Distance: A tricky at times 9miles
Time: 5.5hrs
Well what can I say we had suspected that this would be a fantastic walk and we were not to be disappointed, we were all looking forward to this walk ,after all we were following in the footsteps in the era of St Columba with some sites around St Blanes going back as far as the 500s and it is fairly typical of the terrain you get on the West Highland Way and coupled with the perfect weather it made for a great day.
Clear skies for our Arrival in Rothesay
From the off we met Norrie (he is a familiar face around these parts and he happened to be on our bus )
Norrie
Norrie shared with us his message in a bottle story and his intention to keep the chain going by releasing a new message from the lighthouse at Glencallum bay, where he had found the original message, (pictured later in the blog) , we hope the message gets further than the Ayrshire coast where it originated, (Maybol I think he said) Norrie is also a well informed source on walking and bird life in Bute you can check out his link here.. Norrie,s Website……..
http://www.birdseyeviewofbute.co.uk/.
After a quick check of the tourist Map We decided to follow , the
West Island Way
path, but before too long (after crossing the Golf course to be exact 20 minutes into the walk) we gave up on the conventional route opting for the rugged more unconventional shoreline route towards St Blanes instead.
Kilcatten Bay tourist information
BLT and 90Rocks on West Island Way path.
The shoreline route pushes you through some low lying fields which incidentally also doubles as the Rothesay airfield as we where to find out.
Another 30 secs he would have landed on us
The adjacent field we had to pass thru was full of curious young cattle , which was the cause of some consternation for the boys who (shit themselves) reacted as if it was a field full of man eating tigers..
“90Rocks” then decides to furnished the team with some words of wisdom..
“
15 people died in the UK last year from stampeding cattle”
It turns out this statement was utter bollocks (or is that bullocks) when verified, still this is not a good fact to be quoting when you are in the middle of a field full of curious coo,s).
Turns out this inaccurate factoid startled “The follower” who discovered that he suffers from Bovinophobia. he started running which resulted in him loosing his footing and crashing head first into the rocks, after a quick health check by BLT, it was decided that The follower was fit enough to continue, so onwards we went.
"Born Free" Curious Cows Charged at The Follower as he was taking this picture
The Big Kilcatten Coo (the one that nearly took out The Follower)
It was now approaching 2 oclock and time for lunch , so we made our wayalong the coast and up the hillside to the cliffs for lunch.
“90Rocks” had packed his new Trangia (the muts nuts) Gas stove and some dehydrated (Wayferer bags of dried food )… he had intended on enjoying a space age warm lunch(myself an The follower opting for the more conventional pre-made sandwiches)
Guess what?? He forgot matches or a lighter to ignite his friggin stove.. (BLT has a shared lunch for a third week in a row).
Lunch high on the cliff side with no matches
After lunch we crossed the fields toward the headland and made our way round to ST Blanes church,here you will find the surprisingly extensive remains of St Blane's Church and its walled enclosures. Most of the remains , date back to the 1100s.
St Blanes Ruin
Arch inside St Blanes Church
St Blanes Wall Plaque with some dates
Small Statue in Arch at St Blanes
Isle of Arran form St Blanes
On departing from St Blanes enroute to Glencallum Bay we made our way across the fields towards the Ridge
Approach to Glencallum Bay
Here high in the Hills we met Ester from Barcelona( Hola, Ester we took a picture but the light was terrible so we didnt use ) she was looking kind of lost (just a wee bit ) however after some directional advice from “The Slackers” Ester managed to find her way to St Blanes church and complete the route (we know she made it because we met again on the Ferry Home )
Our descent into Glencallum bay (aka Horse shoe bay) was quite spectacular as seen from the images the views of Rubh'an Eun Lighthouse are a spectacular backdrop and well worthy of a visit “The Slackers" were well impressed …
Rubh'an Eun Lighthouse from high ridge
By now it was getting late in the day we had started walking at 11.30 and it was now 17:00, we lit a small camp fire and had coffee whilst waiting on the bus.
Camp fire on beach
.
Apint of Guinness or two was the order of the day The Black Bull Bar (by the ferry terminal)
Its a small World Once in the Bar we met Rashmi and Will and their friends turns out they are doing the WHW same week as us and they had a similar idea as us as part of their preparation we will probably meet in Fort William.
Rashmi and Will (hope the legs OK Rashmi)
Rashmi and Will,s team see you in Fort Bill
After a few pints it was time for home the 19:00 Ferry took us home to Wemyss bay the perfecting ending to a magic wee day out. (look at these pictures)
Isle of Arran
Toward Point from Rothesay Ferry
The Most Amazing sunset on Rothesay
Hey Its Ester told you she made it
