Inverclyde. Loch Thom.Greenock. Port Glasgow. Epic Bike Tour. The new Guide Book

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Loch Thom Wilderness.

This was going to be the last post on the Skye trip but my camera expired during the Storr walk and I had to use Alex's spare camera for our last hill day. As I don't have the photos from him yet I thought I would post this outing instead. Throughout the spring and summer I have been engaged in my new project which is a guide book detailing popular but also lesser known walks and cycles in my local area. 

I was intending to write the follow up to Autohighography as I did have elaborate plans to expand some of the darker complexities, hinted at throughout the first book, which would take it well beyond any hillwalking memoir into a completely different realm entirely, which was always my intention, but the general lack of interest for this deceptively simple to read novel ( I've earned £5 so far after it being on sale on kindle for six months:o) and my reluctance to spend another two years of my life locked in a room every night typing on a computer persuaded me to ditch that in the meantime for a book people might actually want to buy for a couple of quid.. even for the photos alone if they don't actually live in the area.

I am in good company however as most writers fail to make any money from writing no matter how interesting the book. Herman Melville (author of sea faring classic Moby Dick and a book often quoted as one of the greatest American novels of all time) gave up writing for a regular 9 to 5 job with steady cash flow, and 95% of other well known authors, artists and entertainers struggle to make a living from their work. In some respects you almost need to have a private income to be able to afford the luxury to write books for a living as I've already spent 100 times more than I've earned so far from my first one.

Port Glasgow from The Cycle Track.

As I soon discovered writing my guide book, it is not enough to know the routes yourself. Many of these trips had to be done again as my knowledge of them was out of date for detailed route descriptions even if I had only discovered them myself a few years ago. ( New roads, new estates, closed lanes or detours etc since then.) 

B788 into Greenock.

Many of these walks and cycles I have therefore revisited and have enjoyed doing them all over again this past year. One of the finest was this trip to Greenock and an epic tour (Well, for me anyway) covering what felt like most of the hills in North Inverclyde. For this run I had company in the form of Alan, who unlike Alex, doesn't mind steep hills and town and country cycle rides. We both agreed this was a fantastic tour of a great area.

 

THE ROUTE: Start at Cornalees Bridge Centre beside Loch Thom (see first photo) GR NS 247722. Firth of Clyde Map. Sheet 63. Park car here and cycle on glorious, mainly traffic free, single track minor road around Loch Thom then take the rough track to Dkyefoot along the south side of the Gryfe Reservoir. A mountain or hybrid bike is required as this track and the loop running back over from "The Cut" is fairly rough going and probably too much for a road bike though smooth tarmac alternatives are available down into Greenock.  The minor road (yellow on map) is then followed past High Mathernock to reach the Route 75 cycle track leading north to skirt the upper edge of Port Glasgow. (See second photo)

A cracking balcony trail is then followed along the cycle track as it passes high above the Inverclyde towns of Port Glasgow, Greenock and Gourock.

 

Greenock's Titan crane from the cycle track.

 

 

Half submerged sugar boat and small yachts in the Firth of Clyde. The sugar boat was on its run to the Tate and Lyle sugar factory when it came to grief in the Clyde, which is pretty shallow at this point.

It sank in 1974 after a severe storm which saw it hit another boat and sustain damage causing the captain to ground it on this sandbank when he realised he couldn't reach a safe haven in time. It's a surprisingly large boat up close and the aquatic life and seabirds love it.

The full story and better pictures of it here. http://clydesite.co.uk/articles/captayannis.asp

 

 

THE ROUTE; The cycle track continues along the edge of the houses before winding down into Greenock but we headed instead for the minor road past West Dougliehill which would bring us out on the B788. We already knew this would provide further balcony trail views over the River Clyde estuary then a brilliant long freewheel down into Greenock.(see third photo and this one below)

 

 

At this point you can stay high and head in the direction of  Drumfrochar train station and Overtoun to reach "The Cut" A rough but cycle friendly track takes you over the hill back to Cornalees and the car. 26 kilometres approx. 3 to 4 hours. Trains are available for those without a car.

As we felt fresh however and the day was still young I thought I would combine everything I knew about Greenock and Gourock, walking wise, into one mammoth bike tour.( I realise this is not a long day by keen cyclists standards ,being only around 40 km and climbing sub 200 metre hills, but there are a lot of them to climb and I'm approaching my dotage fast so it was an epic for yours truly.)

Victoria Tower. Greenock.

