Las Ramblas return to the world of walking with a short saunter along the Canal at Auchinstarry Marina and back over Croy Hill passing part of the Antonine wall on the way. We had hoped John Lee Hooker would join us but he got lost on Canal Street. Gillian, Avril, Marion, Bruce & Reuben head off without him.
At Auchinstarry marina, on the Forth and Clyde Canal.,there are many moorings next to a hostelry that claims to be the first eco-hotel, restaurant and pub in Scotland. It is a lot more modern than its 18th-century origins, but the presence of horses in neighbouring fields harks back to the days when the animals were stabled nearby to be used as a passenger service along the canal.Nowadays, the canal is a great leisure resource, with walking a popular attraction. On the waterside, you can look out for a variety of bird life, including herons, swans, little grebes and tufted ducks. Just away from the canal, in hedgerows and woodlands, smaller birds fill the air with song, making for a perfect walk.
Starting Point
Marion & Avril head off
Reuben Suggests a different Route
Taking in the View
Lunch
Looking back over the Campsie's
Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall, known to the Romans as Vallum Antonini, was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde
Bruce takes an early morning Coastal walk between Portrush and Portstewart. Hugh Cornwell couldn't make it to Northern Ireland as the ferry from Cairnryan was stuck in the harbour due to it being a bit windy.
Las Ramblas Ramblers Stone Skimming Division head to Easdale for the
Championships. Chris Difford took a wrong turning and ended up in Camber Sands and in the wrong season but he sent a fun little ditty to entertain us in the Rain.
The World Stone Skimming Championships were started in 1983 by Albert Baker, and then lay fallow until they were resurrected in 1997 by the Easdale Island Community Group
as a fund raising event.
Contestants hail from around the world and the championships now attract over 300 participants and many spectators. Anyone of any age and any level of skill can enter the championships.
The competition is split into Ladies, Men, Junior Boys and Girls and Under 10s Boys and Girls categories. There is also the Ladies and Men Old Tosser categories for those entrants who have reached the experienced and veteran heights of no longer being in their 50's.
The Field of Dreams
Marion & Kay have the misfortune of throwing after Ladies Champion Lucy Wood
Marion celebrates getting a stone in the water
Jill Prepares for her 14m Puffin winning throw
Sally & Daisy show more interest in the wine than the competition
Budgie winner Alfie at the presentation ceremony in the Oyster Bar
Results
Men's Budgie
Alfie 45 meters
Andy 37 meters
Bruce 34 meters
Kevin 22 Meters
Neil 17 meters
Sam 14 meters
Woman's Puffin
Jill 14 meters
Kay 9 meters
Marion 0 meters
Team
6th Las Ramblas 210 meters
Our usual thanks to everyone who organised the event,
Las Ramblas (Stone Skimming Division) take a leisurely saunter round the Ardmaddy Castle Estate
Marion, Bruce, Linda, Neil, Alfie, Jill, Andy, Kay, Kevin, Sally & Daisy Struggle through the Rain Barry Manilow despite his claims did not.
Ardmaddy Castle gardens, in a most spectacular setting, are shielded to the north by mature woodlands, carpeted with bluebells and daffodils and protected from the Atlantic winds by the elevated Castle. The Walled Garden is full of magnificent rhododendrons, some huge, an increasing collection of rare and unusual shrubs and plants, the 'Clock Garden' with its cutting flowers, fruit and vegetables grown with labour saving formality, all within dwarf box hedging. Beyond, a woodland walk, with its amazing hydrangea climbing to 60 feet, leads to the water gardens - in early summer a riot of candelabra primulas, irises, rodgersias and other damp loving plants and grasses. Lovely autumn colour. A garden for all seasons.
Route
Ardmaddy Tower
Bridge
Crossing in light drizzle
Taking shelter in the Potting Shed
Slight respite from the downpour
Oh well time to head to the House Of Trousers for a quick refreshment before getting some last minute training in the Oyster Bar
Bruce takes a pre-work Stroll in Stornoway, Jimi Hendrix missed out as he was
to busy with a full Scottish Breakfast in a local hostelry he did however suggest this song for the walk
Route
King James VI granted ownership of Lewis to the Mackenzies
of Kintail in 1610. By about 1680, Lord Seaforth had established his estate
house, Seaforth Lodge, on the Gearraidh Chruaidh, an area of rough
ground on the west side of the harbour. Parts of this original building
can still be seen within the stripped out walls of the mezzanine at the rear of
the present Castle.
In 1844 the Lewis Estate was sold to James Matheson.
