Day 13: Irvine, North Ayrshire to Lochranza, Isle of Arran

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021

17th January 2021: 109.59km walked today taking the total to 1373.98 / 8854km.6% of 245 entries submitting 1826.45km.

Route 2: Stranraer to Ardrossan

Route 3: Isle of Arran

Following the path around the beach we pass the Bridge of Scottish Invention which once led to ‘The Big Idea’, a science centre built in 2000. It was permanently closed just 3 years later after visitor numbers failed to cover its costs. The bridge was a retractable footbridge allowing tall ships to pass through, but since the science centre closure it has been left in the open position with barriers blocking access. We soon arrive at the Scottish Maritime Museum, located in a 19th century building, which holds a nationally important collection of exhibits detailing maritime history. It was a former engineering shop of the Linthouse shipyard based in Govan, relocated here in 1991. Also based at the museum is the MV Kyles, launched in 1872 and believed to be the oldest Clydebuilt vessel still afloat in the UK.

From the museum we cross the River Irvine to arrive in Irvine town centre. Although Irvine has been around for hundreds of years and was a royal burgh given Burgh status in 1140, it is now classed as a new town as a lot of the town was redeveloped in the 1960s and 1970s. There are, however, still older buildings in the town and we pass Irvine Old Parish Church, built in 1774, and the Town House built in 1859, originally for the council chamber and court house; it has a tall octagonal Italianate steeple.

Continuing along the High Street we turn left into Seagate (not a gate but a street running to the sea). It is the oldest street in Irvine, once the main route between the town and harbour, which was abandoned due to silting in 1606. Here we pass Seagate Castle ruins, originally built to protect the harbour, which at that time was much closer to the town than it is today. It is thought that the first stone Seagate Castle was built by Sir Hew of Eglinton, the local laird in the 1360s. The present castle, built in 1565, incorporates the 14th-century stone tower. This castle is Irvine’s oldest building but ceased being occupied in the 18th century.

We re-join the Ayrshire Coastal Path and follow it northwards to Kilwinning passing Irvine race course, then Garnock Floods Nature Reserve which provides a wetland habitat for wading birds and ducks. After crossing the A78 we pass Eglinton Country Park to the east where Eglinton Castle was built between 1797 and 1802 for the Earls of Eglinton. It replaced a previous castle which was burned to the ground in 1528 by the Earl of Glencairn. This new castle was built in the Gothic castellated style and was almost as grand as Culzean Castle. It was abandoned in 1925 though, deroofed in 1926 and severely damaged during army training in World War 2; it was made safe in the 1970s by demolishing all but a wing facade and a single tower. Eglinton Country Park is now one of the most popular visitor attractions in Ayrshire.

Continuing north along the River Garnock we reach Kilwinning, which became part of the designated Irvine New Town in 1966, and rapidly expanded with new estates built on farmland. It does however have a long history. It is thought to have developed as a small settlement on the east side of the River Garnock prior to St Winnan building a church here possibly before 715AD, resulting in its name of Kilwinning. At some point in the 12th century the building of an abbey was commissioned by the family of de Morville and monks came here from Kelso. The transept of this abbey was 30 metres across, and the two towers built at the western end were open on the inside. This was unique in Scotland and is possibly why one of the towers fell not long after it was built. After the Scottish Reformation, the abbey became a ruin and a new parish church was built in its place reusing stone from the ruins, completed in 1775. In 1814 the old abbey’s north west tower collapsed and was replaced by a 33-metre-tall clock tower in 1816.

The Masons met within the Kilwinning Abbey buildings from its founding right up to the mid-1600s. In 1743 the Lodges were numbered by seniority and the Kilwinning lodge was placed second, but they disputed this and at the end of the 19th century its claim of seniority was approved, and it became known as No. 0. This makes it the oldest established lodge in the world.

Kilwinning is also famous for the annual Papingo Shoot. The Ancient Society of Kilwinning Archers is thought to be the oldest archery club in the UK, if not the world. The Papingo Shoot is where a decorated wooden bird is mounted on the end of a horizontal pole at the top of the clock tower and then archers attempt to dislodge it. Records of the shoot are only available from 1688 but there is a written reference to one taking place in 1483. From 1724 the winner would be given the Silver Arrow Trophy which is now on show in Kilwinning Library. The last Papingo shoot in the 19th century was held in 1870 but after World War 2 interest in archery was rekindled and the contest was revived in 1951.

