Pre- Skim Saunter on Kerrera

Las Ramblas Ramblers (Stone Skiming Division) Head to the Island of Kerrera for a Pre-skim Saunter to Gylen Castle, Ronald Binge missed the ferry so headed into Oban to drown his sorrows

Marion, Bruce, Linda, Neil,  Sam, Alfie, Andy, Jill, Kevin, Kay, Haddie, Bob & Sally are joined  by Chas & Jaks.

 

Gylen Castle, on the southern part of the island of Kerrera in Argyll and Bute, juts dramatically into the sky on the tip of a promontory overlooking the Firth of Lorne.

Built in 1582 by the Clan MacDougall.  Gylen was only occupied for a relatively short period of time. The castle was besieged then burned by the Covenanters under General Leslie in 1647 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

In May 2006 a restoration of the castle was completed with a £300,000 grant by Historic Scotland and £200,000 raised by worldwide members of Clan MacDougall.

Kerrera

Who pays the Ferryman

Heading south from the Jetty

Cattle cooling off at the shore

Looking north to Oban

Neil, Jill, Jaks & Marion head for the View

And what a view

Gylen Castle

Chas has a Highlander Moment "there can be only one" (thankfully) 

Sally finds a spot to cool off in

Time to head over to Ellenabeich and prepare for tomorrows competition

The Training Room

 



Taking the High Road or maybe the Low Road

Las Ramblas head out to Loch Lomond for a Sunday Stroll,

surprisingly Neil arrived first at the meeting point unlike Martha Tilton who came up with the feeble excuse that she was helping Bruce in Cowdenbeath with a couple of big sums

Gillian, Alison, Marion, Neil, Alfie, June, Avril, Gary, Layla, Ryan & Wilf  set out  from Rowardennan for a saunter on the shores of

Scotland's loch that doesn't rely on a Monster to pull in the tourist.

 

 

Loch Lomond is a freshwater loch lying on the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands. It is 39 kilometres (24 mi) long and between 1.21 kilometres (0.75 mi) and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) wide. It has an average depth of about 37 metres (121 ft), and a maximum depth of about 190 metres (620 ft). Its surface area is 71 km2 (27 sq mi), and it has a volume of 2.6 km3 (0.62 cu mi). Of all lochs and lakes in Great Britain, it is the largest by surface area, and the second largest (after Loch Ness) by water volume. Within the United Kingdom, it is surpassed only by Lough Neagh and Lower Lough Erne in Northern Ireland.

Traditionally a boundary between Stirlingshire and Dunbaronshire, Loch Lomond is currently split between the council areas of Stirling, Argyll and Bute, and West Dunbartonshire.

Loch Lomond is now part of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Ben Lomond is on the eastern shore: 3,195 ft in height and the most southerly of the Scottish Munro peaks. A 2005 poll of Radio Times readers voted Loch Lomond as the 6th greatest natural wonder in Britain.

The loch contains thirty or more other islands. depending on the water level. Several of them are large by the standards of British bodies of freshwater. Inchmurrin, for example, is the largest island in a body of freshwater in the British Isles.

Several of the islands appear to be crannogs, artificial islands built in prehistoric periods

One of the loch's islands, Inchconnachan, is home to a colony of wallabies.

Alison & Layla

 

Loch Lomond

 

Marion & Avril express a preference for the Low Road 

 

Fly Agaric

 

Neil gets some practice in for the impending championships

 

Ramblers Rest

 

Alison realises she cant get a signal on her Phone

 

Taking the High Road

 

Our Glorious leader receives running repairs

 

Avril inspects the work of the Midge

 

Alfie in a contemplative mood

 

Time to head homeward