Where are we? Unexpected detours and delays on the way home – yikes! Days 13-16

We eventually parked up without problem in a small car park on the river Nith on the outskirts of Sanquhar, with no-one else around, and the river just a few metres away. 

But the drive had been a challenge for Mrs B, with the windscreen wipers playing up intermittently. Heaving a joint sigh of relief that they hadn’t packed up completely, we settled in for a late supper, and were soon nodding off with the sound of the river providing a relaxing aural backdrop. 

Waking to a welcome blue (in parts) sky, had we more time we would have stayed to explore the small town, with its famous tiny post office (apparently the oldest working one in the world) and rich history (military, religious and commercial) and of course the walk right by us to the old castle on the Southern Uplands Way. 

But, already behind on our notional schedule that should have seen us much further south by now, we decided to head off across the border, wanting to make as much progress as possible during daylight, just in case the windscreen wipers misbehaved again… They were fine as we set off, and remained so as we crossed the border into England. But, as the rain started to fall and the traffic slowed on the M6, they stopped altogether – lucky for us near a service station, so we pulled in for Mr B to have a shufti. Of course, all it took was for Mr B to get the toolbox out of the garage, and ready the multimeter, having removed the plastic covers around the steering column, than they started working again! What an awesome auto electrician!

Mrs B used the time to have a look at what might be causing the traffic build-up we had experienced just before we pulled into the service station and, oh no! – the M6 was closed near Wigan due to an incident and all the diversions and alternatives were showing as gridlocked. Not trusting that Mr B’s magical fix would necessarily last, we decided to get off the M6 pronto and head for the coast – always a favourite with us in times of stress and uncertainty. With the chance of taking the slip road towards Blackpool upon us before we had chance to think of an alternative, we headed west, with fond childhood memories of the Illuminations suddenly making surprise appearances in our heads! 

With Mr B at the wheel and enjoying the relatively fast flowing traffic on the M55, it suddenly looked like we would be in Blackpool before we had any idea where we would be stopping. Luckily, Mrs B had been working her magic on P4N and she had found what looked like a strange and unlikely (in the UK!) cluster of authorised parking spots on the beach at nearby Lytham St Anne’s. 

There are at least five car parks that allow overnight parking (£10-£15 for 24 hrs). What a welcome change from the usual paranoia and outright bans elsewhere in England! Some have length limitations, but the general rule (according to travel blogs) seems to be that so long as the van fits in the motorhome bay, that’s fine. So after having a quick drive around four of them, we opted for the one at the end of the promenade and right next to a large lake. With signs saying maximum length of 5m, we tucked Evie in right by the beach, with her 2m overhang jutting out over a grassy bank, and hoped for the best…

With time for a quick stroll before darkness, we turned on our pumpkin lights (yup, Hallowe’en tonight!) and made the very unexpected discovery of a Spitfire overseeing our stay…

...leaving us determined to explore more in the daylight! 

Making short work of a delicious Osso Buco that Mrs B had made and frozen for one of those nights when we fancied a treat after a challenging day, we went full pig-out for pudding with a slice of the delicious Canadian style, Dutch apple tart Sue and Mrs B had made on Arran, topped with what else other than some magnificent Scottish Tablet ice cream…

Obviously the next day we had to walk some of last night’s dinner off, so we had a stroll along the beach promenade…

… and around Fairhaven lake, built in the 1890s, that our park-up backed onto, reading about the area’s origins as an early Victorian seaside resort…..

… and where we also learned more about the Spitfire (a memorial to a local pilot – and WW2 aviators more generally), apparently shot down in a Spitfire that had been built with funds raised by local residents during the war. 

Our drive homewards took us out along the prom and past the other authorised car parks – one of which has a black water sluice that can be accessed for £1 – top work Fylde Council! We stopped briefly at another Morrisons for great value diesel – and for Mr B to have another look at the wipers. Confirming that the fuse was OK but that it could be a fault with the relay(s) or the stalk itself, Mr B suggested that as the wipers were currently in ‘nothing wrong here’ mode, we press on and aim to get home later that day, where we could book Evie in to our local garage for a proper going over!

And all seemed to be going swimmingly, as we cruised past Birmingham on the toll motorway again, hitting traffic on the M42 but then gaining time once we got onto the M40. Chastened by yesterday’s unexpected delay, we were gutted to see when we checked ahead on Google that a chunk of the M25 had been closed – and the diversions and alternative routes were, just like yesterday, gridlocked! 

