Laggan: Lost World

Yesterday Ian and Sandra braved a poor weather forecast to join me on a circular walk from Lochranza, around the Cock of Arran, and back over the moor from Laggan Cottage.  The walk takes in some very remote coastline, rough boulders on the beach, and passes through the lost hamlet of Laggan, where some 100+ crofters made their living from subsistence farming and salt panning for the salt herring market.  Sadly in the late 18th Century, more "modern" farming strategies prompted wholesale clearing of tenant crofters on Arran to make way for ranch style pastoralism. It is a poignant walk through ruins and empty hollows, and a reminder of how harsh life was for the crofter in days gone by.

Today, this walk is also a stunning journey with magnificent views of Bute and the Arrochar Alps.  There is abundant wildlife including red deer, otters and birds of prey, rare flowers and world famous geology to be enjoyed on route.

 Ragged Robin heavy with raindrops on the Northern Shore beyond An Scriodan ("The Scree"). An Scriodan is a rough boulder field that bars the way between Lochranza and Laggan, best negotiated at low tide. 

 A sheltered natural harbour close to the old salt panning village on the shore.  Here the villagers mined a rough seam of coal to heat their salt pans. On the southern wall of this harbour it is possible to see the fossil footprints of the giant Centipede Arthropleura who trundled this way around 300 million years ago.

 Laggan Cottage, all that remains of the small hamlet and network of farms in the area. 

 View from the top of the Narachan track down to Lochranza, a moorland pony road that linked the two villages.  Lochranza was where the inhabitants of Laggan went to school and to church.

Dreich

The online Urban Dictionary defines the Scots word dreich as: "A combination of dull, overcast, drizzly, cold, misty and miserable weather. At least 4 of the above adjectives must apply before the weather is truly dreich...."  I'd say that all of the above applied today, and I'd throw in windy and wild for good measure. Anne and I had hoped for a walk in the mountains but with the burns full and gales roaring across the tops we opted for a low level walk from Lochranza around the Cock of Arran. I've blogged about this route before, but I've never done it in such appalling weather! Nevertheless, we had a fantastic day, enjoyed some great views, and set the world to rights. Thanks Anne for a great day out. Hope you've dried off by now!
Today we chose to do it in an anticlockwise direction, aiming to hit the rough scramble of An Scriodan as the tide was dropping.  We set off up the good Narachan track, and before long we were treated to views of red deer on the golf course below.

Enjoying the sweet grass on the golf course. 

The track climbs above the village and heads to the open moor between Lochranza and the sea. Even in the wet weather, the delicious gorse scent from the whins was heavenly.

We dropped down the other side of the moor, and peeked in at Laggan Cottage before heading along the coast to the ruined mining village where we stopped to grab some lunch in a sheltered bay.

Shades of grey....

After lunch we had a pleasant walk along side the sea, where we saw seals and red breasted mergansers, and found plenty of otter signs, before the final scramble around An Scriodan back to Lochranza.

The massive boulders at the north tip of the island were great for sheltering amongst!

(Basking) Shark!

One of the best coastal walks on Arran follows the shore from Sannox, around the Cock of Arran to Lochranza. Its about 15km of remote coastline, ancient villages, caves and wildlife. This week Iain and Joy joined me for the day to view wildlife and explore the coast. The picture below shows the remote Laggan Cottage, only accessible on foot, and the view north towards Kintyre.

As we walked along the shore, buzzards circled overhead, and gannets dived dramatically into the sea on our right. If we looked carefully out to sea we could make out the dancing shapes of manx shearwaters skimming across the whitecaps.

The highpoint of the day however was without doubt a basking shark, feeding on plankton in the sheltered waters close to the shore. These giants of the sea are harmless to humans, but sadly increasingly rare. At about 12 foot long this one was not large- they can grow to be 25 feet plus! If you are lucky enough to spot a basking shark you can record your sighting on the Marine Conservation Society website. Very little is known about these gentle giants and every reported sighting adds to the knowledge.

Finally, a gratuitous wildflower shot!  Grass of Parnassus is in bloom on the boggy coastlines of Arran at the moment, and is absolutely beautiful. You can see it right now on the Sannox to Lochranza walk, and also along the shore near Kings caves. It is a pale fleshy flower, with grey veins, about 2-3 cm in diameter.  The leaves are round and found near the base of a single stem.