To Kintyre

It wasn’t the best day for travelling yesterday, but at least the rain stayed off till I was near to Glasgow.  I got straight onto the ferry at Gourock, and I didn’t even bother to get out of the car to take photos, the rain was that heavy and the mist hiding any views like last Monday’s!   The journey to Tighnabruaich was wet and misty, but somehow the rain brought out the colours of russet bracken, the browns of the trees, mostly autumnal colours, just the occasional bright green of a newly budding tree or the yellow of the whins (gorse) here and there.   It did let up a little eventually but the mist remained steadfast.  There were to be few views.

I was early for the ferry at Portavadie, so while I waited for the ferry I took a few photos!   This road sign is what my sister, years ago, entitled “Over the Sky to Sea”  inspired by the famous Scottish song “Over the sea to Skye”.

 

 

 

Soon the little ferry approached the slipway.  There was no-one aboard – except crew of course – not a single car or passenger, and mine was the only car on the return crossing to Tarbert, though there were also three foot passengers on board this time.  

Last time I mentioned kyles being narrow stretches of water.  The Gaelic word for a narrow bit of land gives us Tarbert or Tarbet.  Tarbert, Argyll, as this one is known, stands on a narrow isthmus at the top of  the Kintyre peninsula.  After such a grey day it was nice to see some colour in the boats and some of the buildings.

 

The last leg of my journey took me down the west side of the peninsula, where I took the old road into the village of Clachan to check if the house I remembered from my last visit some years ago, still had an old red telephone box as its front porch.  Some years ago BT replaced the old boxes with draughty old glass kiosks and sold off some of the redundant red ones.  The box was still in use as the entrance to the house – you will see it in front of the last house on the left, if you click to enlarge the picture.

I stopped for a few minutes at Kennacraig to see the ferry bound for Islay, an altogether larger boat than the one from Portavadie. 

 

 

  The rain had stopped, the light improved, so after a picture or two I continued to Muasdale, journey’s end, where friend Linda and hubbie Ken live.  I am here this week to do a course in Czech lace-making!  It was great to see Linda and Ken again again, and to meet the other lacemakers, and Anna our tutor.  Catherine was the only one I knew, but they seem like a nice bunch.  Dinner was a beautiful cold buffet, then after taking photos of the sun going down across the water in front of the house – just past its best by the time I got the camera out-  we looked at the patterns Anna had for us, chose which we wanted to work, and were given homework – winding thread onto bobbins and preparing patterns.  Some of us are staying in the wooden self catering chalet next door to the house , so we gathered in the chalet living room and bobbin-wound furiously, while watching Foyle’s War on TV. Gets the job done quicker!  So, end of our first day.  Tomorrow is another one and here’s to a good week of lace-making!

Talk again soon.