My Adventures – Knightshoots Landscape Photography

Dundrennan Abbey, Threave Castle and Feeding Red Kites

South West Scotland 2021: Part Twenty Two

26 September 2021

I woke up to realise I wasn’t going to get lucky with the bay this morning either. I had totally missed high tide, and the sky was covered with cloud again. A little disappointed, I basically just packed up and left.

My first aim was going to be Dundrennan Abbey. I arrived just before they opened, but as I looked at it, I realised it wasn’t going to be a shot for me today. Not only was it a pay to get into monument – which I don’t generally do unless its a site I’m really keen to visit – (I’d be super poor If I did them all!) but there didn’t seem to be a clear shot of it from any direction. With high walls, trees, and private land to one side. I took one cursory snap on the phone from the only spot with a clear view, then moved on to my next location. In hindsight, I could probably have gotten a formal shot from here, but to be honest, it didn’t really captivate me, and there’s nothing really wrong with my phone photo that my Canon would have made different.

Dundrenan Abbey, a very brief visit, and this is the only photograph I took.

My next spot was Threave Castle. This one was a really a nice location and had a lot of promise. For me today however, a strong breeze continually blew the small boat into a poor position, the sky looked grey – flattening everything and River barked endlessly at every passing pedestrian. This last one stressed me out terribly. My attention was so split, I missed a really gorgeous shot, which frustrated me even more. Hauling the dog in and making her look at me to curb her distraction, I sat and just waited for the boat to bob back from behind the tree, and the sun to try again…please?!. I tried hard for an hour to stop the frustration and stress getting worse, and eventually decided that I had waited long enough. I stood up to pack everything away when a brief glimmer of sun appeared, swept across the scene and was then gone for good. I barely caught it in two shots (one with light on the boat, and a second as it wiped across to, and over, the castle behind) This site needed something prettier going on in the sky I felt, a long exposure perhaps, to smooth an otherwise distracting water and definately a visit without River getting angsty! I left disappointed, but once I managed to blend the two photos I had, I think I feel a little better about this one.

Threave Castle. A sudden burst of sunshine really helped this shot!

On the day however, sadened, frustrated and getting fed up of the continual grey and a ratty dog, I left to go to the kite feeding station. There were bird hides at Threave, but I couldn’t visit those with River being this way, so perhaps seeing Kites in a controlled situation might offer a bit of bird spotting and a chance at trying bird photography. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but everyone here was lovely which helped my mood greatly. I paid my £5 entry and settled into a position outside to wait until the birds were hungry, while River settled under my coffee table staying relatively settled.

The people who run the farm, coffee shop and kite feeding sessions, put chunks of raw meet out at 2ish, and at first the kites didn’t seem interested. 20 minutes later I noticed that they had all started gathering above my head. There were so many it was almost scary! (see header) Watching Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ as a child, clearly has me traumatised to this day! As we waited, one suddenly dipped down to the raw meat, grabbing a bit in his talons and flying off somewhere to eat it. Then another…. and a third! Once the first few started, the others went for it and soon they all started swooping to the table and floor.

What a spectacular display!!!

I tried my hardest to capture these beautiful birds, filling my memory card right up, but I knew that nearly every shot failed due to my inadequacy as a bird photographer. I didn’t care though, I was just loving every second! When other spectators had their bird watching appetite sated, they slowly drifted away. But I stayed put, mesmorised by these magnificent creatures. Three hours flew past (literally!) and despite dropping temperatures and bouts of rain and I found myself staying until the coffee shop was nearly closed and I was the only one left.

Flying over my head, I managed one fairly decent shot of this Red Kite

As I packed up, the coffee shop lady came out and told me I could stay as long as I wanted, as several birds were still feeding. I was cold by now though and needed to be indoors for a few minutes. I bought a last chance cup of tea, and a slice of cake, and watched from the window for a short while. Then as the shop closed proper, I went for a brief walk around the hill next to the farm, not really wanting to leave these beauties, before I eventually left for the Dhoon.

I wanted a picture of a boat wreck that is apparently here, but when I arrived, the tide was very high. So high, I couldn’t see the boat at all. I made myself some tea, thinking to wait it out, but an hour later I realised that the tide seemed to go out much slower than at other areas around here. The boat could only really be gotten to when the tide was fully out… and that was now clearly unlikely to happen until after dark. I considered staying the night, but there were big posters everywhere asking people not to. Despite the Park for Night App having comments from people flagarently and boastfully ignoring them, I considered it a lack of respect since I knew I could find parking elsewhere for the night. Instead, I started my drive towards tomorrow’s locations.

Eventually finding myself tiring, I settled myself in a quiet lay by until I could continue in the morning.

Southerness Lighthouse, Rockliffe and Balcary Bay

South West Scotland 2021: Part Twenty One

25 September 2021

I awoke to more grim weather, but trotted around the car park with River just so she could go to the loo, and stretch her legs a bit. They had a chemical toilet disposal area here, fresh water, and grey water disposal. I didn’t need any of these, but what I did need was a bin… was there a bin? Nope! So I had to put Rivers’ morning poop in the camper bin – and as I drove, it fragranced the van in a not too pleasant way. *gag*(!!) Oh the pleasures of travelling with a dog eh?! LOL

After this delightful start, I drove to Southerness. This wasn’t originally on my map, but I had spotted a curious looking lighthouse and I had to investigate! It is listed as the second oldest lighthouse in Scotland, being commissioned back in 1748, and was built to an unusual square shape. I had high hopes of getting a nice reflection shot of this one!

It was Sunday, so I expected it to be pretty busy, but as I arrived here, I saw that it wasn’t too bad. There were several dogwalkers, and a few people dotted here and there, but not busy by any standards. Pretty much all that was here, was a golf club and a caravan/holiday park. I guessed there were a fair few bits to occupy most of the remaining holidaymakers that were still there, now the school holidays were over. I found space in the car park easily, and parked up next to a public loo with a doggy bin nearby. (You can pretty much guarantee I made a beeline for that!)

River happily plodded with me down the road to investigate the lighthouse and we were standing looking at it from the beach very soon after. Sadly, the sky was much the same colour as the lighthouse itself, which I immediately realised would hamper separating it from the sky. On top of this, the wind was quite strong – I could see this was going to be a bit of a challenge today. I had arrived at a good time with the tide though. This is definitely a spot for a lower tide, as it reveals the awesome rocks that form incredible jagged lines leading to the lighthouse. This is the spot to practice using the photographic ‘leading lines’ rule, for sure!! I wandered all over, looking at the tiny rock pool creatures, and loving all the different coloured rocks and algae. The reflection shots were very hard with the wind refusing to back down long enough to still the puddles, but I got one eventually and it did look quite good against the moody sky. Perhaps next time I would try and time it with less of a breeze and the tide slightly higher to give more water to the puddles. It would look much better and make for some incredible pictures I imagine. For today though, it was almost perfect, and totally fun to explore. This spot definitely surprised me. How did I miss this one off my original list?!!

I had a bit of lunch, then went to find a random spot, that I had just loved when I spotted someone’s painting (?) of it. OK. I knew it would be hard to find, but with careful scouring of the maps, landscape, and Google maps, I thought I might have a vague idea on where I might find it. I drove to the area I’d discovered, and just walked off in the rough direction praying I was right.

On the way, I passed some cows that had the same colouring as River, and the whole herd seemed to come over to a gate to explore this mini version of themselves. It was quite sweet to see the innocent and gentle curiosity from both sides. (see header) I continued the walk, rounding the headland and seeing the distant coastline gradually disappear into a mizzle cloud. Despite this, I pressed on, after all this was just going to be a recce mission, and if I was wrong then it would be a nice walk regardless. A few minutes later I excitedly found the spot I was after, and was over the moon that all the research had worked out! The view to the distance was pretty much obliterated by now however. All the same, I still felt that it was a good time to capture this photo because the bracken was all in bloom. I decided that now I knew exactly where this spot was, it was definitely one to come back to. It was going to need to be on this trip though – any other time of the year, and this beautiful yellow might not be here! A few minutes later and the mizzle hit my spot, so I quickly packed up and made my way back before it turned into full on rain..

