Looking Forward to a Holiday on the Isle of Arran

Despite the forecast for heavy rain, which I saw on yesterdays Internet Weather, it has turned out quite warm and sunny, and my thoughts have turned to holidays. It is now just less than two months before we depart for our annual trek up to Northumberland, preceded by a visit to the Isle of Arran.

As family and friends will know we are pretty much set in our ways when it comes to holidays, and we have visited the Isle of Arran for about the last 15 years or so. We first discovered it when the good lady suggested that she would like a change from holidaying on Lindisfarne (or Holy Island as some folks refer to it), but still fancied staying on an island. We looked around at what might fit the bill, and the Isle of Arran caught our eye, being directly off the west coast of Scotland, and about the same longitude as Lindisfarne.

If you have never visited the isle of Arran may I suggest that you take the opportunity to pay it a visit?

The main approach to Arran is by the Caledonian Macbrayne car ferry “The Caledonian Isles”, which is Ro-Ro (Roll on Roll Off) type ferry. She was built in 1993 and holds 1,000 passengers and 110 cars, and two mezzanine car decks which can be brought into use when the route is busy. She has a top speed of 15 knots, which makes the journey time between Ardrossan on the mainland and Brodick on Arran about 55 minutes.

There is also a much smaller Ro-Ro ferry (Loch Tarbert) which operates during the summer months between Lochranza and the Claonaig on the Mull of Kintyre, and has a car capacity of 10 cars and 150 passengers.

Arran or the Isle of Arran (Scots Gaelic: Eilean Arainn) is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, and with an area of 167 sq miles, is the seventh largest Scottish island. A 57 mile road circumnavigates the island, and follows the coastline for much its route. With the exception Shiskine, all the rest of the villages are to be found on the coastline.

Landing at Brodick and travelling in a northerly and anticlockwise direction, the villages are:-

Corrie
Sannox
Lochranza
Catacol
Pirnmill
Blackwaterfoot
Sliddery
Kilmory
Kildonan
Whiting Bay
Lamlash.


Brodick is the main centre, having the Ferry terminal and Tourist Information Office, and a good selection of shops, many of which are still privately owned. There is a large Co-op, a chemists, a Post Office, the Island Bakery (Wooleys), and numerous newsagents and gift shops. There is a wide selection of restaurants and eating places, as well as a variety of accommodation providers, from self catering to Bed and Breakfasts, Larger Hotels and a Time Share and Leisure Centre, with a swimming pool (open to the public.)

Brodick Castle Gardens

Tourist attractions include Brodick Castle, once the home of the Dukes of Hamilton, but now owned and run by the Scottish National Trust.

Before you reach the castle, which is about a mile and a half out of Brodick you will come across a fascinating museum, run by the locals, and called the Arran Heritage Museum.

This museum tells the story of Arran from prehistoric times to the present day. Buildings in the museum include a smithy, a 19th century cottage, a schoolroom, a farm house, a bothy, a coach house, a stable, a harness room and a croft.

Approximately halfway between the Heritage Museum and the Castle is Duchess Court, which houses the Arran Cheese makers factory and shop, Arran Aromatics factory and shop (selling perfumes, soaps, and toiletries) a café, Creelers (Smokehouse and fish restaurant), and one or two book and souvenir shops.

A little further along the road from Duchess Court, at Cladach (which was a small
village on the shore of Brodick many years ago) you will find Arran Brewery (shop and tours) a stained glass window makers (Richard le Clerc), a pottery and an excellent outdoor pursuits shop, as well as the “Wineport” – an excellent restaurant.

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW