Scotland

Vicinity of Loch Doon!

It's been a while because I have been just so busy but here goes again. This is my blog on Bonnie Scotland. Just been up there with some of the family for a week staying in Ayrshire and getting to know the hospitable people of Scotland. I was invited up to Scotland by family members this Christmas holiday for a change. My sister and brother in law were kindly given a free holiday and invited me along as well so who can refuse! Here's to the Union, thank God they stayed in the UK last September, we have Scottish blood on both sides so I like it.

The holiday started with a Southern Region train to Victoria packed to the gunnels but I cannot complain as I have a cheap ticket bought online in advance. I have in fact bought two cheap single tickets to get to Victoria and back. The first one has worked. Will I get back through London in time to catch the return train next week as I will only have 20 minutes to get from Euston to Victoria? Get talking to the two ladies sitting opposite me for most of the journey. Everyone very friendy in a pre-Christmas winding down sort of way. One lady lives in Portugal and is visiting friends/relatives in the UK and the other plus her daughter is on her way to Richmond Park for a day out. She relates the You Tube hit 'Fenton' of the out of control dog chasing deer in Richmond Park and I resolve to watch it later.

Glasgow Central 

Now here's a good travel tip, you can get to Glasgow return with Virgin trains from London Euston for £42 return which is not bad at all for a five and a half hour journey. It beats driving all the way up any day and proved cheaper than flying. Only problem was I arrived on a Saturday night, not a good time to hire a car in the city centre. So get the airport shuttle from Glasgow Central station to the airport, a journey of about 22 miles, then hire a car from Enterprise cars and you are away. The car cost me £135.03 for the week including the lowest level of insurance for tyres and windscreen damage. Then I had to find my way to Brunston Castle near Dailly in Ayrshire in the dark. Fortunately my new iPad, a real box of tricks,  acts as a sat nav, and got me to my destination albeit rather late. Seasons holiday park at Brunston Castle golf course is a very amenable place to stay with extremely comfortable chalets truly home from home which makes Pontins look like French foreign legion digs in comparison. Tastefully  arranged over the hillside around a central core with reception, a swimming pool, gym, table tennis and snooker tables, you could do a lot worse even in the middle of winter. Each chalet has its own verandah although we had to ditch the sunbathing. And ours looked out onto a very pleasing line of hills which were virtually begging to be walked on. We never managed that due to daily excursions.  The area is as you'd expect in the day time, rolling hills and lots of winding twisty roads. And as for the potholes, it's best to keep in the middle around these parts unless faced by an oncoming tractor!

Our first excursion of the holiday was to Troon. Troon sounds extremely Scottish, any word with 'oo' in it is guaranteed to get people practicing their untried Scottish accents pronouncing words such as the 'River Doon' and 'Troon.' The guy in Dad's Army knew how to do it, 'We're all doomed!' Troon is a port perched on the coast above Ayr and is home to the Swan Restaurant, 39 Portland St, where we had most pleasing provender at lunch time on Sunday, a very nice lamb roast for a very humble price, accompanied by a very friendly Scottish waitress. Our other visit later in the week to Troon was also specifically to eat, we were looking for the 'Wee Huri' on the harbour front, an establishment renowned for its fish and chips. It must be one of the most difficult eateries to find in the UK, so take your sat nav with you, or ask one of the lorry drivers that you might see parked up. This whole area reeks of maritime industry and trade, and unless you know exactly what you are looking for your car is in danger of driving straight into the harbour and ending up with the supermarket trolleys. But careful searching will reveal this tiny takeaway can be winkled out of the port infrastructure surrounding it.

