A wee trip up to Scotland

The spectacular view from our hotel room, across the Firth of Clyde
- sunrise on the Isle of Arran, Western Scotland

Greetings from a very wet and blustery England, where Ledbury is currently feeling the edge of Storm Amy. We're only getting a small taste of it, fortunately, unlike Northern Ireland and Western Scotland which are battening down the hatches against gale force winds. Of course, just yesterday morning I had our exterior windows cleaned (grrrrrr....) but I'm not complaining too loudly in the circumstances.

We are not long back from a quick trip to Scotland, the primary purpose of which was to meet up with an old friend whom I had not seen since 1988. But prior to that we decided to head to the Isle of Arran for a few days. We love the western isles of Scotland and I was keen to visit another one. Kevin had made a brief exploration of Arran back in 2017 while we were cat-sitting in Ayrshire; one fine day he took himself off on the ferry, cycled around the island, and got the ferry back.

En route from Ledbury we stopped at a National Trust property just outside Liverpool - Speke Hall, a Tudor timber-framed manor house in an unusual setting on the banks of the River Mersey. It is fairly unique in being a mixture of Tudor simplicity and Victorian Arts and Crafts aesthetics (it was restored in the 19th century). This was just a quick, but most welcome, break for lunch in the roughly six-hour drive to Troon on Scotland's west coast, where we would take the ferry across to Arran.

The Tudor section of National Trust property Speke Hall, not far from Liverpool.
It was built in around 1530

The Great Hall inside the Tudor section of Speke Hall, near Liverpool

Eeek... this suit of armour well and truly triggered my claustrophobia!
- in the Great Hall at National Trust property, Speke Hall

View of the brick part of Speke Hall (constructed late 16th century), at the rear of the house

Arran is a gorgeous place. It's also large enough that if Scotland does its usual weather thing, there are a few sheltered sights to see as well as enough hotels, pubs, restaurants and galleries to fill the wet hours. At 432 square kms it's Scotland's seventh-largest island, with a permanent population of about 4,600. People do describe it as being 'Scotland in miniature' as its landscape is quite varied, from rugged and soaring peaks to beautiful sandy beaches, lochs and forests, and with a good dose of history thrown in. 

Our ferry journeys from Troon to Brodick and back were a treat, with the boat being accompanied by pods of dolphins cavorting alongside for some considerable time. On Arran we stayed at The Corrie Hotel, about 15 minutes drive north of the ferry terminal town of Brodick, and our room afforded us a gorgeous view across the Firth of Clyde. Built in 1850 from local red sandstone, this is a TV-free small hotel which offers very comfortable rooms and good quality food, as well as a dedicated whisky bar, which Kevin appreciated. It's also dog-friendly - not only is there a supply of dog toys to borrow, and towels for cleaning up muddy paws, there is a dedicated dog menu by gourmet dog food company Sir Woofchester 😀

The ferry port at Brodick on the Isle of Arran

Pods of cavorting dolphins accompanied our ferry journeys to and from Arran

A magical ferry trip from Troon to the Isle of Arran, across the Firth of Clyde
- early evening, late September

Sunrise viewed from our bedroom window in Corrie, Isle of Arran

Our accommodation on Arran - The Corrie Hotel

Weather-wise we were fortunate; it did bucket down on one of the days but the rest of the time it was pleasantly sunny / slightly overcast with perfect temperatures for walking (about 14-15ºC). On the one rainy day we took the opportunity of visiting Brodick Castle which was handed over to the National Trust For Scotland in 1958 in lieu of death duties. There's been a fortress on this site since at least the 5th century, though most of the current building was constructed in 1844, increasing the size of the castle threefold. The site has been controlled or occupied by Norse kings and English and Scots royalty throughout the centuries. 

Not only did we tour the house, which is beautifully furnished and has an exceptional art collection, we stoically braved the rain and walked a reasonable percentage of the gardens. We almost gave up trying to find the squirrel hide which is in steep woodland but thankfully persevered, as it was well worth it. Since the introduction of grey squirrels from North America in the 19th century, Britain's native red squirrels have all but disappeared, with small colonies found in only a few areas of the UK. In England there are only two - on the Isle of Wight, and in the Lake District. Thankfully Scotland fares a little better and we were thrilled to sit in the hide and be entertained by two tiny red creatures feeding on nuts (see photo below). I do also have video of the squirrels' antics but unfortunately I've hit my limit on this cost-free blogging platform; over the past 11 years I've posted a number of short videos and apparently the limit is cumulative ☹️ 

Yours truly braving the rain with rain jacket and brolly
- at Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran

Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran, Western Scotland

A sea of fuchsias at Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran

Red squirrel lifting the lid of a feeding box, seeking out nuts
- at Brodick Castle's squirrel hide

 

Kevin emerging from the squirrel hide in the grounds of Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran

Coincidentally, my friend Lynn's daughter Tayler was visiting Arran at the same time of us, with a couple of Norwegian friends, what's more! We ran into them at the castle - I knew they were planning to visit that day and I heard an Aussie accent from a young woman accompanied by two tall-ish creatures with blond hair and unblemished porcelain skin... didn't take too much effort to join the dots. All three were friendly, interesting women and we ended up meeting them for dinner that evening at The Kinloch Hotel in Blackwaterfoot on the western side of the island. The following day we bumped into them again as we all made the most of the gorgeous weather to explore some of Arran's best-known attractions, the standing stones at Machrie Moor and King's Caves near Blackwaterfoot, the latter being a roughly two-hour loop hike from the car parking area with some steep climbing. The caves were formed around 10,000 to 6,000 years ago during an ice age and there is a legend that Robert the Bruce sheltered there just prior to the Battle of Bannockburn, but this is unproven. 

