Marina and Ferry Life! Days 7-9 Portavadie to Tarbert; Claonaig to Lochranza

Cup of tea they wondered… or a celebratory glass of fizz! 

We had read mixed reviews of the campervan parking area at Portavadie Marina: a soulless and windswept industrial area with pretensions, or high end yachtie bolt hole! As usual, the truth lay somewhere inbetween and depends entirely on personal preferences. But for us, the combination of fabulous views from the pitches…

... top-end amenities with showers you could run for as long as you fancied (a real treat after the £1 slot machines at Arrochar)…

... a decent restaurant 

… a heated infinity pool overlooking the loch (first chance of a swim in survivable temperatures, no photos allowed inside) …

...complete with sauna, jacuzzi, swimming pool, gym and spa, all meant we felt we had been teleported into someone else’s journey and we weren’t complaining! And there were some good walks nearby too, we had read...

Having just made the journey south from our ‘hybrid’ no camping fee loch-side camp over at a fine dining restaurant, the change was intriguing, as we were very much looking forward to the idea of a ‘luxy’ campsite, but we weren’t quite sure what we would make of the rest of the offer.

We had booked ahead as there are only up to 15 pitches (not all them are always available) and it was just as well we had, with all bar one pitch full on our first night!

We had arrived with enough time to try out one of the nearby walks, this one to the community owned ‘Atlantic temperate rainforest’ at Glenan Wood. With the rain having only recently abated, we were treated to the authentic feel of water dripping from the tree canopy, and when the sun popped out, it did indeed start to feel pretty humid…

We spotted an area rich in the wood’s famous lichens and mosses…

...but with the sun about to drop over the horizon, we decided that the authentic swamp experience was probably enough for now, so we headed back…

...as we spotted the ferry about to dock at Portavadie that we would be taking over to Tarbert in a couple of days…

Our first night was calm and very quiet, and although we woke to the familiar sound of rain, we decided we would take one of the other walks over to Low Stillaig. rating only 3/5 on the Walk Highlands bog scoring…

...and a mainly flat profile, we decided that we should have enough time to complete the circular walk and return in time for a light lunch before trying out the leisure facilities as a treat! And although it was a wet and windy start…

...we soon got into our stride…

...enjoying the views back to the port…

...the bronze age standing stones…

...and the isthmus separating Port Leathan and Eilean Aoidhe (with the edge of the local Boys Brigadesailing centre just visible). Apparently Mr B was a Private in the BB when he lived in Scotland – Mrs B thinks this explains a lot of things)…

Unfortunately, we were so excited to see the farm track that would take us back to civilisation and warmth as we yomped across the boggy terrain, we completely missed taking a photo of the ruins of Low Stillaig that give the walk its name!

The afternoon turned the day into a clichéd classic game of two halves, with pampered luxury replacing the Royal Marines recruitment test of the morning. There are fabulous views from the infinity pool across the loch which was great fun, as a stiff northerly wind picked up almost enough to get Mr B body surfing in the pool! Warming up in the sauna (where Mr B got chatting to a local and learned all about the invasive Rhododendron Ponticum that can (apparently) only be killed by by injecting herbicide into the stem), we treated ourselves to another dip in the infinity pool, and a jacuzzi, before drifting dreamily back to Evie to get ready to go out for dinner.

 

The Marina building that houses the restaurant is impressively lit at night…

...and the food (and service) was great. Mr B couldn’t help himself from ordering the chicken with haggis, neeps and tatties, along with a pint of German beer brewed in Glasgow, whilst Mrs B enjoyed the slightly more refined slow cooked local lamb.

As we walked back up the hill to Evie, we could tell we were in for an interesting night as the wind had picked up and was blowing a hoolie. Luckily, Evie was nose into wind so we only experienced moderate rocking the whole night!

Feeling slightly more tired than usual the next morning, we were glad that we only had a 500m drive to the ferry, where a rainbow awaited us…

...before the ferry hove into view, reminding us of how small some of the inter-island ferries are…

...with some blue skies to raise our spirits half way across…

...and before long (25 minutes) it was time to disembark (no shore crew, the skipper just drops the ramp)…

We had taken this ferry in the opposite direction last May on our way to the Skye festival, but hadn’t had time to explore Tarbert. So this time, we made the most of it, enjoying a visit to a whisky shop. We should have spotted the significance of the name (Whisky West Coast) but our attempts at finding a bottle of Glengoyne single malt (a favourite from our first trip to Scotland in Evie in 2023) remained unsuccessful, as it specialised in distilleries from Islay, Arran and Campbletown only! Still, we had a great time chatting to the owner, James, with our sketchy understanding of the mysterious world of malts slightly improved!