Ardrossan Harbour

View north up the coast

Ardrossan beach

View over Ardrossan

We had hoped to visit the Isle of Arran which temptingly appeared to be Little Scotland. However when we checked the ferry times and prices we realised it might not be so appealing what with an early start and limited daylight over there. So we wimped out I am sad to say and instead took the next best alternative and drove to Ardrossan, the port for Arran. This is one of the Three Towns together with Stevenston and Saltcoats which all merge into a blob on the coast. Ardrossan has a nice little harbour with great views over to Arran which invitingly rose up in the far distance evoking images of misty Scottish fells and warrior horsemen riding through the glades. Ah, another time perhaps! Asda in Ardrossan right on the seafront does a great sausage sandwich/bap however. We took a walk up from the harbour to the castle, perched at the edge of a grassy hill overlooking the sound and coastline, as a castle should, although there it's not much left of the castle and it was out of bounds when we visited for some sort of restoration work or suchlike. Ardrossan has a fine sandy bay stretching round to Saltcoats which must be a treat in the summer if you can brave the Scottish seawater. Like many British beaches, they look great but your extremities might drop off if you go for a swim at the wrong time of year.

Rainbow over Edlington country park

Kilkenny town centre

Kilkenny abbey

Kilkenny abbey

Near Ardrossan is the Edlington Country Park, a green lung for the locals. We parked up for a stroll but then thought we'd better grab a cuppa at the cafe before they closed. Then it was off across the park to pose by a sort of tower folly and to ponder the scenery down by the river. A pleasant enough place to visit on a good day but hey it has started raining and would be getting dark soon, the problem that plagues Scotland at this time of year. After a bracing walk taking in the tumbling waters of the river at Edlington but not quite getting to the lake, we drove to Kilkenny just up the road, a town with a little more Scottish character compared with some of the slightly forlorn settlement seen so far on the holiday. Kilkenny has a bit of history, and it's also the place where the freemasonry movement started in Scotland. And you still have the Grand Lodge in the Main Street backed by the ruins of the abbey and flanked by the police station. The Grand Lodge next to the Old Bill next to the abbey? Sounds suspicious to me, a plot is forming in my mind for a story. I bet there’s a secret passage between those three buildings!

Castle snaps

Swan Pond

Culzean Castle is a great visit, pronounced ‘Colleen’ Castle otherwise you'll get into trouble with the locals. Now this is one impressive castle perched on the cliffs South of Ayr. It's got its own country park and is part of the Scottish National Trust. As you enter from the main road there is an air of anticipation as you follow the narrow lane through extensive grounds down towards the coast. When will the pointy turrets of a magic castle appear? This is not an old ruin but a fully functioning castle with its own swan pond, deer park and orangery. The main buildings rather majestically guard the coast line but unfortunately were closed to the public so bear that in mind with a winter visit. At least you will avoid the ghosts of which there are reported to be at least seven including a piper and a servant girl! It's still a good spot to take a few well-chosen photos with a palatial backdrop and the coastline stretching into the distance, although we could have done with a bit more sun to brighten up the rather dour shades of the buildings. You can take a path almost directly down from the castle to the beach below where you can find the boat house and the laundry. The castle was in the hands of the Kennedy family in its illustrious past, was a product of the architect Robert Adam, and was also the official residence of US President Dwight D Eisenhower when he stayed in Scotland. It's an expansive site, with at least 4 car parks for those who don't want to spend the day walking between the main attractions. The visitor centre has a restaurant, shop and toilets, there is a massive walled garden big enough to host hundreds of aristocratic posh women in historical costume discussing possible suitors or perhaps the menu for the next kitchen supper. Further to the west is the Swan Pond with its own little cafe, a splendid spot to sit in the height of summer but rather forlornly locked up at this time of year. A highlight has to be the book shop, a veritable treasure trove of second hand books all plumping out of the shelves and just begging to be picked up and read in the rather comfortable armchairs strategically situated around the room. With a cuppa from the friendly hosts we are in bookworm heaven.

If you want a great place to eat in the evening why not try Wildings at 21 Harbour Rd, Maidens on the coast south of Ayr. For just short of £100 we had a great meal for four at a venue right on the beach and just down the road from the Trump Turnberry resort and Open Championship golf course, often voted one of the world's best. The Trump Turnberry hotel at night sitting up the hill above the coast road and overlooking the sea looks with its glittering exterior as if it's stuffed with black tie gents and long dressed ladies, but alas, we were not close enough to see! If you every play golf here it must be quite fun on the ocean's edge with the amazing Ailsa Craig (Paddy's Milestone) in the distance, an island about ten miles off the mainland which looks like a giant Christmas pudding rising out of the sea.