Not believing our bad luck, and seeing as we were close to the A34 junction that would take us south, we decided to turn off and see where we could get to. Which wasn’t that far, before darkness was upon us and we started to suffer from faulty wiper syndrome, anxious that with rain forecast, we didn’t want to risk driving far. The wipers had been packing up intermittently on the journey, but not yet packed up entirely again, so we figured we’d quit whilst we were ahead – in a manner of speaking!

With nowhere on P4N looking easily accessible in the dark, we made the unusual decision to park up in a residential area, just around the corner from our good friends Isabel and Dean in Newbury – which is exactly what we do when we go and see them! It’s a quiet street opposite a cemetery and we have stayed there a good number of times over the years. 

Announcing our unexpected arrival to our friends was an odd experience, but they very kindly invited us for some drinks and nibbles, so we had a good catch up before heading back to Evie for dinner and an early night, determined to get an early start and get home eventually! It felt a bit off key in the morning to be clattering about and making breakfast outside people’s houses, so we decided to get off early and check out one of the places we had seen on P4N but didn’t fancy finding in the dark.

Which is how we found ourselves at Whitehill near Kingsclere, south of Newbury, having breakfast with decidedly non-urban views! This would make a very good overnight stop – now we know where it is and have tried the access in the daylight!

The rest of the drive home was enjoyable, as once we had reached the A34/M3 junction we took one of our favourite drives home – the good old A272 – slow, pretty and no diversions! We often stop at the Cowdray Estate farm shop if we are passing, partly to see whether the excellent butchery there has any pig cheeks (a favourite for us but no luck this time) and partly to browse/marvel at the often eye-watering prices for some of the produce. Our favourite this time was a very small bag of ‘scorched dusted almonds enrobed in dark chocolate’ for a piffling £15! They do however, have a very good bakery and we left with some sourdough and fresh salad for lunch.

Enjoying our self catered and home made lunch in Evie, with views across to the Estate’s polo pitches and deer park, we reckoned that with no hold-ups, we should be home in an hour or so. Which we were, and although we hadn’t planned our detours, once safely home we were able to reflect on how much more of the UK awaits our discovery – perhaps we could plan some short adventures over the winter? We shall see! 

For the moment, it’s time to unpack, catch up with friends and family, and crack on with some essential work on Evie (we also have an intermittent gas heating fault to sort out). It’s going to be a busy winter!

As always, thanks for reading, and belated apologies for the delayed posting of the final two blog entries!

S&J 11.11.25

Arran – castles, caves, walks and wind – and making apple juice! Days 9-13

As the sun shone down on the ferry arriving from Lochranza on Arran, we were beginning to feel optimistic that perhaps we might just be in for another largely sunny stay with our friends Paul and Sue…

Second in the small queue waiting to embark, we started to appreciate the turn-up-and-go nature of the access to the mainland from this end of Arran, as we had been forewarned that the ferries operating out of Brodick, our onward route home, were subject to ‘change and cancellation’! We were struggling with the CalMac website to work out what our options might be (there was also uncertainty over the ferry we were about to catch and when it would actually move to its winter timetable) so we were looking forward to taking advice and guidance from our island living friends!

The ferry trip across to Arran was smooth and uneventful, with Mr B marvelling again at his phone tracking Evie across the water…

… that we were amongst a small and select group of travellers again (only 4 vehicles on this crossing)…

...and that again there were no shore crew to help disembark the vehicles, just the skipper’s skill in putting the ramp down in the right place, holding it against the tide, under the watchful gaze of a member of the crew…

As we drove off the ferry, we could see Lochranza castle in the distance, and although we have driven past on many occasions, Mr B had never been up close…

More of a fortified hall-house than a castle, and on the site of earlier fortifications dated to the 13thC, most of what is visible dates to the 1600s. Discovering that it had been used by Cromwell in the 1650s, Mr B was particularly animated as we have just finished reading the King’s General (another Daphne du Maurier novel and set in the English Civil Wars). Up close, as is always the case with historic and ancient monuments, its very easy to imagine the life and tribulations of the time – especially with the location here, out on the end of a narrow promontory and so very typically Scottish!

Arriving at Paul and Sue’s beautiful house is always a treat, not just because we know we are going to be well looked after, but because we can always count a noisy, tail-wagging and exuberant greeting from Clyde, their retriever/collie cross! And of course, there’s the walking – and as soon as we had finished lunch we were off to see the Lamlash (or Blairmore for the locals) stone circle on a short forest walk – of which there an enormous variety on the island! The circle is close to the main road, and almost hemmed in by the Sitka Spruce trees planted in the 30s and 40s – but recent clearance has at least given them a chance to assume some of their former majesty, where they had lines of sight, apparently, to other ancient sites on the island. Big fans of the Outlander TV series, we could easily imagine this as a location for the time portal...