After this, I aimed to try Balcary Bay to photograph the view across the bay with the castle in the background. Well.. what a disappointment this place was! I hoped to stay overnight to get a sunset and a dawn shot, but the car park clearly said no overnight camping. I was also sad to realise that there was very little here but a small beach (with a tide that was way too far out) and no castle at all. What I took to be a castle was in fact, a private house, and the only way to see it wasn’t at this spot anyway. I stayed less than fifteen minutes before I left. A little way up the road, I found a pull in spot instead, and the view from this angle was vastly improved.

Sadly, although the rain had eased off again, the evening had a heavy cloud overhead which obliterated any chance of a nice sunset. Similarly, although the tide was creeping in, it did so very slowly adding to my disappointment. There was no chance that it would get high enough before it fell too dark for me to get either, a hoped for reflection, or a smooth ethereal water effect. The whole scene just felt flat and grim. Another shot for another time I supposed, although, perhaps, there might be a nice sunrise?… I stayed there for the night full of hope…

What a naive wally.

Sunrise?! On THIS trip?!! 😂😂

Mennock Pass, Morton Castle, Crichope Burn, and Caerlaverock Castle

South West Scotland 2021: Part Twenty

24 September 2021

I have no idea when the rain stopped, but when I woke up in the morning, it was all very quiet. Waking up gently was an absolute pleasure after last nights hugely stressful trip. I washed and dressed and stepped out, finding myself in the most beautiful surroundings. My mind was a little blown I wont lie! Of everything that could have been around me, I wasn’t expecting THIS!

Waking up to this spot was a real surprise!

I quickly jumped back in Fred, turned him around and went outside again with my phone. I wanted to grab a quick photo to send to the family (well, I didn’t really want a pic of his backside for this lovely portrait did I?!) Whilst standing in awe of the position I was parked in, a couple of fleeting bits of sunshine shone down on Fred, luckily I caught one with my mobile phone. There was no real blue in the sky, it was still very grim looking, so this felt like a little nod from above as an apology for last nights trauma.

After this, the drizzle inevitably started. Despite the miserable weather I thought this area was worth having a good look at. I had ended up in the Mennock Pass, and as I drove down the winding road, I didn’t know where to look first- it was a real struggle to keep my eyes on the road! I spotted bike randomly on one of the hills, so stopped to try and take a photo of it (see header). It was no good though, the drizzle was so heavy that I simply couldn’t keep the lens clean and every photo looked awful.

I decided this was too beautiful here to miss out however, so made plans to come back on a better weather day. Looking at my map I decided to try and find Morton Castle to check that out instead, since it was not too far from here and very near another location I was dying to see.

Morton Castle as you first see it on the approach.

Morton Castle was a little tricky to find, but once there I really enjoyed my visit. The drizzle had eased off, but it was very, very breezy, and I was intermittently lucky to have a few bursts of light sweep across the location when I first arrived.

As I thoroughly looked over the site, I read that there was little known about its build. There are lots of discussions and debates, but the overall assumption seems to be that it was built in the 12th century. According to the infoboard, an agreement in 1357 stated that in return for the release of the Scottish King David III, the English expected a selection of castles on the southern border with England, to be ruined. Morton was one. Whatever date it was built, the castle went on be inherited or bought by quite a few Lairds for several centuries more, so there was still use here.

Had it been rebuilt or repaired to replace the ruined version? I couldn’t tell. Looking online, apparently archetectural evidence supports a build date of around the 1300’s. I wont lie, this leaves me as confused as all the authorities on the matter. It goes on to say that Morton was in disrepair by 1714, which is how we see it today. Oh, to be a time traveller and watch its history. It really is a lovely place, and if not a fortress, cetrtainly a wonderful area to set up home.

I wandered around the back of the castle where there is a small lake. I was hoping for a nice reflection shot here and I really think it has the potential to look nice, but today it was so windy and grey that a shot like this was definitely out of the question!

Tha back of Morton Castle, sadly wind and grim sky didn’t assist on my hoped for photo here.

I finally left Morton when the wind made it clear I wouldn’t get anything better than what I had in the bag, and I excitedly drove to a much anticipated location… marked in big letters and underlined on my map.

Crichope Burn.

This is a little saught after destination, and although a once popular Victorian hotspot, it seems to have fallen out of favour today. Its now visited mostly by photographers and vloggers only. Has that increased its popularity I wondered, but looking at the empty car park today, I guessed not! I found the car park here fairly easily, and then hunted for the path to the burn. That was not as obvious as you would imagine, but I did find the entrance to the walk after walking past it once. The sign post was very faded, but visible when I actually bothered to look closely.

The walk was fascnating. The first bit was a nice little wooded section, the path, although overgrown and not used in a while, was still fairly clear. I followed it and found myself near a rockface with grafitti on. As I looked, I realised the grafitti was all from the 1800’s! I spent ages looking at the names and dates, surprised and oddly reassured that our need to let others know we were here, was not just a modern vandalism. It is said Robbie Burns had visited this area, althouigh I couldn’t see his name among the other young men and women who scrawled their presence here.

Two of the most noticeable pieces of grafitti. Interestingly, I found a William W. Clarke, a commercial traveller born in Scotland, and his wife Charlotte E Clarke, living in Oswestry in the 1881 census… I wonder if they are the pair from the right piece…

Why this place had fallen out of favour was a surprise to me, and I mused on the thought as I followed the track further, and up a set of stone steps. When I found the spot I’d been excitedly looking for, I was both amazed and just a little disappointed. The path led up, and then thinned around a rocky prominentry. Curving round, the path then revealed a natural arch and a short gorge beyond. As I stood in the space under the arch, I just stared at the view. My amazement came because I was looking at what appeared to be a totally prehistoric landscape, with high moss covered rocks untouched by people, and looking very ancient.

My disappointment came because the much anticipated waterfall that should be here, was nowhere to be seen.

I still took some time taking photos though, because the lush green of the gorge here, just looked amazing. Then I had a bit of an explore a little further up and behind, to try and find the watercourse that should have led to the falls. There was nothing up there so I finally called it and decided to leave. This one was a definate location to come back to, and since it was only a little off route on the way up to my daughter in Glasgow, I was absolutely sure that I would get back here easily.

The ancient looking gorge at Crickhope Burn

Caerlaverock Castle was next, a beautiful red brick triangular castle that I was also keen to visit. The wind had eased and blue skies were appearing, so I had my fingers crossed for a pretty sunset at last, and drove to the location with a few hopes in my pocket. I parked up easily enough, but on getting to the gorgeous ruin, I found the water was covered in algae. The photos I had seen of this castle had a lovely reflection, but with this nasty green covering, no reflection was possible. I walked round the outside anyway, and found to my surprise that where the back had collapsed you could see there was a secondary brick building inside that looked pretty intact. I don’t think I had ever seen something like this taking up such a large area inside a castle before, and it looked very intreguing. I really wanted to go and have a proper look, but of course it was closed due to Covid, and the lateness of the day would have hampered a visit anyway. Such a shame! – but a good reason to come back.

On my return home, I couldn’t help but try and have an online ‘visit’ to find out about this one. To my joy, I found this site, with a link on the page that pretty much takes you in and around the castle! https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/caerlaverock-castle/overview/ Big YAY for modern technology right?!!!

