Wednesday 27th July 2022
I had no great expectations for today’s walk and it did not disappoint.
We left our car at Carradale from where we had a pre-arranged taxi to take us back to Claonaig where we finished yesterday afternoon. It was the same taxi driver as yesterday; he had lived in Essex for many years and knew the Essex coast well and so we chatted about the various problems of getting around the Essex coastline. He had worked in a managerial role at the Bata Shoe Factory in Tilbury which was where we had got the ferry to cross the Thames to Gravesend.
It was a beautiful, still, clear morning. From our starting point by the Old Chapel at Claonaig we could see right down the the coast to our destination at Carradale which was picked out by a shaft of morning sunshine.
Now we just had to knuckle down for an eleven mile road walk. The road is a very quiet unclassified (C) road with passing places. For walking that meant we did not need to worry about heavy traffic but did need to worry about the single vehicles as they approached. Drivers on empty roads tend to drive between 30mph and 40mph and seem to get out of the habit of slowing down except when they use a passing place to squeeze past another vehicle. Pedestrians, by contrast, are so insignificantly narrow that they see no need to wait for us to reach a passing place but just come on by at their normal speed. Where we can, we always step onto the verge but that is not always possible. Some drivers do not have a clear idea of the width of their vehicles.
The walk itself was pleasant enough. The road was generally tree-lined on both sides and so we had limited views to the sea even though it was not far away. Above the trees we looked across to the mountains of Arran and, being several miles away, our progress past them seemed unfathomably slow.
There were no turnings off the road except for the occasional farm or house entrance. There were two or three access roads for the new electricity supply line being built for the new wind farm on Kintyre.
I scanned the map for likely stopping places where we could settle in and have coffee but there were none until Grogport nine miles into our walk. It was worth the wait because there was a picnic table there and, being right on the shore, we had excellent views over the sea to Arran. We aired our feet and had a leisurely stop. The sky had clouded over a little and so we were not in the full glare of the sun; it was just very pleasant sitting there.
After coffee we had a couple more miles of tarmac until the we rejoined the Kintyre Way. Where we joined the Kintyre Way there was a beautifully kept picnic area but it lacked the views we had enjoyed at Grogport.
We now had an enjoyable three and a half miles through the forest above Carradale. The path was easy to follow and it was a real pleasure to have some uneven ground beneath our feet.
Being forestry land, our views were generally restricted by the densely planted trees. We were particularly dismayed by the rampant growth of rhododendrons which were invading every free space. Impressive as they are when in flower, they are horribly invasive and, of course, not indigenous. I can only hope that when, one day, they clear fell the timber that they will also rout out and destroy all the rhododendrons but that would be a Herculean task.
The path brought us down to the village of Carradale. We walked back to the harbour car park where we had left the car; arriving before 14.00 so we had only taken 5 ½ hrs. I think we have probably got over Covid now.
There was no easy way of extending today’s walk and so we had a leisurely, late lunch stop overlooking the harbour and then headed back to Campbeltown.
Just Coasting 