Two Go Round a Bit of Britain

[DBK]

A fairly quiet day for us today. In the morning we walked along a track for a while beside the Abhainn Bruachaig river. And no, I haven't a clue how to pronounce it. I have been reading up a bit on Gaelic pronunciation and in a word, it's difficult! It starts with even how you say Gaelic because here in Scotland it is "Gal-ik" not "Gay-lik" which is the Irish pronunciation. The hill I'm planning to climb on Sunday morning, weather permitting is Beinn a'Mhuinidh which from my reading is pronounced "Beyn a Voonee" because "Mh" sounds like a "V" and "dh" at the end of a word is silent.

The countryside around here is quite open with few trees apart from around the river and on a few of the upper slopes.

At the point where we turned around after a few kilomètres of walking we came across this.

It a tiny little hydroelectric plant. I couldn't see where the water it was using came from but a look at aerial pictures on the OS map app shows that just a little further up the river there is a low dam and water from here is carried in a buried pipe to the generator. It must work with just a few metres of head.

Turning round we had some good views, clouds excepted, of Bienn Eighe. There are paths up it which start withing walking distance of the CMC site.

This afternoon's walk was gentler still. There is a nature reserve next to the site and it has some well made paths through it.

There was no wind amongst the trees and a few midges were making the most of this but they weren't troublesome.

Near the information centre were a few bits of sculpture.

The good news is a tanker appeared at the filling station in the village today. I must fill up tomorrow!

 

[DBK]

Another quiet day, or at least for me. Mrs DBK was busy all morning as today was a Laundry Day. But I did help once when I went to the office to buy another token for the tumble dryer. Paid for it myself with my own money too.

This sign amused me. They should print it on bottles of wine.

I'm planning to wander up a local hill tomorrow morning to do some SOTA work but I've been struggling to choose the best route. There is a website called walkhighlands which has some reports of ascents of this hill but almost all involve a scramble up a steep gully.

Beinn a

Beinn a

www.walkhighlands.co.uk

You can see the gully or ghyll in the photo I took today.

Ignore the river, there's a bridge over it but a bit right of centre and in the distance the ghyll runs from bottom left to top right on the skyline. What's deceiving is the skyline is at about 300m but the summit is nearly 700m and isn't visible from here. Folk have ascended this ghyll on both sides and some have even gone up the steep slope further to the left. Some of the accounts talk about grabbing handfuls of heather to climb up the slopes.

Hmmm....

I've done that in the past but...I was much younger then and wasn't carrying a heavy pack.

So I'm going to take a longer route, by about two kilometres, but it will involve a more gentle ascent. From the site I'll use roads and a track towards the Heights of Kinlochewe but turn off somewhere near the hydroelectric plant we saw the other day and start trudging upwards. The OS Maps app thinks it will take me nearly three hours. The route is marked in red below.

I'll let you know tomorrow how I got on, assuming I make it back!

 

[markjuk]

Only joking as a canal holiday is another thing we've promised ourselves.

Just been reading through your posts for the first time with great interest and will certainly be following your progress from now on.

Your early posts about the Brecon & Monmouth canal made me smile as we have just returned from a fortnight's holiday there. Stayed at Aqueduct Cottage at Goytre Wharf for 7 days and then 7 days on a 60 foot narrow boat heading up to Brecon basin and back. A canal holiday had been on our bucket list for many years and we chose to do the B & M canal because of the stunning scenery and lack of locks (12 in total).



On reflection however (and after being told numerous times by other more experienced narrow boat people) it was not the best choice of canal for our first attempt. Extremely narrow and shallow in sections (ran aground a few times when having to steer round other boats), lots of blind bends and tight turning angles into bridges. The first 2 days were anything but the 'most relaxing holiday' we were expecting ! The last 3-4 days on the way back from Brecon were more relaxed and we were able to enjoy it fully so we haven't been put off doing another canal holiday. May be worth looking at an alternative to the B & M canal though if you do eventually decide to give it a try.

