Mull of Kintyre

Move day today, and after packing up and hitching the ‘van we realised we had nowhere to go!  We had a quick look in our book and found a caravan site at Lochgilphead at the top of the Mull of Kintyre, so that’s where we headed.  Today was the first day we noticed that Autumn is on the way as this is the first day we’ve seen deciduous trees for a few weeks and they are starting to change colour already. After setting up and a brew we set out to explore our new surroundings.  First we drove through the town and had a glimpse at the shops and pubs available, then we set off for the appropriately named Loch Swee

n.  We turned off onto a little B road and soon discovered the Crinan canal which has some huge locks – one of which had 2 boats going through it at the same time, we quickly pulled over and got out to watch them pass through the lock, overhearing one saying he was on his way to Glasgow.  We carried on down thinner and thinner roads until we reached the very picturesque Loch Sween, with the islands of Islay and Jura as its backdrop, eventually reaching the parking area for Castle Sween.  We got the dogs out and set off down the drive, very surprised to discover that it leads to a holiday park full of static caravans, the ruined castle was on the other side of ‘static land’ and is now owned by Scottish Heritage.  We had a walk around the grounds of the castle and read some of the information boards, built in the 1300’s by the MacSween’s it passed through a number of hands before being abandoned in 1645. On the way back to the car we picked some lovely ripe blackberries which will be going in some gin or vodka!  Continuing down the road, we stopped  at the tiny ruin of Kilmory chapel, again owned by Scottish Heritage. There is a protective roof over the chapel, and you have to use the key chained to the door to get in, once inside there are numerous carved headstones and crosses from the local area which are protected from the elements and have information about their origin.  After a look around we back tracked to where the road rejoined the canal and we drove through a

lovely hamlet called Bellanoch where the canal widens into a marina full of yachts, then we followed it to its end where it joins the sea at the tiny village of Crinan.  There were a number of boats at the small port, waiting to enter or leave the canal, and there was even one in the sea lock, engines running, waiting for someone to come and let him in. There were a few information boards for us to read here too, so we took our time and enjoyed the atmosphere. 

Phil was up early the next day and went out on his bike to the nearby Fire Tower Trail, a 15km trail which is good fun, if a little overgrown in places.  First call after this was the Arduaine gardens, which are now looked after by National Trust for Scotland. We had a wander round the lovely gardens in the sun and met a couple who were on holiday celebrating their 30 wedding anniversary and we chatted about Skye and the Outer Hebrides. The views up Loch Melfort towards the sea were amazing and the garden was lovely and quiet with just a few people around. Lack of visitors is a problem for the Trust though and the reception area is no longer manned and there is one less gardener now as they have to make cut backs, the garden is under threat but hopefully they will be able to keep it open.  Then onto Ardfern village which has a lovely marina and is half way down a peninsula. We carried on down the peninsula which is next to the sound of Jura,

and at the end of the road there was a gate which we went though followed by a couple who asked it was much further, “who knows” says us, “we’re just following the road!”  We all carried on to a small car park at the end. We had our lunch in the car then continued retracing our steps back to Carnasserie castle, which is looked after by Historic Scotland. This was very impressive and it stood on a small hill which you happened on after a short walk. It was a 16^th century build by John Carswell, a bishop. The castle was captured and part of it blown up in 1685. There was quite a lot to look at as there were complete staircases to go up to the 5th floor of the tower, all made safe of course! After the castle we headed back to the historic village of Kilmartin where we had a look at some carved stones in the village church yard and a viewpoint over the glacial plain of Kilmartin Glen.   There are lots of standing stones and cairns here, it reminded us of the Outer Hebrides. Then on to look at the standing stones and burial cairn at Slockavullin, unfortunately we couldn’t have a close look at the stones as no dogs were allowed.

On the way back to the van we stopped at Dunchraigaig which was another Historic Scotland monument free to get in, it was just over the road from a small car park so we had a quick look at the cairn and carried on to the fort at Dunadd. This is a 16th century fort that is perched on a rocky outcrop. We had a walk to the top and a mooch around at the view and then headed back to the car. We called at the pub at Cairnbaan next to the canal and had a couple of drinks sat in the sun next to a lock on the canal before heading home, what a big day out!!

The next day we were off for another big day out on the Mull of Kintyre.  We drove down the main road to Tarbert, a small fishing town, which now has a huge marina in the bay with loads of expensive yachts moored up. We parked up and had a nice walk around the little town and down to the harbour front, then up the hill t

o Tarbert castle. Not much left of the 14^th century castle, but the view of the surrounding area was stunning.  We saw a couple of chaps lugging stuff up the hill and asked what they were doing, they were setting up for a fireworks display for the yacht club, they said it was due at 10pm and we should go and watch!  We headed back down the hill and Linda went into a little coffee shop and bought us both coffees from a man who looked like ‘Doc’ from Back to the Future!  Back on the road, we drove down the west side of Kintyre until we got to Kennacraig where we spotted the ferry from Islay had just landed, so we turned in to watch it go off again!  We couldn’t get down the road due to all the traffic coming off the ferry, but some smart alec behind us thought it was a good idea to squeeze past, but got egg on his face as a big lorry came and they blocked the whole road between them!  We sat at the port and watched the ferry load up and sail off while we had our sarnies.  We carried on down the road with stunning scenery over to Jura and Islay and stopped for a walk on a beach at Bellochantuy.  Not much here but a few houses, a hotel and lots of static caravans next to the beach, some of which were residential and even had extensions built on!  Then we moved on to Campbeltown, the ‘capital’ of Kintyre, surprisingly it was quite a bustling place, and we had a walk around the harbour with a good view of the busy industrial port with a huge boat busy unloading using a crane. We then headed off down the B road to the Mull of Kintyre, the road soon gave way to a narrow track which was very steep in places until finally it ended at a locked gate and a car park.  We got out and went for a walk down to the Mull lighthouse, which looks out over to Ireland 25 miles away, on the way we stopped at a cairn which was there to commemorate the 1994 chinook crash which killed all 29 people on board including 25 intelligence experts from MI5.  Continuing down the very steep track we eventually came to the lighthouse where we spotted someone coming out to their car. We asked if they lived there and they said they were just on holiday and it was a let from the National Trust, when they had gone we had a nosey around the lighthouse and looked in the windows!  The walk back up was very steep and we were amazed that you could get cars up and down it!  We drove back along the narrow road and through Campbeltown and headed back up the East coast.  We stopped at Peninver when Linda shouted “Seals!!”, there was a group of 4 seals sitting on the rocks enjoying the last of the days sun.  We got out and walked down on the rocks, managing to get within a stones throw of the seals without them even flinching, they even

waved their flippers at us!  We continued the long drive up the east coast with fantastic views of Arran in the setting sun.  Eventually getting back to the ‘van just after 8.  Later on Phil went off back to Tarbert to watch the fireworks, which were good, but lasted about 15mins before it was time to head home.