Days 1 – 9 Off to Arran!
(NB we have put a few hyperlinks in if you want more info - click and you will be directed to a standard 'are you sure' page!)
Mrs B and I have been talking about a trip in Evie the campervan up to Scotland to see our good friends Paul and Sue on Arran for some time… years in fact! So it was with great anticipation, expectation and a little bit of trepidation that we headed into the unknown on a dull day in March, not sure as usual where we would stay on the first night until we had tucked some miles under our belts.
Which is how we found ourselves on a small Certificated Site (CS – the small sites licensed by the Camping and Caravanning Club, C&CC) that we are very fond of, as they are usually tucked away in interesting places.
And whilst this small site at Leyland near Preston might not win many prizes for its picturesque location, it offered all we needed for our first night’s kip and we were grateful to pitch up just before darkness fell.
Not one of the cheapest CSs we’ve stayed on at £20, but it offered all the usuals, including hook-up, which we decided we’d try and find for all stops on this trip if we could, in order to run our hot water system and radiator and have the back up of a plug in 1kw ‘greenhouse’ heater if needed. Forward planning for expected low temperatures in Scotland…
As it transpired, we didn’t need the plug in heater this stop, and after a reasonable night’s sleep with the gentle drone of the M6 in the background, we woke to more dull weather before setting off to reach Scotland later that day.
As the CalMac ferries to Arran have had, at best, a challenging reputation of late, we had decided to err on the side of caution and aimed to stay close-ish to the departure port, Ardrossan, by the end of day two. We’d also booked ahead on the last-but-one ferry, in case of problems or cancellations. It’s not possible to ‘stand by’ in a motorhome for these ferries, unless you’re an islander, so booking ahead is essential. We decided to take the windy and very scenic route across from Dumfries, via the interestingly named ‘St John’s Town of Dalry’ on the edge of the Galloway Forest Park to give ourselves plenty of time and an interesting drive to the coast. We’d plotted this route after having searched on our Park4Night app over lunch for a possible stop not far from the port and realising that, in theory, we had time to do a bit of site seeing…
Arriving at the quirkily named ‘McFadzean John’ site, another CS and perched on the hills above Culzean Castle just before dark, again (for scenic read slow, very slow), we were treated to our first sight of the Isle of Arran, Ailsa Craig and, in the distance, the Kintyre peninsula and even further west, Northern Ireland – just 12 miles away at its closest point!
We had been recommended the C&CC site at Culzean Castle itself, but as it didn’t open until 31st March we had to cast around nearby. And how lucky were we! This is a very basic site (the showers and toilets are in a brick outbuilding on a working farm) but it is kept very clean and the views are truly spectacular. And at £15 with hook-up it’s an absolute bargain! The owner, Fiona, was extremely helpful and friendly and taught us how to pronounce Culzean properly – very useful as we planned a quick visit the next day, prior to catching the ferry to Arran.
Culzean Castle (free entry with our National Trust membership thanks to the reciprocal arrangement with NT Scotland) was quite something. Rebuilt in the 1700s it’s more of a country house than castle, and, ancestral home of the Clan Kennedy – that’s Ludovic rather than Jack or Bobby though! There is an American connection however, as when the clan handed the castle over to the NTS in 1945 (the usual death duties) they stipulated that a top floor apartment be given to Ike Eisenhower who stayed there a few times, including whilst President. We only got to see the extensive grounds this time, as the House is closed until the 1st of April. But we’ll definitely return and to the same CS, it was lovely.
It was just a short drive up the coast to Ardrossan port and before long we were queuing with a small number of other over-height vehicles. We knew we were expecting an older, smaller ship, but were surprised when we saw just how small – more like the small boats that ply between some of the islands off Croatia, except for the weather!
As we wandered around the ferry we chuckled at this sign to the crew area…
…and the interesting items on the menu…
…and, for fans of Outlander, what looked ominously like a portal waiting for us off the shore of Arran…
Our good friends Paul and Sue have lived on Arran for some time now and its always a real treat to go up and spend some time with them – and at last we’ve made it in the camper as part of a mini trip exploring Scotland! Luckily for us, they are also fans of the travelling life and we were able to hook up on their driveway…
…from where we had some amazing views of the Holy Isle just offshore…
We were extremely lucky with the weather on Arran most of the time, and we soon settled into a relaxed routine of amazing walks, delicious food and drinks and lots of nattering and catching up in-person on the past few years – not to mention the odd wee dram!