We loved the area so much that we will be spending a lot more time exploring it more in our motorhome in the coming months. We also plan to travel all round the coast of Great Britain in a year or two so we will be following your journey with interest.

 

[DBK]

My attempt to climb a local summit (see map above) and send out a few squeeks from my radio was successful today - but it was challenging at times! "Challenging" is a relative term but I can only go on my experience of today and say this was very challenging day for me. A long walk over pathless, rough ground then a fearsome wind to deal with on the summit. But it was very satisfying to complete it.

We are as far north as we will get on this trip around part of Britain. Tomorrow we head east towards Inverness then over the next three weeks or so travel down the east coast.

The weather forecast suggested there would be a window of good weather this morning but an early start would be needed. So at 07:50 local time I left the campsite at Kinlochewe and set out on foot for the 692m high Beinn a'Mhuinidh. I think this is pronounced Beyn a'Vooni but I'm sure I will be corrected if it is wrong - as it probably is.

The commonest routes up to the summit go up the steep south west side of the hill which overlooks Kinlochewe and Loch Maree. I has read some reports on line which spoke of "grabbing handfuls of heather" to make the ascent up the steep terrain. I had a look at the lower slopes yesterday which were covered in tall bracken and decided on a longer but less steep route. See map above again!

This is the view looking down towards the track shortly after starting the climb.

The starting elevation is only about 40m above sea level so reaching the point when the slope would start to ease off at 300m was a longish climb. Once you leave the track there are no more paths so progress is simply a matter of looking ahead and choosing the best line and avoiding as much of the bracken as possible. Fortunately the bracken here was only leg high and quite thin.

Reaching the 300m contour line I was expecting to see an extensive and flat moorland head of me. Instead it was a jumble of small hillocks and it was hard to pick the best line through them.

But eventually the summit of Beinn a'Mhuinidh came into view. On the left in the image below.

The summit has a small and neatly constructed cairn.

Throughout the walk until this point there had been very little wind, just enough to keep the midges away. But on reaching the summit three hours and twenty minutes after setting out the wind was howling out of the west. It was so strong I literally could not stand up beside the summit cairn.

I crept forward on hands and knees to take this shot of Beinn Eighe before retreating.

In the lee of the summit there was a small sheltered depression where I could set up out of the gale. I also took a few photographs which could have been better if I had climbed out of the sheltered spot but I wasn't going to risk being blown off the mountain. A posthumous photographic award does not appeal to me.

Looking east to Sgurr More.

And north. In the centre, peaking through the notch is An Teallach. To the right of it Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair. I camped close its summit many decades ago. On the far left Slioch.

A short bit of boring radio stuff now.

Setting up was fun. The bend in the pole supporting the antenna isn't due to the tension in the guy ropes - it's the windload on the pole. The centre of the antenna is only about 3m high as the wind was too strong for any more.

There was zero phone signal where I was sitting. I might have got something by crawling to the edge overlooking Kinlochewe but I didn't want to experience that blast again. This meant I couldn't tell anyone what frequency I was using but fortunately I was planning to use CW (Morse code) and there is a clever automated system which looks for CW transmissions and posts a "spot" on a website letting people know I'm here and what frequency I'm using.

I started my first QSO (a contact or brief conversation) with Jarek callsign SP9MA in Poland but then the mast fell down. Curiously, reception was still good with the wires on the ground.

I tried again after wrestling with the antenna and completed a QSO with Laurent F8CZI in France.

Four more successful QSOs were made with Eric F5JKK in France , Alexey R5FQ (my first ever Russian QSO), Jan OK2PDT in the Czech Republic and then the unmistakable sound of Manuel in Spain near Pamplona EA2DT. He must spend every walking hour on the radio as I've contacted several times before.

And then the mast collapsed again, this time telescoping down rather than the simple fall over it had done first.

There were still people calling me and on another day I would tried other bands too but at this point I decided to quit, partly to avoid damage to the antenna but mainly because rain was starting to fall. By the time I had packed everything away it was raining quite heavily as I started the long trudge back to the campsite.

