I decided to do more of a photographic journey of our first walk out to Machrie Moor as a family. My husband had been there before. His parents had been there before, but for the girls and I it was a brand new experience, and one I will never forget!
The journey started with a ride of the ferry from Ardrossan to Brodick.
Then we stopped in Corrie for a bite to eat as we made our way north around the island, stopping to admire the rock covered shore there, and the little seal statue… Note the ferry far off in the background.
And stopping in at the distillery in Lochranza to enjoy the gorgeous view of the mountains. I chose this photo as opposed to the others that I have, as when we went back there recently, they have a new building going up there, and the view will never be the same.
From there we made it to the tiny little carpark that they have available. We were there for the summer solstice mind you, so the carpark was quite busy. You can see the carpark just behind the trees in the background behind my mother and father-in-law and the youngest girly.
At this point you are walking through a sheep field, with many sheep in it, and all of the things that sheep produce. The 5 year old insisted on running. Who wouldn’t in a wide open green field? I told her to look out for sheep poop as she was going to fall. The good news is that when she did fall, she missed the nearest poop by about 6 inches. Some victories as a mother are small.
From here the path leads up past a fenced in field, and runs along a tree line where you can hear the faint sound of running water.
Once you take the next bend to the right in the path, you will come to the first cairn on the journey.
It is very large and the girls took a turn running around on the mound that the stones encircle. This circle is known as the Moss Farm Road Stone Circle, or Machrie Moor site 10.
Think of how important the person who was buried here must have been, for people almost 5000 years ago to have gone through such trouble to commemorate them so. If only we knew more about who they were.
The trail goes on for quite a while from this point, and the landscape changes dramatically as it does. You can feel that you have left the shore and moved considerably inland. Gorse lines the path, and it was beautiful to look out at, as it spatters the moorland around you.
It was at this point that little feet got too tired to walk on their own….
Eventually the path leads gently uphill, and just about the time that you begin to wonder where the heck you are going, the trail opens up into a field and you can look out over the ruins of Moss Farm. Being that we were there on the solstice, there were others there who decided to camp out on the moor, and take shelter with their tents in the area around the ruined croft.
Some opted for more private lodgings.
From here you pass through the gate onto Machrie Moor, and this is where you get your first glimpse of the huge stones that stand out in the open moorland.
To the right is a smaller cairn, but still worth exploring.
And straight ahead on the path you see this:
Someone was very unhappy with me when she realized we couldn’t ACTUALLY travel through the stones back in time…
But the girls tried anyway…
And so did I…
Sadly we remained, so we figured we may as well attempt a family photo. I say attempt because, well, you can see from the children’s faces, it is hardly ever successful.
Now we were running late, and still had to get back to Brodick to catch the ferry, as it was the last one out. There is another, single stone about 140 yards west of the three we were standing at, but the path that leads there is about 250 yards, and no one else wanted to go out there, but I was determined. I grabbed the camera, and with the thinking that the quickest distance being a straight line, set off the path over the open moorland…
Now this was going fine until my boot went “squish”. Having water proof boots I thought nothing of it and trudged forward, still squishing. It was at about the 5th squish, that the bottom came out from under me, and my foot kept sinking, as if the earth itself was swallowing me whole.
Now I am not sure if it was the fact that I was so scared I was virtually flying over the surface to salvation on the other side, or if I just happened to get lucky, but I braced my leg, pulled up and out of the sludge, and made a very quick b-line for the other standing stone.
I then proceeded to walk back to the teeny tiny figure that was my husband standing at the head of the trail out to that stone, and to the resounding laughter of my father-in-law, who assured me before walking out there that it wasn’t the best idea.
Now, this taught me a few things. One, that my waterproof boots were in-fact, waterproof. Even when said water was up to your knee. Two, that the older resident of the area who has lived there their whole lives probably knows a thing or two about the terrain. Three, that it would have been entirely plausible for mammoths to get stuck in things like this, thus giving us perfectly preserved fossils of them. And four, that no one on the ferry back will bat an eye at the ridiculous, wet, moss covered girl beaming in the corner.
It was a quick stop into Hooked and Cooked, the chippy at the ferry terminal while we waited for it to get back to port, with a breathtaking view of the mountains on the north of the island.
And then it was back into the belly of the ferry, to head home.
I have to tell you that if you visit Scotland, Arran is a MUST SEE. It is called Scotland in Miniature for a reason, and if you are cramped for time, or don’t have the ability to travel terribly far, Arran is very easily accessable, and has a bit of something from all over Scotland.
It is a place of pure magic.
❤