Today I had my shorts and t-shirt on for a day out, sight-seeing around the Isle of Bute.
I started with a visit to Mount Stuart House, the ancestral home of the Marquess of Bute. I love old houses and this one (actually more modern than I expected – only being built in the late 1870s; It was in fact the first house in Scotland to be purpose built with electricity and electric light, central heating and a telephone system.
I think my favourite room was the bedroom which opened out on to a conservatory full of lovely plants. If I had plenty of money to spend I’d of course live there and have that as my bedroom, with the conservatory as my reading room.
Then it was on to St Blane’s Chapel, one of the earliest Christian sites in Scotland which was in use until the 1500s. Run down now, it’s still an interesting place to visit and the walk up to it from the car park has lovely views over towards Arran and the Kintyre peninsular – also there were sheep with lovely lambs which was fun to watch.
Then it was on to the Blackpark Standing Stones…
The site is usually described as the remains of a stone circle because someone in the 1700s said there were four more stones here then; but there are no signs of the other stones or their socket holes, there were only three stones on maps in the 1800s, and antiquarians in the 1700s made up all kinds of strange stories. So possibly the remains of a stone circle, but there really doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of evidence to support this interpretation.
Ancient Scotland
For the rest of the afternoon I spent some time at the beach, reading. First, to Scalpsie Bay, with a viewing platform up above it where you can watch the seals (take binoculars). Then on to Ettrick Bay. With the tide out, the sea was a long walk away but I took my fold up chair with me to ensure I could have a rest after the walk from the car to the water.
By the way….the water was like sticking my foot in a bucket of ice.
I think Scalpsie Bay was my favourite of the two beaches. Nice and sandy, very shallow too. The water’s very cold. Did I mention that?
Getting back to the B&B I had time for a lie down before dinner. In the evening I went to the Kingarth Hotel for a 3 course meal of Haggis Bon Bons with peppercorn sauce; Macaroni Cheese and garlic bread, and Biscoff cheesecake with ice cream.
Family WhatsApp call and now, just after midnight (having watched some TV before writing this blog) I’m off to bed.
Starting the drive back to Gloucestershire tomorrow.
Good night,
FH.
