Laggantuin

Laggantuin

Ian Hislop said on television last week that he believes that the British obsession with history arises from nostalgia for a golden age that never actually existed. As you’ll know if you read my blog regularly I am fascinated by history but I have never wanted to turn the clock back. It seems to me that, in the past, if you were a man you were likely to die in bloody battle and if you were a woman you were likely to die in bloody childbirth- thank heavens for being alive in the 21^st century! For me the fascination is to do with understanding why things are as they are today whether it’s in a family, local or global sense. It’s about recording and remembering so that the past isn’t lost for ever.

History is written all over Arran’s landscapes in buildings, ruins, earthworks and place names. I recently scrambled up to the ruins of Laggantuin- an old clachan, or cluster of homes, huddled in a sheltered bowl of hillside on the coastline north of Sannox. It is said that, long ago, islanders were able to hide from Viking raids there, concealed by a lip of land. Today you can still see the ruins of their blackhouses- long one-storey buildings in which families lived at one end and animals at the other- and the characters and conversations of the past can seem almost present. The land was farmed on the runrig system with each family cultivating strips of land which were rotated annually. Labour and implements were shared. As a way of life it had successfully supported the island population for millennia, although it would have been a harsh existence by modern standards and the people possessed little. Everything changed with the agricultural improvements of the late 18^th century when the modern capitalist world extended its reach over the old communal ways and the inhabitants of Laggantuin were cleared out to make way for sheep farming.

Some of the displaced islanders went to Megantic County in Canada, some to Glasgow. A few were able to stay on Arran as fishing crofters. But sheep farming did not bring the prosperity that had been hoped for and much land that had been enclosed and managed reverted to a wild state. Look out for old enclosure walls all along the coast from Sannox to Lochranza. Ironically, today in Lochranza the hill sheep seem as if they must have always been here and the place certainly wouldn’t be the same without them and their lambs on the golf course in April and sleeping on the Boguille road at night. I wonder what traces the 21^st century will leave behind? Something that future generations will enjoy but most of us alive now will never see is being created at Sannox this year, in fact you will see its beginnings as you walk to Laggantuin. The coniferous forest is being felled and native broad-leaved tree species are being planted by the Forestry Commission. Timber will be shipped out from a new platform. Sometimes history holds up the best practices for the future.

 

 

The Barking House

The photos show Lochranza’s Barking House in last week’s lovely sunshine. It is screened by rambling gorse bushes and to be found on the other side of the road from the church. Each winter sees it tumble down a little more so, if you visit, please don’t climb on it both for the safety of yourself and the preservation of the building.

The Barking House is a grade B listed building dating from the mid 19^th century when it was situated by a cutting from the burn made for boat access. It is single storey but used to have an attic and a slate roof. Inside the walls is a cobbled ground floor with a pump shaft.

In the middle of the 19^th century Lochranza was a bustling and self-sufficient fishing village. It wasn’t easy at that time to walk out of Lochranza to other parts of the island but the surrounding sea waters were full of boats which connected Campbeltown on Kintyre and the Clyde with Arran. The Barking House was used by herring fisher families as a place to carry out the barking process- the nets would be strengthened and preserved with a mix of water and “cutch”- a tannin-rich bark extract from India (hence the barking). The nets would then be hung to dry on frames outside. Gaelic was still spoken in this part of the island at that time and apparently the Arran Gaelic of the period had a great many words for rain!

 Herring fishing was no easy life. In the S.W.R.I’s ‘History of the Villages of Arran’, Neil Clark remembers that the crofter fishermen would “sail on a Monday morning, and on the first haul their clothes got wet through, and were still wet when they came ashore on Saturday mornings”. A look at the headstones in Lochranza and Sannox churchyards reveals many lives lost at sea. At the same time it was a life that offered opportunity and many young men from Lochranza rose to become Master Mariners and Chief Engineers. The large villas near the pier weremainly built by prosperous sea captains in the early 20^th century.

Today, the Duarchan (the inner harbour behind the castle spit) may look like a timeless scene, with waders feeding at low tide and a few sailing boats bobbing on their moorings by the castle, but this tranquillity belies a past when the loch shores were busy with the comings and goings of boats. As you wander around Arran it’s easy to stumble on half-hidden history like the barking house and get jolted into past times, glimpsing the lives of people who weren’t recorded in history but who belonged here.

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The Cock of Arran Coastal Walk

Nigel and I took these photos as we walked this classic route on February 28^th. We saw two porpoises in the sea near Laggan cottage, plenty of otter droppings and two large deer skeletons.

We prefer to walk this circular route anti-clockwise, avoiding a steep ascent after Laggan cottage.

The route begins on the Narachan track above the campsite. Before you reach the cottages of Narachan a signpost directs you along a clear gently-ascending track.

At the highest point of the track, a vista of the islands of the Firth of Clyde and the Ayrshire coast opens up. Descend the track above the ruins of Cock Farm to Laggan Cottage. Before the 20th century more than a hundred people lived, fished and farmed in this area. Look out for evidence of small-scale coal mining and salt panning  industries along the shore.