Curious brick building taking up a chunk of space inside the castle.

As I completed my circuit, the sun set with the sky doing nothing exciting, so I could do little else but leave. Down the road, their overflow car park was allowing campers to stay for a donation. Since they had a toilet disposal point, this had been my intended stop for the night anyway, although I didn’t need this service tonight. When I arrived it was fairly full, and I struggled to find a spot where some had parked inconsiderately. Since I was just a small van though, I managed to squeeze into one last spot. There was nothing for a bigger motorhome, so I was thankful for my size! Despite the other vans here (at least 6), it was still a quiet night with everyone sticking to their own private spaces, and noone spreading out. It felt perfect here and I slept very well.

Dec 2021

I returned to Crickhope Burn just before my daughters graduation. It was going to be my first port of call and my impatience meant this was going to be a visit on my way up before I even got to hers! I drove up through a vicious storm the day before, and got to the car park late into the evening, deciding to stop here in the cover of the trees, for protection against the weather.

First thing in the morning, with the storm now gone, I jumped out and went straight over to see if the falls were here this time. Signs were good as I advanced, a boggy path, sizeable puddles to dodge around and the steps up to the last bit running with water almost like a small river. I climbed through the rocky arch to the precipice and was greeted with the roaring of falling water and this incredible view

This was EXACTLY what I had hoped to find, and the view took my breath away! I spent ages here taking photos. Although the space was quite restrictive, the small ledge still had a little movement to the left and right. Its pretty impossible to get any other angle, as the gorge was very slippery, and covered in damp leaves, but I did try what I could without being too silly. Taking a dunk off the edge was definitely not on the plan for today! Ohhh, what a happy bunny I was when I eventually pulled myself away.

Loch Doon Castle, shopping and Sanquhar castle

South West Scotland 2021: Part Nineteen

23 September 2021

The sleep was hard again last night. The wind was really picking up, and although no where near as windy as some nights I have spent in Fred, I could hear banging where the flap covering my electric connection was blowing hard. There were other banging noises outside too, where the wind caught the caravan awning next to me. I had very few plans for today and to be fair, it wouldn’t do River nor I any harm to have an easy day. I didn’t stress, and eventually fell asleep after 2. I awoke again at 7, and despite trying to make myself go back to sleep, it didn’t happen, so I just dozed and stayed lazily in bed trying not to do anything but rest. At 8 I was forced up when I heard the flap give up, and go clattering away. I got dressed, dived out, and recovered the flap after a riotous film comedy moment, chasing it around the site.

Now here’s an interesting thing – today I found myself being surprised by things I didn’t realise before. For instance, I had hot running water. (Whaaaat?!!) I checked the gas hadn’t accidentally turned on, but no, everything was as it should be. I put it down to being hooked up to electric – it must automatically activate the boiler without the gas. Bonus!! My ‘cowboy’ strip wash went on to become a full on hair wash and complete clean up in Fred. Well, I wasn’t going anywhere, and certainly wasn’t going to waste this opportunity! It was still very windy, and the (driving) mizzle was literally sitting on top of us so that visibility was practically zero. My second discovery was that I could deactivate the immobiliser whilst the keys were in the ignition – WITHOUT having to turn everything off and back on again. For 2 fecking years it’s been a real pain, but where no-one had ever explained the alarm system, I guess I would never have learned BUT by an accident. I chilled, sorted everything out and fixed the flap with a reel of fishing line I had found abandoned on my journey. Finally, at about half 2, the weather began to break and I was able to think about visiting Loch Doon Castle. Since I was at a location where I had services, I emptied the loo again, filled up with water, and disposed of the grey waste. I had no chemicals left for the loo however so had to ask for advice on that. The site had no shop, but the owner advised me that the closest shop supplying it, was in Cumnock, shutting at 5pm. I prepped everything anyway ready for the chemicals (so I just had to add it), then headed off to Loch Doon Castle.

I arrived some 15 mins later, took a few photos, but it wasn’t at all photogenic today and I really struggled.

Miserable views, and no luck finding a nice viewpoint at Doon castle

I tried some external shots without too much luck, and then some internal ones which really didn’t do it for me either. Eventually I settled on my poor patient dog who was simply laying on a broken bit of wall watching me. Turns out she can be a really calm model when she wants to!

Realising that this location was really a bit of a bust for me today, I decided that I should probably leave and head off to find the shop in Cumnock to get my toilet chemical. I arrived with 25 mins to closing, picking up some dog treats for River, and some double sided tape to fix a cigarette lighter extender module down – the only little job left for me to do.

I looked at where to go next, and decided that Dumfries and Galloway could start tonight after all. I settled on Sanquhar Castle first. It was another ruin, but I hoped the evening light might help give it atmosphere. It was an odd site really, right by a housing estate and I literally parked outside someone’s house, needing just 2 minutes to walk over. The castle itself was heavily fenced off, but looking at all the angles of the remains, and the warning notices pinned in several places, it was clearly a dangerous structure, and so overgrown that I think its been fenced off for quite a while. This was a shame really, as it might have looked good in the light that was presenting itself.

Instead my attention was drawn to a white cottage that looked amazing sitting below a very low and moody cloud that was a gorgeous pinky shade in the dying light. I stood in what I assumed was an old moat for the castle, and took what images I could. A dead tree was a major irritation here, but the colours and dying light still gave it a nice dramatic feel for me.

Cottage to the side looking really nice in the evening light

I finished when the rain started coming down again, hurrying back to the van before I got too wet. It got very heavy, very quickly! I decided to find somewhere else to settle for the night instead, since it was obvious I couldn’t stay outside someone’s house. As I left, the road out of the village towards my chosen stopover, was closed, and there were no directions on how to get around the blockage. With an erratic phone signal, I began to feel unsettled, and it took a bit of time to find an alternative route round. The situation didn’t get much better either – it got dark quickly, it was pouring with rain and then my sat nav lost connection completely. In my head, a mini voice began to have a huge panic attack until eventually the grown up, sensible me, calmed it a little. My nerves were really shot, and I was also very tired, but I had to drive on – I found myself on a narrow, winding road with no verges or space to make a permanent stop. Eventually, some 20 minutes later, I saw a big layby, and I decided to pull in to wait the night out here, before I got myself into a deeper pickle. The relief at being able to just stop safely, was immense!

Even though the van was plugged into the electrical hook up last night at the campsite, I was unsure what was draining the leisure batteries so heavily, so I planned on preserving them as much as I could. I took the small push button light out of cupboard, and used the double sided tape I’d bought to stick it to the ceiling. Viola! Lights, without using leisure batteries! That was it. I stopped all the problem solving and worries, ate a quick meal and climbed into bed.

I’d absolutely had enough of today now!

Craigengillan, Ness Glen and Dalcairney Falls

South West Scotland 2021: Part Eighteen

22 September 2021

Last night I’d driven until I realised that by driving in the dark I was missing the chance to see new places, and I got really tired. So when I pulled in to where the two other motorhomes were, I settled and fell asleep quickly without having a single idea of where I really was. When I looked out of my window in the morning, I was parked up in a concrete area nestled in among the trees, the sky was filled with cloud and one of the motorhomes had already left. I couldn’t see anything else. I could have been anywhere! I again took my time getting ready and looked at my map for today. While the aim was to visit Doon Castle, I noticed that Ness Glen was on the way, so decided that it might be more fitting to do that first. If it was going to rain today I would be less in the open and I’d have part cover under the trees in the glen. I also considered Dalcairney Falls, a good walk from the glen, but do-able if the weather stayed dry. I readjusted plans a little and headed off down the single lane road with my ideas for today looking like they might be quite promising.