Although Alan had travelled through Greenock before, like a lot of folk he had never explored it properly and there are many hidden surprises for visitors. One of the reasons for the guide book is to pass on 40 years worth of knowledge before I kick the bucket and the book describes many walks and interesting cycle trips in areas many folk might dismiss as not being worthwhile. Greenock is a case in point as I've always loved the place since I explored here in my teens and met the two girls who would influence and change my life in a new direction. The music of the Velvet Underground and the first realisation that you could actually move people into different areas of development through mere suggestion, like pieces on a chess board, became my twin obsessions here as we launched ourselves between buildings and across rooftops in an early rudimentary version of Parkour. Both of them provided me with a lot of input and fresh ideas as regards " The Great Game" which was to become my life choice.

Greenock has many hidden gems. The Square around the Municipal Buildings Complex and Town Hall containing the soaring Victoria Tower is where we had lunch. This is beside the back entrance to the Oak Mall Shopping Centre and contains many of Greenock's oldest and most elaborate structures when the town had real money to make lasting statements in bricks and mortar. Unfortunately, many of them are now in a sad state of affairs as Greenock has seen its population shrink by half since that happy heyday and money is in short supply to rescue these old buildings. See them while they are still around.

A view of WellPark Mid Kirk and old Greenock streets.

A Greenock female resplendent in rich autumn colours.

The rolling beauty of urban Inverclyde (most of which we traversed on a bike)

Directly above Victoria Tower (75metres, 245 feet tall) and Wellpark Mid Kirk, a set of steep stairs (hard work on a bike immediately after a cold Cornish pasty :o) climbs in Aztec temple fashion up to Well Park itself. This little postage stamp flat oasis is one of the unsung jewels of Greenock. Small but packed with interesting features like the unique white war memorial seen here. Views are panoramic from this outlook. (you can avoid the stairs by entering from the main gates on Regent Street thus turning it into a flat option if you just want to visit the park by car.

A detail on the anchor chain.

Don't see many Viking influenced galleys on your average war memorial. The ancient well that gives the park its name is here as well.

Half of Well Park is in this photo. Not big but on a sunny autumn day like this one it feels tropical and rainforest lush. Victoria Tower doubling for Angkor Wat in the background only without the humidity and the inevitable tourist crowds.

From here we cut down towards the Esplanade then cycled along this for three thankfully flat kilometres into Battery Park and then Gourock.

As Alan had never been up Lyle Hill (seen here from Battery Park) to visit the Free French Memorial and was still keen we snaked our way uphill again towards it via Coves Reservoir (another little known jewel of the area.)

A walk/ bike trail also leads from here to Tower Hill in Gourock. This is signposted. The Lyle Hill/ Bow Farm area came next and was a further climb uphill! WAH!!!!!  I was starting to get wabbit oot by this point. The old legs really feel it after the mid 50s pass and you have to force yourself on. Easy stuff for enthusiastic keen young cyclists though. Mid afternoon by this point.

A view across the Clyde from the Esplanade.

Lyle Hill was eventually reached and we had another brief stop here before tackling the remaining climb back over the hillside by the land rover track past The Cut to Cornalees Bridge Centre. Being a nice day numerous local teenagers were skinny dipping at the small reservoirs but being made of sterner stuff we pressed on over the rough track back to the car. A run up Dunrod Hill 298 metres, without the bikes, followed for the view of this surprisingly wild and empty area.

Down in Greenock it had been warm and sunny but obviously a passing shower had troubled this higher realm as several rainbows appeared along with dark departing clouds. A small fishing boat seems to hold the pot of gold here. My new camera ( half price in sale) seems slightly different from the old model, despite being the same make. The pictures seem lighter somehow as dark clouds are not picked up the same way by the lens.

I darkened this second photo taken a short while earlier to highlight the obvious double rainbow and give a more accurate view of how overcast it looked in reality. I must have bought a blue sky camera that can't capture rain clouds properly. Damn my luck. :o(
 A cracking and varied trip and a full day out at 7 hours and around 40km of mainly up and down cycling. Best bike trip of the year so far though. Highly recommended.
There are around 80 selected walks and cycle rides in the book, many little known. Also included are 140 colour photographs, plus accompanying text, providing an original profile into each area. This is just one example and obviously more precise info and details are included in the guide itself which will be published on kindle soon... if I can be bothered. Roll on another fiver in the bank.