Leaving Kilwinning we re-join the Ayrshire Coastal Path just before we cross the A78 again to visit the ‘Three Towns’ of Stevenston, Saltcoats and Ardrossan, all seaside towns and all of a similar size. These were once tourist hotspots for city workers up until the 1980s. The first town we arrive at is Stevenston, named after Stephan Lockhart whose father obtained land from Richard de Morville, Lord of Cunninghame around 1170; the town first mentioned in a charter in 1240. A castle was built at Kerelaw, to the west of the town, after the land had passed from the Lockharts to the Campbells of Loudoun before it was then passed to the Cunninghames of Kilmaurs and Glencairn. The old castle was burnt down in 1488 by Lord Montgomerie of Eglinton before a new castle was built and occupied until 1787. It was in revenge that the Cunninghames, under the Earl of Glencairn, burned Eglinton Castle in 1528.

Walking past Stevenston Beach we arrive at Saltcoats, so-called because salt was harvested from the sea here. The first commercial canal in Scotland opened on the 19th September 1772 here, joining the coal pits at Ardeer and Stevenston with the harbour at Saltcoats. The canal was built by the coal owners, Robert Cunninghame and Patrick Warner, to avoid the tolls charged on the road leading to the harbour and because the soft ground made it difficult for horses to pull the heavy coal wagons. This coal was mainly shipped to Ireland, but some was used for the fires in the production of salt in the town. The canal closed in 1830 when the coal ran out and Ardrossan became the main harbour for the area. Not much of the canal exists today as at the time it was little more than a large ditch, but there are still street names which refer to there being a canal, such as Canal Street.

Walking further along the coast past South Beach we arrive at Ardrossan, although it is difficult to see where Saltcoats ends and Ardrossan begins as the 2 towns run into each other. Ardrossan’s name comes from ‘Ard’ meaning height and ‘rossan’ meaning rocky promontory. We turn right at Glasgow Street and pass below the ruins of Ardrossan Castle. It is thought that a castle was first built on this site by Simon De Morville in c1140, but by 1226 the laird was Richard de Barclay, Laird of Ardrossan. During the Wars of Independence, the castle was held by English forces until it was captured by William Wallace. He is said to have destroyed the castle and slaughtered the English garrison; their bodies thrown into the cellar which became known as Wallace’s Larder. The castle passed to the Montgomeries of Eglinton in the 14th Century and was subsequently enlarged and remodelled before Alexander Montgomerie made Eglinton his principal residence. It later fell into disuse and in 1654 was used as a quarry by Cromwell’s troops when they were building the Citadel in Ayr. The castle is said to be haunted by the ghost of William Wallace and is also associated with the devil. Sir Fergus Barclay, the ‘De’il of Ardrossan’, who lived in the castle in the 13th century was an extremely skilled horseman and it was said that the secret to his skill was a magical bridle which was given to him by the Devil in exchange for his soul. However, the Devil was tricked by Barclay into giving his soul back and, infuriated by this trickery, the Devil attacked the castle in his rage, and is said to have left his hoof prints on one of the rocks.

We now leave Ardrossan but will return to catch the ferry to Arran. Meantime, we continue along the coast passing beaches, the village of Seamill which grew round a water driven grain mill (Sea Mill), and Seamill Hydro, an old hydropathic hotel with fantastic views of Arran, before arriving at the14th-century Portencross Castle. This headland has been settled for hundreds of years as there is an Iron Age settlement at Auldhill. It is believed that ancient Scottish kings, from Kenneth MacAlpine to Malcolm Canmore, had their last resting place at Portencross before being transported to Iona for burial. It was King Robert the Bruce who gave the Boyd family the estates around Portencross to thank them for their support in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The existing castle was built by them, to replace an earlier motte and bailey castle, and was often visited by royalty, especially King Robert II and King Robert III. It was occupied until 1739 when a storm damaged the roof, after which it gradually declined.

We then pass below the sandstone cliffs of Ardneil Hill with views across to the islands of Little Cumbrae and Great Cumbrae before passing the huge Hunterston Power Stations at Fairlie; Hunterston B still produces nuclear energy today. Just along the road from the power stations we pass Hunterston Terminal, opened in 1974 to handle large imports on the Firth of Clyde of, initially, iron ore and then coal. It closed in 2016, due to a decline in coal usage at power stations and is currently the subject of public consultation for its future industrial use. We pass through Fairlie where the path verges are decorated with anchors and floats loaned by the NATO base, which was based at Fairlie Quay, and then walk past Largs Marina which has an impressive 730 berths.

Just after the marina we arrive at the 20-metre-tall Pencil Monument on the outskirts of Largs. It was built in 1912 to commemorate the Battle of Largs at the spot where a Viking fleet was defeated in 1263. At that time, the western islands and coast of Scotland were under Norse control and had been since the early 12th century. The Scottish Kings Alexander II and then his son, Alexander III had tried to annex the area to Scotland, but King Hakkon of Norway retaliated by assembling a large fleet of warships and sailing down to the Clyde. A severe storm drove the ships ashore near Largs and a Scottish force, under the command of Alexander of Dundonald, prompted the Norwegians to retreat. Although the battle was not celebrated as a major one at the time, it has since been recognised as a decisive moment in the formation of the Scottish nation.

From the Pencil Monument we walk into Largs which means ‘the slopes’, An Leargaidh, in Scottish Gaelic. Whilst here we can visit Nardini’s to sample their famous ice cream and catch the ferry to the Isle of Cumbrae for a cycle around the island. At the same pier, during the summertime, you might spot the Waverley steamer (last ocean-going paddle steamer in the world) as it sails the Clyde with tourists, even buy a ticket for a wee sail ‘doon the watter’. Keeping to the coast we walk the Promenade towards Aubrey Park at the far end but, before we reach it, we pass a large house called Vanduara, once a hotel, standing alone looking out over the sea. Largs was the headquarters for Combined Operations during World War 2 and this hotel, code-named HMS Monck, along with Hollywood Hotel, code-named HMS Warren, were used for D-Day planning operations amongst others. Churchill and Eisenhower attended the Battle Conference here in June 1943 and attended talks in Vanduara.

Passing Aubrey Park, we turn left, crossing the Noddsdale Water and walk up Routenburn Road to see the mansion, Netherhall House. The house was built in 1874 by William Thomson and was fitted with electric lights powered by a gas generator. He was later knighted and raised to the peerage, Baron Kelvin of Largs, in recognition of his work in engineering and physics. In 1846 he became Professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow University, where he stayed for 53 years establishing the first university physics laboratory there. His peerage name comes from the River Kelvin which runs beside the University. The house stayed in the Thomson family until 1927 when it was converted into a Christian Holiday Home and Conference Centre. It closed in the mid-1980s and was bought by a developer who converted the house into flats.

We retrace our steps back onto Greenock Road and soon reach Vikingar, an award-winning Viking experience telling the story of a Viking family through film, interactive exhibits and storytellers telling Viking tales and myths. We then walk back towards the pier and visit Largs Museum which includes a visit to Skelmorlie Aisle with its fantastic painted ceiling. Skelmorlie Aisle was added to Largs Parish Church in 1636 by Sir Robert Montfomerie of Skelmorlie as their private place of worship and as their tomb. When the church was demolished in the early 19th century the aisle was left standing and now sits alone in the graveyard. The boarded barrel-vaulted ceiling was painted in 1638 by the artist J Stalker. The Aisle is owned and maintained by Historic Environment Scotland but can only be accessed when Largs Museum is open.

