rope enjoying the warmth and the spectacle. Earlier, Neil Burridge of www.bronze-age-craft.com had demonstrated the processes involved in creating a Bronze Age sword. The case that had had molten bronze poured in was opened, amidst rapt suspense, to reveal a slender, gleaming blade.  Neil told us how such swords are often excavated from rivers and lakes most probably having been thrown in as a gift to the gods. 4,000 years ago our ancestors longed for sun and water.

What’s changed?

Heading West

At the campsite we watch the setting summer sun drop down behind the purple moors of Kintyre, and in Lochranza, the coast of this mainland peninsula is closer to us than any villages of Arran apart from Catacol. Back in the days of seafaring peoples, in the fifth and sixth centuries Arran, Kintyre, Knapdale and Bute were all ruled as part of the sea kingdom of Dalriada which encompassed Argyll and Northern Ireland. In this way, the summer ferry between Lochranza and Claonaig continues a longstanding relationship, and this year Calmac are offering a Kintyre link between Brodick and Campbeltown too, making round tours of Arran and Kintyre an appealing possibility whatever your mode of getting about.

The closest point between Arran and Kintyre is the three mile stretch of the Kilbrannan Sound between Imachar on Arran’s west coast and the picturesque fishing village of Carradale half way down the east coast of Kintyre. When Nigel and I paddled this route in our kayaks earlier this month, we were delighted to see a large sign pointing to a hilltop tearoom as we hauled our boats up onto the beach. We hadn’t expected to be able to sit munching homemade cakes in a sheltered garden with a croquet lawn whilst enjoying views of bulky Beinn Bharrain and the Arran hills. The tearoom, by the way, was The Green Tearoom and Observatory (www.greenroomteas.co.uk).

Our second day out this month found us and Nigel’s motorbike on the Lochranza-Claonaig ferry with a view to touring some of the long, remote peninsulas in this part of Scotland. The fourteen miles of rough single track road between Claonaig and Carradale couldn’t have been a prettier start to the journey with cascades of colourful wildflowers tumbling down the banksides.

We know that many of you who stay with us travel on to Carradale Caravan and Camping Site. It has a delightful approach alongside a river which glides under leafy, mature trees. The site itself is tucked behind sand dunes and next to a south-facing beach, with views of our Arran mountains again. It turns out that Carradale hasn’t got just one café that offers fabulous home baking but two, and we enjoyed lunch at Nellie’s café at the west end of the village where you can also find bikes and buggies available for hire so that all generations of a family can get from one end of the village to the other with ease (www.carradalebikesandbuggies.co.uk).  

Though towns like Tarbert have all the fun, bustle and business of small ports, some parts of Kintyre seem almost more serenely remote than some islands. And Kintyre might be mainland but it’s only just hanging on by a thread of rocks between East and West Loch Tarberts. Yet great names of history have stood in this place before you including Somerled Lord of the Isles, St.Columba and Robert the Bruce. (Oh, and Paul and Linda McCartney.) A profuse scattering of standing stones, hill forts and Neolithic burial cairns across the landscape add to a sense that important events of long ago times are only a little beyond reach.

If you’re planning to explore Kintyre you can read more about it in some of my earlier blogs:

What do Campsite Wardens do on Holiday? Oct 2012

Isle of Gigha  April 2012

Meeting the Neighbours  June 2011

A Perfect Day Out  June 2010

Of course Kintyre also offers an alternative, relaxed and scenic route to reach the Isle of Arran.

One Day Clad in Mist……

 

It’s been a busy bank holiday week for me here so instead of writing a blog I thought you might enjoy a couple of extracts from old literature about Arran.

The first extract is from The Isle of Arran in the Beautiful Britain series. It was written in 1912 by Rev. Charles A Hall and it’s available at The Book and Card Shop (on the seafront in Brodick) as well as at the Isle of Arran Heritage Museum:-

Rev. Hall comments how “One who knows the island intimately and is under its spell can readily sympathize with that Arran devotee who, nearing the end of his earthly career, prayed, “Let me die with my face towards Arran”.”

He also describes the island’s changing moods: “Arran is a sea-girt land, clad in greys, purple, russet, and green, with its rugged granite peaks, its noble glens, its cadent burns and comfortable-looking whitewashed cottages……. One day clad in mist; another bathed in sunshine; now gloomy and threatening; to-day warm and grateful; to-morrow gale-swept, with the erstwhile trickling burns so swollen by torrential rains that they rush thunderingly, carrying boulders and debris in hurrying, scurrying haste to the sea.”