Update. My new photo heavy guidebook is now available for the grand outlay of £1:99 on kindle bookstore. Fully illustrated throughout with 146 colour photographs taken by me over several decades along the Clyde it is both a pictorial journey down the river on various craft and a descriptive guide to over 80 lesser known walks and cycles along the river, through the towns and villages that line the banks and into the often spectacular countryside beyond. Arran ,Bute, Great Cumbrae and Alsia Craig are all featured for routes and it is a book that should appeal to both armchair readers who have lived in the area and locals who want to explore the district further, from walking and cycling beginners and experienced veterans alike. This cycle ride of great scenic variety is one of the longer day rides described in the book along with a range of featured walks in the Inverclyde towns and surrounding hinterland above. A good Christmas gift perhaps?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Walking-Cycling-around-Clyde-ebook/dp/B00P1IO2SM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1415359300&sr=1-1&keywords=bob+law

Skye. The Storr. Hartaval. Trotternish Ridge

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Our second day on Skye saw us heading over to the main town of Portree which has everything you need as a hillwalker... shops, banks, pubs etc.
The destination today was two Grahams. The Storr, 719 metres and Hartaval, 668 metres, both of which were on the southern end of the Trotternish escarpment. Such was the lure of the Black Cuillin years ago that the only time we ever visited this area in our youth was as a wet weather alternative. Normally arriving here the mist was right down over the mountains and it was usually raining. The familiar image of the Old Man gradually looming out the murk was the best it ever got and the actual summit of the Graham cliffs remained invisible.

What a change therefore to see the hill in its full glory. It's a belter. Must be one of the best Graham's there is.

The path up from the car park to the cliffs was extremely busy with tourists but we soon left them behind.

Alex under the pinnacles.

The Old Man Of Storr and admiring walkers below it. There are a couple of rock routes up it to the top but they are pretty hard technically and are made worse by the loose and crumbly nature of the rock here. Very dangerous even for top climbers.

We were more than happy to walk past it. The route to the summit of the Storr and Hartaval skirts round to the right of the main cliffs then follows an obvious path up Coire Scamadal between these two Graham summits. It's just an easy grass path with no exposure but fantastic views.

The Storr summit cliffs side on from the path.

We headed for Hartaval first and any mist soon cleared to give us better views of the ridgeline. It looked a long walk to reach the Quiraing at the northern end.

Alex admires his summit. Hartaval was a nice hill in its own right.

 

We met a  young German guy who had walked from the Quiraing and then a couple of older folk. Other than that it was an empty landscape up here.

Coming back again to start up the Storr.

Once you are up there the view over the edge of these cliffs is mind-blowing. Dolomitic in scale.

A view of the pinnacles from the ridge coming off The Storr.

Another of the Old Man. We descended via an easy gully further along the ridge at the Bealach Beag  then contoured back round to the main path and the car. A 7 hour walking day and a magnificent outing. As we had dropped the tents and packed up from Uig our new campsite was going to be at Sligachan. Again good value at £6 and all the midges you could handle.

A view of Marsco, 742 metres, in soft evening light. The queen of the Red Cuillin despite being a lowly Graham.

Glamaig and the Red Cuillin from our tents in Sligachan campsite.

 

A fine view was had of the Black Cuillin as we walked down to the pub after eating our grub in the tents.
One thing that did annoy me greatly was the sight of so many false cairns everywhere near the river. This seems to be a growing trend recently and should be stopped. It's not nice and it's not clever to pile up stones! In my day we used to have manly cairns on the mountains just to denote summits but now its all this arty farty girly stuff and a trend towards expressionism and slim-line cairns! It must be stopped! Topple them I say! Attack, attack, attack... them all! Put your foot through them at every opportunity!!!
You would never get me altering the natural landscape in this fashion for my own amusement as it just detracts from the beauty of the surrounding mountains which need no adornment whatsoever. Bah and Humbug!
See photo below!

Video this week is another film as there seems to be an absence of good ones recently in the cinemas.
You can pick this up for £3 in most supermarkets and it's a cracker. Throughout human history rich and power hungry individuals have routinely used those less fortunate for their own ends. This film asks the question if you were ruthless enough and had money to spare would you take the back up opportunity that genetics offer in the modern era with the DNA genie already out the bottle or would a moral conscience prevail? One for our near future in cold reality. A smashing story simply told and great acting from the three leads make this a compelling watch and a real emotional journey. A five hankie job at the end and even stone hearted me had a lump in my throat and man grit in both eyes as the end titles rolled. Unforgettable, haunting and beautiful throughout. Wah!

Uig. Skye. Clisham. Tarbet. Harris Trip.

