counter hit xanga
Loch Fyne | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings

Posts Tagged ‘Loch Fyne’

Ghlas Bheinn – what a difference a few months make!

It has all been work, work, and work these last few weeks and so it was great to have an excuse to stop for a couple of days last weekend.  Some friends of ours from Germany are over visiting Scotland for a couple of weeks and have hired a camper van for the duration.  On Saturday we drove up into the Highlands with them and did a gentle tour up to Arrochar, over the Rest and Be Thankful, past Loch Fyne and on through Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy to Rannoch Moor.   Our visitors first few days in Scotland, spent exploring Edinburgh, were spent under cloudy skies and in wet conditions but on Saturday the conditions in the West Highlands were superb ….hot and sunny and the landscape looked at its very best.

vacation in Scotland

Andrea, Rudi and Nita on Ghlas Bheinn

Andrea and Rudi were keen to do some walking so long as it wasn’t a huge mountain hike and so our first thoughts were to take them for a wander along the Bridge of Orchy to Victoria Bridge section of the West Highland Way.  The path climbs a little but not much and reaches the most magnificent view point high above Loch Tulla…..we thought that this would be ideal.  And it would have been except that the annual West Highland Way race was taking part that weekend and as we arrived at the Bridge of Orchy…..the runners were passing through.  There were dozens of cars and vans and numerous people and stewards ….all very exciting but not the peaceful place we’d imagined we’d be able to show our friends from Germany!  We extricated ourselves, the camper van and our car from the mayhem and after a short re-think drove the few miles further on to the big view point on the road leading up onto Blackmount.

vacation in Scotland

Away from the crowds, a perfect summer evening in the West Highlands

We normally park here for our annual winter wander along the undulating little ridge leading to Ghlas Bheinn and this suddenly seemed to be the perfect solution for a walk now.  And so it was, with huge views and a good cooling breeze to keep the midges away, this short walk gave Andrea and Rudi a chance to experience a little bit of the Highlands off-piste as it were ….no paths and no other walkers.  For Nita and me it was great to see this familiar place under beautiful summer conditions with different colours and light.  We got back to the vehicles around half past eight in the evening and drove back to the Bridge of Orchy Hotel for food and refreshment ….a perfect end to a very enjoyable day.  My thanks to the staff at the hotel.  They must have been completely shattered by the time we wandered in at just after nine in the evening ….but they very kindly agreed to fix us some food despite us arriving after they had officially finished serving.  Great service and very friendly and if you are heading up or down the A82, this hotel is highly recommended.

Sign of the times

Towards Blairmore from the ferry

Towards Blairmore from the ferry

Well then, that’s the exhibition at Blairmore Gallery finished. We had extended it for a week and yesterday we travelled up to collect the work. As the title of this blog implies, it wasn’t the most successful of shows sales wise, but it was I think a good show and selection of work and was seen by a lot of people …both local and visitors. I think that today’s economic situation is starting to take a toll and a lot of businesses catering for anything other than essentials, are probably starting to feel the pinch. Paintings are not I guess at the top end of most folks list when it comes to expenditure these days! That said, things are still ticking over and the important thing about exhibiting your work is that people see it. They may not be able to buy any of it at present but if they like it enough they may remember it when the economy starts to pick up. The exhibition at Blairmore has been an excellent way to promote and showcase my work to a large number of visitors to Scotland and as Blairmore usually displays several pieces of my work throughout the year, this may well pay dividends further down the line.

West, across the Firth of Clyde

West, across the Firth of Clyde

We’ve had superb weather in this part of Scotland over the last week, but yesterday when we got up it was dark and grey and as we drove north up the coast road towards Largs, the views out across the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran were rather sombre to say the least. The fine sky-line of the Arran mountains was gone …their summits cut off by a thick layer of cloud.

A passing sea plane ...above the Firth of Clyde

A passing sea plane ...above the Firth of Clyde

From Ayrshire, you can get to Blairmore Gallery one of two ways. Either you can drive all the way … a lengthy drive that involves heading north up to Tarbet on the side of Loch Lomond and then heading up and over the Rest and Be Thankful (where we were walking on Beinn an Lochain the other week). On reaching Loch Fyne you then have to turn south and drive back along Loch Eck to the turn off for Blairmore village. It’s a beautiful drive in good weather but as I say, it’s a good way and takes around two hours. The alternative route and the way we generally go, is to drive north up the coast to Gourock and catch the Western Ferry over to Dunoon …a few miles to the south of Blairmore. This saves much driving and a little time …although you do have the cost of the ferry. This however is currently just £20 return for a car, driver and one passenger (if the ticket is purchased prior to getting on the ferry) and so with the cost of fuel these days, there’s very little in it …and this way you get a twenty minute break and a pleasant boat trip across the firth.