 

From Laggan, head left or north-west along the coastal path which is rugged and boggy in places but sheltered when westerly winds are blowing. In about half a mile you reach a little harbour and it is here that the tracks of a giant millipede which existed around 300 million years ago be seen on the rocks.

 

Further on you reach Ossian’s Cave. It’s possible to wriggle inside and find old sailors’ carvings on the walls.

 

 

Red sandstone

 

Sheltering from a hail shower under the Cock of Arran.

Just before the white cottage and boatshed at Fairy Dell you come to An Scriodan-  a short section of easy scrambling. Faded yellow dots guide you along the best line. You can avoid the scramble altogether if you arrive at this point at low tide.

 

 At Fairy Dell you can either head uphill to join the North Newton track, or follow the coast, which is full of geological interest, back to Lochranza.

Length: 8 miles

Time:  4 hours

Verdict: Constantly-changing views, varied terrain, wildlife and marine life, history, rocks- this walk is never the same twice.

After the Rain (also the name of an Arran Aromatics fragrance!)

Sunshine arrived like a long lost friend one morning last week glistening on the snowdrops in the village and on the snowy mountain tops. It’s been a long wet and windy spell on Arran though nothing like as extreme as the stormy weather that has repeatedly hammered the south of England. At Lochranza the hills shelter us from the full impact of southerly winds, but getting on and off the island since Christmas has involved closely scrutinising weather forecasts to judge when the Caledonian Isles will be able to sail. High tides have nibbled away at the island’s edges and, in places, taken out a big mouthful, Maybe it’s time we pinched an idea from our prehistoric ancestors and started building crannogs on stilts to live in. I sometimes wonder if the ceilidh tradition of Scotland came about as a creative response to long dark wet winters. Anyway, one sunny morning and you’d think the storms had never been. There is very little pollution in the west coast air and sunshine after rain makes everywhere look freshly created in brilliant colours.

Another highlight of this time of year for us is the Lochranza Village Hall Burns Supper. A tasty traditional meal of cock-a-leekie soup, haggis, neeps and tatties, followed by Arran oatcakes, Arran cheese and Arran shortbread is punctuated with speeches and songs. We are well-fed on this island! The toasts, naturally, are made with Arran single malt. Two centuries later, it’s surprising to realise just how many well-known expressions come from the pen of Robert Burns.

The big news of the last week is that the Corrie seal was washed away in a storm and washed up at Turnberry Golf Course in Ayrshire. The wooden seal was carved by Arran sculptor Marvyn Elliott and was so lifelike that almost every passer-by stopped in their tracks to see if it was real. Hopefully, it will soon return to bask outside the Corrie Hotel once more.

A bit of sunshine has had the effect of a powerful energising drink on us. We open next Saturday so on with the outdoor painting!

Here’s Nigel polishing pods!

A blog of blogs

A blog of blogs

Happy New Year! Hope you weren’t affected too badly by the storms. It’s looking like the map of the British coastline may have to be redrawn after this winter. With winds from the south we were lucky enough to be sheltered in Lochranza but we’ve witnessed some big tides engulfing the sea field of the golf course and lapping the doorways of the village houses.

A lot of us start each new year with thoughts of what we’d like to see and do in the coming months, so for this reason I thought you might enjoy sampling a small selection of other bloggers’ thoughts about Arran life.

The following link will take you to a blog written by my daughter Emily about a RIB trip from Lochranza round the Cock of Arran. Emily also lives in a country that has beautiful mountainous landscapes (but no sea) –Switzerland:

http://www.countrybycountry.com/2014/01/isle-arran/

The annual popular Arran Mountain Festival takes place over 4 days from the 16^th-19^th May this year. It offers great value guided walks in the Arran mountains. You can read a varied collection of AMF blogs at:-

http://www.arranmountainfestival.blogspot.co.uk

The next link will take you to Arran in Focus’s stunning photographic blog:-

http://www.arraninfocus.blogspot.co.uk

And this link is guide Lucy Wallace’s blog which focuses on outdoor adventurous activities and wildlife:-

http://www.wildonarran.blogspot.co.uk

You’ll find a treat for the ears at:-

http://www.soundcloud.com/chae-cruickshank

Chae is a geologist from north-east Scotland living in Lochranza. If you were here in the autumn his “Arran in October” will evoke deer memories, I’m sure.

Hope you enjoy reading all these as much as I do.

The Red Deer Rut  Diary 2013 part two

October 15^th

The chief stag was VERY agitated this morning, refusing to tolerate other stags anywhere near the herd and charging furiously and noisily after a young stag who was determined to try his luck. I found out later that a big fight between two stags was witnessed on the sea field that same morning, lasting twenty-five minutes.

October 16^th

The ground has been scuffed up on the 6^th fairway today. I wonder if it has been caused by actual mating? Damage to trees has stopped. There must be something about munching up pine trees just before the rut that attracts stags- it doesn’t seem so appetising to them afterwards.

October 19^th

The atmosphere has changed on the golf course. It is less intense and there is less roaring. The main herd on the golf course of 16 hinds has been sitting comfortably on the first fairway in a tight-knit group with the chief stag. No hinds were trying to run away and no other stags were around waiting to challenge.