Some of the vocabulary in “The Isle of Arran” has become dated, but the picture of Arran painted in words remains very recognisably the Arran of today whilst much of the human planet has changed beyond recognition since then. The sinking of the Titanic, the First World War and votes for women (in Britain) all lay in the near future in 1912.

Malcolm Higgs stayed here last summer, and now lives on Bute. He shared his interest in ancient history by passing on to me an extract from the Lyra Celtica, an 1896 collection of translations from early Gaelic poets. The introduction to the Lyra Celtica describes Arran as “Arran, no longer Arran of the many stags, but still one of the loveliest of the Scottish isles, and touched on every headland and hill with sunset glamour of the past.” As you know, stags feature strongly in daily Lochranza life so it is interesting to learn that this was not the case 117 years ago.

The following extract is from a translation of the Lay of Arran by Caeilte, an Ossianic bard:

“Arran of the many stags- the sea impinges on her very shoulders….. Skittish deer are on her pinnacles, and blackberries upon her waving heather; cool water there is upon her rivers, and mast upon her russet oaks…..

Smooth were her level spots- her wild swine they were fat; cheerful her fields, her nuts hung on her forest hazel’s boughs, and there was sailing of long galleys past her…… at every fitting time delectable is Arran!”

I have left out the blood thirsty bits about hunting but viewing landscape from a perspective of food supply is a surprising one today.

Finally, it strikes me in reading these old texts that the superlatives of 21^st century tourist literature are nothing new: Arran was making writers strive to do justice to its beauty in the long distant past too.

The Big Five

2013: Lochranza Wildlife and The Year of Natural Scotland

VisitScotland and Scottish Natural Heritage have recently launched the Big 5 campaign as part of the Year of Natural Scotland. The idea is to encourage discussion of Scottish wildlife and they would like to hear your views at www.scotlandsbig5.co.uk

The five species selected to spark off the debate are: the harbour or common seal, the otter, the golden eagle, the red deer and the red squirrel which happen to be creatures we see almost daily in Lochranza.

The common seal is actually much less common in Scotland than the grey seal. They can be seen basking at mid-tide on the rocks off Newton shore.

Otters can be seen almost anywhere round the Arran coastline but predicting just where or when is no easy matter. I was canoeing last week and saw one scampering along the loch shore beside the road. Drivers, please be aware!

If you’re a regular reader of this blog you will know how much red deer feature in Lochranza life. During this chilly spring most of them have stayed high up on the hillsides as the grass down here is only just beginning to grow. I really thought the old stag with a damaged eye must have gone to meet his maker after the rut, but he’s back, soaking up the sun in quiet corners of the golf course.

In Lochranza the golden eagles are probably watching you far more than you know. Hares are their main food on the island.  The eagle look-alikes, the buzzards, hunt the lower slopes of the hills around the campsite, often calling as they fly. They’re actually only half the size of a golden eagle. If you want to know more, Jim Cassels keeps meticulous records of birdlife on Arran- see: www.arranbirding.co.uk.

There are no grey squirrels on Arran and the reds range from fiery orange to almost black. Look out for them in the trees along the burn or crossing the road to village gardens early in the morning- another good reason to drive slowly. They tend to stay under cover when it’s raining.

Missing from the current Big Five list is the basking shark- they cruise between Lochranza and Pirnmill, and are a sight that fills everyone’s hearts with joy, every September. It is not unusual to see them from the Calmac ferry. We also have badgers, adders, bats and toads in Lochranza, but, like the rest of Arran, no foxes, weasels or moles, and no magpies, rooks or tawny owls.

Sometimes it can be very rewarding to explore the natural history that doesn’t run, swim or fly away. The island has a positive treasure trove of mosses and lichens in the native woodlands, not to mention the unigue Arran whitebeam trees of Glen Catacol. However, it is the rocks of which Arran is composed which are one of the island’s most famous features. Whoever thought up the phrase “solid as a rock” should visit the Isle of Arran Heritage Museum where you can find out just how dynamic and well-travelled Arran rocks are!

Where can I see:  A guide on where to find some of Arran’s best wildlife is produced by the Arran Natural History Society and costs £4 available from many island shops.

(The otter photo was taken by Mr Berry and the deer photo by Lance Ostler.)