Rangers footie ground!

Glasgow buildings scrub up well!

Glasgow was on the itinerary, but not to observe fine Victorian architecture or visit a couple of museums. This was a tribute to the football giants of Glasgow, Celtics and Rangers, but just be careful what you say in the presence of either set of fans, otherwise you might receive a Glasgow kiss! First of all we visited Parkhead, or Paradise perhaps if you are a fan, the home of Celtic and one of the biggest football grounds in the UK with a capacity of a whopping 60355. For £8.50 you get a tour of the boardroom with a talk on the trophies on display including of course that European cup they won in 1967. Apparently Rod Stewart stood in here posing for photos in nothing but a shirt but I wouldn't want to lower the tone. We stood in the entrance passage where visiting teams walk in and we were told about their heroic goalkeeper in 1931 who died on the pitch after going for the ball and being hit by someone's knee. Sadly he was concussed and never recovered. We visited the dressing room where we saw a number of shirts hanging up but not all of them. And then we stepped out into the arena, a seriously impressive structure decked in green and white, a tabernacle to the ‘Hoops’ as they are called. Here there are two seats overlooking the half way line and quite low down, yes, one for Rod Stewart and the other for Billy Connolly with their own plaques. So I sat in Rod's seat for the photo. The sun decided to shine upon us when we entered the stadium, a nice touch indeed. Afterwards we visited the press room and pretended to be managers before watching a film of the great Celtic history. A visit to the Celtic shop revealed that things are no different north of the border - £53 for a football shirt - daylight robbery!

Celtic board room

Father Wilfried helped start the club

We whipped across the south of Glasgow city centre on the M8 motorway to Glasgow Rangers on the far side, an ailing empire which gets barely 14000 for a game. Here we just visited the shop and saw a couple of really hard characters outside. There was also a bevy of journalists outside the entrance, trying to catch a word from Ally McCoist perhaps? Some of the buildings around here, old Victorian structures, have obviously been cleaned up and look really great.

Livingstone and some tribsl chief?

Working on the spinning jenny

The great man himself

With the afternoon fast disappearing we decided to go to the David Livingstone museum and Centre in Blantyre. This is a National Trust for Scotland property and costs £6.50 admission for an adult. We were hoping to get to the cafe before closing time but missed it, what a bummer! But the museum was well worth it, a real insight into a great Briton who gave everything for the African people. He was actually named as one of the 100 greatest Britons in a UK wide vote in 2002. The quality of these old missionaries is just incredible, you have to ask how many of us would have lasted the pace given our modern Iifestyle. He was brought up in a tenement on the River Clyde and the whole family, parents, grandparents and children lived in the same one room with simple basic furnishings. David went on to work in the cotton mills, a dangerous occupation by any standards without all the health and safety law we have now. You only had to let your hair or clothes get caught in the machinery to come to a sticky end, yet David would do his duty on the machine whilst learning Latin from a book perched on the machine. Out he went to Africa and was one of the first westerners to traverse the continent from one side to the other, an explorer as well as a missionary. He spent his time with the natives, teaching them the Scriptures and ministering to their needs. He married out there and had a family who he sent back to Britain to be educated. It was a rough existence and at one point he suffered from about fifty different diseases. He even had his medicines stolen from him on one occasion and went about three years without them. Can you imagine going even one weekend without your medicine for a cold or toothache? The Welsh journalist and explorer Stanley went out to Africa to find him and after the two met near Lake Tanganyika, the famous 'Dr Livingstone I presume' moment, Dr Stanley was to stay with him to explore the region but failed to persuade him to return to England. Livingstone died praying at his bedside and was honoured both by Africans and by the British, who had him buried in Westminster Abbey.  A truly great man.

Copy of plaque in Westminster Abbey

Stirling Castle - solid hey!

