KYQ4: Cumbrae and Largs

Millport

Friday 28 September 2018

A fine autumnal day was forecast so we decided to make a trip to Cumbrae, a small island reached by ferry from Largs. We could not remember whether we had taken the children there, we had cycled them round quite a few islands. If not it must have been 40 years since I last cycled round this former holiday resort in the Firth of Clyde. There is a good ferry service every half hour and the crossing takes only ten minutes. The ferry is met by a service bus for the short 5 mile trip to the town of Millport. It has a faded seaside charm, a red sandstone framed beach and a large number of sizeable stone villas. It is a ten and a half mile cycle ride following the coast around the island. Several bike hire companies provide for the visitors and after coffee at the Round Island Cafe we hired bikes and began an anti-clockwise loop of the island. Apparently, 68% cycle this way around the island, my justification was so we could be looking at Arran when riding down the west coast.

The roads are flat and mainly well surfaced, well certainly in comparison to most of Scotland. Gregor had run around the island in 55 minutes when coming 2nd in the annual race earlier this year. There is virtually no traffic to impede progress and you can stop anywhere to admire the views, pick brambles or watch the birdlife. The first things you observe as you approach the disused Keppel Pier are the massive industrial developments across the Fairlie Roads at Hunterston. As well as the Nuclear Power Stations there is also the Ore Terminal, where until recently South American and Polish Coal was imported and sent by freight train to the coal-fired power station at Longannet that has now closed. The nuclear power stations are due to close in 2023 as well. The nearby Kelburn Wind Farm looks down on these dinosaurs of electricity generation that have done untold damage to the environment.

The wind that had been forecast had blown itself out so cycling was easy and we stopped to enjoy the brambles that formed a tasty hedgerow along the roadside. We passed a man carrying a hedgehog and a two-litre bottle of cider. Apparently, he had been hit hard by the Scottish Government raising the minimum price of alcohol. There were several other cyclists and two sisters on an electric scooter and we played leapfrog with each other as we took breaks to walk on the red sandstone rocks and beaches or to scan the horizon.

An exposed rock face had become the canvas for what looked like a face of an American Indian. There is a cafe at Fintraybay but we cycled on to West Bay at the southern tip of the island where the Westbourne Caravan Park has dozens of permanent holiday caravans lined up as a regiment. They command the best of views towards Arran and illustrate the changing face of tourism. Hotels cannot get the staff and have priced themselves out of the market, whereas rented accommodation provides a better income with less running costs.

We turned back towards Millport, the yachts were in a fenced-off compound that was more of a yard than a marina. A long stretch of detached villas ran down to the centre of the town. Millport had quite a few shops and cafes open and there were ferryloads of baby boomers enjoying the quiet ambience of the town. We returned the bikes, it had taken 1 hour and 40 minutes, and retired to the friendly Round Island Cafe for a late snack before catching the bus back to the ferry. Back in Largs, we watched the Friday charge of the secondary school children for the ferry home to Cumbrae before sauntering over the road to Nardinis for the best ice cream of the year.