Isabella Campbell's shrine

The 60–90% threat of rain hung over us most of the afternoon but we decided to go for a walk anyway. It didn’t rain. We did a little wander along the shore at Garelochhead noticing a swan family near the McAuley Burn bridge and Biting Stonecrop in abundance among the broken shells atop the sea wall.

Then as we were leaving Garelochhead on the Rosneath  Road, we decided to stop and go explore up the path signed to Isabella Campbells shrine. I’m not sure about the shrine bit but anyway something to investigate and which we never had until today. It is a small fenced place beside the burn where she ussd to pray. Someone keeps a votary candle there.

 I soon realised that this was probably the hill path that the dog Amber and owner, whom I’ve met in my Garelochhead wanderings, go up to get muddy before coming down for a splash in the sea. It proved a lovely path, not so muddy at the moment, with lots of common spotted orchids and some huge old trees, both oak and ash.

I noted the Whorled Caraway leaves among the spotted orchid ones.

There were some good views down to Garelochhead  and down the loch. We could see the field that’s just south of our garden but the light was poor for photos.

It’s a place to go exploring with my grandsons when they are next here.

Beyond a fence into what I suppose is MOD land there was a rusty sign the colour of which Toad, with his new enchroma glasses, really appreciated! 😁

A walk up and along the peninsula

First over the garden fence at the top west corner and across the top of a field where bluebells and young trees abound.

Take a look down to the loch.

Then up along the old track past the house where Elizabeth Todrick, the only female shipwright at Clynder's McGruer boatyard, used to live. We checked out the benches in the garden.

Further up we climbed over this style. There is a picnic area near the brow of the hill where you can look across Loch Long: 

Breezy but still hot (by Argyll standards). It’s a good place to enjoy bog cotton and skylarks. We heard a Grasshopper Warbler too.

Cotton grass, milkwort and Cladonia lichen alongside the path.

We came back by a different way and saw some huge, keeled over, but still growing old oaks. This is a place to bring my grandsons when they next visit from Derbyshire.

Hot enough to go sleeveless and manufacture some Vitamin D, not least for its usefulness against Covid19. I don’t tan much but I think I caught some sun today.

Walking home

Yesterday was cold but sunny, perfect for walking, so I did, from the head of the loch to home. It took me two and a half hours, not because it's a long way but because I was clambering up and down the lochside depending on the walkability of the beach. In some places there is very little beach and the banks up to the road are steep and rocky. In some places, such massive trees have fallen down into the loch that it's difficult to get past them. There was one enormous ash tree, its trunk covered in thick old ivy stems, which I couldn't go under or round so over it had to be.

Eight months ago I did the same walk though more on the road that time. One of my finds was the old boat Caol Ila. Yesterday I saw it from the other side. It's definitely a dead boat.

Anchor and rudder below

At one point I needed to climb back up to the road. Luckily there was a rope tied to the trees to help haul myself up. I'd have got rather muddy otherwise!

Took some pics of wild flowers still in flower for #thewinter10 on #wildflowerhour run by some botanists on Twitter...
.

 ...and enjoyed a leafy bit of beach as I neared home.


By this time I had much aching of arthritic knees and feet to contend with. Happily painkillers, a large piece of carrot cake, and a nap dealt with the worst of that. The weather is back to cloudy and showery today.

On my walk to catch the bus home

Kicked my way through leaves across the park and through the woods.

wood path

 Raised my gaze skyward for light through leaves.

 Followed the burn down to the loch and marvelled at green cockles...

...and more light through leaves

Misty, rainy beach walk

I had half an hour before the bus was due. Sometimes I sit on the crash barrier on the sea wall and read the paper on my phone or a book on my Kindle. When it rains though walking is more appealing. I've been meaning to get to know better the beach and coastline on the west side of Gare Loch for a while and, since today was the day I began wearing hiking boots again for my daily 'commute' (this will continue until next May now), I decided to walk along the beach as far as Dahlandhui if I could.

It's not far but it was slippery going on the rocks and seaweed. Someone in a wee rowing boat who took someone ashore near "First Wreck" called out to me as he began his row back over the loch: "Keep to the grassy bits." I had just decided that's what I should do and thanked him. I had to do a sort of stomp to test each footing. I wonder if my phone pedometer picked that up? When I walk with Toad he walks further than me according to our respective phones; either he's heavy-footed or I'm light-footed–probably a bit of both!

First Wreck

Second Wreck

Nature along the beach: sea plantain, acorns, devil's-bit scabious, bright yellow lichen

 

Historic boaty bits along the way fastened into the rocks 

(there was lots more, including old slip-ways)

 

Boats to my left in the mistiness of the day

 

I got as far as the point where the Dahlandhui Burn comes out onto the beach and decided I'd better get back up to the road if I was to catch the bus at all. Besides which, although I'd checked the tide times, there didn't seem to be much beach at Rockville Point for me to get round to "Fisher Place". Odd.

There was also no way I was going to get across the burn without getting wet feet so I found a way up to the road past an old boathouse and the gateway of Dene Hard. 

The bus passed me as I reached the road but I waved and the driver (he of the "Deer in the water!" comment during the summer) screeched to a splashy halt for me as soon as he could. Bus drivers are nice round here.

So I learnt some new local place names and that a 13:16 1.20m low tide at Garelochhead is not very low around Rockville at 11:15, especially when one forgets that tide times are given in Greenwich Mean Time. Ho hum and all that 😆.

A walk up the hill

I went for a walk up the hill the other day and this is what I saw.

 

<< Collected these and we ate them with macaroni cheese.

Lots of these. I think they are Russula ochroleuca (Ochre Brittlegill).
Edible apparently. In the woods, slugs eat them.

There were lots of other Russulas too such as these two below.

Russula under beech

The plan was to get up to the Sentinel Tree. I didn't think there was a way through here >>

So I carried on looking at mushrooms.

Picked up some litter that some picnicking slob had left behind long ago :(

Why do people do that?

<< Didn't think I'd get through to the Sentinel Tree that way either.

This one is an Amanita though not sure which one. 

Gave up trying to reach the Sentinel Tree but I'll get there one day. I sat down under the beech tree where I found these and listened to the water  in the burn for a while.