Leaving Largs, we head back south along the coast to visit Kelburn Castle and Country Park. The original castle was built around the 12th century but was remodelled in the 16th century with further extensions made in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is the home of the Earls of Glasgow with the family name of Boyle, although this is shortened from the Norman surname ‘de Boyville’ which they had when they first settled in Kelburn in 1140 during the reign of King David I. The 10th Earl of Glasgow, Patrick Boyle, and his family still live in the castle and in 1977 he decided to open the estate to the public, transforming the grounds and allowing access to the castle for tours. When we visit today, we find it very unusual in that it is covered in very bright graffiti. In 2007, four of the world’s leading graffiti artists from Brazil worked alongside Scottish artists to cover the walls and turrets of its south side, although it has since been discovered that the concrete facing of the building needs to be replaced at some point.

We then return to Ardrossan via Fairlie and Hunterston Castle, the seat of Clan Hunter. The first Laird William Venator (Hunter) was granted the lands named ‘Hunter’s Toune’ by King David. His Clan was appointed Royal Huntsmen to the Scottish Royal Court to provide them with meat and game. The family has owned the estate ever since, although a lot of it was compulsorily purchased to enable the construction of the Hunterston nuclear power stations. The castle tower is the oldest section dating from the 13th century and probably replaced an earlier wooden structure. It didn’t have a moat as it was surrounded by marshland which was only drained in the 1820s to create farmland. The Baronial Hall on the south side of the tower was built in the 15th century with the external circular staircase built about the same time. The famous Hunterston Brooch, which dates from 700AD and was subsequently lost for 700 years, was found when estate workers were digging drains in 1826. It is considered an outstanding piece of design and craftsmanship combining both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon styles.

Leaving Hunterston Castle, we walk to West Kilbride which is Scotland’s only designated craft town. It is an ancient town whose name means ‘Church’ dedicated to St Bridget who visited around 500AD. It remained a small village until the 19th century when weaving developed as a cottage industry and development continued down the hill to Seamill which we visited earlier. It is now designated a craft town with the focus on the Barony Centre, which has been converted from the Barony Church and holds classes for craftspeople and has exhibition space, but also because there are a number of craft studios in the town.

As we enter West Kilbride we follow our route to the village hall on Corse Street, home to a successful museum depicting life in the area over the past 400 years. Walking further up the Main Street we reach Glen Road where Kirktonhall stands. This three-storey house was built in 1660 by the grandfather of Robert Simson who was born in the house. Robert later became Professor of Mathematics at Glasgow University in 1712 and is credited with reintroducing Grecian (Euclidean) Geometry to the world. A more recent owner of the house was Robert Barr (of soft drinks fame) who gifted the house and Kirktonhall Glen to the local council and the village in 1924. It was subsequently used as offices for North Ayrshire Council until 2007 before being sold to a private individual who is now restoring it. On the grounds is a sundial which was erected by Professor Simson in 1717.

We head eastward along Main Street and pass the Barony Centre before we turn right into Kirktonhall Glen or Kilbride Glen. This is a remnant of the original Kirktonhall Estate and the woodland leads from West Kilbride down to Seamill alongside the Kilbride Burn. We, however, leave the Glen at Chapelton Road and head back into Ardrossan where we catch the ferry to Arran.

The Isle of Arran is often said to be ‘Scotland in miniature’. The Highland Boundary Fault runs through the island dividing a mountainous, dramatic highland landscape on one side from green lowland countryside on the other. We arrive in its main village, Brodick, which is dominated by the towering peak of Goatfell. The name Brodick is derived from the Norse ‘breda-vick’ meaning ‘broad bay’. After walking north through the village along the Arran Coastal Way we keep on the A841, the golf course on our right and houses on our left until we reach the Arran Heritage Museum. Opened in 1976, this museum was originally the site of a small school but is now a group of buildings: a croft, a smiddy, milk house and laundry. The exhibits reflect the social history, archaeology and geology of the island. The Rosaburn cafe is a great place to stop for coffee and cake.

After our visit to the museum, we take the path on the east side of the museum and cross Glenrosa Water to cut across to the A841. We turn right along the road and soon reach Arran Aromatics. Based in an old dairy farm, they produce luxury toiletries, perfumes and candles, all created with the evocative scents of Arran. The Arran Cheese Shop is also situated here. Continuing along the A841 we reach Cladach Visitor Centre, a hub for local art and crafts where Arran brewery is also situated. We turn right here to visit Brodick Castle and its wonderful gardens, before a climb up the island’s highest mountain, Goatfell.