We’d spotted the castle atop the hill on one side of Tarbert as we pulled into the port, so we thought we’d take the steps up from the harbour. With origins dating back to the 700s, and lasting until the 18thC when much of it was dismantled to build the harbour and houses below, its ruins hold a commanding view over the harbour. It’s easy to see why it was fought over during the passing centuries, and encouraging to discover that it, and the land around it are owned and managed by the local community. A very Scottish approach it seems!

Our next stop was down the coast to the slipway at Claonaig, a small hamlet we have visited before to see the castle at Skipness, and where we passed through on our way from Arran last year, heading north. We commented at the time that the coastline between the slipway and the castle looked ideal for a stop over – and now we had the chance!

It’s very, very quiet, and we found a spot right on the beach, with just the sea lapping on the shore, a few birds calling, and a cloudy sky, clearing from the west and promising a starry night …

...which we got! But it also meant that the temperature outside plummeted to 3c in the night, rising to a balmy 4c by breakfast! Luckily we had got Evie nice and toasty (25c) before we turned in, so it didn’t take long to get her nice and warm again in the morning. Mr B loves this sort of park-up for the views and isolation. Mrs B does too, but will be buying a woolly night cap for similar locations in the future!

Waking early enough to see the sunrise, we enjoyed breakfast with the local wildlife, with oyster catchers and curlews punctuating the silence. And we saw an otter close in to shore – gone before either of us could get a photo!

We pride ourselves on never leaving a trace after we have camped off grid, and we hope that the indentations of our ‘anti-sinking-into-the-soft-grass’ kit will soon disappear! It was fortunate that Mrs B had suggested using these as we pulled up, as we would have left a much more visible set of ruts otherwise!

The ferry to Lochranza is a bit bigger than the Portavadie/Tarbert one, but it still seems tiny compared to our usual Newhaven/Dieppe trips and it’s great fun just queuing to see whether or not you will get on. No advance bookings on this, or the Portavadie route.

It’s a 25 minute crossing again, and a relaxing trip, as Evie waits to drive onto Arran and a rest for a little while, parked up at our good friends Paul and Sue’s home on the east coast. The weather looks mixed (for a change!) and there might have been one or two problems with the ferries to the mainland – but we are looking forward to our little sojourn once more on Scotland in miniature. We may have been here lots, but with great company (yes Clyde, that includes you!) and such stunning scenery and walks, its always a treat!

S&J 03.11.25

The call of good friends and fine dining – North to Scotland! Days 1-6

After a frenzy of catching up with jobs; our granddaughter Ada’s 10^th birthday party; minding our grandson Arlo for the weekend; and re-packing Evie for colder climes, we waited for Mr B’s French Covid (as he proudly described it) to diminish sufficiently for us to venture north and begin part two of our autumn adventure! Mrs B, equipped as she is with a much more advanced immune system remained Covid free, of course.

We had originally envisaged that we would take last year’s newly discovered Route 49 (using the A49 along the Welsh borders to swerve the delights of slogging around Birmingham on the motorway). But with the clock ticking louder than we had anticipated, we decided to gird our loins and take the motorways as far north as we could get on day one, thinking that leaving Brighton by midday should allow us enough time to get comfortably north of Birmingham...

As it transpired, by paying £17.30 to use the Toll section of the M6, we found ourselves approaching Lancaster in the dark to find somewhere to park up for the night. We had spotted two possible stops – one that used our old skills of using a map and looking at likely spots (near rivers/lakes/leisure centres/cemeteries etc) and one on Park4Night. Our first choice was near all of the usual good criteria, but as we drove past the tower blocks, noticed the frequent police cars on patrol, and discovered via Google that the neighbourhood we had chosen had a healthy number of car thefts/break-ins and reports of gunshots the week before, our finely-tuned camping radars told us to move on to the P4N choice!

Just a few minutes off the M6, the suggested spot at the old Halton station site at Denny Beck delivered in spades. Located on the old line to Morecambe, it was closed in 1966 along with many others as part of the Beeching cuts. Used now as storage for Lancaster University’s boat club, there is a cycle path heading in either direction from the two car parks – one of which we eventually pulled into in the dark. Mrs B had read that we should take care to avoid approaching over a narrow bridge from the north, so, taking the southerly route we arrived to find an empty carpark on one side of the cycle track, and a large group of identically clad people with bright head torches and flashing red rear helmet lights on the other, so we understandably opted for the empty one!

