Tourists but no spiders, Kings, saints or Picts in these caves.

 

As we turned Drumadoon Point on Arran's west coast, we got a fine view of The Doon's rock columns. It is part of a huge basalt sill which was....

 ...used as a large Iron Age hill fort. It certainly had a commanding position with fine views...

of the Kilbrannan Sound from its large flat summit.

 North of here the shallow sea was clear as crystal and...

 ...no doubt the lobster fishing was good.

 A large series of caves and arches announced our arrival at...

 ...The King's Cave. It is one of many throughout Scotland and Ireland where King Robert the Bruce was apparently inspired to continue the struggle against the English after watching the repeated efforts of a spider trying to spin a web. However, the historical veracity of the spider is somewhat dubious as it was probably a literary invention of the novelist Sir Walter Scott. There is no easy landing at the King's cave so any fugitive would have time to escape on foot from any pursuers in boats. The caves have been used for shelter long before Robert the Bruce hid here. There are early Christian and Pictish drawings on the cave walls. When we passed there were only some bank holiday tourists who had braved the rough walk in.

Twenty six dogs' bollocks but only twelve holes at Blackwaterfoot.

 From Blackwaterfoot harbour we paddled to the Blackwaterfoot dog exercise area.

No sooner had we landed than we were investigated  by a number of hungry canines. After his experience with the "hoody" crow of Whiting Bay, Mike had learned his lesson and firmly battened down his hatches.

We found some very comfortable seats on a basalt dyke. At one point I counted 26 dogs at various points along the beach, quite a few of the dogs put their noses in our blue IKEA bags sniffing for food but we managed to prepare a quick...

...luncheon during a doggy lull. Though no sooner had we prepared our wraps of humous and cheese than slavering hounds were eyeing us up waiting to be fed.

 It was rather pleasant sitting on the rocks . The NE wind was straight offshore and we were well sheltered by the sand dunes of the...

...beautiful Shiskine Golf Course, which is squeezed between the Doon and the sea. It is one of very few golf courses in the World which has 12 holes.

I took this photo from the top of The Doon in April 2011. It shows our destination for the day, Imachar Point in the distance. It was still 13km away straight into the teeth of the wind.

Refreshed by our rest, we set off across the calm clear and shallow sea towards Drumadoon Point. We did not expect calm once round the point.

PS for the bollock count,  I am assuming that half the dogs were male and that they were intact.

Preaching to the converted in Blackwaterfoot Harbour.

 From Corriecravie we came to Aird nan Ron (Seal Point) and true to its name, the point was a haven for common seals.

  At the next headland, Kilpatrick Point we passed the Preaching Cave in the low cliffs behind the shore. The only sermon we heard were a few singing common seals.

Leaving the hamlet of Kilpatrick we set off across...

...Drumadoon Bay towards the...

 ...village of Blackwaterfoot.

The sands of the village beach are backed by The Doon, a dramatic basalt sill which once had an extensive Iron Age settlement perched on its summit.

Nowadays the settlement of Blackwaterfoot is at sea level and clusters round a tiny harbour at the mouth of....

 ...the Clauchan Water. I explored this waterfall which is the limit of navigation as the local bus rumbled over the bridge.

As we paddled round the little harbour, the family in the VW camper from the camp site gave us a big wave. I think they were surprised we had arrived in Blackwaterfoot before them! From the sea it would be all too easy to miss this tiny harbour. It is worth keeping your eyes open, fortunately I did not have to persuade either Ian or Mike to take a detour. Neither of them are headland to headland types either.

Spinning a story of Corriecravie, Arran, the land of my ancestors.

 From Cleats Shore we lost our tail wind and...

 ...gradually hit more of a headwind as we paddled along...

 ... the shore near Sliddery Waterfoot.

Photo by Ian Johnston.

It was a relief to take a breather near Corriecravie. Ian took this photo of me looking at the land which my ancestors once farmed.

Since at least 1710, when my great great great great great great grandfather  Robert Black was born, the Black branch of the family were crofters in Corriecravie until 1936. The last known Black to be resident in Rowanpark croft, Corriecravie was my great grandfather's (John Black 1854-1929) nephew Robert (Bertie) Black but he was not contactable there in 1972 following my grandfather's sister's (Catherine Black) death.

Initially the family worked common land but when the Duke of Hamilton enclosed the land in the early years of the 19th century, Robert's son William became tenant farmer of approximately 24 acres. The croft extended to the boundaries of  the green fields above the white houses in this photo. 

In 1813 a wave of religious awakening passed over the people of south Arran and William's son Robert was one of those who came under its influence. After William's death in 1824, Robert neglected his farm and attended too many religious meetings. He was fined one guinea by the Estate Factor for failing to improve the land as required by his tenancy agreement. By the 1841 Census, his two sisters Mary and Isabella had taken over running half the croft but by the 1861 census Mary had died and Isabella had given up her half of the croft, which Robert then sublet to Mr John Stewart.

