Showing posts with label Islands of Fleet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islands of Fleet. Show all posts

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Big skies on the Solway, October 2015

For those who would like to follow the thread of this great trip on the Solway from start to finish, I hope this index will be useful.

Setting off with a fair wind and tide on the Solway Firth.

Prospects at the three priapic pillars of Knockbrex.

The follies of Knockbrex and a convenient cave.

Buzzing walls and more follies at Castle Haven.

A couple of Rumblekirns and much friction between Scotland and England.

Erratic moments on the Mull of Ross, which should not be confused with the Ross of Mull.

Pleasant procrastination during our peregrinations round Slack Heuch Head.

Dark clouds gather above Little Ross, an island with a dark past.

No ghosts on Little Ross Island, despite its tragic past.

A shadow at dawn on Little Ross Island.

A rusty cock, mysterious symbols, dead heads, a high and dry ship and a shaded sundial on Little Ross Island.

Little Ross lighthouse, a lens and an alpine garden.

Gunfire, a lost Queen and a wreck in Kirkcudbright Bay.

A slippery approach to the graceful town of Kirkcudbright and the Selkirk Arms.

The Little Ross "tide race" was like a stroll in the park!

The sound of heavy guns and a mushroom cloud rising over the Solway.

The folly of not bringing a trolley to Barlocco.

Fiery matters at a Barlocco dawn.

A room with a view on Murray's Isles and anomalous petrol pumps.

A race against the tide at Corbies Cove.

A rocky epilogue in Corbies Cove.

Slow paddling mode at the end of our Solway trip.

A 64km trip from Fleet Bay. We started from a private caravan site in Fleet Bay but alternative starts with free parking could made from Carrick shore, Brighouse Bay (toilets) or Kirkcudbright (toilets) depending on the tide. There is a pay car park with toilet at Cardoness, (150m to HW mark). If you want a base in the area there is a great basic mobile caravan and camping site right on the beach at Newton Farm 01557 840234, there is no toilet block only an elsan disposal point. You can launch from half way in Fleet Bay 3 hours on either side of high water. Tide times at Hestan Island are a pretty good guide for most of this coast.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

A race against the tide at Corbies Cove.

As we left Murray's Isles the temperature had risen noticeably and there was a line of blue sky approaching from the south.

 We were paddle sailing for Ravenshall Point on the NE shore of Wigtown Bay.

 As we crossed Fleet Bay we became rather warm in our dry suits so...

 ...we were on the lookout for somewhere to land and change into something cooler. The coast here is seldom visited but the main A75 road runs along a raised beach at the the top of the cliffs.

 We found a little gap in the rocks at Corbies Cove where a burn tumbled down from the cliffs above,

 The beach was disappearing fast in the Solway flood tide so it was a race to get changed. The water was literally lapping round our feet as we got changed.

This was another stunningly beautiful spot. It seemed a long way back to Ringdoo and Borness Points which were just visible on the horizon and which we had rounded the previous evening. The sky was now almost completely clear and despite being mid October it was getting hot!

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

A room with a view on Murray's Isles and anomalous petrol pumps.

 As we prepared to leave Barlocco beach the sky clouded over and there was a chill wind from the north. We decided to set off in our dry suits.

Having failed to circumnavigate Barlocco Isle the previous evening we set off to do so now. We literally floated over the route of our tough portage!

 The reefs of Barlocco Isle are a great place to explore as long as there is no swell.

 The sharp fangs of rock could easily puncture a kayak. From the channels of Barlocco we set off for...

 ...wooded Ardwall Isle with its former farm house hiding on the seaward side. The isle was once home to a well known smuggling family.

 From Ardwall Isle we set off across the channel to the Murray's Isles.

The flood spring tide was running and we had to set a surprisingly high ferry angle to maintain the transit of the white farm house above the gap in the reef.

The Murrays Isles are named after Mr James Murray of Cally. He was one of the drivers of the development of Gatehouse of Fleet in the 18th century. A descendant of his, Mrs Elizabeth Murray Usher bequeathed the isles to the National Trust of Scotland following her death in 1990. Mrs Murray Usher was the main landowner in the area and she had rather fixed ideas of how Gatehouse of Fleet should look. In the mid 20th century there were two petrol stations in Gatehouse, one at either end of the town. The Esso station with its red and white livery was the first. To get planning permission from Mrs Murray Usher for the second, Shell petrol station, it also had to paint its pumps red and white as well so that it did not clash. It was the only Shell petrol station in Britain that did not have yellow and white pumps!

We landed in a little cove on the SW side of the larger island and made our way up over very tussocky ground to the...

 ...lichen covered ruins of a cottage. The house has an interesting history. It was built at the same time that the canal was cut from the head of the Fleet estuary to the town of Gatehouse and Port Macadam was built.  The house was for the pilot who escorted ships up the Fleet.

It was customary in exposed locations, it was built with its gable facing the prevailing wind and the open sea. Unusually it had a window in the gable so that the pilot could keep a lookout for ships. The house was also used as an inn for sailors from ships waiting for the tide. The pilot was also the guardian of the Fleet Bay oyster beds. He also had a part time job as customs officer as smuggling was rife on this coast.

I do not normally land here in spring and early summer as the island is a breeding site used by herring gulls, lesser black backed gulls and cormorants.

It is the biggest cormorant colony in the Solway Firth. Once the birds have gone the...

 ...grasses and flowers grow profusely being well fertilised by the bird's guano.

We made our way back to the beach where we discovered a split piece of Silurian sandstone that appeared to have a fossil in it.

The little cove was sheltered from the wind so we settled down to a well deserved second breakfast.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Fiery matters at a Barlocco dawn.

 Dawn over Barlocco proved to be more than a match for the previous evenings sunset. It was as if...

 ...our fire from the previous evening had some how set the clouds alight.

 Before the first sun of the day fell on our beach...

 ...the Galloway Hills of Cairnharrow, Ben John and Mill Knock were illuminated in beautiful red light.


 We went down to the boats to collect our breakfast things as the sun slowly but steadily...

 ...dropped towards sea level, lighting successive layers of the land and seascape as it did so.

 There was not much sign of life at the caravan site across the bay as...

 ...we warmed ourselves by the embers and warm stones of the previous night's super fire. Note that the large round log which formed the back of our fire has completely disappeared! This year has been a good year for fires. We are not just talking size but also about heat output. Crispy trouser bottoms are a sign of a good fire but are not in themselves a measure of how good a fire is. However, we now have a rough scale to judge future fires by: ten Inchmarnocks (Ix) make one Cara (Cx) and ten Caras make one Barlocco (Bx). It might be some time till we have another Barlocco (Bx)! A key feature of this fire had been Ian's large log fireback which acted both as a reflector and a generator of heat..

In the background we saw the tide was coming in but we were in no rush to carry the boats far. So Mike toasted his toes by the embers and Ian went hunting for shells.

Jennifer had found a groatie buckie (cowrie) on this beach and given it to me for my 60th birthday. Ian did his best to spot one but there were none to be found.

I went looking for lichens to photograph and gradually the tide came up to the boats...