One of the Lochans near the summit.

And no thread by me is complete without a few nature shots.

This is the caterpillar of the Northern Egger moth which can grow to 8cm. It feeds on heather and bilburrybushes. Its Latin name derives from the Greek for "Hairy caterpillar".

Obscure botany stuff now. The next two shots are of club mosses. They are more closely related to ferns than mosses. They can be very hard to identify so "Club moss" will have to do. I have a book on them but haven't brought it.

My GPS says the total distance covered was 18.7km, total ascent 856m and time taken just over 7 hours. The rain on the return leg was only intermittent but sitting in the Murvi now I can here the real stuff has now arrived and it is pounding on the roof.

 

[Spriddler]

Great tale and quite an expedition over 18.7km of that rugged terrain. Did you make your dog accompany you? Do you carry a compass or have GPS on your phone? I think I could very easily become disoriented (aka 'lost') if a thick mist came on.

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[Riverbankannie]

My GPS says the total distance covered was 18.7km, total ascent 856m and time taken just over 7 hours

Chapeau!

 

[mikebeaches]

Impressive expedition and images - thanks for posting!

 

[pampam]

Thankyou ive enjoyed reading your posts

 

[DBK]

Great tale and quite an expedition over 18.7km of that rugged terrain. Did you make your dog accompany you? Do you carry a compass or have GPS on your phone? I think I could very easily become disoriented (aka 'lost') if a thick mist came on.

No Charlie on this trip. He would have struggled in places I think but mainly because I needed to concentrate on navigation and where my feet were going. There were some awkward, leg-breaking narrow gulleys hidden in the heather and grass in places.

I have a proper hiking GPS (a Satmap) plus OS Maps on my phone which is the most convenient, plus of course a compass and paper map. The main challenge was researching out the best route before I set out. After that it was just a case of following your route, modifying it where appropriate given what you find on the ground.

Poor visibility would have been an issue but only I think in slowing me down.

 

[DavieA]

DBK, I've also enjoyed reading your posts

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[DBK]

We've moved to the Scottish east coast and are at the C&CC site at Rosemarkie a little east of Inverness.

The site is a bit right of the centre of the photo above. Our pitch is just above the beach.

Dolphins can been from the end of the point here, Channonry Point. But they didn't shown up yesterday or today despite a lot of people there to see them.

We've seen them here once before, feeding on salmon and jumping about. But they don't turn up every day and today was a day off for them. Probably because the salmon weren't here either.

Tomorrow we have a long drive to Berwick on Tweed.

 

[monzer]

Wow that's a huge chunk of North East Scotland you're missing out, fair old drive for you South for you guys.

 

[DBK]

Wow that's a huge chunk of North East Scotland you're missing out, fair old drive for you South for you guys.

Indeed, but time presses and we've been to the Peterhead/Aberdeen bit before. It is the English east coast we don't know so that's where we're heading. It will still be a drive by visit though!

 

[Taran_Las]

I was almost opposite you this afternoon. Watching the Nigg ferry at the North Souter. Currently at Embo. John o'groats tomorrow.

 

[James-Alex]

Amazing blog of your journey. Really am enjoying following. Lots of ideas for us when time allows

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[royandsharont]

I’m sure you will know this but if not then an easy walk into Berwick & you can follow the Lowery trail around the town, very interesting to see the places he painted. Details from the tourist office if not in the campsite office n

 

[Littlewheels]

Great tale and quite an expedition over 18.7km of that rugged terrain. Did you make your dog accompany you? Do you carry a compass or have GPS on your phone? I think I could very easily become disoriented (aka 'lost') if a thick mist came on.

Many years ago l was atop Schiehallion 1000+ when the mist came down and it was one of the most frightening experiences of my life, l honestly thought was going to be a gonner,

​

 

[Vipar]

What a fantastic blog. It is a great teaser for newer members to contemplate a trip to the North.
thank you so much.