When you see the ferries arrive they really don’t look very big but it’s amazing just how many vehicles they fit on. When we arrived yesterday one ferry had not long left and another was arriving …just a few hundred metres off the shore. In the summer they seem to run three ferries at one time which means you don’t really have too long to wait if you just miss one. We were just second in the line and as such were right at the front of the ferry with views out across the firth towards Dunoon. In fine weather you can get out of the car and stand and enjoy the views of the firth and the hills on all sides. It’s a busy piece of water too and there’s always something to watch. On one occasion when I was travelling back on this ferry with a colleague, we briefly spotted a couple of porpoises and another time Nita spotted a submarine. Nothing quite so exciting yesterday though, just a single yacht making the most of the breeze and a small cruise ship heading south. The weather was though improving slightly and the cloud had risen off of some of the hills but there was virtually no colour anywhere.

A grey morning on the Firth of Clyde

A grey morning on the Firth of Clyde

The work is now back in my studio and I’m already sorting through it and reallocating it. We’re heading up to the Gallery on the Corner in Edinburgh next week to deliver several pieces and to collect several others that they’ve had since the spring. I’m also now working out the exact selection of paintings for the show in the Queens Gallery in Dundee in September and the Speyer exhibition in October ….so it’s all go still.

Blairmore Gallery have retained five paintings for their permanent selection and as I’ve said in the past …it does make a great little day out …especially if you drive up via Loch Lomond and return via the ferry…..and who knows, you may even see a porpoise en route!

Looking ahead to the summer

Beinn Sgulaird

Beinn Sgulaird

Yesterday as I was walking down to my studio in bright warm sunshine I was ‘buzzed’ by a large wasp that was no doubt, brought out by this sudden bit of nice weather.  When I left my studio that evening at just after six o’clock, the sky was still blue and the low sun was creating beautiful colours on the harbour side.  I have to admit this got me thinking ahead to the long summer days …and the prospect of long summer walks.

During May, June and July I can tackle some of the bigger or more remote hills.  Even with my slow pace, there is still enough hours of daylight for me to reach the higher tops, and get back down to the car before dark.  Indeed in fine weather in June you can easily start walking at five in the morning and not have to get back to the car until ten o’clock in the evening …if of course your legs will carry you for that long!  We’ve only been out that long once (when we walked the South Glen Sheil Ridge) but have certainly had a good few days where we’ve been walking for the best part of twelve hours or so …and it’s great.

On the ridge to Beinn Sgulaird

On the ridge to Beinn Sgulaird

Although we have plans this summer to walk a number of hills we’ve not previously visited, there is one hill that I particularly want to get back to …Beinn Sgulaird.  We climbed this back in early June 2007 and it really was a wonderful day.  This hill is situated at the head of Loch Creran to the west of Glen Coe and as such makes for a long drive to get to it from Irvine…..I seem to remember it took us about three and a half hours to get there.  We left very early (about 4.30 am) but had a beautiful drive up via Loch Lomond, Loch Fyne and Loch Awe and we were walking in bright sunshine by half past eight.

Beinn Sgulaird is a large hill, grass covered on its lower slopes but predominantly rocky higher up with a couple of rocky tops to go over before reaching the summit at 937m.  As one brought up on the mountains of North Wales, it never ceases to amaze me just how quiet most of the Scottish hills are.  Even back in the mid /late 70’s when I first started walking in North Wales with my father; many of these fantastic hills were decidedly busy with large eroded paths and sometimes quite busy summits.  I know of course that this is the case with some of the popular Scottish hills and with Munro bagging catching more and more walker’s attention these hills are more popular ..but that said, you can still have a day in the Scottish hills when  you have a mountain all to yourself.

On Beinn Sgulaird

On Beinn Sgulaird

This was the case when we visited Beinn Sgulaird; in perfect dry weather we made our way up the long west ridge to reach the south top.  It was very hot to start with and demanded numerous stops to sit and take in the views out to the sea and the western isles.  From the south top we had an entertaining wander across to the main summit with magnificent views all around.  It was so good that instead of descending directly from the summit we decided to retrace our steps back along the ridge ….and the whole time as far as we could see, we where the only people on this mountain.  We sat on the south top for quite a while again just taking in the peace and quiet and then realised that the sky behind us was getting very dark.  It had been a warm day and the thought that this might be a thunderstorm approaching made us scamper off down the hill as fast as our legs would take us.  Thankfully there was no thunder or lightening but we did get a little wet before we got back to the car at about half past seven in the evening ….wow, what a day.

Anyway, a return trip is very much due I think and this time I’ll be hoping to get a few sketches done and photos taken that I can use for some paintings.

Photos:  Anita Groves