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Strange but beautiful light conditions on this three day trip to Skye and Harris. Alex was keen to bag some more Corbetts and I was keen to see Harris and Skye again.

The mountain scenery on the drive up resembled a Japanese watercolour ... full of subdued pastel light that made the surroundings seem even higher and more impressive passing under the Five Sisters of Kintail near Clunie Inn on the way to Skye.

The Forcan Ridge on The Saddle looked amazing. I always like conditions when soft ridge after ridge fades into the distance yet it's still warm and dry. An Indian Summer. Two weeks of sun kissed autumnal luxury wasn't to be scorned in Scotland, land of the dripping sun, so we headed north quickly before the rain came back.

Uig Campsite on Skye. £6  per tent a night and good toilet facilities,with free showers which was great value. We even managed a couple of pints each in the pub. Two pints and a packet of crisps. £8. No wonder folk drink at home these days. You can buy an eight pack of discount cooking lager for that... and a six pack of assorted crisps.

We stayed out of the pub long enough to see a memorable sunset which wouldn't have looked out of place after a desert dust storm due to the hazy light.

We also found time to wander round the metropolis of Uig. It's where the ferry leaves to cross to Tarbet on Harris, which is why we were there.

The other half of Uig from the pier.

In the morning it was still hazy but fairly warm with nice reflections and a complete lack of wind. Cue Midges. God, they were bad... and as we hadn't camped since the spring we both forgot midge repellent and midge nets. I had a £3 pound head hood sitting unused in the house from Go outdoors ( product placement- where's my fee?) and a full bottle of " "zap em hard" sitting in the same cupboard. I'd also forgotten my fold up cutlery set and had to eat all my meals with a tent peg.
A plate of spaghetti, mince and peas on the first night proved time consuming but rewarding.

Tarbet on Harris in the Outer Hebrides. I'd climbed Clisham before around 20 years ago, also during a mainland summer heat wave and it had snowed on the summit ridge while the rest of Scotland boiled. Harris is like that. Fickle weather this far north.
Tarbet itself seemed much cleaner and nicer than I remembered it. A new distillery is being built on the outskirts which might give the locals some extra income.

We jumped on the bus round to Clisham, Alex free bus pass, me £2:70 pence one way. Got off at second car park at the top of the pass and headed up the ridge. The weather this time was warmer but still misty near the summit. The midges must have got the same bus as us as they were present at every step up the hillside.

The summit of Clisham came first then the ridge to Mullach- Fo Dheas and Hartaval.

Partial views of a hazy but nice looking ridgeline. Very impressed with the mountains on Harris. First time I've seen them dry.

Only met two other walkers. A young couple.

Returned off the back end of the ridge making for the path leading out to the old whaling station chimney.
 9:40 am departed Uig on Ferry. 11:40am get bus in Tarbet. 12:00 noon start walking up hill. Midge must have been on bus with us. Step- bite- step all the way up. Six hour hill walk. No stops without tiny teeth attack. Bus back to Tarbet. Ferry back to Uig. In Tent by 10:00pm. Midge follow us back.Waiting for us inside tent. Kill! Kill! Kill! with spare socks rubbed frantically on fabric. No midge. No Biting. Happy at last. No pub. Tent peg cold beans and sausage into open mouth straight from tin. Toilet duties and clean teeth. Scratch assorted bites. Dark. Fall asleep. Alex snore from his tent. Me snore back from mine.

Alex on the minor road back from Clisham. A happy man gets his Corbett tick.

 

Video today is a memorable mood creation from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Although one of the greatest books and film adaptations of modern times a lot of people have still not seen it due to it being "a fantasy film."

The First and Second World War, Medieval life and battles throughout Britain and Europe, Norse and Anglo Saxon myths and sagas. Hitler, Mussolini, and Churchill. Nazi storm troopers and the Blitzkrieg. Greed and Addiction. Concentration camp victims. It's all in there under the surface... just transported to "Middle Earth" and a different setting.

Same with Game of Thrones which seems to be an American reimagining of Medieval Britain and Hadrian's Wall with added dragons. That is based initially on real events as well with an extra twist. 

Anyone who has watched someone close to them slowly pass away with a wasting illness will recognise that look at the end of their life when they just give up eventually, in Gollum's eyes, surely one of fantasy literatures greatest characters. Just a fantasy film? I think not.

Beautiful Lyrics and Music to this melancholy song which sums up the essence of the conflicted individual perfectly in a few words...