 

[Nirvanauk]

You can join the golf club in Rosemarkie for only £1. Good food and drink can then be had.

 

[Shrimp]

We had intentions of seeing Scotland this Autumn but other things scuppers us.
A young pup-Pip-didn’t want her doing long journeys and possibly putting her off travelling as she is so good so far.
We did get into Scotland but only just, the area we were travelling thru had no sensibly priced CS and all other sites seemed full.
Then we had to be around a certain area as Pip is booked in for her last jab.
We have to be back in Cambs for mid October to look after a CS whilst owner goes on his holidays.
We will have to try again sometime. We have been to Scotland before, last time was off-road motorbiking years ago which included Mull, lovely place.

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[DBK]

We left Rosemarkie yesterday and drove into England (just) to Berwick upon Tweed. The C&CC site at Rosemarkie gets a 10 for location, another 10 for the wardens but probably only a 6 or 7 for the facilities. It doesn't really have a proper MH service point other than a small drain set in a track. The toilet block is very er...compact with only two cramped showers in the Men's side. I didn't check out the Ladies' side but we used our on-board plumbing anyway.

It was a longish journey to Berwick but it was an enjoyable one with some fine views along the way of the Cairngorms. The traffic on the A9 was light but don't attempt to speed on it - I've never seen so many speed cameras!

This is a closer up map.

We are staying at the CMC site here which is very close to the town centre. It's a typical CMC site so no more need be said. It is what you expect but is a bit tight in the sense narrow roads and tight bends. The only downside some might highlight is it is close to the railway but the noise of the trains isn't a problem as it is in a slight dip.

We explored Berwick upon Tweed (BuT) this morning. Or perhaps I should say "we walked into BuT so Mrs DBK could buy some wool from a knitting shop."

Time passes slowly when Mrs DBK is choosing wool....

I was tempted to buy a ukele to get my revenge...

After the tectonic plates had moved a few inches we had a short walk about the town but the weather was damp so we didn't see the place at its best.

First impressions were BuT is heaving with places to eat.

We wandered a short way along the top of the wall (or fortifications) which faces the sea.

A typical example of the buildings here.

We had reached the town by "The Old Bridge".

On the way back we bought a dressed crab from the Berwick Shellfish shop which is on the road you take walking from the site. It wasn't expensive at around £8 and will do two lunches if you like crab sandwiches! It was very fresh and the brown meat wasn't strong and went well mixed in with the white.

After the visit to BuT we drove about twenty five minutes south to visit Holy Island. You have to really I suppose once you are here.

There are websites which give the safe crossing times over the causeway. Suitably reassured we drove onto the island. Its not a difficult trip. There is one short single track section but the rest is straightforward. There were signs saying no overnight camping of any sort including MHs.

We pulled into the large car park just before the village. The machine in the centre takes cards. £4.50 for three hours.

This is the Priory. You have to book ahead on line to visit. I don't think it's the same Priory you will meet celebrities at....

Closer up.

Even closer up. This photo won't date....

We walked around some of the island.

Curious huts/beach houses made from old boats.

The castle sits on a rocky promentory. The bumps you might just see on the right on the horizon are the Farne Islands. We could also just see Bamburgh Castle.

Closer up - through the rain!

Tomorrow Whitley Bay!

 

[pampam]

are you going to bamburgh castle and seahouses,theres the ship inn at seahouses that used to have a lovely bar

 

[jp11]

A stunning gallery of pictures. Good stuff.

 

[DBK]

are you going to bamburgh castle and seahouses,theres the ship inn at seahouses that used to have a lovely bar

Sadly no, this is a drive-by visit to the area and that has meant we have to miss out potentially interesting places.

Perhaps in another year...

 

[DBK]

Our tour of the English east coast has now started and today we drove down from Berwick Upon Tweed to just short of Whitley Bay and the mouth of the Tyne. This is where we are, under the blue blob in the top right.

