Cal leaves while I’m barely stirring. I rashly planned a second mountain hike today, but the gloomy weather and my aching legs suggest a more gentle return to the coast.
Waiting for the bus to Benderloch, I chat with the woman beside me, who immediately spots my North East accent. The longer I stay in Scotland, the broader it becomes. She is also hiking the coast today and braved an early morning swim.
“Wild swimming?”
She raises an eyebrow and fixes me with a look.
“No — just swimming.”
They don’t mess around with fancy fads up here.
We alight at the same stop and she walks with me briefly before turning north. I struggle to keep up. It’s probably just as well that we are heading in opposite directions.
A tarmac cycle path leading south from the village is typical of repurposed old railway lines. The Ballachulish branch of the Callander and Oban Railway was designed to open up access to remote areas in 1903 but was never commercially successful and closed in 1966. Do railways ever make a profit? I rarely pay the full price due to delays. However, I spend money in the local communities, so it depends on how broadly you measure commercial success.
A woman ahead drags a small dog that turns round every few yards to watch me. Eventually, she surrenders and waits for me to catch up.
“He thinks you’re my son.”
I like him already.
The cycle path leads to the impressive Connel Bridge, built in 1903. I leave the road and pick my way through waterlogged woodland to gain a better view, careful not to slip on the wet rock into the fast-flowing water. I’ve said it before: taking photos is more dangerous than hiking.
The bridge was originally for the branch railway line and is not wide enough for two lanes of traffic, allowing me to take advantage of a red light to step in the middle of the road.
I pass over the Falls of Lora, which appear on the ebbing tide when seawater funnels through the narrows.
Above the falls, Loch Etive lies still beneath the clouds. I could follow the loch and its feeder river to the Kingshouse Hotel in the heart of mighty Glencoe. I’ve already booked four nights in their bunkhouse for my March trip as it was filling up.
There’s an unavoidable mile or so along the verge of the A85 but nothing I’m not used to.
The cafe at Poppies Garden Centre sits on the shore and is a welcome break. Is it possible to continue along the shoreline?
Unfortunately, a burn and a tall fence surround a private residence, blocking the shoreline, so it’s back to the main road before turning off on the minor road that loops round the bay to the cool-looking European Marine Science Park and the rather older Dunstaffnage Castle, unfortunately closed today.
I’ve plenty of time, so let’s see if I can work my way along the coastline through the castle grounds.
It turns out to be a lovely walk across rolling hills, with Mull on the horizon, joining up with a core path.
It’s hard to believe that Oban is only a couple of miles away.
Cresting the final hill, a moody landscape opens up, including some of the small islands I’ll be visiting over the next few days.
Fingal’s Dogstone rises above the road into Oban. The giant, Fingal, tied his dog to the rock before hunting across the Hebridean islands. A keen eye might see marks from the dog’s chain where it ran round the rock, trying to break free.
The weather may be gloomy, but the views are wonderful.
A fine hike, better than expected. All that remains is to step into the convivial Oban Inn for dinner and Fyne Ales.
Date of walk: Friday 17 January 2025.
Walk distance: 12 miles.
Total distance: 4,786 miles.
Kingshouse Hotel – great place…..deer outside the windows.
I popped into the hiker’s bar for hot soup when I hiked the West Highland Way in April a few years ago and look forward to staying there next month for a few days hiking in the surrounding mountains. Might still be snow on top. 🙂
We stayed in a cottage on Loch Etive one Christmas which I can almost imagine I can see in your shot from the bridge. There’s a wee white building right at the edge of the frame just above the trees. Could be!
That would be a gorgeous place to stay. 🙂
It was. Great views back to the bridge. We didn’t make use of the decking though – too cold! Maybe a reason to go back in summer months.
What is Fingal’s Rock doing there?
Perhaps he rolled it across from his cave?
What a great looking walk.
Looks like the weather was not on your side on this one, but despite this still some wonderful pictures, as ever. I enjoyed that walk a lot. I agree with the comments of the lady you spoke to about wild swimming – just swimming. Funnily enough I have a wild swimming book at home, it was sent to me free on the back of some of my coast walk photos, because the publisher asked if they could use them in the book, I said yes (for no charge) and they sent me a free copy of the book as a result.
As to “Do railways ever make a profit? I rarely pay the full price due to delays.” Yes. Or at least they used to. My local train company (these days South Western Railway) at least not only used to make a profit, they got no subsidy and in fact had to pay the Government money for the privilege of running the franchise. Same was true of the East Coast route (London to Leeds/York/Newcastle/Edinburgh) which I believe used to also operate at a considerable profit. Same to with some companies like Hull Trains and Grand Central (which are private companies, not franchised, that receive no subsidy). However whether this is true post Covid I don’t know. The service is an absolute joke these days to the point I hardly use it and when I do, like you I nearly always get at least some of the money back because of delays/cancellations. In fact last week when claiming delay repay from GWR I first got it rejected because the trains I specified “don’t exist in the timetable” (despite the details of the trains I caught and specified exactly matching what was printed on the tickets I submitted). When I did the Delay Repay appeal I got one of those “prove you are a human” CAPTCHA things with the instruction to click on all the pictures that include a car in the picture. Perhaps they were trying to tell me something! (Although at least on appeal they did agree with me that the trains I caught did in fact exist and were indeed delayed and paid up on the 2nd attempt).
Yes, I think the LNER line continues to be the most reliable franchise. There’s no easy answer to the rail networks, for those of old enough to remember British Rail. 😱