As I was driving I noticed the sun break through the cloud a little, and when I rounded a bend on a hill, it beamed down on a white house in the distance. It looked SO beautiful, I pulled over when I could and took some photos before the sun vanished again. This, it turned out, was called Craigengillan, and a lot of the land in this area belongs to its estate. Although the house has been here since the 1600’s, it, and its lands, fell into disrepair over the years. The people who bought it in 2000 have since invested into its preservation and conservation, turning the whole area into a beautiful site for tourists and wildlife alike. They seem to have done a fantastic job. I really loved how this chance photo turned out, and that it gave me a good reason to look into what it was and what they have been doing.

Craigengillan Estate, a chance photo as I drove.

I continued my drive to the Roundhouse takeaway down by Loch Doon, and parked up. The hope was to pop back in there on my return for something as a treat for my tea this evening – nice idea, surely?? Only I didn’t quite make it back before closing time.. missing by just 5 fecking minutes…5!!!! Grrr. Anyway, for now it was a nice positive idea and as I got ready, I decided that I would add the second walk to take in Dalcairney falls after all. I didn’t think they would have much water to ‘fall’ with, but still felt it might be worth checking out. I could walk it from here, and I couldn’t find clear instructions on any parking closer than this anyway so I may as well make a big ol’ hiking day of it, right? I packed myself a lunch, some drink, and headed off.

Ness Glen was beautiful, and it was a very easy walk alongside the River Doon. I stopped to take a few photos on the way, seeing some beautiful dappled light by a small waterside bridge. I thought to take more on the way back when I would be walking towards the water flow to save myself keep looking back as well as forwards, and so, just took my time enjoying this walk. Start at the end and work in the photos on the way back, it seemed like a great idea, although as it turned out, I was once again taking the current weather for granted, and not considering that it might change. Thank goodness I’d turned to capture this scene, because of course, that’s exactly what happened!

Ness Glen and the River Doon. When the sun broke through it looked magical.

I got to a large wooden bridge, walked over the river and then took the extended route towards Dalcairney falls. The walk to Dalcairney was a little tougher, being a further 2 miles, and going uphill. At a few points it rained lightly, and one other I went slightly off track, going higher than I needed. I rerouted myself however, and tried to follow google to correct myself. We passed a derelict building, and then entered an open hilly area. River had been off the lead for most of the walk by this point, but on spotting some sheep, she started to run towards them. When I realised what had caught her attention, I immediately called her name sharply, followed by a stern ‘Here!’ She stopped in her tracks coming straight back to my side, and seconds later a farmer appeared in the field. He gave me a little curt nod of approval, and said nothing as I walked passed with River close by my heels. I was never prouder of my little dog than I was at that moment.

Not long after that, I descended to a proper path again, and finally, 3 hours after I started my walk, I reached the falls… Well.. The dribbles. (see header) I don’t think I have ever seen any photo of these falls that showed a flow as poor as this one! But, well, I had this for my visit, so decided to work with what I was given. The location was still beautiful, so before anything, I rested with River for a while – soaking in the peace and tranquillity here. She thoroughly loved paddling in the calm pool beneath the dribble, so I let her enjoy that while I ate my lunch. I really struggled to see much to photograph, so settled on the solitary log in the middle of the water, with the thin stream of falling water as an afterthought behind it. To be fair there wasn’t much else to focus on!

Dalcairney main falls – normally considerably more impressive than this!!

As I was shooting this, River started splashing in the water next to me, which she never does… And when I looked, she seemed to be having the same issue as she had yesterday. I hastily left the camera in the middle of the water and encouraged/carried her out as best as I could, so that whatever this was, she wouldn’t collapse and drown. Her face showed the same fear, but she clearly trusted me and let me carry her part of the way (she hates being lifted up), recovering again with no after effects, very quickly. This had me very confused. I went and got the camera, and we left this side of the falls. Ultimately, I didn’t know what else to do, but carry on. I felt horrible being torn between giving up, and wanting to continue here today, but there was nothing else I could do but book in to see the vet as soon as I could after my return in a few days. (they were amazing, and made a space for her the morning after my return) From here on in though, meantime, I kept such a close eye on her, I wouldn’t let her get much further than a step or two away from me. Thankfully she didn’t have any more episodes while I was away, having just one minor one a day after seeing the vet. It turned out she had an ear infection, and it was causing her to have seizures. I was asked to keep an eye on her just in case she was going to have them more regularly, in which case further treatment was available and advisable. Thank God it wasn’t anything worse, and my mind was put at ease with the reassurance these were not unusual, and often disappeared after the underlying cause was treated. Apparently I’d acted exactly the way I needed to on both occasions, remaining calm, and reassuring, but making sure she was safe in her environment. Since then, River has been fine, and we haven’t seen a repeat episode.

Back to today though, as I got to the top of these falls, I crossed the little bridge, and then descended back down the opposite side to see if we could capture the lower falls as well as the main falls. The lower falls seemed to be stealing the show over the main ones today. It was tricky getting to the best spot, but we made it, crossing the river, and basically coming back to the first side but much lower down. I am sure that in full spate this would have been impossible, but I struck lucky today. I took my pictures, and we climbed back out to the starting point on the first side.

Climbing out was actually a challenge in itself, with a large tree that had fallen over a now obvious path in such a way that I literally had to manoeuvrer in and out and around branches that had completely covered the route. Have you ever tried climbing a tree horizontally? Me neither, it was…interesting, and quite fun. Without this in the way, it would have been a much easier shot from my original side, but I hadn’t noticed this path from above it earlier.

We then started the long walk back. My feet were painful, but today felt like it was a success, and River was very much back to her normal self, sniffing just about every hole she could find. I took a few shots on Ness Glen once we reached there again, but without the sun casting small dapples of light in the area, it all looked very flat in the camera. I’d been very lucky getting the earlier shot I now realised! By the time I got back to the camper my feet were too painful to do much, with two days of over 7 miles each were taking their toll on my plantar fasciitis. With the roundhouse having just closed, and the rain trying its hardest to stay off as best as it could, I decided to stop off in a campsite here, just so I could recharge Fred, and hopefully have a shower. Sadly there was no shower or toilet block of any kind, although there was electricity, so I was very happy for that and decided to stay anyway! As I picked out a spot to park up in, a cloud of mizzle finally settled on the area for good. It was very grim and wet, so I was just thankful to have a place to stay without having to look any further!

For some reason, I struggled to sleep though, even with the sound of the rain that eventually established a wonderful soothing sound throughout the night. It was a good thing that I only had Doon Castle to do tomorrow!

Girvan, Turnberry Lighthouse, and Greenan Castle

South West Scotland 2021: Part Seventeen

21 September 2021

When I awoke I felt a bit more refreshed, but didn’t want to push myself too hard to start, so I took River for a short walk to have a look around and a bit of an explore. Although Girvan was a stopover location, it wasn’t marked as a photographic one, so I wasn’t too sure what else might be here. We were parked right by the beach, so it was a really pleasant start listening to the sounds of the sea! I looked first to see if there was fresh or waste water service points, but couldn’t find anything but another loo disposal. I didn’t need that sadly, so just left it and took River down to the beach. She liked it here (as did I to be fair!) but she still didn’t venture into the water. This pooch loves a river or lake, but hates going into the sea. Fussy or what?! As we walked, I noticed some lovely light on the harbour arm, that also hit two houses way off in the background, so I went back for my camera and decided to try my first photos of the day right here.