If you’ve never been to Arran, it really is Scotland in miniature and well worth a visit. The following pics give a snapshot of what we got up to…
Looking east back to Lamlash where we stayed…
Up behind Lamlash…
Around Glen Rosa…
The north east side around Sannox…
A couple of Navy ships, well camouflaged - until the sun shone…
The ruins of a small farm and cottages abandoned in the clearances, with my new best friend Clyde…
Sannox at the end of the walk, the mainland in the background and Clyde in the river, again!
Looking north from the shore of the main town and port, Brodick…
…where there is this cool shed with produce for out of hours shopping…
Before long our week with Paul and Sue (and Clyde!) had whizzed to an end, and it was time for the start of our trip to explore bits of the Scottish mainland, assuming the ferry was running…
Luckily it was, and on time! Thanks Paul and Sue for your hospitality and an amazing week – can we stay again?
Landing in Ardrossan it was time to stock up before we headed north. Having been introduced to the wonderous spurtle for stirring porridge without it getting lumpy, and having failed to find one on Arran, we tried in the main supermarket thinking that anywhere that has a sign just for porridge surely must…but no, so the search continued…
Days 10 -12 Memory Lane and uncharted territory…
Mr B spent some his childhood in the mid 60s in Scotland and, in spite of being beaten with a tawse for the heinous crime of starting to write before the teacher had given permission (on his first day in a Scottish school aged 7) he was keen to visit his old junior school, Gourock Primary. Now a block of private apartments, it still has an imposing look about it…
…as does the block of flats where he used to live on the top floor, and get the bus from to school…
Lunching in Gourock on another Scottish delicacy, Scotch Pie as we looked across the Clyde estuary, we started to scope where we might fancy exploring over the next week. With heavy snow on the eastern side of Scotland, we decided to explore up towards the Trossachs to get started. Which is when we discovered that of the many sites in the area that popped up on Park4Night, only one was open at the moment, and it was full! Oops – maybe we would need to be a bit more savvy about booking ahead up here, or coming later in the Spring.
Luckily, as we continued to look on the App, we saw the symbol for a ‘paying aire’ at Loch Katrine in the Trossachs. Taking a risk as there was no way we could see of booking ahead, we decided to give it a try and as the location should allow plenty of free camping opportunities nearby, even if we had to do without mans electric for the night.
After a beautiful drive heading north from Glasgow into the national park, we eventually found our way to the loch-side car park we had read about on the App. And sure enough, there was a camper parked up and plugged in! Pulling into one of the empty bays and finding no-one about at the main office, nor a way of paying to stay overnight using the automatic machines, we were super pleased to find that the hook-ups were live! So, after leaving an explanatory note in the windscreen and plugging in, we settled in for the night.
And how lucky we were that we could plug in, as the temperatures dropped overnight and we woke to a covering of snow!
We were somewhat relieved to see that there was a tractor with snow plough ready for action and by 0900 the car park was coming to life, as staff turned up at the visitor centre, office and café.
With the snow now melting, Mr B popped over to the office to explain that we had stayed the night and wanted to stay another, as there was a promise of a boat trip and walking around the shore! The prices are fair here: £15 to park and an extra £10 for electric and access to a heated camper shower and toilet!
And, as we were booking the boat trip for later that morning Mrs B added to our growing list of Scottish delicacies by buying our first Tablet a sort of fudge on condensed milk steroids. It was delicious – and we bought two more before we left …
Loch Katrine is home to the lovely old steamship, SS Walter Scott, launched in 1900 and still offering tours of the lake. Unfortunately for us, it won’t be getting up a head of steam until the end of April…
But that didn’t stop us from boarding the diesel ship Rob Roy, seen in the foreground of the picture above, for a fascinating and informative trip around the loch. Owned by Scottish Water, the Loch has been the primary water source for Glasgow since 1859, featured in some of Sir Walter Scott’s poems and novels, was the birthplace of the outlaw/folk hero Rob Roy MacGregor, and is an obvious tourist magnet!
Chuffed that not only we had a warm night’s sleep, but that we had a chance to get a boat trip and a walk in as well, we set sail under a cloudy sky that threatened snow and or rain…
…admired these moraines from the ice age…
…and saw, according to the skipper, a ‘fish ladder’ that joins up with an adjoining loch…
Returning to the quayside after being told that the slower return was due to one of the engines failing (glad they kept that to themselves until we disembarked!) we headed to the lochside café to warm up…
After thawing out from the bitter wind on the lake, we went for a walk around the northern shoreline, as the skies started to darken. We only covered a short section before we needed to head back, but it is possible to do a longer one way walk and return by boat later in the season, as well as longer circular walks. Not wanting to miss out on the legacy of Sir Walter Scott, here’s our own homage to the Lady of the Lake!
