Table of Contents
Day 0: Prologue
Following my successful trip around the North Coast 500 on September 2020, I decided that it DEFINITELY warranted more time in the upper reaches of Scotland, particularly the North West coast. There were places where I needed more than one overnight stop- the Isle of Skye being a prime example.
The last trip was 30/31 days, so I had to do better than that……As a bit of a sub-plot, I thought it would be a bit of fun to see if I could be away throughout this year for the same number of days as my birthday, ie 75. Hmm……
This trip, I decided to be a bit more flexible and try and camp for the majority of the whole session, rather than being tied to turning up at various B&B’s, AirBnB’s, etc. Anyway, wanted to get the best use of the new ( expensive !) tent.
So, out came the spreadsheets, maps and all that other planning paraphernalia before last Christmas and a 41 day extravaganza eventually revealed itself.
To include:
- Eskdale – on the way up, only spent one day there last year, plenty more to see
- Oban – an overnight stay before catching my first ferry to the islands
- Isle of Mull – Tobermorey, Staffa ( Fingals Cave) and Iona
- The Arnamurchan Peninsula and Morar (where they filmed Local Hero)
- Isle of Skye – 4 nights there
- Then another ferry (or two) ending up in Barra, at the southern most tip of the Western isles
- Gradually moving North up the island chain, through North and South Uist to Harris (more ferries !)
- Yet another ferry from Stornoway, back to the mainland at Ullapool
- A few days rest at Clachtoll Beach Campsite
- Off to “do” Sandwood Bay” (reputedly one of the most beautiful beaches in the UK), then my only overnight stay in a proper bed…..
- The Applecross Peninsula – where a certain Boris stayed for a few nights
- Fort William – going to have a go at Ben Nevis, if the weather’s sensible
- A few nights in both Keswick and Muker on the way home
Everything seems to OK at the moment for travel in Scotland, although the ferries are running a voluntary testing scheme with regard to LFT’s, so I’ll take some with me, just in case.
So it’s load up the car time and off we go……….
Day 1: 03 May 2022 – North to Ravenglass……..
Today is the first day of a 40 + day trek around Scotland including Skye, Mull, Outer Hebrides. I can’t/won’t do the whole drive up to Scotland in one go so I decided to break it at Eskdale. I’ve been here before but just for a day, going on the railway that runs from Ravenglass to Boot.
This time I’ve broken the journey at the Camping and Caravanning Club site at Ravensglass. Staying here for three nights before travelling up to Oban for the first of many ferries.
The drive from Cinderford up to Ravenglass included M5, M6 and other horrible boring roads, just one long drag.
This is Tuesday evening, it’s a beautiful dry evening so the whole tent including the new roof cover has gone up. My plastic storage boxes everywhere ( I have a series of them that go into pre-determined places in the back of the car – sort of organised……), but I’m not quite sure how I’m going to organise everything – new system, new tent, etc, etc. Seems I’m the only tent today, but they were full over the recent holiday long weekend.
To work up an appetite ( but mainly to stretch the old legs after all that car sitting) I wandered round the actual village of Ravenglass itself. Pretty single street end-of-the-road type place.
Next item – food ! Since this was a long trip, I’d decided to do more cooking en camp, as it were. Tonight, for my delectation, there is sausage and chorizo casserole ( home pre-cooked, defrosted) with spuds and a glass of white. happy day !
Lots to see tomorrow !
Day 2: 04 May 2022 – Mills and miles
I woke up this morning to find that it was raining somewhat strenuously, so it wasn’t exactly a quick start….
Luckily it had finished raining about 9 am so I decided to stay with my original plan and drive to Boot and then tackle the notorious Hardknott Pass/Wrynose Pass combination, before ending up inAmbleside. These are very difficult single track roads, not much in the way of passing places and as steep as hell. Unfortunately it was very foggy/misty/low cloud-y so it wasn’t the most beautiful journey that I’ve ever done.
I had hoped to stop off at the Hardknott Roman fort but it was so misty/foggy that I went straight past it ! Anyway never mind, it will be there for ever…….
After the passes ( max 393 m above sea level) there comes a beautiful circuit (the B5343 for those interested) which includes Langdale. Again another beautifully scenic single track road which then ends up in Great Langdale. After that it becomes almost a motorway ( in comparison) towards Ambleside – something to do with the 5* Langdale Hotel perhaps ??????? By this time, of course, the sun was well and truly out ! Beautiful scenery.
Ambleside is really a central type of place from which you can go and do all sorts of activities – climbing, walking and all the rest. Bit of grub and a small beer taken on board after a wander around – yes, they have a Greggs !
After that it was down the A593 back towards Ravenglass but then on the way I decided to divert and go cross-country back to Boot on a non-classified road via a small village called Ulpha. More interesting single track stuff with NO passing places !
The reason for going back to Boot was to visit the Eskdale Mill, the last surviving corn mill in the Lake District. Very interesting engineering-wise, with two or three water wheels plus an electric generator.
There wasn’t really time left in the day to go on some of the walks around Boot that I wanted to go on, so I decided that I would return to base and then get the train from Ravenglass back up to Boot tomorrow.
For my early evening walk, I decided to try and find some of the local Roman remains around Ravenglass,which at the time was a big big port and garrison.
Found the Roman Baths remains, but not much left of the fort, though graphics at the site gave a very good impression of the scale of the infrastructure – must’ve been quite a town……
Day 3: 05 May 2022 – Train time…..
Yes, there has to be a steam train somewhere on ANY holiday I take – addicted or what ???? Thursday morning dawned a bit dull, but not raining. Last time I was on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway I was toughing it out in an open carriage. Thankfully I selected one with a roof this time…. Train journey to Dalegarth was its usual picturesque self, including an owl sitting on a wall as calm as could be. Too slow to catch a pic though. Pity it was a bit dull and overcast though.
Having been to the area before, I knew which direction to go to get to the spectacular Stanley Ghill Beck. Last time I was here, the upper viewing platform was closed, due to a landslide/tree fall combination. This time it was the MIDDLE platform that had disappeared completely ! Mother nature is unforgiving sometimes.
It turned out to be well worth the walk, as the beck was in full flow. The new viewing platform is not for the faint hearted, as it is not only cantilevered out into fresh air, but has several “transparent” floor panels with just gratings, so you can see down into the gorge. Walking back down, I stopped for a quick picnic before doing the loop which included the River Esk and another feature called Gill Force. A good day’s walking – and it didn’t rain !
Back at Ravenglass Station, I spotted a couple of interesting loco’s (well interesting to me !), together with an “appropriate” signpost !
It looks like the weather is going to be pretty lousy for tomorrow (Friday) so I think I’ll pack up the big tent on tonight, use my two-man “emergency” tent just to sleep overnight – another experimental procedure. If it’s raining tomorrow morning it’s only a small tent to get dry rather than a big one. That’s the plan. Unfortunately, just as I was starting to pack things up it started to rail, so that scuppered that ! Ho hum, wet tent packup again……
A long thrash up to Oban tomorrow for the REAL start to the trip.