To get here we followed the Northumbrian Coastal Route which is marked by brown signs. We actually didn't know there was such a thing and just decided to follow roads near the sea as we drove south - it seemed a more attractive idea than flogging down the A1! It wasn't long after we set off before we saw the first brown signs and realised someone else had had the same idea.

We had seen Bamburgh Castle in the distance from Holy Island so this was where he headed for first. The castle car park is MH friendly as was the man at the gate as he cheerfully relieved me of £4.50. However, it isn't a very big car park so it might be tight for MHs at the weekends when I guess it will be busier.

You can visit the castle if you book ahead online, we hadn't and I wasn't fussed. Although the place has a long history, it was the seat of the Northumbrian Kings of the 6th century and the massive keep was built by William Rufus, son of William the Conqueror, the castle was bought by Lord Armstrong at the end of the 19th century and it was then "modernised" into a comfortable home. The result is the interior isn't particularly authentic and not my up of tea.

We decided to walk around the castle instead.

From the car park a path takes you across the extensive dunes to the beach. One of the Farne Islands can be seen on the left.

The castle viewed from the beach.

A couple of views from the landward side.

And sadly this was almost the last we saw of the coast as the Northumbrian Coastal Route spends most of its time a few miles inland of the sea. But it should really be called the Belgian Coastal Route as the road surface was so bad for long stretches.

So shaken and bounced but fortunately with most of our fillings still in place, we arrived at the CMC Old Hartley site. This is the view of St Mary's lighthouse (now de-commissioned) from our pitch. The weather forecast suggests it will stay dry tomorrow morning so we will go for a walk along the coastal footpath towards Whitley Bay.

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[Nirvanauk]

If you are heading towards whitby then can recommend Sandfield caravan park opposite the golf course. Top facilities and a pleasant walk along the beach into either Whitby or Sandsend.

 

[DBK]

If you are heading towards whitby then can recommend Sandfield caravan park opposite the golf course. Top facilities and a pleasant walk along the beach into either Whitby or Sandsend.

Thank you for the recommendation. If we come back this way in the future I'll have a look at it. But I've already booked all the sites for this trip which I think was a wise move. This is the third site we've used which has a "Site full" sign.

 

[Nirvanauk]

I agree with you entirely John about pre booking sites. We got as far as Gairloch with prebooked sites and thought we would be ok on the ways south so didn't book anything. Big mistake! Everything was full. We managed but a challenge, enjoy the rest of your trip.
Paul.

 

[DBK]

I agree with you entirely John about pre booking sites. We got as far as Gairloch with prebooked sites and thought we would be ok on the ways south so didn't book anything. Big mistake! Everything was full. We managed but a challenge, enjoy the rest of your trip.
Paul.

We do plan to visit Whitby but are staying next week at the CMC North Yorkshire Moors site which is a few miles away.

 

[DBK]

This is a belated entry covering the last few days as we haven't done a lot because the weather was a bit damp whenever we wanted to venture outside and our planned long walk didn't happen. I did try a bit of geocaching at Whitley Bay but the cache I was after was beyond these notices.

The cache is perhaps appropriately called "Colly Wobbles". I gave it a miss!

Shortly afterwards I was caught in a heavy shower and because I hadn't brought my waterproof trousers my lower half got soaked! I hung my trousers in the bathroom and turned on the heating. After a few hours sitting in a sauna they were dry.

Yesterday we drove south, using the Tyne Tunnel, which was a first for me. I lived in Newcastle in the early 70s but had never driven through it, newly built as it was then. The whole area has changed a lot since that time. I was told even Whitley Bay where I lived in a single room as a student has been made smart.

Our destination ws the CMC site near Whitby.

We arrived in sunshine so walked to the Falling Foss waterfall which can be reached easily on foot from the site. "Reaching" is the operative word as "returning" is relentlessly uphill all the way.

A sunny view. The Falling Foss is down in the bottom of the valley.

Aira Force in the Lake District is a well known waterfall and the name is almost certainly linked to this waterfall, deriving from the Old Norse word "fors" for a waterfall. Thank those bearded blokes with horns on their helmets. We are firmly in the region known as the Danegeld where the Vikings ruled.

