Tayvallich

I first holidayed at Tayvallick about 30 years and, although we've visited in the intervening years and stayed at other places in the surrounding area, this is the first time I've been back to spend more than a day in the village.

It lies on one of those long spurs of land separated by fingers of sea that characterise the Knapdale area, facing east towards the shelter of land. We stayed in a flat overlooking  the curve of the bay and passed a couple of lazy mornings walking from one end of the village to the other, and sitting to watch the goings-on. 

For a small place, there's a lot to occupy visitors. There are boats to watch bobbing in the harbour, a passenger ferry to Jura, a cafe with decking overlooking it all (sadly only open for takeaway during our stay due to staff shortages but I've eaten there in the past and it's a lovely spot to spend an hour or so), and at the opposite end of the village a restaurant. There's even a community centre with tennis courts and such that visitors can use, but we didn't.

A short walk from the main harbour took us over a slight ridge to another bay - Carsaig; a more untamed place with a shingley/seaweedy beach which looks west towards Jura, and has wonderful sunsets, and although there's no cafe there's a cake honesty box. A good place to just sit and watch the water lap at the shore.

And at Kyle Scotnish picnic place just north of the village, we spotted an otter swimming and diving for food. There are beavers in the area, from the Knapdale release scheme, but I think to have spotted one of those would have been too lucky*, and I'm happy to have seen an otter. Slightly further afield there are walks through Knapdale forest (more of that another time) and the Taynish Nature Reserve, more boats to watch along Crinan Canal, and historic monuments to puzzle over at Kilmartin Glen. 

One of the snags about re-visiting somewhere you know well is having to curtail the things you could do if only you had time. I'm already planning a trip back to catch those missed-out things.

* I've since watched the video of a near-to-home release of beavers at Willington in Derbyshire, and I'm still not certain what I saw. It could have been a beaver but an otter seems more likely.

Big Holiday - off to Scotland!

 After so many months of waiting I've been away on a proper adventure - to Tayvallich on Scotland's west coast. Maybe in all honesty it wasn't all that adventurous as it involved staying in a self-catering apartment, some gentle walking, and eating out while admiring the views - not, say, backpacking and camping in the wilds each night - but it felt like a bigger, more exciting trip than those earlier this year to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

The original plan was to just spend four nights away, and call in to see our Manchester-based daughter on the way home, but she suggested we stay overnight, and then we worried that the drive was to long so we decided to break the journey on the way north too. 

It was still about a six hour drive so we broke the journey with stops at Gretna Green's famous wedding venue, and at Luss on Loch Lomond for ice cream and paddling.

To look at my photos you'd almost think we did nothing but eat - from that ice cream to flapjacks from an honesty box at Carsaig beach, 

lunch out at Loch Melfort Hotel to haggis supper in Lochgilphead, 

and bacon butties at Arrochar then back to Luss for more flapjack on the journey home

We did pull some walking in between the eating - mainly on flattish ground along the Crinan Canal, round Ardmaddy Castle gardens, or through forests (more posts to follow). 

We saw an otter swimming in a sealoch, but they disappeared too quickly to be photographed, an equally quick-footed red squirrel (or possibly a pine martin, we're still debating that) and highland cattle up close in a field. 

And being on the west coast there were stunning sunsets to round off most evenings.

 It's a while since I've been to Scotland and I'm already planning when I can revisit (actually I was thinking of it while we were still on holiday)

Gardeners' Sheds at Calke

One of the things I love about Calke Abbey is that the National Trust have preserved not just the run-down stately home, but the potting sheds and garden 'offices', which capture a glimpse of the gardeners' lives and work

The paint may be pealing, an odd bit of glass missing, and the roof overgrown with moss but spades, hoes and rakes are neatly stacked against the walls, and the drawers have labels showing the seeds kept there. 

It's easy to imagine that the gardeners have just put down their tools at the end of the day, and now headed home.

Obviously I've an interest in all things gardening-related, (and although much tidier these sheds remind me of those at my childhood home) but to me it's important that the lives of ordinary men and women are as treasured and preserved as those of the folks at the 'big house'.

 

Calke Gardens on an unexpectedly hot day

Summer has somewhat unexpectedly returned this week, so it seemed like a good time to visit Calke's walled garden with its palm trees looking suitably exotic in the heat.

The formal beds around the trees are looking a bit ragged as summer draws to an end but there are still flowers here and in the herbaceous borders attracting bees and butterflies 

And just over the wall, dahlias line the path with flowers of almost all shapes, sizes and colours.

Through another gateway lies the kitchen garden but before dashing into it, stop and admire (and smell, because the roses are heavily scented) the flower beds which curve on either side away from the gate.

In the vegetable beds, scarecrows are hard at work supervising all that goes on, keeping birds away, and watching the pumpkins and apples swell.

I'd thought my apple trees at home had a lot of fruit this year but nothing like this abundance!

Our route to the exit took us by the deer enclosure. 'Let;s just go and see if any are nearby', I said. And they were. Right by the fence again, more interested in grass than me trying to peer over and take photos.