River and I walked the length of the concrete bit of harbour, aiming for the lighthouse at the end, but I didn’t find it too pretty and the sun refused to hit it to help any chance of an image. I turned round to face back towards the rocky arm and the view that had first caught my eye. The sun was now only on the two white houses, but I took a number of photos here, waiting for the light – which flatly refused to move back to my subject. Eventually I gave up. The breeze was a little too much and I got cold, so I packed everything away, and started back towards the van. It was a real bonus seeing the view walking from the opposite direction, as I realised that the composition of my scene started looking better, and then as if to prove a point, the sun suddenly hit the arm again! I quickly got everything out and managed to capture a much better image. This not only had the sun on it, but where the framing was much better, I was over the moon! What I’d realised was that by walking back halfway down the concrete arm, the end position of the stone one moved more out in the open compared to it being cluttered and lost in with the rest of the land. Perspective. Not a thing I consider usually. How many other shots might I have missed?! By the time I got back to the van I felt a little chuffed, since this was a location I had stumbled on by accident. What a start to today!

From here I decided to check out Turnberry lighthouse. I knew I wanted this for a sunset shot, but right now it was fairly close so worth checking out for the parking, if nothing else. The parking was easy, and as I walked over to the lighthouse itself, the sky cleared and offered a warm start to the day. Walking in the sunshine felt lovely and calming so I took my time really enjoying myself as I checked out some nice positions for later. To get to this lighthouse, you have to walk through the Turnberry golf course, but River was very good and didn’t venture near the golfers, choosing to sniff the edges of the paths and the rocky outcrops near the beach area instead. Where the weather was so nice, I dropped back to the camper and picked up my camera. River didn’t want to come back out so I left her in there while I ventured back to get a shot of the lighthouse in the sunshine. It looked quite nice, though it definitely would have benefited from some side light to give the building some shading. As it was, my timing, and its position meant you either had it in full light, or total shadow by photographing from the other side into the sun. I knew I was aiming to come back later anyway, so wasn’t too worried.

Once back at the camper, I had a lunch, and headed back to Greenan, just for one last chance, and found myself there at almost the right time for the tides. I was still slightly late, but watching the water recede at such a pace, I realised it would take some fine timing to get it perfect, and quite likely, a need to walk out into the water before it receded too much. I set up nonetheless, with the weather flicking between sun and cloud in just a short time. As soon as the wind dropped, I managed some pretty reflections, which satisfied my hopes for this location a little. Yes, I could think of better conditions, but on my third attempt, I was happy to get this much! I noticed the light hitting the curve in the rock base really nicely, so I took shots from a different angle until I was happy that I had done all that I could today.

The breeze was still a bit of a pain, and the tide just a tad bit low, but I almost managed the reflection shot I hoped for.

With 2 hours to sunset, I headed back to Turnberry, and couldn’t resist taking a simple shot of a golfing green in a burst of sunshine (see header). The green looked incredibly lush against the growing black clouds in the sky. Then I realised that the clouds were building where the sun was going to set, and my sunset hopes were being dashed again. I went straight one spot I had checked out earlier, and set up anyway, grabbing a nice shot of sunbeams over a fisherman. He wasn’t there for long after I took this, and I often wonder if he was as in awe of this light as I was, or whether he was too engaged in his own hobby to even notice.

What gorgeous sun rays tonight. and the fisherman just finished this one off perfectly

I hadn’t checked out the tide level so was disappointed to find that the water was totally out when I got back to my final position of the day. However, I was really pleased to notice that the volcanic plug turned island, Ailsa Craig, could be seen really clearly in the background from here. I moved a little left and right, up on a rock, and lower to the ground until I managed to position it nicely in shot… then one thin bit of light hit the lighthouse… I had to shoot right now!

Turnberry Lighthouse just as the sun was setting. Would love to retry this with a higher tide.

As I was taking the photo I heard River crying a little, over to the side of me. Concerned she was stuck on a rock, I called her over only to notice her acting a little strange. I immediately left my camera and dashed over to her talking calmly, and trying to encourage her down, but I noticed her moving a little oddly. She seemed fixed in place, and on one side, one front leg and one back leg seemed to be doing their own thing. The look in her eyes showed absolute fear. Concerned I gently stroked and reassured her, checking to see if she had hurt herself or was caught on anything. Eventually, after finding nothing obviously wrong, I was terrified she was having some kind of stroke. However, within a minute, whatever was happening passed, and she began moving normally again, acting like nothing had happened. I just brushed it off in the end, keeping her much closer to me so I could keep an eye on her. She carried on as normal after that, and on seeing her happy wagging tail, the worry fell to the back of my mind.

Once it became clear there was not going to be any colour in the sky, I packed up and intended to drive down to Loch Doon ready for my East Ayrshire stint. I hadn’t really wanted to do that drive in the dark, but today felt like a such a success I wanted to leave on a high note. I hadn’t actually plotted anywhere to stop the night, so I began the drive as the last of the light faded, trusting to chance at finding somewhere en route. I stopped a fair bit later when I spotted some motorhomes nestled in among some trees nearer my location. I had no idea where I was, but I was too tired to continue driving safely, and I knew I wasn’t too far from where I hoped to be tomorrow. This seemed like a good enough spot for sure, and once bedded down, I was asleep in minutes!

Clean up day, the Irving Dragon, Greenan Castle, and…

South West Scotland 2021: Part Sixteen

19 September 2021

I had a glorious nights sleep… Possibly the best in ages, and I seriously did NOT want to get out of bed. Lazing until gone 9.30, I finally got up and just did a slow potter, cleaning myself and the van at a very gentle pace. I took a short walk out with River to give her a chance to stretch her legs and spotted a small rainbow over Hunterston Pier, before wandering back to the camper. It was all very chill!

I was very mindful of needing to empty the portaloo, and get some water, and even though I was tempted to retry the castle later, I decided that these items were getting to be a priority. I looked at Ayr, where the council were trying a scheme allowing motorhomes overnight parking, and services for £5. I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay a night there however, (it wasn’t near any of my photographic locations) but I had no objection to just paying for the services and thought a good drive might also help Fred’s Leisure batteries. This then, would be my first course of action today. I arrived at the car park, and found the motorhome parking area easily, although couldn’t immediately find any services. I eventually found an unmarked (or labelled) yellow portaloo disposal point/ thing, with no instructions on what to do, so I had to inspect, and guess how to do this. I couldn’t see anywhere for my waste water, or any fresh water tap either (the term serviceS was obviously a bit of a stretch! LOL). Maybe the waste water went in with the loo water, but I had no way to transport it FROM the tank in Fred, so had to leave it. Normally, you open the tap under the van over a grating, and they clearly didn’t have that here. Maybe I should look into finding a sports bottle or some such just for an alternative disposal method. Looking at my park for night app, I found two symbols I didn’t recognise… One was a public loo… But the other, thankfully, was a water fountain! I drove closer, had a look at it, and then filled as best as I could – 3 loads of my small water carriers, taking an absolute age each time, and proving quite heavy to carry and lift! Putting the water into Fred, it raised the tank level to half full… Hopefully enough to finish the trip. Now I just needed to conserve the leisure batteries, and hopefully find another area for the waste water over the next few days.

Unsure on what to do next I decided to drive to Irving for a sculpture I had seen that had really taken my fancy. The Irving Dragon was created by artist Roy Fitzsimmons, apparently using the red sandstone from an old demolished railway bridge. I’ve no idea how old it is, certainly not ancient, but I found mention of it being there in the 1980’s at least. On arrival I found a huge car park a very short walk away, and several campers here. After parking up, I took River for the short walk to find the dragon, deciding to come back when the light was a softer shade of yellow. It was a bit harsh at the moment (see header), although in hindsight I quite like lighting in the photo above. As sunset approached, I climbed the hill again, but was saddened to notice that although there were still very few clouds above me, several were building on the horizon. Another chap was there with his camera, and began chatting to me. He grabbed so much of my attention that I missed my chance to capture much at all, and completely missed the sunset in the end. Disappointed, I tried what I could, but once the sun had fallen behind the cloud, the dragons colour went very flat.