Mr B is never really sure whether he has been to some of the locations we go to (Mrs B has spent much more time on Arran, and also has a better memory…) so he’s always excited to be out and about on the island. And on our next walk, along a lovely winding forestry track to the west and south of Brodick, he was indeed none the wiser of previous visits! 

It was at this very bench that Mr B was introduced by Sue to an App new to him, that he will be making a great deal of use of on his mountain bike rides and walks in Sussex – how to ID a bird from its sound or photo – not one of his outdoor strengths! And as if by magic (actually Paul spotted it!), whilst answering a call of nature nearby, he saw his first Goldcrest, Europe’s smallest bird, also ID’d by its call on the App by Sue.

After dodging the rain for a couple of days, we were lucky to get one of those beautiful, autumn blue sky treats, with the Holy Isle away in the distance…

...so we headed off down the coast to Whiting Bay and then walked inland to see the Glenashdale falls – a great riverside walk up to the 140ft double drop falls, the largest on Arran…

The walk is a circular one, and as we crested the ridgeline on the return leg, we had a great view back over the coast to Holy Isle from a different perspective…

...before turning inland to the Giants Graves, a couple of neolithic burial cairns which, although we have seen them before, never fail to impress…

It’s a lovely walk and we were very lucky to experience it on a sunny day!

Usually after a good yomp, we settle in for a lazy evening – not tonight though as we were going to be taking part in helping out with apple pressing. Sharing a press with their friend Jak, Paul and Sue are now annual apple juice makers – and we were lucky to be invited to take part…

Needless to say, the juice was delicious and we were chuffed to be given a bottle for our homeward journey!

The next day the wind picked up…

...and our anxiety levels started to rise in tandem! Would we get off the island? Time to take advice from our friends, who suggested we ‘go local’: as well as the ferry we had already booked, book another on a different day and to a different port! 

Once we had made our back-up booking, we had time for one last walk before we were due to sail – this time to King’s Cave near Blackwaterfoot away on the west coast. It’s associated with the legend of Robert the Bruce taking inspiration from a spider’s repeated attempts to build a web, to persevere with his fight against the English. Apparently, it was also known as Fingal’s Cave until the Victorian era, so I guess you can choose your legend!

Another aspect of going local with our strategy for getting off the island, was Mr B subscribing to CalMac’s text notification service. And as we were enjoying breakfast on our last day, his phone started pinging… our morning ferry, the Caledonian Isles, had been cancelled due to the strong winds, and the failure of one of its stabilisers needed to allow it to navigate the entrance to Ardrossan harbour! We were so glad that we had taken Paul and Sue’s advice, with our back-up boat, the Glen Sannox sailing to Troon the next day. Pleased that we had some extra time, we were busy chatting about dinner on our bonus night, when Mr B’s phone pinged again! We had been re-booked by CalMac for a later sailing that day on the Glen Sannox – yikes! 

Conscious that our back-up for the next day could be delayed or cancelled with the deteriorating weather, we took the softy-southerner option and, bidding our hosts fond farewells, set off for the port, realising that when we docked in Troon, we would need to find a place to camp up for the night in the dark, not knowing the area at all.

Grateful that the later ferry hadn’t been cancelled yet, we queued up in the rain with 30 minutes to go! Until we heard a tannoy announcement that the departure would be delayed owing to a technical fault and we would be updated in half an hour… And 45 minutes later we were given an update – a generator fault was being worked on, update to follow. It was only when we noticed that vehicles on the other side of the queue were turning their hazard lights on and boarding that we realised we were good to go – at last!

The Glen Sannox, whilst much maligned for its massive overrun on costs, delays in entering service, inability to dock at Ardrossan, and ongoing ‘technical’ issues, was, for us, a real treat! Built to a high standard and with plenty of space to sit with a good forward view, the crossing was eerily silent as the gas powered engines powered us over to Troon. 

Mr B had found a likely stop over on P4N in an interestingly named village on the A76 to Dumfries, Sanquhar, and after refuelling at a nearby Morrisons with the lowest priced diesel of our trip so far (£1.34 a litre), and with Mrs B at the wheel, we headed off into the unknown, grateful that we had made it back to the mainland and we were out of the woods with regards to delays to our journey home – or so we thought…

S&J 09.11.25

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