Learning from our discovery of the potential difficulty of finding a pitch on an open campsite, before we set off from Loch Katrine the next morning, we phoned ahead to a site that Mrs B had found at Blanefield in the grounds of an interesting looking hotel, and right on the West Highland Way footpath should we fancy some more walking…
First though, we wanted to head east to Falkirk to see the famous Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel, something we had hoped to do and now only a short 50 mile drive away (we hadn’t really appreciated just how narrow the distance was between the two coasts!).
Days 13-14 An interesting campsite…
We had both wanted to see these two famous attractions ever since we saw them featured in the Great Canal Journeys TV series with Prunella Scales and Timothy West back in 2015. Wanting to do something for such a long time probably explains why the driving rain and howling wind wasn’t enough to put us off as we left the M9 and parked up in the almost empty visitor car park of the Kelpies!
Standing at 30m high, these amazing stainless steel sculptures, which were built in 2013, were truly impressive, in spite of the weather! Based on the Scottish mythical shape shifting spirits, the Kelpies are intended to celebrate the long history of horse-drawn canal transport, and they stand either side of a new sea lock that links to the Forth and Clyde Canal.
Certain that we would come back to see them in better weather and enjoy the canal-side walk to the Falkirk Wheel on another visit, we struck lucky in the visitor centre and at last managed to get ourselves a spurtle to stir our daily porridge in an authentic Scottish style!
Then it was only a short drive over to the Falkirk Wheel. It is possible to walk along the canal, which we would have, but the weather was truly awful and we were already soaking wet. When we arrived, unlike the free off-season parking at the Kelpies, the ANPR-assisted barrier issued us a ticket as we pulled up in another near empty car park in driving wind and rain!
The only rotating boat lift in the world, this engineering marvel joins the Forth and Clyde with the Union Canal, enabling boat travel between the two coasts at this narrowest part of Scotland for the first time since the 1930s and replacing what used to be a flight of 11 locks.
It’s possible to book a short trip on the wheel, and also to take a stroll up to the Antonine Wall which Mr B was particularly keen on ever since he discovered that there was another Roman wall north of the more famous Hadrian’s, even though he had left his sandals at home…
However, with the weather worsening, and sure that we would be returning, we settled on a brief walk around the site to watch the wheel in action, as one coach load of visitors/passengers was swapped for another. It’s an impressive and majestic sight to watch the wheel transport a barge 24 metres into the air using the Archimedes principle of water displacement to balance the two parts of the lift – genius!
With just enough daylight left for us to get to the ‘interesting’ site at Blanefield, we retraced some of our route to the motorway, after stocking up for what promised to be a campsite with a difference!
And indeed, difference was delivered in spades! Our first inkling that this might be a different type of stopover was when we called to book and were told by the very friendly and genial owner that we’d discuss the price on arrival… This turned out to be £50 a night, the most we have paid anywhere in Europe so far, broken down as £20 per head plus £10 for electricity. This is obviously better value for solo travellers, which is no bad thing. Plus, the cost included a breakfast in the hotel, all day access to the hotel's lounge area (with roaring wood burning stove and a Stag’s head…), with snacks and hot drinks in the dining area, as well as the usual camping facilities. Camping guests were also welcome to have dinner with the hotel guests if they wished. We didn’t, and for those who know Mrs B, you will know why!
So, not a cheap stopover, but certainly interesting…
And our curiosity continued to be piqued after hearing the owner talk about his family history stretching back to the 12th century (his father, Sir Archibald Bruce Edmonstone is the 7th Baronet of Duntreath castle, just around the corner…) we ended up spending an interesting evening on the free interweb researching the back story… Suffice it to say that it’s a chequered one – but the welcome was warm and the location is outstanding, so much so that we decided to stay for two nights and do some exploring of the West Highland Way.
As we turned in for the night and the temperatures dropped to -3c, we checked the weather…snow forecast! And sure enough, when we woke there had been a light snowfall…
…so, tummies full on instant porridge and toast from the hotel’s breakfast offer, we set off for what we hoped would be a visit to a distillery and a pub lunch…
After a couple of false starts in the still falling snow (we were relying on some photos of the route from a guide book!) we settled into a combination of checking our bearings and admiring the glorious scenery that unfolded before us. We figured we should arrive at the Glengoyne Distillery around lunch time and we hoped to move on to the Beech Tree Inn for lunch. However, as we discovered from staff at the distillery, we were out of luck as it was closed that day!