Just missed the best part of the sunset… but maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow?

I returned to the camper and watched as night fell, and the moon rose. I simply couldn’t be bothered to try a night time shot, so stayed in bed really struggling to sleep… looking at my watch for the last time at just gone 3am.

20 September 2021

I was awake again at 6.30, but refused to get up. I tried my hardest to go back to sleep but it didn’t happen, eventually getting up at 7.30 and pottering around the van. Finally, I decided I should try the dragon in morning light, preparing to go without the full camera bag, and to just travel light. I gathered the tripod, dog and left to see what I could get. There was a cloud building, but it still gave a few intermittent bursts of light that looked great. Setting up the tripod in one of the positions I had settled on, I went to grab my camera off my shoulder, to realise it wasn’t there! I checked if I had put it down. Nope… then realised I must have left it in the camper! Full of annoyance at myself, I picked the tripod up and trudged all the way back down the hill, noting that the cloud was actually closing in pretty fast. When I got to Fred, I saw it sitting on the drivers seat waiting for me. (how lucky was I not to come back to a smashed window, and missing camera eh?!) I slogged back up the hill again, just as the last beam of light hit.. Then it was gone. I set up anyway, and waited just in case another glimmer happened, and I waited… and I waited. Eventually I gave up, I took a few cursory shots, anyway, and came back to the camper. I was too tired and grumpy to stick around.

With North Ayrshire done, I decided to start South Ayrshire, and I headed to a location I was very keen on seeing – Greenan Castle. This castle was literally perched on the edge of a cliff, giving a chance of a really dramatic shot – if I could time it right! I drove to the car park nearby, and the cloud abated in the wind giving me blue skies for a little bit. As I arrived at the car park I was saddened to see that it was another with a height barrier, so just parked on the street. The walk over was fairly easy, but the tide was far too high for the shot I hoped for. I had a good wander though, setting up in a different position to the side and by a pool, waiting for the wind to settle to take the reflection shot… I waited… and I waited… and again gave up. It wasn’t going to happen, and in reality, I wasn’t that pleased with the water level at this spot at any rate. I took one shot of it between gusts of strong wind, (well I was here after all!) before picking everything up and walking back to Fred.

Greenan Castle. I almost got this shot breeze free… almost. Need the water here to be a little higher to cover the seaweed too I think. Otherwise I like the position

I thought I would try Dunure Castle instead, and drove there as the cloud made its return. The weather was very changeable in this wind today! The ruined castle looked very flat in the now cloudy light, but again, looked pretty dramatic standing on the edge of a cliff. The cloud did lend itself to a moody shot instead, so I tried that. Unfortunately, for some odd reason, I couldn’t really get it to work for me, even though I tried from several sides and angles. I realised that I was very tired from the lack of sleep, so didn’t beat myself up over it, putting today down to being a scouting day instead. These locations had a lot of promise despite my inability to get the dreamed for shots today. This one for instance, I think would look great with a little dramatic light directly on the castle and a higher tide.

Dunure Castle…. This would be perfect with light on the castle, plenty of mood behind, and a higher tide, I think!

As it was on its way out, it didn’t really work here, but I realised that I might have better luck back at Greenan castle instead, now the water was lower. I drove back there, went to look, and was shocked to see the tide was actually so far out, that I had missed my chance entirely! With a tidal water that moved in or out extremely quickly over the beach area, opportunities for the shot I hoped for, at this location, were obviously only available in a very small window!! I gave up for today.

Instead I decided to have a drive down to Girvan, to hopefully see if the services and parking were better there, and to pick up a little shopping. I got to the parking spot after the sun had set, so just settled in for the night, planning everything else for the morning.

Lynn Waterfall, Camphill Reservoir, and Portencross Castle

South West Scotland 2021: Part Fifteen

18 September 2021

After a good night’s sleep, I decided to just take a stroll and a little look around the marina here. By chance, I noticed a man locking up a gas enclosure and spotted they had bottles in the size Fred used. I stopped the man, asking if they were full, available to sell, and if me not being a boat owner was OK. A lot of questions all at once, but I was met with a cheery smile and three yes’s. I just had to bring in my old tank, and he would get me a replacement one out in a moment, that I could buy. Really pleased I had ventured over here, I hurried back to Fred, picked up my empty, and bought myself a full bottle. It was super easy! Now I definitely didn’t need to worry for a little while!

It had been raining for a good portion of the night, and though no where near enough to fill any waterways, I suspected a waterfall would be far easier than anything out in the open, so settled on Lynn waterfall as my first visit today. I wasn’t expecting to find a space in the tiny car park, especially being a Saturday, but was pleasantly surprised to find a few spots I could park in. Then I started the hiking loop, loving all the fairy houses and carved toadstools hidden along the route. When I got to the waterfall, I was overjoyed to find a full fall at last! It was a bit of a scrabble down, then I realised that the best position was actually across the river. Very carefully, River and I gingerly made our way across the fast running water, and once we touched the other shore, I heard whoops, cheers and applause. Shocked and somewhat embarrassed to realise that people had been watching my shenanigans, I looked for the source of my congratulatory praise to find a big family on the top of the falls waving and clapping. I shyly waved back, then hid my blushing face as I started to set up my tripod. (wanted them to realise I was this side for a purpose, and not just a nutty old woman taking pointless risks for fun) Then I walked around to several positions to find the nicest view. Down stream slightly was nice, but we lost the second fall behind a big tree, too much to the right, and the sun glared into the camera… So I settled for a mid position.

Lynn Waterfall, a nice amount of water at last.

I moved over a little when the sun gained enough height to be a little more out of my shot. From here I liked the view better so spent some time snapping a number of shots (all the same…why DO I do that when I like a place?!! Lol) and soaking in the atmosphere. River had a good explore so I was content to just chill here for a while. In hindsight, I wish I had played a little more with the shutter speed to freeze the water a fraction less, but I think I was concentrating on avoiding the glare from the sun, so I’ll try and remember this for future. The shots themselves after the dribbles I had encountered so far on this trip, really made my day though.

Lynn falls a little further round to the side

Once I had filled my happiness bucket here, we made our way across the river and back up, and then finished walking the the loop, enjoying the walk thoroughly. From here I thought I would quickly check out a reservoir – but as suspected, the overflow was very dry. I made a mental note of a parking spot for another time instead. The overflow at Camphill Reservoir is really pretty, so I definitely want to try that sometime, but today wasn’t the day sadly. I took a phone photo to remind myself, and headed off.

Looking at the weather forecast and seeing that the cloud would continue to clear, I decided that I would try a spot I had really been looking forward to seeing, Portencross Castle and pier. Two photographic opportunities for me, so, excited, I made the drive there – only to be chronically disappointed and very frustrated by the local council or landowner. The only access, it seemed, was down a long narrow road with double yellow lines all the way down. That’s all well and good, but when I got to the bottom, the car park had a height barrier stopping me parking anywhere. It was also a dead end. Frustrated, disappointed and very annoyed that there were no signs much earlier warning this route was unsuitable for motorhomes or large vehicles, I gingerly tried a 3 point turn, and drove all the way back out. How a larger motorhome might manage this I have absolutely NO idea! I was desperate to find somewhere I could stop to enable me to walk back, but there was nothing. My heart sank and my frustration at feeling so unwelcome really started to eat at me. I got all the way back to the main road, and started to drive back the way I had come, finding a parking spot where I could pull over to check a map. I found nothing to the south, but on closer inspection found a possible spot to the north, giving me just over a mile to walk. It was my only option, so I drove back up, round past a nuclear power station, and was relieved to see a nearly empty public car park with no restrictions right by Hunterston Pier. I could also see the castle in the distance, so decided to make a quick dinner, and then start the walk. I would be back after dark I expected, and didn’t want the hassle of eating then, especially as it might use power for the lights. It didn’t seem like Fred’s driving was keeping the batteries topped up very well, as it had last year, so I needed to be a little more conservative on my power usage where I could.