How nice it was to meet and spend time with Tayler, who hadn't yet been born the last time I saw her mother in 1988.

The truly lovely walk through fields to reach the standing stones at Machrie, on Arran's west coast.
It takes about an hour to walk out there and back again

A slightly awkward shot of several of the Machrie standing stones.
Some wally and two of his friends were hogging the site for ages, taking endless selfies just on the other side of the stone in the foreground - totally oblivious to others hoping to view the stones from that side

View over Machrie Bay on the 4.7km loop hike from the car park to the King's Caves and back, near Blackwaterfoot on Arran's west coast

Obviously I didn't go inside any of the caves because of my claustrophobia!
- King's Caves, near Blackwaterfoot, Isle of Arran

We spent our last couple of hours on Arran driving the coast road around the southern part of the island, heading back towards the Brodick ferry port. Truly, what a beautiful place and we'd happily return.

Here are some further shots of this gorgeous, scenic island...

Cioch na h-Oighe (the pointy peak) and the Devil’s Punchbowl (Coire na Ciche),
from a viewpoint between North Sannox and Lochranza, Isle of Arran

View towards Lochranza Castle on Arran's north-west coast

16th century Lochranza Castle, Isle of Arran

View of the bay in front of Lochranza Castle, Isle of Arran

Rippling waves on the Isle of Arran's west coast

And so, after three days on Arran, we took the ferry back to the Scottish mainland and did the short drive into the centre of Glasgow (less than an hour), a city we've visited multiple times. 

Glasgow is not a photographer's dream; this city has quite a hard edge to it, there are numerous buildings that have seen better days and quite a few homeless people. But we've always enjoyed the edgy character of Scotland's largest city.

Upon walking to our hotel we were somewhat taken aback to pass a long queue of perhaps 200 people, all dressed in Victorian attire, and period carriages parked along several streets and squares. Turns out the area right near our hotel had for some days been transformed into the 19th century for an upcoming Joel Coen film Jack of Spades. It's a gothic mystery film set in 1880s Scotland, featuring a cast that includes Josh O'Connor, Frances McDormand, Lesley Manville and Damian Lewis. Sadly the evening we arrived was the final day of filming there so we didn't have the opportunity to spot any of the stars or observe scenes being shot.

The Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow

Pride rainbow on Wilson Street in Glasgow, with two of the city's many murals in the background
- Keeper of Light (left) and Bow Down, Honour the Roots (right)

A closer shot of Keeper of Light, one of Glasgow's murals

Gritty Glasgow.
The old City of Glasgow College building (the Met Tower) has been vacant for 10 years.
Redevelopment plans were shelved in 2024, with economic woes cited as the reason

Clearing up after the area near our Glasgow hotel was transformed into a Victorian-era streetscape,
as part of filming for a new Joel Coen film, Jack of Spades

There were a LOT of carriages!
Just around the corner from our hotel in Glasgow - filming for the new Joel Coen film Jack of Spades

The next day we finally met up with Lynn at one of Glasgow's quirkiest bars, The Last Bookstore, on Hope Street.

Lynn and I had worked together for a while in Sydney in the early 1980s, and then Lynn continued her adventures around Australia for a few years before returning to the UK (she's from Glasgow originally). I did visit her in Bristol in 1988, when she and her husband were running a pub there, and we continued to be in touch for a number of years after that. Sadly, the combination of each of us moving cities and countries a number of times and Lynn changing her surname meant we lost contact.

Happily, Lynn found me on Facebook last year. She retrained as a teacher and has been living in a fairly remote part of Western Australia for the past decade or so. What a lucky coincidence that she also had a trip lined up back home to Scotland for a few weeks this year, and consequently I eagerly made plans for us to head up that way.

Poor Kevin suffered through lengthy reminiscences of people she and I had worked with, but we both sat in rapt fascination as Lynn regaled us with her life stories, including a 12-month trip around Australia with her husband back in 2021-22, which she blogged about. It's fascinating stuff, particularly if you have an interest in the more remote parts of Australia. You can access Lynn's blog here:

https://flannerysfootprints.wordpress.com/

The Last Bookstore in Glasgow - venue for my reunion with Lynn

Corridor in the upstairs dining area of The Last Bookstore

The bar area on the ground floor of The Last Bookstore in Hope Street, Glasgow

Unbelievably, neither Lynn nor I remembered to whip out our phones and capture the meeting for posterity - kind of amazing, given we are both accomplished bloggers and publishers on social media! Ah well, the occasion will just have to live on in our memories.

Meanwhile, Kevin and I are congratulating ourselves on having selected last week for our jaunt to western Scotland rather than this week. Most of the ferry services in Scotland have been cancelled due to Storm Amy and it would indeed have been a bit miserable - not to mention potentially dangerous - travelling about in gale force winds and rain, much as we are usually very stoic when it comes to weather.

The author and Kevin, with Cioch na h-Oighe and the Devil’s Punchbowl in the background
- Isle of Arran, Western Scotland

Bidding farewell to the Isle of Arran, on the ferry back to Troon

A post on our new house is still forthcoming... just awaiting the arrival of another rug and an armchair!

Until next time.

- Maree  xo