The site of Brodick Castle was once owned by the kings of Dalriada before being controlled by the Vikings. The Vikings were driven out of Arran in the 11th century and the first stone castle was built by the Stewarts in 1240. They were not there for long though as they were thrown out by the MacDonalds in 1260. In the Wars of Independence Edward I captured Brodick, but it was recaptured by Robert the Bruce. In 1503 the Hamilton family, Earls of Arran, took residence in Brodick Castle and it changed hands between them and the Campbells a couple of times in the 1640s. In 1650 Cromwell’s soldiers occupied it and built a new artillery battery. It was returned to the Hamiltons and in 1844 was transformed by Edinburgh architect, James Gillespie Graham, into the extended baronial castle we see today. Since 1958 it has been owned by the National Trust for Scotland who look after the castle and the landscaped gardens as part of the islands’ only country park. There are formal gardens, woodland and waterfalls to explore and the possibility of spotting red squirrels and other wildlife. Did you realise that since 1972 the castle has appeared on the back of the Royal Bank of Scotland £20 note?

From the castle we continue our ascent of Goatfell which, although it is 874m, does not qualify as a Munro but is still a challenging and rewarding climb. On a clear day, the view from the summit is stunning across the great granite ridges of the other Arran peaks towards Ireland, then to the south Brodick, Holy Island and Ailsa Craig. Leaving the summit, we head east to come down the Corrie Burn to meet the Arran Coastal Way and then head north towards Corrie. Although Corrie is a small village it is part of the Arran Geopark and, as we walk through it, we walk through 100 million years of geological time. First, we come across a new red sandstone desert which was deposited when Arran was near the equator 270 million years ago. Here we can find a deep hollow called the Doctor’s Bath. It fills up at high tide and a Victorian doctor, Dr McCredey would get his patients to bathe in it. From here we pass Ferry Rock, which is made of white sandstone, then limestone (there is a lime kiln not far away), then basalt lava with hexagonal columns and finally old red sandstone from 370 million years ago. There are also two harbours at Corrie, the first one we pass is Sandstone Quay which was used to transport sandstone from a nearby quarry to the mainland, and the second is called Corrie Port. Corrie Port was where the steamers which plied the Clyde stopped in the mid-19th century, it was where limestone was shipped from and it is now the home to a replica Viking longboat.

Walking further north we reach Sannox, another small harbour, then cross the Sannox Burn using concrete stepping stones. The Arran Coastal Path here gives us lovely views across the Clyde to the Isle of Bute and Ayrshire. We pass the ruins of Cock Farm where Daniel Macmillan was born in 1813. He, and his brother Alexander, founded Macmillan Publishers in Cambridge in the 1840s; he was the grandfather of Harold Macmillan who became Prime Minister in 1957. We walk past the Cock of Arran, a rock which once resembled a cock; now eroded its name is used to refer to the whole area. From here we pass the white cottage at Fairy Dell, rumoured to be the gateway to the land of the fairies. We pass the shoreline which was one of the sites at which the geologist, James Hutton, first identified the geological feature called Hutton’s Unconformity, which led to the idea that the Earth’s surface has evolved over many millions of years. Passing Newton Point, we look out for seals which often bask on the rocks here before we reach the road taking us into Lochranza.

We wander around Loch Ranza to Lochranza village and its castle. The castle sits on a spit of land in the loch and so commands good views. It is thought to have been originally constructed in the late 13th to early 14th century for Dougall MacSween, Lord of Knapdale, whose main seat was at Castle Sween. Built in the form of a hall-house it had two floors thought to have consisted of a basement, providing storage, and an upper floor serving as the common hall, which was accessed by an outside staircase. It retained this rare hall-house structure as its base when it was converted to a tower house in the 16th century, probably by one of the Montgomerie, Earls of Eglinton.

After leaving the castle we pass the Lochranza Ferry Port, which we’ll return to when we leave the island, as we head south on the Arran Coastal Way. We follow the old postie's footpath through the birchwoods high above the road leading to Catacol.