Thursday 28th July 2022
Once again I was prepared to dig in for another day of tedious tarmac. But it turned out to be better than I had expected.
We got the early bus to Carradale at 7.10. We are morning people; there is a 9.30 bus but that would mean we would not arrive until 10.10 when the best part of the day is already over.
We were walking by 8.00 and followed the tarmac footpath almost parallel to the road until the village hall. After a short walk along the road where we were surprised by a red squirrel which ran across the road in front of us. We followed a path through the grounds of Carradale House until it joins with the Kintyre way which cuts across to Bridgend missing West Carradale completely. We joined the road to cross Carradale Water and then turned down the lane to Waterfoot. After a few yards a blue Kintyre way sign warns that the next part along the shore is slippery and tidal and conveniently displays two months’ worth of tide times.
We were only an hour after low water and so we did not anticipate any problems. I had not realised that we had a short section of real coast walking today. Since we left Tighnabrauch on the last day of our last session we have not “tasted” the sea shore for walking, we have been on tracks and roads sometimes next to the shore but more often than not a few hundred yards away.
The short section of shore walking was a pleasure. It was slippery and rugged but there are some beautiful rock forms and it was really good to reconnect with the raison d’être of our walk. We took a lot of photos and this blog is also our photo album so scroll on if you are getting bored. We took more photos in that half mile than we have taken in a full day for other days on this walk.
After about half a mile we left the shore and returned to the road.
The road is a twin track road which actually felt a lot safer than the single track road we were on yesterday. Though cars come faster they have plenty of room to pass us safely at speed.
The road is really quite quiet and just when I was feeling mildly dispirited that we had twelve more miles of tarmac a beautiful fox popped out from the side of the road and walked across. For urban dwellers foxes are a common sight and they are a nuisance with the bins. For rural folk such as us we rarely see foxes in the depths of the Yorkshire Dales. Even on our walk around Britain we have encountered reynard on but a handful of occasions.
The road we were on was wider than that of yesterday and much less wooded and so we had good views across to the sea and could look down onto the shore even though it was inaccessible for walking.
Having had a very early start I was feeling the need for coffee by 10.30. Fortunately at 10.40 we came to the village of Saddel. Here there is a car park and a solitary bench which we claimed for our leisurely coffee break. Saddel is the home of Saddel Abbey which though largely destroyed still has some carved gravestones. The carvings are protected in a covered display building which is open to the public.
We moved on and there is not much to say about the road walking except that a couple of hours later at 12.30 we arrived at Peninver where there is a beach and some benches and so I felt the need for lunch.
After lunch we had about 4 ½ miles to go to Campbeltown. The main feature of interest is the Island of Davaar which sits in the mouth of Campbeltown Loch and at low tide there is a sand bar connecting it to the mainland.
As we passed it was definitely an island. In 1966 the MV Quesada went down four miles off the island after an engine failure in a gale. A local boat went to its rescue and nine lives were saved but eight others were lost. A memorial now stands near the ferry terminal in Campbeltown. The two men who made the rescue were recognised for their outstanding seamanship and bravery.
We came into Campbeltown at about 14.30. Campbeltown is a reasonably busy little town and certainly the biggest place on the Mull of Kintyre. It has a ferry terminal for boats to Ardrossan and seems to be important for shipping out timber. Of course Paul McCartney famously lived here after the break-up of the Beatles and made the the Mull of Kintyre famous along with the Campbeltown Pipe Band who accompanied him on the famous disc.
Just Coasting 