Sir James Matheson was born in Lairg, Sutherland and
co-founded the Jardine Matheson company in Canton in 1832. Having made his
fortune from the Chinese Opium trade, he returned to Scotland and purchased the
Island of Lewis from the Mackenzie Trustees for £190,000.
Matheson commissioned the renowned architect Charles Wilson
to design his new island residence on the site of the Mackenzies' Seaforth
Lodge. Building work started in 1847 and the £60,000 project took seven years
to complete. A further £49,000 was spent on transforming the rough grazing land
around the new Castle into extensive woodlands and private gardens. The
temperate climate and shelter from the initial planting of hardy species,
created ideal growing conditions for a wide range of native and imported
species. A large conservatory complex, added in 1875 by Alex Sutherland, housed
a host of more exotic and delicate species.
The creation of the Castle Grounds involved the clearance of
tenants and the re-routing of public roads, which did not endear the new
proprietor to the local population. To balance this, during his period of
ownership, Sir James Matheson provided employment, funded famine relief and
many other social and economic projects for the benefit of the island
community.
On his death in 1878 the estate fell to his widow Lady Mary
Jane Matheson and subsequently to his nephew Donald and grand-nephew Colonel
Duncan Matheson. For financial reasons the Lewis estate and the Castle were put
on the market in 1917.
William Hesketh Leve (Lord Leverhulme) was born in Bolton,
Lancashire, in 1851 and built up the Lever Bros/Unilever conglomerate. Having
first seen the Hebrides on a vacation cruise in 1884, he bought the Isle of
Lewis in 1918 for £143,000 and a year later acquired the Isle of Harris. In little
over three years, Leverhulme spent some £2million on industrialisation schemes,
largely based on fishing, which he believed would transform the economic and
social conditions in the islands.
Leverhulme had ambitious plans for Stornoway and
commissioned the artist Raffles Davison to draw up his future vision of the
town. This, incidentally, included a bridge linking the harbour at Bayhead to
the Castle Grounds.
Leverhulme gave the Castle electric lighting, central
heating, numerous bathrooms and intercom telephones. An enthusiastic dancer, he
extended the ballroom by combining it with an adjacent drawing room. He hosted
many famous visitors and invitations to balls at the Castle were eagerly
sought.
In 1923 Lord Leverhulme gifted Lews Castle and 64,000 acres
of land to the people of Stornoway parish and the Stornoway Trust was
established to manage this substantial estate on behalf of the community.
Bruce takes time out from work up North for a short walk in Corrieshalloch Gorge, Louis Philippe wasn't keen on crossing the Bridge so waited in the Car Park and sung this little tune.
Route
Corrieshalloch Gorge can be found 12 miles south east of
Ullapool. It is a spectacularly deep, mile long box canyon through which the
River Droma descends towards Loch Broom, en route forming the 150ft high Falls
of Measach. There are few outdoor attractions in the Highlands best seen after
heavy rain, but Corrieshalloch Gorge is certainly one of them, and when the
river is in spate the falls produce a mist which drifts along the gorge.
The gorge is accessed from the south, from a car park a
short distance west along the Dundonnell and Gairloch road. The path brings you
to the south end of the Corrieshalloch Suspension Bridge. This was built to
allow tourists a better view of the gorge in 1874 and designed by the eminent
engineer Sir John Fowler. Sir John is perhaps better known for his role in
helping design the Forth Bridge, on which construction began nine years later
in 1883. His bridge over the Corrieshalloch Gorge is more modest in scale, with
a span of 82ft, but it has nonetheless stood the test of time.
The bridge gives you your first real sense of what you have
come to see, and if you have any sort of fear of heights, crossing it is a
challenge. A few feet out onto the bridge you suddenly become aware of the drop
of some 200ft into the gorge below, and the bridge itself has an interesting
tendency to sway as you walk along it. This is one reason why the number of
visitors allowed on the bridge is limited to six at any one time.
From the bridge you follow a path west among trees parallel
to the north side of the gorge. This brings you to a viewing platform
cantilevered out half way over the gorge from the north side. This is a more
recent addition than the bridge. It offers stupendous views of the Falls of
Measach to the east: and provides another stern test for those with vertigo. On
the way back to the car park you can choose to return the way you came or,
after recrossing the bridge, you can follow a path which takes a circular
route, leading first along the south side of the gorge to another fine
viewpoint.
The Corrieshalloch Gorge was not carved out by the river
that flows through it today. Instead it was probably formed towards the end of
the last ice age when the glacier that formed Loch Broom started to melt and
large volumes of water flowed beneath the base of the glacier, carving out the
rock below.
