The first Easter since my retirement – no constraints on the length of time spent away; excellent.
Thursday 5 April – landed at Heathrow and picked up the car (a Kia) and drove to Bob’s house. After a night in Alcester the plan was for us to go in convoy and stop on the way at Lockerbie. We spent that first day socialising with Bob’s sister and his mother. Of course, a trip to the Three Tuns was on the agenda. There we met with Bob’s mates. Nice Indian dinner. No problem sleeping.
Friday 6 April – We had booked a night at the Queen’s Hotel. There was not much of interest in Lockerbie so we ate at the hotel.
Saturday 7 April. A damp grey day and we headed to Greenock for shopping at Morrison’s where we bought our allotted list of supplies plus the ingredients for dinner as it was our turn, then on to the ferry from Gourock to Dunoon. A 2-minut drive to Hafton Castle.
A side story to the Castle. One of our friends had been a nuclear submarine commander in the days when the US Navy had a Polaris base at the Holy Loch. He told us about staying at the “Officers’ Club” nearby. The castle was well equioped with bar, swimming pool and a somewhat overgrown helicopter landing pad. Had this been used as the Officers’ Club?
It was too early for access to our accommodation, so we took a tour of the town. We had pancakes and “maple syrup” (fake we think) abd a walk up to the “Highland Mary” staue and a view of the town.
Sunday 8 April. Ben Vorlich in the Arrochar Alps. A big group of Heather and David, Christine, Phil, Richard, Liz. Cadged a ride off Heather and David to the start point at Inveruglas. There was drizzle and rain at the start – we took a direct line up to the South Ridge. More of the same plus wind as we progressed. We ate lunch in the lee, but notice that Richard was missing and did not appear. Gordon went off and found him further up the hill on a parallel line to ours he obviously had missed us in the fog. We reached the summit with Heather and David which was not at the same place as the trig point the lack of visibility confused many of us. Some people thought that they had reached the top, but did not! We had one more Munro added to our collection.
The descent was via step grassy slopes to the road following the path of a stream. A true Phil Broughton route! We met the rest of the group after climbing over a wire fence to a dirt track. Richard took a different route and Phil dashed ahead to his car and picked him up. The rest of us carried on in steady rain back to the shores of Loch Lomond and opur cars. Everything was soaked.
Back at the castle and after a welcome shower, we had a superb meal made by the Hamer sisters – red pepper tomato soup, veggie shepherd’s pie, lemon cake with pine nuts and chocolate cheesecake accompaniefd by good wine and beer. Sore kneecaps after the descent…
No views, no pictures.
Monday 9 April. A slow start.After washing clothes, we set out for Benmore botanic gardens with Jesper, Bob, and Richard. A welcome rest after the rain of the previous day. A rain shower soon gave way to sun and blue skies. Benmore is a sprawling arboretum with many variaties of redwoods, rhododendrons, There’s a restored Victorian “farmery” meandering paths and views down to Holy Loch. It’s associated with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
Back to the Castle in time to have a G&T before dinner – cold spinach an cheese soup with Dave Kee bread, mango chicken and rice, rhubarb crumble, Oxfordshire Brewing Co beer.
Tuesday 10 April. Richard and Christine joined us for a crack at Ben Vane. Start point was again Inveruglas. There had been significant snowfall since Sunday and this created some problems.
The snow had obscured the path, but a party ahead of us and cossed snow covered grass on an exposed slope. It looked very dangerous and none of us wanted to repeat this route, we regrouped, climbed higher away from exposure, found the path again then continued to the base of the summit rocks. It was now 3:30 pm and we needed time to get down, so we decided to retreat. Also cloud was coming in and temperature dropping. Best to wait or another day.
A great day with good company even with the disappointment of missing another Munro. Dinner was chili, prawns on bread, polenta, tomato and goat cheese, green beans, chocolate cake, Cumberland beer (Gordon) red wine (Betsy).
Wednesday April 11. Time for another easy day – Puck’s Glen. Others went to the Beaver Centre (there are many beavers in Massachusetts!). Puck’s Glen is a lovely old Victorian tourist destination managed by “Forestry and Land Scotland”. It’s a steep gorge with lots to see.
Back to the Castle for lunch. The afternoon saw us shopping in Dunoon. The weather was sunny, but soon turned windy and grey. We were just back at the house before hail. Whitecaps in the loch. Swim before dinner of smoked salmon starter, beef casserole, roast potatoes, green beans, trifle. Thwaites Wainwright beer
Thursday April 12. The weather forecast was good, so we headed for Ben Ime and Ben Narnain with Christine. The start point was on the “Rest and be Thankful” pass. A road splendid in views, but notorious for landslips and closures. The name comes from the old days when reaching the highest point. We were able to avoid the “pay and display” parking area and used a free spot after been directed there by the manager of a campground (he let use use the loos too).
The route started along a forestry track then followed a narrow, steep path alongside a brook. Views of Ben Arthur (aka the Cobbler) on the way. I have memories of this hill from my teens. It’s a long story, but on a school trip I was considered too young and weak to take it on and was consigned to hang around Tarbet on Loch Lomond on a miserable day while the teacher took the stronger children up the hill. I would be that those “leaders” would be in big trouble if they did that these days.
Stopped for a snack at Narnain Boulders, then continued onward.
A good day, but we were a bit late. We met another party at the summit of Ben Narnain and followed them down the south side – a very steep and slippery route with snow and mud.
Late back at the Castle for a shower and Phil’s cheeses and onion pie. accompanied by beer.
Friday April 13. Last day. As usual it had come around quickly. This was a rest day and we joined Jesper for a look at Kilmun Arboretum across the Loch from the Castle, but first was had laundry to do.
This area has been a place for the Forestry Commission to test out breeds of trees for use in their plantations. The Forestry Commission was set up by Churchill after WWI to ensure a supply of wood for lumber. The trials were from the 1930s to the 1970s to check hardness in damp Scottish weather. It’s now managed by Forestry and Land Scotland. There are many paths and we visited a lot of them. Trees from China, Japan, Australia, USA, Including eucalyptus, monkey puzzle (from Chile), fir, spruce, hemlock, maple and pine.
After the walk we visited Ardentinny for tea at the Glen Finart Inn. Owned by a Kennedy with a guest house at the back called Culzean! It’s a very remote place.
After the walk we walked to the bird hide near the bottle bank. Bob picked us up to give us a ride back and avoid the very cold windy weather. Then we went to Ingram’s Bar i Dunoon to raise a glass to Pete Seibert (our ex-navy friend).
Final evening meal. Feta spinach rolls, courgette fritters, goulash with veg., choclate brownies with ice cream. French red wine.
Final packing, ready to leave. Group crossword puzzle efforts in the library while the bridge game tradition was revived.
Saturday April 14. On to our next destinations after the food free-for-all. Then south to England – visit Alex in Norfolk and Bob I in Alcester.