I have never flown in Scotland before, but have always had an huge ambition to fly on Arran. Having spent most of my childhood summers looking at Goatfell, but never having climbed it, it seemed only fitting that I should try to fly it instead. We woke up to strong winds, but Zabdi Keen assured us that on the west side of the island it would be lighter. She was right, the wind was significantly lighter round the corner. It was off at Brown Head though, so we carried on to Blackwaterfoot where the wind was on, but we couldn’t find the site. She was very helpful and suggested a couple of sites and we did manage to find the launch at Caracol, but it was gusty and there was no one else there, so we decided to do the sensible thing and not chance flying in a place we know nothing about, when the wind was forecast to pick up.

Instead we headed back to Lochranza and looked around the castle and fed the tame deer with apples from our garden. Then off for a 9 mile walk from Lochranza to Laggan Cottage and then on the Arran coastal path back to Lochranza. Mountains, sea and a great view of Skipness and my uncle’s house on the mainland.

In the evening we went to a folk night in Brodick. All the musicians sat at a table in a circle with the rest of us around and one of them would start a tune and everyone else would just join in. Between the 20-odd musicians and singers who turned up they must have been playing about 35 instruments, including harps, bagpipes, fiddles, harmonium, bodhran, flutes, guitars and harmonica. It was a fantastic evening.

See photos of today.

No comments yet - please add one »