Stirling castle was another visit - we ummed and ahhed about whether to visit Stirling as it was a fair old way and the weather looked better for another day. In the end we went for it and proceeded up the A77 and the M77, then sped through Glasgow to join the M80. The weather was not great, but forecast to improve a bit as the day progressed. If you want to do a good castle in Scotland then Stirling castle is the one for you. It sits above the town of Stirling in a very commanding position with a 360 degree viewpoint. It costs £14 adult admission and another £3 for an audio guide but this investment yields a positive return.

Stirling itself is a fine looking town in the same vein as Ayr, old, well established and prosperous looking, with lots of that brown stone architecture that fits in so well with the backdrop. We didn't get round to promenading around the town but it looked good, the sort of place you might find an elderly maiden aunt inhabiting with its Christmas decorations lighting up at dusk, the rain soaked streets and homely lights broadcasting warmth from the windows.

Chapel

The castle is big and strong covering the top of the hill above the town, and still in a fine state of repair. There is a very good exhibition on the history of Stirling castle complete with extensive model of the castle itself with lights highlighting the most notable features. We went on the guided tour led by a young blonde Scots lady speaking at machine gun pace. She took us through the chapel, great hall and into the palace as well. The chapel is a nice change from some of the ornate, dark and over decorated receptacles of religion that one so often sees. This one is large, light and airy with an attractive buff colour scheme and understated decoration.

The Great Hall

Now that looks pretty continental to me!

The Great Hall is equally attractive and more conventionally like a great hall you would expect to see with log fire and a seasonal Christmas tree by the window. Rod Stewart and Michael Buble have both done concerts here although numbers would have been very limited due to size. We were told the story of one monarch who took things a little far at one of his feasts and had a fully decorated ship brought into the great hall through the wall together with folks dressed up as gods and goddesses. and we go on about celebrity culture! The palace was well worth it with various Scots folk dressed up in traditional dress floating around the rooms and answering questions. A comely Scots maiden gave us a scholar’s interpretation of the religious paintings on the wall, our very own live ‘Lucy Worsley’ giving us a story of the symbolism embedded in the art e.g. the unicorn in Scottish painting is a symbol of Christ, of purity and strength. These representations are embedded in our history and yet sadly will go over the heads of most people.

Ceiling in the palace - looks like my bedroom floor!

The ceilings of some of the rooms were very tasteful and colourfully decorated. I expected something a little less Mediterranean and more austere in Scotland, but what do I know?

Loch Doon

I had brought my walking boots with me and really should have been be arrested by the police if I had not used them in Scotland for a crime against hill walking in ideal circumstances. Isn't that a cute car above sitting by the side of Loch Doon, yes, it's the car I hired from Enterprise Cars at Glasgow Airport and it goes like a dream surviving pothole hell on south east Scotland wiggly country roads. It's a Renault Clio which I seem to remember was advertised as a pretty young girl's car some years ago but we really have to move on from that image. Imagine a rugged mountain man leaning against the car and now we are talking!

Loch Doon by the way is in the area of the Galloway Forest Park in south west Scotland. I visited there on my very last day of the holiday when the sun decided to creep out to bless the Scottish hills. It was about a half hour drive east from our holiday park at Dailly, via the little town of Dalmellington. From there you strike south on the A713, then after a mile or two take a little side road to the right marked as the entrance to Loch Doon, the Galloway Forest Drive. Then you take a scenic drive up and down’ in and out to the Loch itself. The sun really kissed the surrounding hills and brought out the browns and greens of the heather and forest. This is also the home of the Dark Sky Observatory if you fancy a bit of star gazing. At the end of the holiday and driving around Loch Doon I found a good spot to alight from my jalopy and strike out in walking attire to enjoy the Scottish landscapes. There I found a sign to Loch Finlas, a much smaller loch a pleasant mile or so off to the west. A splendid opportunity to breathe in some Scottish fresh air and enjoy the heather and the hills. It's sort of 'half way to the Highlands' type territory, remote and wilderness like but less stupendous scenery. However the blue skies and gilded colours of the vegetation made it a most successful expedition.

Trip Advisor stated that Ayr was a top emerging global holiday hotspot in 2006, third behind resorts in Turkey and Greece.