Thursday, March 15, 2007

Brodick Castle


Seakayaking past Brodick Castle.

On our recent seakayaking trip to Arran in the Firth of Clyde we paddled across Brodick Bay. This gave us a wonderful view of the Caledonian pine forest that hugs its northern shore and the castle grounds. Brodick Castle is built on a lofty position and its red sandstone walls rise in magnificently splendour amidst the red barked pines. It has a similar island and mountain situation to Kinloch Castle on Rum, which is also built from red sandstone. It was reputedly built from the same quarry on Arran as Brodick Castle however, its stones came from Dumfriesshire.



On a long summer’s day, the castle would have been an essential stop. It was built on a site that has been fortified since at least the fifth century. The original stone keep was built about 1266 but it has been extended and modified many times since then as it played an important part in the Wars of Independence first from the Vikings then from the English. It was extensively rebuilt in the nineteenth century as a shooting lodge.

It was in the Hamilton family’s hands for nearly five hundred years but following the marriage of the last male Hamilton’s daughter; it passed to the Montrose family in 1906. Their descendants bequeathed, it in lieu of death duties, to the National Trust for Scotland in 1958 and now any one can enjoy its buildings and gardens. Look out for the summer house which has an interior is covered with pine cones.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Dove Cave



Wigtown Bay on the Solway Firth not only has a rock arch it has several decent caves as well. This one is Dove Cave.



It does not look much from the outside, but even a Valley Aleut Sea II was dwarfed inside. I will post a review of this excellent double shortly.



The back of Dove Cave and yes there were resident rock doves.

Ravenshall Arch



Time for another arch. This one is Ravenshall Arch in Wigton Bay, Solway Firth. And yes, there were ravens about!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Signs of spring..



Our Canadian and American friends have been posting pictures of freezing and snowy conditions on their side of the Atlantic. Well, we do get snow over here too. This was exactly one year ago. The boat is a polyethylene Point 65 Crunch, a super-fast boat. I will post a review of it, which I did for Paddles mag, sometime soon.

As for today, there was no snow here in Glasgow, instead the plum blossom came out! Rather sadly I found the male blackbird, which has nested in the same place in our garden for the last 12 years, lying dead. He had started his dawn chorus about 3 weeks ago but I had not heard him for the last three days.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

A grey day on Floday!



Really getting into this grey business now!

The remote island of Floday lies at the mouth of Loch Roag on the north west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. On a wet, grey day our sea kayaks slid into the lagoon on its southern shore. The subtle colours of these Lewisian gneiss boulders stood out from the greyness. These rocks were formed 3,000 million years ago. They seem to have faded quite slowly.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Stornoway Grey



Yesterday I sang the praises of the subtle shades of grey that make the landscape of the Outer Hebrides so appealing.

Quote "I loved the contrast of the dazzling white shell sand against the many greys of the rocks, hills, sea and sky. They say the Inuit have a hundred words for snow. Well, the Gaels have a hundred words for grey."

It would appear that one of them is not Stornoway grey, or rather Stornaway (sic) grey, which is a paint shade available on the new and well received LandRover Freelander2


Photo credit LandRover

Councillor Angus Nicolson, writing in his weblog, has been truly insulted and is concerned that the name, Stornoway grey, will give potential visitors the wrong impression of the islands.

Well, although I love the islands' greys, the light changes five minutes later and there is a blaze of colour, especially the machair in the summer.



I do not think Angus should be too concerned about Stornaway Grey Freelander2s cluttering the streets of Chelsea. However, can you imagine the glorious sight of 181 wind turbines, all finished in sparkling Stornoway grey?


Photo montage by Lewis Wind Farm


Map of proposed Lewis Wind Farm showing position of turbines. The M25 round London is overlaid at the same scale.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Castaway



From 1/1/2000 to 1/1/2001 the BBC ran a TV series, Castaway 2000, which followed the lives of 36 adults and children who were castawayed on Taransay off the west coast of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. As you might guess from this blog, I do not watch a great deal of television but I did watch this programme for the glimpses of wonderful Hebridean seascapes, skyscapes and landscapes.

Billy and I landed and camped there in July 2005. I loved the contrast of the dazzling white shell sand against the many greys of the rocks, hills, sea and sky. They say the Inuit have a hundred words for snow. Well, the Gaels have a hundred words for grey. We made two attempts to return in 2006.



In June 2006 we were on MV Dundarg but a force 7 prevented us getting near Taransay and we sought shelter behind Scarp further to the north.



We tried again in July 2006. You can just about make out Taransay through the mist.



Unfortunately there was a little shore break to negotiate and I have to report that we (fair weather paddlers) wimped out at this opportunity to display our kayaking prowess. It can be quite a challenge to become a castaway on Taransay.