After a very peaceful night with just us parked up, the mysterious events of the night before became clear: the local Coastguard were practising river rescues near the notorious Halton weir on the river Lune – which we had heard in the night. 

With enough time to have a brief walk around we could see why it was advisable not to try to cross the bridge in a campervan…

...and we decided that should we arrive here in daylight subsequently, it could be a great place to enjoy a short cycle ride, with a pub just across the nearby bridge too!

Deciding that we would aim to get across the border into Scotland, but not sure how far before we looked for a stop, we had to undertake the now obligatory stop beforehand at Tebay Services, where ritual dictates that we eat one of their delicious pies (and maybe chips)…

...before heading north! We’ve raved about these pies before, and we left the Services knowing that we would be back on the return trip! It is possible to stay here overnight in a campervan for £28, which includes a £10 voucher to use at the services, year-round in the regular carparks. There’s also a shower in the main building that can be used. However, in season, there is also a bookable campsite for £27 with EHU/showers/toilets that offers a £3 voucher, open from the 1^st April until the 31^st October. This trip, for us, the nearby deserted station at Halton will probably call us back, although it’s great to see this privately owned motorway service station offering not just good facilities for motorhomes, but a fantastic shop full of fresh, local produce, as well as great food and you can rest up for 3 hours, rather than the usual 2 hour limit enforced at most motorway service stations in the UK. We reflected again later that day what a breath fresh air this was, when we stopped at a Welcome Break, (subsequently re-named ‘Welcome Bleak’), as we were greeted with a shouty sign at the entrance to a shabby parking area and stating a fine of £15 for overstaying the 2 hour ‘welcome’! Mrs B was inspired to write this fetching quintain...

As we left Tebay we agreed that we would try and get north of Glasgow, saving the delights of Dumfries and Galloway for a possible stop on the return journey, and drive on instead for what feels like Scotland proper! Swapping drivers on a 90/120 minute basis we realised that even with the huge traffic jams around the city of Glasgow we were in with a chance. And knowing that there was a spot we had used last year near Dumbarton castle to fall back on if we could not find a new alternative, it fell to Mr B to delve into P4N as Mrs B edged Evie around the grindingly slow motorway ring road.

Situated on the shore of the River Clyde, our P4N spot adjacent to the Ardmore peninsula was a cracker! With a couple of other campervans already parked up, we enjoyed the view across the Clyde at night…

...and decided to take a stroll around the shore of the peninsula in the morning…

...where Mrs B discovered a sea glass stash…

With our booking for Mrs B’s (late) birthday at the fabulous Inver restaurant a few nights away, we knew we could drift slowly north, stopping first at Helensburgh to enjoy the amazing Hill House, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and styled by artist Margaret Macdonald in the early 1900s. This place is fascinating on so many levels: as one of the best (apparently) examples of the Glasgow style of the period…

...with its fearsome plumbing and early version of a rainfall shower (or needle shower back in the day)…

...however the outside render (roughcast) of the building is suffering from cracking and water penetration, so the entire house has been shrouded by a very clever and elegant structure that protects it, whilst steps are taken to renovate and repair – as well as allowing visitors to walk around and see the damage firsthand…

Using modern (and untested) techniques of the early 1900s, Mackenzie ditched the traditional use of lime render in favour of cement, which cracked and failed spectacularly as we can see in the photos above.

We had found and booked a site at the head of Loch Long in Arrochar that we fancied for a couple of nights, as it should allow for some interesting walking. The drive there took us along Gare Loch, where we saw the remains of the famous Peace Camp at Faslane (we weren’t sure whether anyone was still there as it looks deserted) and Mr B got very excited that we might see one of the UK’s nuclear submarines at the naval base (we just saw a very high security fence!) and before long we were taking the roller-coaster road along the eastern shore of Loch Long, heading for our site.

Quirky is perhaps the fairest word to describe Glenloin Camping. We had a warm greeting from Vivienne the site manager, who, after taking our £40 cash only payment for two nights, explained the working of the £1 slot machine showers in the unheated log cabin amenity block, the 5amp maximum electricity supply, the location of the grey and black water disposal points and nearby walks, all with a friendly and well rehearsed patter. And we were able to choose a pitch near a beautiful old oak tree with views of the nearby hills…

We thought we’d take a quick walk around the site, which is when we discovered its idiosyncratic welcome sign…

...its permanently lit reminder of which religion was welcomed…

...state of the art grey and black water disposal points…

...and helpful lessons on electrical and plumbing matters…

Taking it all in, we set off for a quick walk along the Loch before darkness fell. It had clearly been stormy recently…

...and we wondered about the wisdom of parking under that giant tree!