The were signs for a "Hermitage" so we followed them.

Some of the stumps by the path had coins hammered into them. I'm sure they have heard of money boxes in Yorkshire but I guess stumps are free!

The Hermitage was a curiosity. It's a natural rock which has been carved out to form a sort of stone igloo.

Did a genuine hermit once live here? If he did it was done in some style, this cave has a patio!

It dates from the 18th century, a period when it was fashionable to have an ornamental hermit in your garden who you paid to be there. This could be one of those but I suspect it is more of a folly. A sort of stone beach hut and a place for a picnic. They were also quite keen on a bit port and debauchery then so who knows what went on in the cave.

We also came across one of these.

It's an Ordnance Survey Benchmark of course and one of half a million in this country. It marks the height above the OS datum and was used to work out the heights of hills and I guess the drawing of contour lines.

We went shopping this morning and felt very safe as we were almost the only people in the Aldi at Whitby wearing masks. This must be a Covid-free area. How reassuring.

In intermittent light drizzle I took Charlie for a walk this afternoon.

A not so sunny view.

There were a few signs like this. I hadn't realised we are close to the footpath from St Bees Head in Cumbria and on this side of the country, Robin Hood's Bay.

On the OS map was marked "John Cross (rems of)" and indeed when I reached it after a squelchy walk over a bit of the Moor not a lot of it was indeed remaining. Charlie didn't think it worth even cocking a leg over.

But it has a fascinating history and was a boundary stone for land owned by Whitby Abbey in Medieval times.

Here's the full nine yards of history of this scheduled monument. And almost certainly a candidate for the smallest scheduled monument of them all. Only the base like a tiny trough is original as I understand the following.

"Wayside crosses are one of several types of Christian cross erected during the medieval period, mostly from the 9th to 15th centuries AD. In addition to aserving the function of reiterating and reinforcing the Christian faith amongst those who passed the cross and of reassuring the traveller, wayside crosses often fulfilled a role as waymarkers, especially in difficult and otherwise unmarked terrain. The crosses might be on regularly used routes linking ordinary settlements or on routes having a more specifically religious function, including those providing access to religious sites for parishioners and funeral processions, or marking long-distance routes frequented on pilgrimages.

"Over 350 wayside crosses are known nationally, concentrated in south west England throughout Cornwall and on Dartmoor where they form the commonest type of stone cross. A small group also occurs on the North York Moors. Relatively few examples have been recorded elsewhere and these are generally confined to remote moorland locations.

"Outside Cornwall almost all wayside crosses take the form of a `Latin' cross, in which the cross-head itself is shaped within the projecting arms of an unenclosed cross. In Cornwall wayside crosses vary considerably in form and decoration. The commonest type includes a round, or `wheel', head on the faces of which various forms of cross or related designs were carved in relief or incised, the spaces between the cross arms possibly pierced. The design was sometimes supplemented with a relief figure of Christ and the shaft might bear decorative panels and motifs. Less common forms in Cornwall include the `Latin' cross and, much rarer, the simple slab with a low relief cross on both faces. Rare examples of wheel-head and slab-form crosses also occur within the North York Moors group. Most wayside crosses have either a simple socket éd base or show no evidence for a separate base at all.

"Wayside crosses contribute significantly to our understanding of medieval religious customs and sculptural traditions and to our knowledge of medieval routeways and settlement patterns. All wayside crosses which survive as earth-fast monuments, except those which are extremely damaged and removed from their original locations, are considered worthy of protection.

"The cross base called John Cross on Shooting House Rigg was a boundary cross for Whitby Abbey.

" The base survives well in spite of the loss of the original shaft and head. It is in its original position on an eminence, making it visible for a considerable distance in each direction.

" The cross gives an indication of the extent of the lands of Whitby Abbey before the Reformation and was probably a waymarker and reminder of the faith to the medieval traveller."

Source: Historic England

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