After Robert Black's death in 1862, the croft was taken over by my great great  grandfather Finlay Black, (1820 to 1876). This photo, taken shortly before his death, shows him with his wife Catherine (nee Stewart, 1831 to 1903) in their croft house at Rowanpark, Corricravie. Catherine was the daughter of the Black's sub tenant William Stewart. They married in 1853 and had six children. The croft had a thatched roof and a stone floor. The spinning wheel in the photo has been passed through several generations of female members of the family and is now in possession of my cousin. It is mentioned specifically in the wills of my great grandmother and great aunt.

In 1868, some years after Finlay Black inherited the croft, he and his father in law, William Stewart, decided to formally split the croft into two parts. This was done by arrangement with James Paterson, the Duke of Hamilton's Factor and Dugald Crawford the Ground Officer. Interestingly, both my ancestors, Finlay Black and William Stewart (my brother's middle name is Stewart) can be found in a Google search! They were both fluent speakers of Arran Gaelic and were consulted by the Ordnance Survey on local place names.

As we  paddled on up the Kilbrannan Sound from Corriecravie I had much to ponder upon. It must have been a hard working life in Corriecravie and I was glad to be visiting in leisure time. I look forward to showing my grandson this place as he is 10 generations away from the Robert Black who was born in 1710. It is nice to put family history in context with places.

Life in the raw but not the buff at Cleats Shore.

 Paddling along the south coast of Arran with a tail wind we quickly left Ailsa Craig in the distance.

Ahead (in the dip where Campbeltown Loch bites into the Kintyre peninsula) we could see Davaar Island with its lighthouse glinting in a shaft of sunlight.  Given the weather forecast, we were glad we were not setting off on a 20km crossing of the Kilbrannan Sound

 As we passed Clachaig farm we noticed this old and very large lime kiln. From the late 18th to the mid 19th century lime was used extensively to improve the land. Initially the kilns burned locally mined limestone but latterly the kilns used  limestone which was imported from Ireland. Our destination was...
.

 ...Cleats Shore. As we approached, a pair of shelduck were making their way along the coast with their...

 ...large brood. All of a sudden a black backed gull swooped down and flew off with one of the chicks. As the gull tried to swallow the chick alive, the male shelduck repeatedly attacked it but the chick was swallowed whole. Even then the shelduck kept up the attack until the gull managed to escape. It was a horrible sight of nature in the raw but that is what nature is, the gull also has chicks to feed.

 As we drew our kayaks up the sands it was still not quite 9am so it was definitely time for...

 ...breakfast. We had intended going up to the ruins at Cleiteadh but there were nesting ringed plovers on the upper shore so we stayed on the lower beach. The fresh wind was bitingly cold but we got plenty shelter from the dyke to...

 ...cook up our victuals, which we consumed while watching...

 ...this otter teaching her cub to hunt in the...

 ...lee of Cleiteadh Mor.

 All to soon it was time to wash up and...

...return to the boats. The sun came out which was rather a pleasant surprise as rain was forecast. Indeed it was pouring in the north of the island, so we had chosen well to circumnavigate clockwise and do the south first!

We  may have seen life in the raw at Cleats Shore but despite it being the only official naturist beach in Scotland there was not a nudist in sight. Given the air temperature, we decided not to exercise our legal right to go for a swim in the nude.

Bennan Head; ancient footprints, hidden harbours and wrecks.

 The wind and the rain battered the tents during the night. I arose shortly after dawn about 04:15 and looking west Bennan Head was looking rather wild as the flood tide met the NE wind. I went back to bed but we got up at 6am before any of the other campers had stirred. This is the view east to the Ayrshire coast and this...

 is the view south to Ailsa Craig and Pladda. We decided to miss breakfast but boiled some water in the camp site kettle for coffee.

 We were on the water shortly after seven so we would round Bennan Head about slack water.

 The wind was from the NE and was cross offshore. It was very gusty about F4-5.

 It was not long before Kildonan Point and Pladda...

...disappeared in our wakes and...

,,,Bennan Head loomed ahead. It woul;d have been fun for Mike and I to to hoist sails but above F4...

...Ian would never have been able to keep up. It seems difficult to believe but there is a hidden harbour on this inhospitable shore. It is called Port a' Ghille Ghlais but we did not feel much like taking time out to explore on this occasion. Our minds were on the approaching headland. Recently footprints of Isochirotherium herculis have been found in the Triassic sedimentary rock between the basalt dykes.

 The seas round the Head had fortunately calmed somewhat since  I had seen them at 04:15 and...

 ...we were able to admire the bold blade of rock of the headland and the Black Cave (which has a blow hole at the top).A tumbling waterfall completed the wild scene as we turned the most southerly point of  Arran.

Round the head we entered the lee of the land and we could relax on the next stage of the paddle to Cleats Shore.  This shore is sandy at high tide but very rocky at low tide so many potential camping spots are high tide only. A line of cliffs sits back from a raised beach and numerous basalt dykes radiate out from the shore. This coastline has been the scene of many ship wrecks not only because of the tides and rough waters but because many of the dykes extend for more than half a kilometre from the shore.