The hike was pretty easy following a simple route along the Ayrshire coastal path. The tall cliffs to my left housed Peregrine falcons. I heard them cawing loudly and my app identified their call without any hesitation. My walking route was flat and easy, but ahead of me I noticed cloud building on the horizon. I really hoped it would lift enough to give a nice sunset and not block it out. The sky otherwise was getting pretty clear and it was nice to see the blue. With an hour and a half to sunset, my hopes were raised a little, even though the huge disappointment I had felt earlier, still haunted and lowered the tone of this visit.

Ayrshire coastal path looking back at Portencross and Hunterston Piers

When I got there, the pier looked very disappointing. I found it hard to get a composition with a lowered mood, uncooperative light and a flat incoming tide. An ongoing problem with plantar fasciitis didn’t help by adding sore feet to the growing list. I had hoped to get the waves coming over the rocks, but a) I wasn’t quite in the mood for scrambling over rocks to look for compositions with these feet, and b) there were no waves at all… The tide was literally just gently rising. This was actually an issue I have seen throughout this break, even at Clough lighthouse, it was a real struggle to get an ethereal mood to the shot. I gave up in the end, walked on a bit towards the castle and instead found a mound to climb up. I took a photo from the top, looking back the way I had just come. The lush green of the grass, the brown of the rocks and the blue of the sky were really nice, and to complete the scene there was a little house tucked in the trees. Hunterston pier, where I had parked, was just visible in the distance, and when I looked really hard, I could just see Fred. You wouldn’t think the walk had been that long looking at that..

I walked down to the castle, which is apparently open sometimes (not today though), and looked at several viewpoints. The strong evening sun put one side into an unflattering flat light, and the other side into full darkness. The dark side I hoped to use for the sunset, as the path has a wonderful curve that leads you to the castle, so the shot I needed before that would have to be out on the rocks… The only position I could get to that would give a half light and half dark shadowing. I clambered out to the point I identified as the only probable good viewpoint, wincing with each step, and really struggling with my balance for some reason, and sat a while setting up, just enjoying the peace. As it goes, the composition from here was really nice, and not one I normally see from this location. It’s just a shame we didn’t have a better aspect of the tower itself. but beggars can’t be choosers right?

Portencross castle from the rocks. Even the back of a castle can look pretty in the right light!

Once the pictures here were done, I turned my camera to the setting sun, only to realise that the huge bank of cloud had really built up on the horizon between me and the sun. It dipped behind, offering sun rays for a little bit, highlighting a curious scene where a cloud of mist was just laying lightly over a hill on the Isle of Arran, looking like a layer of thin wading had been put down over that section of land. It was rather pretty to watch the mists rolling down gently. (see header photo) Then the sun dipped out of view altogether, casting the palest of warm glows onto the clouds above me. I walked back to my prime position still with the slightest hope of a dramatic sunset, but very little happened but the light fading. This seemed fitting for my mood to be fair, so I took the pictures anyway. Just to add to my annoyance of the day, I hadn’t brought my wide angle lens. This meant that I couldn’t get the shot all in one as I hoped. Très frustrant indeed. Instead I cheated and did a panarama of the scene and stitched it together… this was harder to do than it might normally be, because River seemed to want to get into a number of the shots!

Portencross Castle as the sun finally disappeared for the evening

After I finished what I could do here, I packed up and walked all the way back in the quickly dimming light. Luckily it seemed quicker getting back, but by then my feet had absolutely had enough, so I just went straight to bed.

Fairlee Waterfall, Castle and The Pencil Monument

South West Scotland 2021: Part Fourteen

17 September 2021

Today when I woke up the view was pretty much non existent. A grim cloud sat over the area, drizzling heavily, leaving me with not much to see here, and leaving everything just a flat grey. I was parked up by the river and could see that the other campers were still here. None of them seemed to make any moves to leave early, so, without any set plans I just chilled for a few hours, taking my time, having breakfast, playing a game, and just having a casual think on what I fancied doing today. After the other vans eventually started drifting off to get on with their days, I jumped out and took a photo of Fred before finally getting on with mine. It was a very relaxing start.

Fred in North Ayrshire. A flat grey morning

I ended up settling on a waterfall at Fairlee. I had only found this one the other day, and although I didn’t really hold up much hope, it might be better than just sitting here in the camper all day, looking out at a non view of a misly river. I found parking easily, and the walk, although steep didn’t appear complicated – she says, hitting one spot that seemed to be a wrong turn for the falls. I retraced my steps and continued up the steep hill until I realised I had then overshot past my turn, and found myself much further away from the burn. I couldn’t hear any water at all from here. Mildly frustrated with myself, I backtracked again, stopping a couple of times to take pictures. Although I wasn’t particularly excited by them, it seemed the main waterfall wasn’t even there. Confused, I wondered whether the prolonged dry spell had depleted the falls to nothing. I went back to double check the spot where I thought I had taken the first wrong turn, and leaned out as far as I could, to try and see the river from here. As I strained to see over a muddy outcrop, I caught a glimpse of the fall. It wasn’t gone at all, it was just a little inaccessible from this spot.

I looked around, following the river with my eyes, and had an idea. I slipped down the steep muddy bit on my bum (thank goodness I was in waterproofs today, that saved my jeans some!), and managed to get down to the waters edge. From here I just walked boldly into the shallow river, and strode up the (pretty non existent) lower part of the falls and around a bit of a bend until the upper falls came into view. There might be an easier way, although several online comments mentioned that they had to do this as well. The falls were a good height, but not quite as photogenic as I might have liked, with fallen trees everywhere and the water flow, as has been the kicker on this trip, very minimal. I worked the scene as much as possible though, with a couple of the shots showing a little promise of being useable post edit. I suspect this one would look amazing in full spate, although the walk in and along the river would definitely be far more challenging. I didn’t see a bank that could be traversed particularly easily, so it remains to be seen if this might be as possible as one might like at that point ..

Fairlee Waterfall. Not completely dry, but it still took a lot of work to find a way of photographing this one today.

Once finished, I climbed back out and made my way further down stream. As I walked in this direction, I noticed someone had pitched a blue tent off to the side, tucked well into the wooded growth. I had a tentative look, and there was a possibly that someone had abandoned it, because there seemed to be no one about, but behind that, I spotted a worn footpath. Curious I followed the footpath, and found another smaller fall. I was sure this would look better with more water, but once again climbed down and walked into the river itself to explore the site. I looked at all angles for a composition I liked, but nothing really jumped out at me. I ended up going a little further downstream to capture the entire cascade, although even that proved tricky to capture well. When I saw the shot on screen however, I noticed all the early autumn leaves were really adding colour that I loved. This one felt much better for me, and it was a beautiful peaceful spot that I really enjoyed being in.

Cascade looking much prettier than the main waterfall

I continued back towards the van stopping only once more to have a quick look at the outside of Fairlee castle. This was a tower castle, buried in the woods overlooking a steep drop to the river that I had been following. There wasn’t any information on it, so I didn’t think it was a tourist site to visit, nor did I photograph it since it was surrounded by a metal fence stopping anyone getting close. It looked to be having a little work done to it, possibly to make safe, I wasn’t sure. As I stood in the rain looking over the castle I found myself chatting to a man called Billy who, as it turned out, was actually the current owner of this Castle. He was a fascinating man to talk to, correcting some of my assumptions and telling me a little of the history. He then went on to tell me all about the work that was going on and his plans to fix the castle to a liveable condition again. He hoped that in 2 years, he might be finished, and this wonderful place might be a home once again. So far it had taken him 7 years, just to get through all the planning, testing and rope jumping! The powers that be had finally granted him the permission to go ahead with his plans, and his excitement was clear in his chatter. It was a bold idea of his to give this old home a second chance, but I totally loved his dream. It was well and truly raining by now, so we bid our goodbyes (with him telling me to come and knock on his door in 2 years, and hopefully he would be able to offer me a cup of tea!) I wish I had stopped to take a photo of the castle today, because if I ever can get back, it would have been awesome to see the changes.