The walk introduced us to the nature of village life, with the chippy doubling up as an artisan candle maker (those smells together!!), one (excellent and well-stocked) general store, a pub, a busy bistro serving fresh mussels with tequila (could work we think….) and a couple of huge hotels, still popular with coach parties. And, in a classic close-but-no-cigar moment, we thought we might get a chance to see a band very much in the vein of one of our all-time favourites, Niteworks, actually performing in the village hall! But, as luck would have it, not this time as Face the West were not performing in Arrochar until we were due back in England… Oh well! 

The next day we decided to have a go at the walk over to Tarbet on Loch Lomond. Mr B was very excited as it’s a famous site of a Viking raid that saw them taking their longships across land on log rollers. Mrs B was very excited as it must have been pretty flat to do that! Mr B checked on directions at reception, and equipped with emergency rations just in case, we headed off. After 30 minutes of walking however, we came across a locked gate, no obvious trail, and an Armadillo unit, monitoring 24/7 with 360 degree cameras linked by cctv to alert landowners and police of intruders. So we turned around and went back via option two – the steep steps that we had wanted to avoid, opposite the chippy/candle shop.

The Vikings would not have taken this route (unless they had stripped their boats down and used pack horses) so we celebrated the opportunity to test our Alpine skills, pausing to take scenic photos (and catch a breath or two)…

… making full use of our emergency rations as our 45 minute walk passed the 1 hour mark and we weren’t even half way…

...until we eventually reached the end of the hill section and we could see Loch Lomond in the distance…

Luckily the café was still open and after a very tasty bacon roll and a Tunnock’s tea cake for dessert, we wandered around this section of the loch, toying with the chance to go on a boat trip…

The somewhat dreich weather didn’t quite lend itself to a cruise however, and after checking out the newly built two campervan stop-over part of the car park (free from the camping permit at this time of the year – and free from parking fees as the pay-and-dispaly machine was broken!) we decided to emulate the Vikings and return to Arrochar via the portage route – now known as the A83!

It may have been a less interesting route as we walked in the footsteps of the Vikings, but it was indeed flat – and much quicker! And as we neared Arrochar we stopped to admire this Halloween arrangement (where an invitation to press a button saw Mr B have his finger grabbed!). 

Departure day saw us heading back towards Helensburgh (via the less roller-coastery road) as we had enjoyed our brief stop and admired the sense of civic pride in the town, arranged in a distinctive grid pattern. The presence of (another) submarine museum was of course an added bonus for Mr B! With the rain settling in for a while at the point we arrived at a leisure centre where it was possible to stay over for free, had we wished, we were both glad that we would be indoors for a while…

The museum, housed in an old church, is the home of the X-51, the only surviving example of the UK’s midget submarines of the Cold War era. Based on a design originally used in WW2 (famous for the raid on the German battleship Tirpitz) and originally conceived to guard against Soviet threats, the boat can be viewed from the outside only…

Equipped with bluetooth headphones…

...we were then treated to a fulsome history of submarine warfare, which one of us enjoyed immensely! (Trip Advisor reviews do mention the length of the film…)

With a quick bit of shopping afterwards, we started our trip back up to Loch Fyne and our second visit to the amazing Inver restaurant where we were able, once more, to park Evie overnight! 

As well as our usual excitement at an evening of fabulous food and wine, we were also hoping to meet the owner/head chef Pam Brunton who had kindly agreed to sign Mrs B’s copy of her incredible book, Between Two Waters (thanks Amber!). 

The book is a great insight into a range of culinary and historical/feminist, socio/political food and land related issues – we loved it and were keeping our fingers crossed that Pam was working the night of our visit…

And she was, and very kindly came and chatted with us whilst signing Mrs B’s copy of her book!

The meal was heavenly, with just the right combination of inventiveness and attention to detail, backed up by super-fresh and local ingredients and a ‘top-to-tail’ approach to meat eating. We shared the wine-flight (we can no longer manage one each and still hope to make sense at the end of an evening!) and after four hours of foodie-fun, we walked the 50m back to our loch-side home for the night with very happy tummies!

With time (and enough faint hints of blue sky) for Mr B to make a few more photographic memories…

...we set off the next day on a new venture for us; a drive along the very scenic Kyles of Bute coastal road to Portavadie Marina...

...where we had booked into the Marina’s motorhome site for a couple of nights, with a promise of an infinity pool, spa, jacuzzi, sauna, restaurant and good walking – camper-vanning as we have never known it! But would it be our cup of tea…?

S&J 24.10.25