There is still a lot of night-time roaring coming from up the Narachan track and from Gleann Easan though the stags sound pretty hoarse at times.

October 21^st

This week stag culling stops and hind culling begins. If this isn’t done there will be high mortality of the young over the winter. Calves stay with their mothers for a year or even two. There are two or three little family groups like this who are now grazing at some distance from the main herd, presumably because mating has taken place.

October 23rd

One very exhausted chief stag fast asleep in the reeds near the Newton Road Bridge. His big antlers sticking up like an aerial gave his whereabouts away. The rut ends in a drawn-out slow calming like the sea after a storm. The structure of the herd loosens and eventually the big stags return to the hills.

Blinky was culled earlier this month. He was estimated to be 15 which is very old for a stag. He was blind in one eye and going blind in the other so his prospects for surviving the coming winter were not good. At least he spent his last few days proudly in charge of the herd again.

Snowstorm Facts

Our camping season 2013 began dramatically with the blizzard that blasted Arran on March 22^nd.  Some facts about it that we have learned recently are:

• Three power towers collapsed on Kintyre severing the electricity line to Arran. Power tower collapse in this part of Scotland had only occurred three times before in sixty years. Heavy snow rapidly built up and turned to ice. Lines between each tower had about 20 tons on them.
• Some Arran homes on the West coast had no power for six days.
• 700 SSE workers were drafted into the area from round the country.

 (This information came from the ‘Snow bill hits £15 million’ report in the Arran Banner 3^rd August 2013 following a presentation by Neil Wilson SSE Operations manager for Argyll and West Highland.)

The campsite and golf course close for winter on October 31^st as usual. Rutting has no sooner ended here than tupping begins and the hill sheep will be brought down to the golf course on November 1^st. Whoever thinks Lochranza is a quiet place?

I’ll leave you with a glorious view of the Arran mountains in October sunshine taken from Dun Fionn near Brodick on Thursday.

The Lochranza Red Deer Rut Diary 2013

For two summers a stag has been hanging about Lochranza. Sometime he must have had the worst of a fight and had been blinded in one eye. He is the Blinky I refer to in these notes.

The red deer of Lochranza are wild but managed, and culling takes place in the autumn.

Every year the deer congregate on the golf course for the rut. The obvious reason for this is that it’s the best grass in the area. My personal theory is that they choose to be here because it’s a natural amphitheatre and the rut is all about stags showing off their strength. The stag in charge keeps the main herd centre-stage on the golf course and his roars resound around the hillsides.

17th September

32 deer have congregated on the golf course including six young stags. Some play-fighting is going on and some muted roaring at night. A mature stag with 17 points on his antlers is sitting in the sea-field of the golf course- by himself.

19^th September

Blinky woke us up in the middle of the night sawing his antlers on a tree outside the caravan and breaking off branches (that’s why Lochranza gardens are fenced!)

20^th September

Eight young deer are munching Mrs MacAllister’s hedge next to the golf course. Why are they doing that now when they haven’t done it all year? There’s plenty of grass to eat. Once the rut begins properly the stags won’t eat at all. The 17 pointer has taken charge of the herd- he’s showing interest in the hinds but they’re not reciprocating- they scurry out of his reach.

22^nd September

The stags have re-opened their baths by the 6^th green (we filled them in after last year’s rut). They scour out holes with a circular motion of their antlers and finish up looking dark, muddy and scary (to impress their rivals).

26^th September

A noisy night of roaring. Jackdaws were sitting on the 17 pointer pecking insects off him- he looked happy to have the service. The quietest time of day is late morning, when the deer settle down and have a nap.

30^th September

Thought the 17 pointer was dead- he was crashed out exhausted in the sunshine this afternoon. Not easy to lie flat out when you’ve got big antlers at each side of your head!

1^st October

Blinky has moved in and has charge of the herd. He is defending them fiercely because there are rivals roaring all round the periphery of the golf course. If females run away he roars at them.  If young stags come too close he gives a series of loud grunts. He had fun bathing in the deep ditch we’ve just cleared and tossed mud and water everywhere.

4^th October

Blinky has moved the herd to the sea-field. Roars from stags above the old quarry, the Village Hall, the Distillery, the hill fort and the Whinns.

6^th October

Walked up the Narachan. Stags are everywhere- oblivious to people- just intent on watching the herd to seize their chance.

Tonight  Blinky saw a young stag off by walking in a dominant way parallel to him, forcing him right up above the old quarry where they had a quick tangle with their antlers. Blinky then charged headlong back down to the herd. P.S The eagles were out in the sunshine too- flying high above all the deer drama.

8^th October

Blinky is not in charge any more. The herd have scattered a bit but there are plenty of stags moving in. Some of this year’s calves are still being fed by their mothers.

14^th October

The first fairway is the central arena of the rut.

Night-times now are filled with the long resonant groans of stags’ voices- they sound as if their urge to procreate is unbearable. If they all took up monogamy life would be much easier.

The hinds come into season on the 21^st so the tension is electric. When the stag in charge chases the interlopers away he really means business now. I give him a wide berth when I’m raking the bunkers.

Next instalment coming soon.

Photo by Lance Ostler