Once back in Fred I made a nice coffee and sat trying to work out where else I could go. The walk I had read online for the castle/waterfall led to other sights to see in Ayrshire, most not of interest to me in this grim weather. I didn’t fancy a second waterfall today either, so missed seeing Biglees falls that was nearby too, but there’s always next time right? Google maps flagged up a monument nearby that looked like a curiosity worth trying however. It felt a bit different so I found local parking, and plotted the route there. I was really excited to find that the parking I had spotted not only had a dedicated motorhome parking spot, but it was only a few minutes walk away from the location. As an added bonus it was right by another marina, and as my second gas bottle had just given up as well, it might be worth checking to see if these sold them too.

The Pencil is a monument in Largs, dedicated to the memory of a battle in 1236, where the Scots King Alexander III fought off Vikings that had landed here. It wasn’t a huge or momentous battle by many standards, but the locals wanted to commemorate the ‘Battle of Largs’ with something in 1912, and this was the affordable option they picked. The slender tower is a scaled down replica of a similar tower at Brechin built around 1050. This type of tower was originally used as a refuge, bell tower or treasury, with the only access being via a retractable ladder to the entrance half way up. I took a quick walk out to the monument in the rain, and then returned for my camera, having seen a nice moody shot (see header) The rain got very frustrating very quickly however, spoiling many of the shots I tried to get, so instead I gave up and went back for some tea. The wet weather eased as the dinner was cooked and eaten, and then as I settled for the evening, I noticed a band of light on the horizon. I quickly grabbed my camera, jumped out and bolted over the road to a good position to capture a few handheld shots. Unfortunately, though I really tried, I was unable to get a long exposure and I cursed myself for not bringing my tripod. I ran back to the van, collected it, returned and set up within 10 minutes, but I missed the best of the strong afterglow from the setting sun as it hit the underside of the cloud. I was still able to capture some long exposure shots before the last of the light dimmed completely though, and was over the moon with how these came out because these shots all looked absolutely amazing and dramatic.

What luck this was tonight, and so totally unexpected! After such a wet and disappointing day, this magical light really made up for everything. I went back to the van with a big old smile on my face.

Gourock, Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, and Cloch Lighthouse

South West Scotland 2021: Part Thirteen

16 September 2021

I woke up early after what ended up as a poor night of sleep. There was no particular reason for it but it meant I was easily awake for a possible dawn shot. Sadly, although I got out to photograph it, the sky remained cloudy and nothing exciting happened to take a photograph OF. Instead, I decided to attempt a little more sleep and tried to get another hour. That didn’t work either, so feeling a little grotty and grumpy, I just had breakfast and took my time this morning. As the early hours progressed, the sky cleared a fair bit, and the view over Gourock looked really pretty, with broken sun patches drifting across the scene. Watching this from the van window, I decided to take another shot before I left, while it looked this nice. I jumped out and as I stood taking my photos I couldn’t miss the number of other people also here with cameras out. (OK, this sight is pretty, but I didn’t think it was that pretty!) It turned out that while a couple were here just for the view – they simply snapped with their phones and left really quickly, quite a few were here just watching and waiting. One guy had a scope type camera… was it a rare bird they were watching out for? A short while passed and I finally saw what these guys were waiting for – a large cruise ship came into view and gently sailed down the firth. All of a sudden they bustled into life and started snapping like mad. It seems that much like train spotters, there are also ship spotters. (who knew?!) As I spoke to one man, he explained that this particular one was not often here, and quite anticipated. This was quite clear by the number of people that gathered to watch. Once the ship had gone, all the photographers vanished along with it, and I had the location all to myself.

Once I had taken my shot, I had a think on what else I could do here in Inverclyde. Yesterday had taken it out of me a little, and the poor night didn’t help, so I thought I would take things fairly easy today, and maybe just have a little explore of the Clyde Muirshiel park area. Yesterday, I had spotted a possible abandoned house near my ancestors one, so on a whim, I decided to start there and have a little explore. The pressure was off finishing Inverclyde, as I had effectively visited 3 different locations yesterday, and already had two in the bag from a few days earlier (Cloch Lighthouse and the James Watt marina), so this was a bonus trip. I got to the spot fairly quickly, and went for an initial look before I decided to come back for my camera. The weather was holding up for me perfectly for a little project idea that I’d had in mind since the highlands. When I was there, I had spotted a number of abandoned buildings. These were always interesting to visit, especially those that still had a variety of belongings scattered everywhere, despite being abandoned for quite some years.

My idea was to try getting a photo from one of the windows… basically ‘a room with a view’, but from a now unloved, ex home. I’d already picked up an old bottle from jaw reservoir, so I thought I might put it to a bit of use and collected that up from the van with my camera. On the walk back to the house (see header) I picked a few wild flowers from the area that were in bloom today -garlic, buttercup, hebe, dandelion(?) and mint, along with a few early autumn leaves, and a handful of wild mushrooms. Once inside, the idea was to arrange these in or with the old bottle and take a shot from my chosen window. It worked out OK, except that I forgot to take multiple shots to focus stack correctly. (GAGH!! * Slaps forehead in frustration) Ahh, lesson learned. For a first try though, I wasn’t too disappointed, and totally in awe of the stunning view from this one. I wonder if the previous owners and workers from this small holding ever really appreciated it as much as I did today. After taking my photos, I had a little explore. It was a single story house with what appeared to be two animal barns/holding areas to either side. I don’t know much about farming, so I couldn’t be exactly sure what use they might have been put to. What I could tell was that there was a LOT of animal poop in one of them though, so it was clearly still somewhat in use!

After this gentle and slow explore, I thought I might head back to Cloch Lighthouse. I was disappointed with the water levels on my last visit, so rather than aim for sunset, I decided to get there for high tide. The water lapping in might make a nice shot I mused. High tide wasn’t for a while however, so instead I thought I would take a very slow drive over and through the park area and just enjoy the views. It was a beautiful drive, sun shining intermittently as the cloud slowly started building. This, I felt, might be perfect for my lighthouse shot later, so I was content to take my time, stopping at a number of spots to have a gentle walk or explore. Part of my drive took me through North Ayrshire, and although I was, in my head still ‘doing’ Inverclyde, I couldn’t resist taking the odd photo from up here.

I slowly carried on to Cloch Lighthouse and on arriving just after half past 3, I could see that the conditions were going to be perfect. The cloud had chased the blue away, and the shot was going to look a fair bit moodier than last time. I found the only parking spot I knew of quickly, and didn’t faff about this time trying to find anything better. Once on the stoney beach, I saw the tide was much higher than last time, and that it was still ebbing in, so I had plenty of time to experiment with a few varying spots along the short beach here. This session felt much calmer this time, and I enjoyed myself much more. Without any added stress, I found myself taking a number of shots that worked for me as I hoped, and I was done well within time.

Cloch Lighthouse. Moodier this time, and a much less stressed photo session

Once the tide turned and started to make its way back out, I decided to simply drive up to Greenock, fill up with fuel, and do a quick shop, before heading down to an overnight spot in North Ayrshire. I would then be ready for my next county to start in the morning. There were three other vans here tonight, and although by the road, it was quiet enough for me to sleep pretty well.