The visit to the distillery was great fun! We decided not to do the tour, with tastings, on an empty stomach, but we were able to sample a couple of single malts before adding a full-sized bottle to our rucksack! The staff were really friendly, knew plenty (and more) about our interesting campsite and the family that own the land, including that not only was another nearby hotel a meeting place for the mistress of King Edward VII, Alice Keppel (daughter of the 4th Baronet of… you guessed it, Duntreath) who happens to be the great grandmother of Queen Camilla, but Duntreath was also one of the meeting places of a certain Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles… Bring on the Republic!
As we rejoined the West Highland Way, munching on our emergency energy bars instead of sitting down to a pub lunch, the sun broke through the clouds and the rest of our trip back to the van was bathed in glorious sunshine.
Ever vigilant for a forage opportunity, and aided by the sunlight, Mrs B spotted some wild garlic, which just happened to be ready and a perfect addition to the evening’s dinner of pan fried chicken…
When we returned to the site we were able to move Evie to the best pitch on the site, which was now vacant…
Dinner that night saw us nice and toasty in the van as the temperatures plummeted to -7c, so of course we had to sample the single malt as part of our standard sub-zero survival strategy. It was lush, and all the better for having been gathered in with the garlic on our amazing day out in the glens!
Next morning saw one of the heaviest ground frosts we have experienced in the van – it was still -3c outside as we filled up on more porridge…
Days 15 and 16 – the journey south
Managing to sneak a quick picture of the stag’s head in the lounge before we left…
… we headed off for a quick walk around the nearby Mugdock Park to get some air before the forecast day of rain returned…
This place is free to enter and park, and is owned and managed by two local councils. It was once the seat of Clan Graham and, more unusually, the site of a Zoo in the early 50s! We only had time to wander round some of the grounds and historic buildings and loved how it was completely free – and well used as a consequence, even on a cold and dull day!
Over lunch in the van we called ahead and booked a pitch for the night on the C&CC site at Moffat, at the pleasingly low cost of £21.50. We had been recommended this site by a fellow traveller at the West Highland Way site, as it was not far off the A74(M) and was ideally placed for our last night in Scotland.
Arriving, as is now customary, not long before dark, we made good use of the facilities, dodging the heavy rain that rolled over the site in dark, lowering bands. It was still raining in the morning, so unfortunately we forgot to take a picture!
Knowing that we needed to break the journey for a final night, but not sure where, we decided to travel south into England as far as Tebay Services in Cumbria, where we had visited on previous trips north. Not your average service station by any measure, there is overnight parking with hook-up available (currently 1 April to 29 October) including access to hot showers for £25. We’ve not used it yet but hear good things about it for an easy stopover. There’s also overnight parking off season (no hook-up) for £15. The farm shop is amazing, and reasonably priced – so much so that we had an impromptu lunch of one of their luscious pies – each – back in the van!
With enough time to digest the pies and look for a likely overnight stop, we decided that somewhere near Banbury ought to be about right, so we plumped for a CS just east of Banbury at Burgess Farm, estimating we should arrive by 1700 easily…
…except we underestimated the time to get around Birmingham, even though we used, for the first time, the M6 toll motorway to the east of the city (at £14.50 for our motorhome, it is definitely money well spent unless you are transiting in the wee small hours!).
Which is how we arrived, after darkness had fallen, at the basic but clean and friendly site at Burgess Farm. The owners had very kindly let us hook-up and park in their yard, as the camping field was too flooded to use. There was a bit of road noise overnight, but nothing to worry about, and at £20, a fair price for what was available and included heated showers and toilets.
The drive on from Banbury was uneventful and relatively quick, leaving us time to take a final cuppa in Evie just before we arrived home, and plenty of time to unpack in the dry – perfect!
So, what did we reckon to Scotland in a campervan? In a nutshell, we loved it – so much so that we’d like to try again next year – perhaps travelling for a little longer and further north, and, if Mr B is to be believed, maybe with his mountain bike tucked away in the van’s garage!
Thanks again to Paul and Sue for their impeccable hospitality during our first week on Arran, and to all the other people we met who, as always, make travelling such an enjoyable experience. Will we be back? Och aye we will!
S&J
28.03.23
